Berkeley Unified School District School Board - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Thank you for your patience. Sorry we're getting started a little bit late. Welcome to the November 19th, 2025 meeting of the Berkeley School Board. If you would like to follow along on our online agenda, the agenda is posted on the district website. I am now calling this meeting to order at 7:29 p.m. Um, Miss Chand, will you please call the role? Good evening. President Mike Chang will join us uh shortly. Um Vice President Jennifer Korn present. Director Ano Vasc.

Director Jennifer Shinoski here. And student uh director um Nuna Camalo present.

Thank you. Thank you. Um, we will now approve the agenda for this evening's meeting. At the request of staff, action item 15.1, mobile communication devices in schools, creating a safe and focused learning environment, will be retitled to policy on mobile communication devices in schools. Creating a safe and focused learning environment, second reading. Um, and the superintendent comments will be moved to follow the report out on closed session. Are there any other requested changes to the agenda? Seeing none, um is there a motion and a second to approve the agenda? So moved. Second. All in favor, please say I.

I. I. I. Great. Um I believe we have a Native American Heritage Month District Land and Commitment acknowledgement. Good evening, B USC family.

Thank you. Um, I was going to say before my comments, uh, Vice President K, but I will read it now. Berkeley Unified acknowledges that our schools reside on Huchion um within the ancestral and home territory of the East Bay Aloney people where families have always lived as stewards of the land for thousands of years to this day. We honor their first these first peoples of these lands and their ongoing collective resistance and resilience in the face of settler colonialism as well as their current day activism and their work to continue to practice their living culture. We commit to being in solidarity with indigenous peoples both locally and globally. Taking action to create and maintain supportive systems for native youth in our schools and to be active participants in contributing to the thriving present and future of Berkeley Unifi's indigenous youth and Aloney peoples of future. This is an acknowledgement that should be reserved um not just for this month which is um indigenous people heritage month but should be observed at every single convening and we'll make a point to make sure it's a part of our agendas going forward. Thank you, Superintendent. Um, and Director Shinowski, will you report out on close session? Sure. Thanks. Okay, so close session was called to order at 5:37 p.m. Uh, director Jennifer Korn, Director Anna Vasa, and myself were present. Director Cada Brown and Director Mike Chang were both absent. Um, the board heard an update on item 3.1 and gave direction.

Thank you so much. Um, and now, Superintendent, would you like to share your comments this evening? Good evening, B USD family. It's me again. Okay, there's a whole We have the whole thing here when you guys come. So, I say good evening and y'all say good evening. Are you ready? Good evening, B USD family. Good evening.

Thank you. I'm so happy to see so many faces here. I was actually going to keep it brief, but now that I see so many faces, so many new fa faces, I got some things to share and say, so get comfortable. Um, first of all, we have a lot of good news to share here in BUSD. Um, the California Department of Education or CDE has released the 2025 California dashboard. And the dashboard is an online tool that helps communities across the state access important information about kindergarten through 12th grade uh schools and districts. We are a school district that has both PK all the way up to 12 and even adult school. So, our data is definitely reflected in the dashboard. The dashboard is known for its colors and for its cool dashboard visual. Literally, it looks like um the gas gauge on many cars that you all drive. But these colors are more than just labels. They actually tell a story. And so each color reflects both how our students performed the previous year, the status, and how much they've grown from last year. Sorry. they they um actually show how they perform this year, the status and how much they've grown from last year, also known as the change. And by looking at both the status and the change, the district um lifts up the dashboard lifts up movement, momentum, and meaningful growth rather than just static scores. And so this is what makes it a very powerful tool that tells a story about our collective work. So, drum roll, please. Come on, y'all. This is like audience. There we go. BUSD has achieved the highest possible performance level on the California dashboard. We've achieved a blue in ELA and mathematics and college and career readiness. Y'all better shout about that. Listen. So, um, so with our student assessment performance in spring 2025, BUSD also has no longer has any student groups at all. No student groups are in the red. So you could already imagine on that gauge red is the high is the lowest and the most extreme and then blue is the

highest and that's the way we want to go. And so we have seen that not only is BUSD in the blue for ELA and math and college and career but we don't have any student subgroups in the red. No small feat at all and definitely a testimony to the hard work and the commitment of our educators, the brilliance of our babies and all of our classrooms and the collaboration and work that we've done in partnership with you, many members of our community members, um, and our families. So, um, you're going to hear, you're going to receive a newsletter coming out that gives you a lot more information, but I just could not resist the opportunity to tell y'all we are doing big things in B USD and we have a lot to be proud about. Um, our hashtag this year, in case you didn't know, is birthday crowd.

Tough crowd tonight. All right, here we go. So, let's talk about tonight's agenda because I know that's what you all are here for. Um, tonight we're going to hear from our student services team about an exciting potential potential revenue generating initiative underway in BUSD. Um, the children and youth behavioral health initiative, also known as CYBHI. I don't know how you say that as an acronym, but it's California's statewide initiative intended to make behavioral health care more accessible. CYBHI includes several opportunities for eleas or school districts to retain, sustain, and grow behavioral health services for students and provide an avenue for districts to receive reimbursement for services that we already provide to our students in BUSD. And so tonight's presentation will talk about that fee system and how Berkeley can actually re recoup some dollars for the work that many of our educators and our counselors are already doing in service of our students. We know that the topic of cell phones is likely the topic that has brought many of you here. It's a topic that um has been top of mind for many in our community. Um something that many of you all care deeply about and just an ongoing larger conversation that's happening across the state. The USD adopted a mobile communications device policy in the fall of 2024. This year we took the opportunity to strengthen and clarify that policy so that is more aligned with current research feedback and the realities of our schools. In October, we presented a draft policy to the board of education and the public for what we call a first read. And tonight, we return with a recommendation for further revisions that reflect what we have learned since that initial presentation. Because this topic is so important to many of you um and to us um and to our babies because they're waiting to find out what happens. This item is not going to be placed on the consent calendar as typical for policies that come to the board. Instead, the staff will be presenting a full presentation to the board tonight um and and taking you through a public journey, if you will, um from the original policy, which stated that smartphones and mobile communication devices should be turned

off during instructional day for all grade grade levels to the recommend recommended policy that we're going to be presenting this evening, which says that smartphones and mobile communication devices shall be turned off during the day um the entire school day for prek through 8. And then smartphones and mobile communication devices shall be turned off during instructional time only for those students in 9th through 12th grade or our high school students. Following the presentation, we will be asking the board to take action on the policy. Um, at our last board meeting, I shared that staff will be bringing this draft cell phone policy back um for further discussion. And I hope that many of you are here tonight, not only because you heard me say that at that last meeting, but perhaps because you received a flyer that we sent out or the communication that we sent in partnership with our Berkeley uh parent teacher association. Um, I also know that some of you all are probably here without even knowing the cell phones were going to be on the agenda tonight, but I know that you are here because you care about our students um, and our staff. And so, I encourage you all, regardless of why you have come, to stay, to not just come and make comments and leave, but to stay and really engage and hear the presentations that staff has prepared, but more importantly here as the board discusses and engages with these topics um, with staff. And so, um, if you cannot stay, I do understand it's night time, it's dark, and I cannot stand this time of year where it gets darker early. Anyway, that's another story. Um, but I understand you might need to leave for various reasons. So, we do encourage you to join us online because these are hybrid meetings. And if you cannot join online, please know that our board recordings are posted on our website so you can engage in that way as well. Finally, y'all happy? Finally. Um, each November we honor Indigenous People's Heritage Month. We just read our um our land acknowledgement, but this is a month for us to reflect, learn, and celebrate the first stewards of this land. As I shared in our earlier communication this month, Karina Gold um reminds us that healing begins when we choose to move differently, when we listen, learn, and act with intention and respect. We invite you to visit the district's website where you can find resources, family guides, and other

information regarding indigenous heritage um month. Um, and we also ask that you join us in recognizing the enduring enduring presence, leadership, and wisdom of indigenous peoples whose contributions contri contribute to the enrich to rich our community. I said that was the last thing, but it's not. This is really the last thing. Um, last month you might recall that we celebrated LGBTQIA plus history month and tomorrow is transgender day of remembrance. It's an annual observation that honors the lives of transgender transgender people lost to anti-transgender violence. BUSD is committed to providing a safe educational environment to all of our babies that allows them to fully be who they are free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying. We also will continue to hold the line and reject any actions that dehumanize, threaten the rights of transgender and LGBTQIA youth. I see you snapping back there. Thank you. Finally, I want to remind you all, maybe just tell myself that next week BUSD schools are closed. We wish you a wonderful fall break. We hope that you find ways to rest, to restore your spirit and soul, and we'll see you back after the break. That's for me, D vice president. Thank you. Thank you, Superintendent Ford Moral. Um, my hair caught in my glasses. We will now move to the public comments section component of our agenda. There are two opportunities for public comment at each meeting now and at the end of the meeting. Please note that we have a large number of speaker cards this evening and only half an hour for this first round of public comment. If you do not get to speak at the beginning of the meeting, we encourage you to stay and speak at the end of the meeting. You may also email your comments at boardofedbererkeley.net. In addition, I want to assure those of you who have written to us over the past days and weeks that my colleagues and I

have read and carefully considered your comments. The board does not respond directly to comments or questions made during public comment. Um, board members, the superintendent and staff do take notes during public comment and we may follow up with the speaker after the meeting. This is a hybrid meeting, so we also have some public commenters online in addition to the commenters in the boardroom. Um, we are designating, I think, 20 minutes to in-person speakers and that will be followed by 10 minutes for online speakers. Each public commenter will have one minute to speak. Dep um not depending on the amount of speakers, each commenter will have one minute to speak. Please note that the microphone will shut off at the end of your allotted time, so time your comments accordingly. I'm going to call two names at a time so that the speakers next in line can come forward and wait near the mic. Um, and I apologize in advance if I mispronounce anyone's name. Um, in addition, if I call your name and you would prefer to seed your time to another speaker, you are welcome to do so. Um, I do not see any student speaker cards. Is that correct? Okay, great. Um, I'm going to start with five speakers on cell phones and then move on to some other topics and then if we have time I will call more speakers on cell phones. Um, so I'd like to start with Grace Yang followed by Aaron Fowler.

Good evening. My name is Grace Yang. I have students at Berkeley High and King. We are in a crisis with electronic devices in education and in society. Technology meant to make life easier is in many cases hurting us. Not all technology of course but much of it especially social media. Our children are called the naval gazing generation. Is that what we want? Distracted by screens and disengaged from the people around them. A recent New York Times article put it plainly. If adults struggle to is am I if adults struggle to focus with endless digital distractions a click away imagine asking a 16-year-old or 11year-old to do it isn't it isn't just bad for test scores it's en enimical to learning and unfair to our children we are handing kids something addictive and asking them to self-regulated most can't giving students even few hours of tech free time means eye contact, real conversations, and laughter with a friend sitting right next to them at lunch, not a Tik Tok influencer who doesn't know they exist.

Thank you. Not acting. The cost of not acting is clear. The cost of learning genuine human connection. I'm sorry, but there's many people who are waiting to speak. Thank you so much.

Hi everybody. I'm Aaron Fowler and I've been a teacher in B USD for at least 17 years and a teacher for 25. I'm working without a contract. I'm also a mom of two teenagers here at B USD and I am here from Willard to ask for a locked and secured cell phone policy. I just read through a metaanalysis of over 1500 studies about the correlation between increased screen time and difficulties concentrating. That didn't even include children with diagnosis of ADHD. What we found is there's an increased correlation and every minute that we can offer our children a screenfree time to be social to focus will improve our outcomes for academics. We know that just being aware of anticipating notifications affects students ability to concentrate on reading and this is a top priority for me as a teacher. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next two public speakers I'd like to call are Jenny Dobban and Kuri Juel. Come on up. Hi everyone. My name is Jenny Dober. I have a student who is in the sixth grade at Willard and a high school student in the 10th grade. I'm here to support a belltobell type of policy. I was disappointed to see what has come forward. I think if states like the state of New York, Virginia, districts like New York City and LA Unified School District can do it, we can do it, too. They are taking an evidence-based approach to their policy, and I would be proud to live in a district that could follow and add our name to that list. Thank you. Hi everyone. Thanks for allowing me to speak tonight. Uh my name is Krie Juel. I am the parent of a kindergartner and a fifth grader at Sylvia Mendes. And I am strongly in favor of a bell-to-bell policy from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. Um I feel like this is the issue of our time as it pertains to the development of our children's minds. And um I I really uh implore you all to have a lot of deliberation, a lot of consideration to do our very best as it pertains to these policies to do the right thing for our children. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next two public speakers I'd like to call are Scott um Hoffmeister and Versil Mitchell. Um Can I speak during minutes instead? Oh, sure. There are like four of you, right? Are you all speaking during union minutes? Okay, then. How about Sorry. BCC's president is saying that he would like to be unwise to do public com, right? That's why I called him for public comment. Is that what you want? Okay. Versil, please come up for public comment. Scott, take it away.

Okay. Uh, my name is Scott Hoffmeister and I'm uh the president of the Willard uh PTA speaking tonight on behalf of our unanimous PTA board about the mobile phone policy. One of B USD's core priorities is equity and closing the achievement gap. Uh AB 3216 cites multiple European studies showing that test scores improved significantly at schools that banned mobile phone use and that the most significant gains in pupil performance were made by the most disadvantaged and under underachieving pupils across country countries. The research is remarkably consistent. At best schools see remarkable gains. Educators have higher satisfaction and students are also happier. At worst there's no difference. To my knowledge, there's no evidence of harm from tighter school day limits. So, our request tonight is to defer action on the proposed amendments and to send the cell phone policy back to the policy subcommittee for more community engagement and a full consideration of bell-to-bell powered off and away and secure. Thank you. So I believe there's four speakers on special education. Only two vers. And who's the other?

But how how much time will we get? One minute each if it's public comment. We're five. Okay. We'll can we move the union comment ear? All right. I we'll move your union comment earlier and give you five minutes. I I don't I don't totally understand. Solution. Yeah. Can I ask a question? I guess so. I'm confused about I think what you're saying is you're asking for five minutes for five speakers on the same topic as public commenters, but not as the union time. Two speakers, but we put in five cards. I see I see four cards.

So, how about four minutes? Okay, great. Four minutes. Go for it. All right. Hey, Samantha. Uh, so two years ago, I spoke to you folks about the situation the classified sped staff were experiencing at the high school. I described it as an emergency. Uh, and it was, um, comparing it to having multiple classrooms on fire and it was. Today, I wanted to briefly update you all. We appreciate your help in putting the metaphorical fires out. There have been too many improvements to mention right now. We appreciate the current program manager. You should hang on to him. We also especially love all the new IAP hires this semester. But the district also needs to make sure that we retain all these great new classified employees that have been helping to bring safety, stability, and consistency to our mo most at risk students in scary times. Veteran IAS, especially the sped twos, possess a wide variety of skills. At the high school alone, we are expected to demonstrate competency in behavior management, deescalation tactics, pedagogical rhetoric, and academic knowledge across the board from film analysis to stoometry. These skills take time to develop. They require practice, and practice requires retention. The aforementioned consistency. What I'm asking you tonight is that IAP2 speds be paid in income that we all know from the class and comp study is on par with other local districts, local districts that we are in danger of losing these skilled and talented employees to if we don't. Thank you.

Hello everybody. My name is Versil Mitchell and I am a member of the BCCE group here behind me. Thanks for showing up. We I have served as an instructional aid to special education at Willard since the pandemic. I'm here to advocate for enhanced support for classified IIA special education staff to effectively support our students complex needs particularly in special education. We must ensure our staff are properly supported in both training and financial compensation. This is a vital This is vital to serving Berkeley's diverse community and achieving successful outcomes both during regular school day and after school programs aligning with and I quote B USD's mission enable and inspire our diverse student body. My five years in the districts spent largely at Willard have offered my deep insight into the world of education. I want to thank the leadership for the decision to hire more permanent classified staff at Willard. I'm a little touched because some of our friends aren't here anymore. We had a rough season last year and I'm acknowledging that because my colleagues matter. For the first time, this site is realizing that new permanent members, rather than heavily relying on outside contractors, I've enjoyed working with people on the daily. Kids need consistency. However, for instructional assistance across all school sites, including our high schools, it creates a stable learning environment for teachers to do their job. If they have a good team, if we work together, we as pair professionals in special

education are seeking proper compensation that reflects their professional experience and dedication required for these critical areas, including working with divergent learners, crisis prevention, traumainformed care, and mental mental health first aid. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Mitchell. The next two speakers are Mimi Maine and Dan Brownson.

Good evening. Uh my name is Mimi Maine from B USD bridge the care gap focused um a bunch of us parents focused on the afterare ah situation. I was going to thank some people including the superintendent but I only have a minute. So I just want to make sure that we're continuing to focus on making substantive changes because the status quo is not acceptable. It's mid November and we all know how quickly things will move and all of a sudden it'll be 2026 and application time for the 2627 school year is fast approaching. To that end, I have a few questions to throw out. Um, what is the current gap in capacity? How can we best take advantage of the next few months to create a more efficient, less cumbersome, and better communicated application and enrollment process? And how can we support efforts to continue hiring staff so we can increase capacity across the district? Um, so yeah, a continued focus on this topic would be much appreciated. And then also, um, I know the starting salary for instructional assistance at John Mir is $27,000. We have to care for these people. They do incredible work. Thank you. Thank you, Mimi. So, uh, by now you probably all know who I am. Um, unlike our esteemed superintendent, I actually like this time of year because it means that uh I no longer have to wake up before dawn, which uh has documented dilatorious effects on cognition both in youth and adults. But my main um point tonight is that we are told um that facing state budget cuts um that there's nothing we can do. there's just no money. Um, but Berkeley is one of over 900 school

districts in the state, all of whom are facing budget cuts. And yet, somehow there's nothing any of them can do. Maybe you all need to start thinking more like a union because while one might be helpless, 900 wouldn't be if they all went and demanded more money from the state so that we can f fund our sites and our professionals. We appreciate you.

The next the next two speakers are Dan Goldstein and Kyle Delwitch. Hello, I'm Dan Goldstein. I'm a parent of a BUSD 7th grader. I was delighted to learn tonight that there will be a bell-to-bell locked away policy for prek to 8th grade. Um, and I'm now urging you to adopt a similar policy for Berkeley High School or at least leave that possibility open. Um, smartphones don't just damage learning, they prevent social interactions and relationships. They don't just pull students away from schoolwork, they pull them away from one another. Um, please include high school um, in the complete bell-to-bell policy. Um, I think all grade levels to deserve to have a rich social experience. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Hi, my name is Kyle Doitch. I have a third and a fifth grader at Washington Elementary. So, my kids are still little, but I care a lot about this issue. I've never been to schoolboard meeting, but I care enough about this issue to come. Um, so I would I strongly support a bell-to-bell uh ban at the high school in addition to the middle school. I'm glad that it's in place at the middle school, but I would also like that for the high school in addition to all the educational reasons that people have already mentioned, but also for the mental health benefits. I really hope that when my kids get to high school, it's a safe place that's largely spared the mental health issues associated with um with phones that have been well documented in the literature. Thank you. Our next two speakers are Rachie Lee and Mary Katherine Plunkett. Good evening. My name is Rachie and I have a ninth grader at Berkeley Height and seventh grader at King. I'm speaking to you tonight as a parent and a digital wellness educator. 40% of the SNP make their profit by keeping us glued to our screens. Our attention and our children's attention, including our teenagers, is the primary currency of today's economy. It feels like this is a losing battle, but we are not powerless. We can make the right choices here at home. Phones do not belong in schools. Not at any grade level, not in the bathrooms, not at passing periods, not on any campus time. I urge this school board to reject the district's proposal tonight that would only require devices to be off during class at the high school. You do not need to take that vote tonight. At a minimum, instruct the

district to research how other districts are implementing a bell-to-bell at their high schools. Many other high schools are doing it. You can, too. Thank you so much.

Hi, my name is Mary Katherine Plunkett. I have a sixth grader at Willard and a 10th grader at St. Mary's. This is my first school board meeting. Um, I wanted to come talk about the cell phone policy tonight. I know there's a lot of factors in considering what's right for our schools and our students at Berkeley. Um, I have experience with my son at St. Mary's. They have a no phones during the school day policy and they've really seen that the students are engaging with each other during lunch. Um, there's a lot more interaction at school. When they made that change, it made a really big difference. Um, I understand Berkeley High is a lot bigger than St. Mary's, but um I really think it's worth considering, you know, some of the larger school districts, the policies they're looking at, the impact that is having on students, and considering um you know, some uh different choices in terms of what we're offering for our high school in terms of the the limitations. My my daughter's in sixth grade now. Um we're really trying to keep her off of social media. Uh it's hard. Uh so, anything that we can do at school to really make them engage more with each other and not their phones is great. Thank you. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OUR NEXT two speakers are Emma Cot and Julian Serret. Good evening. I'm Emma Cot. I have a sixth grader at Willard and a fourth grader at Emerson. And I'm also proud to be a part of fourth and sixth grade parents who have decided together to delay giving our kids smartphones. And I can tell you it's so much easier to do it when we're all in it together. To that end, um I believe that we should have a bell-to-bell ban in across all of BUSD schools, K through 12. Make it simple, one policy. It's more enforceable than any alternative peace meal plan. The bottom line is I believe kids just do not need their phones when they're at school. Uh and even having them in the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the bathrooms is distracting and it also discourages face-to-face

connection. In case of emergency, which I know is some some things that some parents are concerned about, they can contact the children's school as they always have. I strongly urge the board tonight to vote no on this proposal and to go back to the drawing board to explore a bell-to-bell policy for all grade levels. New York City Schools, LA USD, has done it. So can we. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Julian C. I'm um uh the father of three girls with my wife here. Uh so one girl in elementary and two in middle school. And um so I'm here in to be in favor of a bell-to-bell policy. Uh and when researching why people wouldn't be uh in favor of that, I read a reason that was about family organization and the flexibility that uh having access to a phone gives. I think it's actually the opposite and with the experience of having three years we we fighting every day in terms of family organization and I think there's a virtual circle if kids have access to phones and it's not locked somewhere they think about it they're reorganiz their day based on that and they're not getting organized I think one of the values that schools can bring is uh teaching kids to get organized to face um well what they're going to face in the future in their professional lives so I think there's a reverse impact. Uh if we don't lock phones, kids will always uh count on this flexibility and will not get over.

Thank you.

All right, we were so efficient that we have just three more in the in the room speakers who I'm going to call and then we're going to transition to online speakers. The first is Jennifer House, the second is Shannon and Michael, and the third is Craig. Thank you very much for letting us speak tonight. My name is Jennifer House. I have children at both Washington Elementary and Longfellow. I'm also a therapist. Um, and I wanted to share some experiences from that. I have a number of clients that we would say are in the Gen Z gener, the Gen Z generation who were given phones at a very early age because this research was not here yet. They had phones sometimes as early as fourth grade, fifth grade, all the way up through high school. Those clients are the ones we are now treating for anxiety, depression, this experience of intense addiction that was named around looking and checking constantly for our phones. And I recently mentioned to one of my clients that there's a movement now to get phones out of school. And he said, "Thank God. Please, can you do this for us in high school? If I had had this, it would have changed my life. This addictive experience of constantly checking and looking at our phones is one that we can only oftenimes monitor in school because parents are not doing it at home. Make school a place for us to address mental health in this way.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Hi, my name is Shannon Berman and this is my partner Michael Pareda. And um we're the parents of a fourth grader at Washington. Go Washington. Um I am also a scientist and I work in science education and I work very closely with science teachers. And everyone that has come before me about this issue of of cell phones has been very articulate. So I'm going to keep it short. Uh, I plus one everything that has been said. Um, and we support a more restrictive ban on mobile phones, including a bell-to-bell policy K through 12. Thank you very much.

Hi, thank you for having me. My name's Craig Malum. I am uh the father of a 13-year-old girl at Willard. Um, so I'm really glad that the the bellto bell is is um part of the policy for, you know, K through 8th grade, but I really do think it should go uh through high school. Um, the difference between the policies where, you know, they're allowed to take them out in between classes versus just leaving them um for the day seems pretty small. The impact on those kids who who wanted to bring them to school but have to leave them at home seems pretty small compared to the benefits which are far larger for everybody else for the parents and the kids who are going to leave them at home anyway. Just this afternoon outside of Willard there was some kind of commotion. The teachers couldn't get the students under control because everybody's whipping out their phones and recording things. That's still going to happen. So why don't you know why don't we realize the benefits to that last little mile and make kids um leave them at home? The science is pretty clear and the benefits are there. So I urge you to reconsider the policy.

Thank you so much. We're going to shift to online speakers now. Um, I'm gonna first promote Michelle Wolfson and after that Rohini Har.

Michelle, go ahead.

Hi, I'm Michelle Wilson. I'm a parent of 11th grader at Berkeley High and I strongly support teachers being able to determine the policy that happens in their classroom and that students having the freedom to use their classes. I think the current Berkeley High School cell phone policy of teachers collecting cell phones at the start of class, putting them in the pouches um and I don't support banning it. Cell phone policy is best determined by each teacher and I really value the fact that they are close to for the times that phones are needed for classwork in case of emergencies. Help students who need accommodations with IEPs and 504s and they're not singled out or stigmatized for having it. Berkeley High School is a huge campus. Cell phones are how students locate friends for lunch, locate club meetings, contact their counselors, their teachers, check their email for appointments, and lunchtime is a important time for student connectedness and developing friendships. Banning cell phones will invite power struggles, deception, getting a second phone. Teachers have enough to manage without turning into cell phone cops. And I think that ESOs are trying to develop relationships with students, not be an adversarial position. I think we should pop the phone in the cell phone holders, pick them up as class gets out. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Michelle. Uh Roini, you're up next. What what what is the name that we're promoting? Uh it was Rohini, but she seems to have disappeared. So maybe we'll shift to Navar Oaks and Anna Thanukos after that

was Rohini Har. uh Anna Thanukos and Navare Oaks.

Navari, you've been promoted. You can go ahead.

Thank you. My name is Navar Oaks and I'm here as a parent of a TK and kindergarten student and I support Belltobell. But what I'm really here to talk about also tonight is the lack of aftercare and how badly it's affecting our family. It's a rather extreme situation. And I don't know if anyone on the board has lost sleep or shed tears over this, but I most certainly have as recently as today because it's deeply impacted my job. I have to bring my kids to afterare outside of the city. I have to transport them there. I'm not able to work during that time. I lose important meetings. I'm not able to do my job as effectively as I could. It's a deep impact on me personally. And then for my children, they are small and they don't understand. They are begging me, why can't I stay at school? Why can't I be with my friends? They don't understand that there's a limit in capacity, but they understand that when the bell rings, they're kicked out of school, basically, but their friends get to stay and play. They have a very hard time transitioning. We're basically asking them to hold two full-time jobs, right? One in the morning at school and one at a completely different place for afterare. It's a lot to ask of a four and 5-year-old if there's ways you can expand capacity.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate you. So, our next speaker is Anna. And then after that, Rohini is back. Anna, can you go ahead? Yes. Can you hear me? Yes. You've got

Okay. Oh, here's my video. Okay. Um, hi. I My name is Annathan Nucos and I have two fourth graders at Emerson Elementary, one of whom is right here and is listening to everything that people are saying with a lot of interest. Um, they'll soon reach high school where with this policy, most of their classmates will spend their lunch hour and interclass periods scrolling through addictive content that's designed to monetize their attention without regard for their mental health. Our students attention is a valuable resource, and cell phones are a huge distraction, even if they're only available between even if they're only available between classes and at lunch. A 2024 survey by the National Educational Association found that 83% of teachers support bell-to-bell bands. And I think BUSD should step up and do this as well through the 12th grade. The policy already includes sensible exceptions for broad emergencies and the needs of individual students and these should remain. Parents with a family emergency can call the school so that their child can receive the message in class. Teachers want this. Many parents want this and most importantly ultimately students will want us to have done this for them.

Thank you Roini. you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Thank you so much. I'm the PTA vice president at Willard and I have students at BHS, Willard, and John Mir. I'm asking the district to strongly consider this outpouring of advocacy very seriously. The evidence is clear. Phones and smartwatches undermine focus, learning, and mental health. I teach at UC Berkeley to graduate and undergraduate students, and I use a strict no text policy in my classes. It's been enormously successful and students whine in the beginning but they adapt quickly and they actually appreciate the focused environment. We can do this. We must and right now enforcement in our district varies widely by classroom and I think that inconsistency hurts kids. I strongly support the the bell-to-bell policy through 8th grade and I don't think we can vote on the high school level right now. There's far more serious discussions that about what that would mean. um kids leave campus for school, they could have jobs and we need to be clear on before asking them to leave it at home or in their backpacks and how that's going to be enforced.

Thank you much Roini. We appreciate your comments. Our next two commenters are Lindsay Noel and Cara Bartlett Bins. Lindsay, please go ahead and unmute yourself.

Okay. Hi, my name is Lindsay Noelt and I'm speaking as a parent of elementary and middle school kids on the mobile device policy and specifically on the term significant engagement as required by AB 3216. The California Department of Ed does have a definition of significant engagement from both LCAP and ESSA laws. The law asks for two-way communication, transparency, and inclusiveness. It asks that the informed input of stakeholders is reflected in order to address the needs of all student groups. Other area districts like Castro Valley are taking the spirit of the law to heart and they are seeking out opinion, having conversations and running pilots. I am asking the board to vote no tonight on this policy in order to engage with our high school community further to find the right way to limit phone use. Thank you.

Thank you. Carara, you can go ahead and unmute yourself. Hi.

Yes. Hi, I'm Carara Bartlett Bins. I am a parent of a Malcolm X first grader and we'll have a TKER next year. I'm also a representative of the bridge the care gap group of several speakers from tonight. Um, we are a group of committed and concerned parents who are working with you all towards accessible, safe, and enriching afterchool care for all families. We recognize that the lack of afterchool care is a long-standing problem, but that the status quo is unacceptable. What we are looking for is leadership and progress. We want to see what is going to happen in the next several months to make sure we do not have 700 families on the wait list the first week of school. Whether that is a collaborative effort with the city or expansion of on-site programs through whatever means is necessary in addition to more timely and clear communication with families to better set expectations so that they're not scrambling in the final weeks of summer and the first weeks of the school year. You heard from some of our other parents. This is a real problem. Please help us fix it. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Our last two public commenters this evening will be Siobhan Noble and Anonymous Anonymous mystery speaker. Siobhan can uh let's go ahead and promote Siobhan. Siobhan, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Sorry. Thank you. Um, so, um, as a parent of a 10th grader at Berkeley High, I support Berkeley High's current cell phone policy, which is that students put their phones in pouches, making them unavailable during instructional time, but available during the 5 minutes between classes and at lunchtime. I don't believe a total ban on cell phones at the high school level is appropriate or helpful. Students need their phones outside of class time as tools so they can find friends at lunch, arrange pickup, or find out about changes to afterchool sports or clubs. This is a tool that actually supports in-person social activity. Also, some students have jobs or challenging life situations that require these tools. Parents also need to be able to reach their children. While I understand the concern about too much cell phone use, I believe that could be handled with dialogue with students and a curriculum around digital literacy. The school is correct to have a say over what happens in instructional time, but outside of that time is the realm of families and students. Thank you.

Thank you. And our last speaker is anonymous anonymous. You can go ahead and unmute yourself and share your comment.

Um, hi there. I didn't mean to join as anonymous. Uh my name is Hillilary Kilumnick. I'm a parent of a current um eighth grader at King Middle School, an 11th grader at Berkeley High School, and a recent Berkeley High graduate. And I'm here tonight to urge the school board to reconsider the current cell phone policy proposal. Um I appreciate the effort to address phone use during instructional time, but the policy does not go far enough. Um it puts too much um burden on the teachers and leaves too much room for variability between the classes. Um my son who graduated last spring was allowed to use his cell phone in a number of classes throughout his time at Berkeley High as long as he finished with an assignment and there was extra class time left over. This encourages kids to rush through their work to get back to their phone, undermining the very learning we want to support. Um, I respectfully ask this board to adopt a stronger policy that keeps phones off and away for all students from bell to bell. This would provide clear, consistent support for our children's learning environment while allowing for reasonable exceptions and sight specific adaptations as needed.

Thank you so much. We appreciate your comment. That concludes our public comments for this evening. Thank you everyone. And I'm going to turn it over, I believe, to my colleague, President Chang, who has just arrived.

Thank you so much, uh, Vice President Korin. Uh, you did a great job. I was relaxing in the back there. Such a different view. Um, so we're going to move on to committee comments. Um, each committee will have five minutes to address the board. Are there any committees here to speak? Not hearing any. Seeing any. No committees. All right. How about union comments? Erun has Matt Matt Myers of the BFT is here.

Hello, Superintendent Ford Morelm and the Berkeley School Board Directors. I'm Matt Meyer, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers. I'd like to start off by taking some time to celebrate the work of our educators. In last week's A+ news titled four years of Ford momentum, Superintendent Ford Murth reported the newly released California assessment of student performance and progress. Not only did our students experience less of a pandemic slide compared with our neighbors, we have seen positive growth in student outcomes every year since 2022. The results demonstrate that more of our Berkeley students are meeting or exceeding grade level proficiency, which highlights the work of our educators have done these past three years. Our students continue to exceed the county and state results by wide margins. The November newsletter also discussed the power of participation and stated by showing up and giving their best effort, students help ensure that um the progress of themselves, their school and district is fully represented. Educators are side by side with students showing up to work and giving their best in the classroom. Our educators are professionals and continue to take this work seriously, including implementing the new elementary literacy curriculum, which included a total revamp of instructional methods. These gains depend on BUSD being able to continue to hire great teachers and support staff, as well as keep the staff we have spent time and dollars training. We know of too many young educators who recently earned a teaching credential come to the conclusion that one can't afford to do this essential work in an expensive place like Berkeley. We lose these teachers to not just other districts but to the profession. We also know many educators who have taught in DSD for longer and want to continue to work here because they love this community. These teachers play a key role in being induction coaches, mentors, and have wellestablished relationships with families year after year. Our schools would become

dysfunctional without their leadership and experience. Many also question at this point in their careers if working here makes financial sense. So, as we celebrate the last four years of student performance exceeding the county and state results, we also need to remember that right now our educators are below in total compensation between 3.2 and 7.7% compared to neighboring districts. These numbers are deceiving because they do not reflect our out-ofpocket pay for health care, which reduces actual disposable income. Let us remember that when looking at comparative districts, Berkeley ranges from dead last to below average depending on step and column. Let us remember that many educators do not have proper credentials and our interns are on emergency permits. We need to increase compensation to attract candidates to our district who are properly credentialed for our students. The district cannot continue to scramble in August and September to fill positions. We recognize that this takes time to realign priorities when it comes to spending. We do not accept this as an excuse, though, but a call for action. Our spending on non-public schools and non-public agencies is almost three times the average spending of districts in our county and six times the average spending of districts in our county that are the same size as BUSD. This is unsustainable and one of the reasons BUSD has not been able to offer competitive salaries. The USD needs vision and a plan to reign in costs to to make ongoing investments in our workforce, which is really an investment in our students. As you can see from the hundreds of emails you received over the past 2 days, our educators have been eagerly waiting to hear from the district what BUD believes that investment entails. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Do we have other union comments? I'm not seeing any. Uh, moving on to board member comments. Which of our board members would like to go first? Okay. Director Schnowski.

Hi, good evening. Uh, I'll be brief. Uh, I also want to acknowledge tomorrow as trans um remembrance and resilience day. Um, you stole my stole my thunder there, superintendent. Um, I also want to thank all of the educators and parents and caregivers who reached out to us about settling a fair contract. Um, something that I support and um, appreciate the advocacy around and I look forward to our conversation about the cell phone policy later this evening. Thanks. Thank you so much. Um, Dr. Schnazi, who would like to go next?

A student. Yes, of course. I'm sorry. We should have had you go first. Thank you so much. Would you like to go? Great.

Okay. Thank you to everyone who came to give public comments. My name is Nina Camarino and I'm a senior at BTE. I'm so honored to be a co-chool rep along with Korea. I'm an active participant in leadership at our school and I'm part of the school site council. I hope to serve my school by advocating for our needs. Tonight, I just have a few quick updates. We're hosting our annual resource fair and Friendsgiving tomorrow and we're really looking forward to the turnout. We also just wrapped up a multi-week career workshop with Rising Sun, which is a program which prepares you for union construction trades, which went really well. And finally, our Growing Leaders program continues to teach students culinary skills and serve the community through our site's food pantry. Be sure to visit the Growing Leaders website to try our amazing meals made by our classmates. Thank you. Thanks so much. Uh, director,

hi. Uh, thank you so much to everyone who came out tonight. So, I wanted to thank our student for plugging growing leaders. It is really an amazing program. If you have not yet purchased a meal there, please do. Um, I wanted to thank everyone who came to give public comment about our cell phone policy, I retention and compensation, the district's after care program, and fair contracts for our workers. I also love I think there was a parent here that said this is my first schoolboard meeting. Please don't let it be your last. Come come come often because I love we're here to serve you. So, um please, you know, if you can dial in over the phone, but let us know how we're doing and and um I hope it's not your last. Um as a parent of adolescence, a lot of your comments about the dangers of, you know, addiction on cell phone use, mental health, all of that really resonates with me. Serving on the policy committee, I can tell you this discussion has been going on for a year. Um, so it's something and I know the superintendent is going to go I'm not going to steal your thunder, superintendent. I know you're going to go into more detail. Um, but it's something that, you know, we're really looking at thoughtfully. The staff has been incredibly thoughtful about how they've approached this. They've looked at best practices from other districts. So, it's not something that's been done lightly. Um, but your advocacy is definitely helpful in pushing us to to get to a better version of the policy. But as we've said in the policy committee, the policy is one thing, the implementation is another. And I know the superintendent is going to go more into detail with that. But something I wish I had this attendance at the policy committee. I never get this many many people. But in that committee um something if you had been coming to those meetings you you would have know noticed that I have actually been echoing very strongly for a public forum so we can discuss implementation because I think that's where the rubber hit the hits the road. The districts that have done this really well particularly at the high school level. I hear the comments about a ban. It takes staffing to implement that right. So that's a real discussion. Like it the people that have done it well have hired people to go and monitor this, right? So, that's a discussion and that's a budgetary line item. There's a lot of complexities that go with that. And so, I really hope you

come to the forum. Superintendent, I'm not stealing your thunder. I know you're going to drop the details in your presentation. Um, but stay for that if you're not able to stay for the for the rest of the presentation. Watch it at home. They're recorded, but please attend that forum, too, because I think that is a very important part of the discussion, particularly for the nuances having to do with the high schoolers. Other than that, I just want to quickly um announce that we am very excited that the district was awarded the AsianPacific Islander School Board Members Association Ethnic Studies Champion Grant. Can we get a a big applause for that? Um this is from an organization called AppSemo that um is led by Asian Pacific Islander schoolboard directors throughout the state. So, Director Ching and I will be at the conference at the California Schoolboard Association conference to accept BUSD's recognition, but we're there um and we want to make sure that we acknowledge the hard work of our ethnic studies teachers, especially Joto Gates and Hazmic Manasian. And so, want to make sure um that we acknowledge the work of everyone who goes into implementing our amazing ethnic studies work in this district. And with that, I'm very much looking forward to the superintendent's presentation and um to the forum in December and hope you will attend it as well. Thanks. Thank you so much. Um, next on up, Vice President K.

It's always a bad idea to go towards the end because everybody's already said everything. Um, so I'm just going to quickly echo a few things. One is that I really want to stamp the superintendent's exciting news about the recently released California dashboard dashboard results and our students achievement and growth. It's really a huge deal to be to be in the blue. um and to not have any of our student groups in the red. Um and I I'm really proud and really grateful to all the educators and who who have made that happen. Um yeah, that deserves another round of applause. We're working on it. I promise. Um, I also want to echo the comments about um, transgender day of remembrance and I want to say how proud I am to work for or to be serve on the school board of a district that is really dedicated to um, protecting and supporting our transgender students and families. Um, I serve on the G-Shack committee, the gender equity and sexual harm advisory committee, and particularly the gender equity subcommittee of that group, which um is a a lot of families who are really scared and really looking to us to protect their transgender children in a really challenging time for their families. And again, I'm just I'm really proud of of the work that we're doing in this district to be welcoming and inclusive for all of our kids and families. Um, I was so excited to hear Growing Leaders shout it out twice. Um, I believe they're serving Japanese curry tomorrow. I don't know if there's any meals still available, but Growing Leaders is the best Thursday night meal in town. um you order in advance and then you go pick up your dinner at Willard and it's so good and it supports these amazing programs

at BTech and Willard. Um and what else do I want to say? I I also am looking forward to our discussion of the mobile device policy and I think I'm going to save all my comments and questions about that for that actual discussion. Um, I hope that all students, staff, and families have a restful and nourishing week off next week. And the last thing I want to say is that tomorrow night at Berkeley High School is going to be the first ever swing night. Um, spawn, it's tomorrow, and the the dance students, I believe, are going to be teaching us to swing dance while the jazz students are going to be playing swing music. And it's all happening in the gym at Berkeley High tomorrow night. And I believe it's open to the community, so come dance with me tomorrow night.

Wow, that's exciting. I'm pretty sure I've been encouraged to invite anybody and everybody.

Um, thanks uh board directors um and members of the public for bringing your hearts and mind. Again, as you as you can see, um Berkeley is a really unique place and we really value Berkeley values and local control at a time when there is a lot of um strife at the national level and challenges with um uh local school district values. Um, so I want to echo other school board members uh comments on on um uh recognition of trans trans day as well. And um and also uh again reflecting Berkeley values um reflect how important it is that here in Berkeley we have an ethnic studies program. We've had an ethnic studies for program for decades. Um it's very uh critically done and it's uh one of the best if not the best in the nation. Um and it's being recognized by the California School Board Association for PISBA for that reason. Um so uh thanks to those folks who are involved in it and are engaging on this controversial issue which is not easy to do. Um and again uh we have a holiday coming up around the corner. a major family holiday. Um it's such an important time uh to have gratitude about um you know what we have and our family and our friends and this amazing community that we have. So I want to say I have gratitude for you uh as a community and for coming to this board. Um so next on up um we have the consent calendar. So it is now time to approve the consent calendar.

Yeah. President Chang, we have a tradition here in Berkeley to recognize um elected officials both past and present. And I don't have my glasses on, but I think I see our former school board director, Evelyn Vasquez, here. And so I just wanted to recognize you. Can you just stand up and and wave? We talk about our diverse student body, academic excellence, and positive contributions. And Evelyn made a contribution to our district when she was on the DEAS, and I'm sure is doing wonderful and amazing things off the D. So I just wanted to greet you and welcome you because you deserve it. Elected official. So nice to have you here. Um, so we I think we have I would like to pull item 1316 from the consent calendar.

1316. Okay. Yeah. And then I'm happy to move uh the rest of the consent calendar. Okay. Do you want a second? I'll second. Okay. So that's 13.16 um uh moved off the consent calendar. Um do we have the eyes for approving the rest of the consent calendar? I the rest Yeah, the rest I I I unanimous. Um thank you. Where would you like to move 13.62? We can move it to immediately after if that's the will of the board or immediately after.

Right. I I was going to say right now like immediately after the consent calendar or we can move it after the discussion and action items. I would rather move it to the end of the meeting. Yeah, let's do it that way. We have so many people interested in the cell phone policy. Exactly. Good. Good plan. Good plan. Um all right. Uh so so moved. Fair.

Fair. That's fair. Um all right. Discussion item uh 14.1. Um, we have an update on the children's youth behavioral health initiative. I'm going to turn it over to Associate Superintendent Huggen Dyke and rest of the team. Um, Is sound working?

Testing. Okay, I can hear you. Can we start?

Okay. Uh, good evening, governing board, superintendent, and community. Thank you for allowing us to present to you tonight an update on the children's youth behavioral health initiative and our progress on implementing a fee schedule reimbursement design. Next slide. Okay, so this next slide again we we always uh begin with our B USD mission but on this particular slide we also added our student services uh mission for you as well. Okay, next slide. All right. So, the outcomes for tonight's presentation are to provide an overview of the children's youth behavioral health initiative and California's statewide multi-payer fee schedule for school link behavioral health services and to share BUSD's year 1 deliverables and our progress to date.

All right. Um and uh before we get started um with the content, we just wanted to anchor this presentation in the context of our district's uh goals and actions. So on the left hand side there you see our five LCAP goals. One of which is wellness and belonging and on the right hand side our B USD strategic pillars also um calling out wellness and belonging which is an area of focus that we hear um as we go through the LCAP development process but also as part of our BUSD mental health needs assessment themes. B USD conducted a mental health needs assessment in 2022 that identified these four themes that you see in the middle of this slide. Um those themes are the creation and sustainability of a diversity informed environment, equitable distribution of resources and services really with regard to supporting mental health services at our schools. development and support of district-wide protocols, policies, and processes, and focus on student well-being and prevention. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Rosina Karen. Thank you. And hi, friends. So, next slide, please. So the children youth behavioral health initiative is an outcome of a collaborative effort involving the state department of health, private insurance providers, the department of education and the California school counselor association. The California youth behavioral health initiative, also known as the fee schedule, is a long-term initiative with a sustainable funding model. The fee schedule is specifically designed to provide an ongoing source of reimbursement for behavioral health services in our schools. Next slide, please.

So, as you can see in this graphic, the CYBHI fee fee schedule is the system that allows our district and other districts to work with the Alama County Office of Education Alama County network to draw sustainable shared funding from both medical and commercial health plans for student mental health services. we will be able to build directly for our staff services and our community-based organization work. Next slide, please. Um, so we chose to align with ACOE as our consortium for this effort and we are one of nine local districts working with ACE as our mechanism to access these funds. Next slide. And this slide has a linked video about the fee schedule. It's very short, 2 minutes with a general overview of the program and we encourage everyone to watch it. And now I'll um pass it along to Dorene who will share more details with you. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening. Um this next slide that we have projected is a slide that just provides an overview of the types of behavioral health services that exist in BUSD at our school sites. So, brief counseling, support groups, executive function support, and mental health supports are all service types that we would see enacted and do see enacted at all of the schooling levels um here in BUSD. Next slide. This slide here is just a sample to um articulate and make concrete the types of providers that are approved and described in this initiative for fee reimbursement. So, for example, school-based providers include our employees who are credentialed folks with PPS credentials and sample of those titled roles would be counselors, social workers, school psychologists. The state also has approved certified wellness coach roles and people who are certified wellness coaches, you would see them working inside wellness centers um and they might be a care navigator as well. The next two sample providers include mental health practitioners and these are people who are licensed practitioners and we would see those folks um providing direct services to our students largely through community- based partnerships and uh the high school wellness centers. Next slide. This graphic here is a representation of the providers and services that exist in our school district currently. So you can see that in the center we have B USD student services, the four types of

services that I mentioned a few slides ago. And then if you take a look around the perimeter of this graphic, you'll see that the high schools are represented. You'll see the high school health center with arrows that indicate the high school health centers practitioners serve the high schools. There are also wellness centers at the high schools. Over on the right side, you'll see the adult school, elementary schools, and middle schools represented and a host of community partnerships that we have who provide services at the elementary and middle school sites. And up at the right, we couldn't forget our county office of education partner. They are working directly with us in the student services department. They provide infrastructure support, training and PD for our practitioners. Next slide. So here I'm not going to go through every example listed um but I am going to go through one that would be really easy for us to understand the way in which there are set rates and reimbursible services that will um be happening as we implement. So let's take a look at that first row. Um, in the yellow column, we can understand that there are variety of ways that we identify students needs in our district. And counselors in that top row, they get referrals for a student need in a variety of ways. when that school counselor determines that an SST needs to be facilitated and then arranges that, prepares for that, manages that case and facilitates the SST, that's an approved activity that aligns with a set rate that we get emb reimbursed for. So there's a code that matches with that SST intervention and support that's being provided for the student. And eventually

after the bill gets submitted, there's reimbursement. Next slide. So we wanted to make sure that we shared what our year 1 deliverables were. And we have three year 1 deliverables. first operationalize the required infrastructure within BUSD central office systems that we need to launch this billing. We are going to start billing and receive reimbursement for MTMDSS aligned direct services. That's a long acronym and it's multi-tiered multi-dommain student services. And the last deliverable is to generate revenue for this fee schedule with our aligned services. And our target is $200 to $250,000 as we launch. Next slide. All right. And one more graphic to think about. Okay, we're going to launch. We know there are providers and there are um activity services for our students and what are our phases? And so we're really designated phases based on who our providers are and the readiness of our system. The first group of people you'll hear who begin um to submit activities for billing reimbursement will be high school counselors and wellness coaches. Second phase to come online would be community partners and middle school counselors. And the third phase op and miscellaneous specialty positions. Next slide. think that turned back over to Jill.

Yep. Um so as we wrap up our presentation, um I do want to acknowledge the work of Dorene and Rosina. You see here, they have been doing um the lion share of this assessment of our current behavioral mental health uh ecosystem um and understanding the places that uh would be possible for reimbursement. they um have started to conduct uh counselor trainings where initial focus as you saw in that last slide um with our high schools and they're really trying to apply our continuous improvement lens of what works with this process, what has been a challenge and then how do we make it easier. Um we've also initiated um conversations with our labor partners um about this work. So, um, coming up you can see a number of things that are on deck as we turn our attention to this next semester. Um, really thinking about how we utilize, um, our existing systems, um, for consent and notification with families. Um, we are working with legal to review forms and some of the network designs as we're going to be collecting information from families to participate um, in these services. Um, and we're aiming to start billing in January. that's like the target date um for initial billing. Um and then we will turn our attention to some of that infrastructure to support the work ongoing. Um and then finally on the last slide we have included a couple of links again with additional information um about CYBHI um you can see the link there for um the video that Rosena mentioned earlier. And then for those people who are curious about the mental health needs assess assessment, we did have a board presentation uh back in uh 2023. Um but the report is also linked there. And with that, we'll take any questions.

Board members questions. Dr. Schnowski,

just a quick comment and then a question. First, I want to thank you and I'm so excited. We we had a lot of money and a lot of attention going towards mental health during COVID and as usual in education. It's like there's new issues coming up and so funding um often decreases with that and so I'm really grateful for ACOE's leadership and I'm really grateful that we are part of this early adopter cohort to get this done. Um, my question is about federal cuts to Medicaid and how that might impact some of the anticipated revenue that we'll get and therefore some of the programs that we're offering. So, none of us know exactly what's coming in the future, but what I can say is this is state funding. So, it's California initiative. The um children, youth and behavioral health initiative is a multi-tiered kind of whole system net to support our children and this is one piece of it and it's it's state funding.

Thank you. Super helpful. Any other questions board members?

Yeah, I have um sort of a related question. Um, I'm wondering about undocumented students and families and access to services and whether there are any barriers here around having to prove eligibility or not or Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for asking that question. So, one thing that we'll make sure is part of communication is that students, regardless of whether or not there's a barrier to having their medical information, we're getting reimbursement, will not be denied services. So, all of the services we already apply to our students will remain the same.

Thank you. Other director's questions. Um, just a quick follow-up question. How is that going to be communicated to families?

It's part of the communications. We're going to be really thoughtful and careful. It's why um we're starting with just an update to the board about the program in general and in the future we will be sharing those details communicated. There are existing details that the state has iterated and the county onformational brochures. those will be included in our FAQ which will come online um soon and so families will see not just our district communication about it but also see that it's in the state level documentation and brochures as well as county

and one other followup question and then I'll stop direct are those um FAQs going to be multilingual will they be in Spanish and Arabic and other languages great yes yes they'll be multilingual and sorry about the the brain pause right there. Um, and the FAQs currently also have the brochures in between five to seven different languages that the state and counties already made accessible. Yes. Thank you so much for your hard work on this. One final question. Can you really quickly refresh our memory on multi-ter multi-dommains?

Yes. So the reason uh the acronym multi-ter multi-dommain is a an acronym that's used largely in counseling world school counseling and it's it's so that we remember that the there are multiple domains tiered uh when we talk about tiered one two and three people usually just think about a classroom and so multi-dommain is the key academic social emotional behavioral and there are tiers in all of those domains that we're addressing. Great. Thank you so much. Great explanation. Um I if there's no other questions, I think we're moving on to the next item. Thank you so much. Thanks for your time. Uh great presentation.

We are on to D 15.1. The superintendent so excited for it. 11. I do not blind.

Good evening, board of directors and members of the public. Good evening.

I'm happy because many of the members of the public stayed. I hope those that had to leave um are able to join us in the hybrid format or again remember that this uh presentation as is all the presentations of our board meetings um going to be recorded and posted on our website. So I am Enikia Forel the proud superintendent of Berkeley and I am sitting here with See you can be both. I'm sitting here with uh Yasmina Vidishek who's our civil rights and compliance officer, also known as our title nine uh coordinator for the district. Um and so we are happy to be able to sit before you all and engage you all in the discussion about our policy on mobile communication devices in schools and our committed commitment together to create a safe and focused learning environment. Next slide, please. I'm sorry. I thought I had a clicker. Uh we always ground ourselves in our district's mission, which is to enable and inspire our diverse student body to achieve academic excellence and make positive contributions to the world. Um and we recognize that um there's a there's a lot of concern um a lot of feedback and input around how mobile devices might interfere with our ability to do just that. Um and so we are here this afternoon or this evening to do a couple of things. We want to provide background and timeline for the BUSD mobile communication devices policy. We want to share data and research that has informed the current policy and our recommended amendments. We would like to present proposed amendments to the board of education for that BUSD mobile communications device policy. Um and then highlight opportunities to engage in implementation of the policy as a community initiative. Um you heard uh director Vasuv say there's a big difference between policy and um the implementation and enforcement of a policy. And so tonight we're just presenting you the policy really clear and aware that there is still going to be a lot of work ahead of us that is going to require thoughtful engagement um and planning and possibly some piloting around the implementation and enforcement of the policy. Next slide

please. So we're going to take you way back uh pre2024. Um before 2024 uh BUD had a policy called policy 5131. Um and that policy was possession of electronic signaling devices. We've already dated ourselves by that title, electronic signaling devices. And that particular policy um wasn't known by many, but it it existed. And it said that students may possess or use electronic signaling devices provided that such devices do not disrupt the educational program or school activity and that these devices should be turned off during class time and at any other time directed by a district employee. Um that policy also uh said that no students shall be prohibited from possessing or using an electronic signaling device that is determined by a licensed physician or surgeon to be essential for the students health. Next slide, please. Um, in 2024, actually, just last year, it was actually Berkeley families who said that that particular policy um was not good enough, that they wanted us to really think about how we can uh change and revise that policy to be more clear and to make sure it's more relevant to our current times. Um staff in response to that engaged with some of those families um in the form of parent meetings and office hours. um many of the times it was with staff and board directors and then the B USD policy subcommittee came together and drafted a new policy called policy 5131.8 mobile communications devices that policy was informed by um some sample policies that um we got from the California Schoolboard Association CSBA um is a really known entity that many districts across uh the state work with and oftentimes are a reference and a resource when districts are drafting policies. We also looked at um what we

were anticipating to come from AB3216. Looked at that language. Um and we wanted to make sure that we had a policy that was actually realistic and can be enforced. That was the main thing that we wanted to make sure of. Um because we know that there are tons of policies um and many of them sit on shelves or many of them like our um previous policy on electronic signaling devices no one knew about and therefore they weren't really happening in practice nor were they able to be implemented or enforced. And so the um right side of this slide shows you the timeline. Uh the policy subcommittee met in June of 2024 to do a first review and conversation about our new mobile communication devices policy. The committee met again in October of 24 for a second review. Um and then we brought it to the school board as a whole in October 24 again for what we call the first reading. Um the school board um actually adopted that policy um in November of 2024. While that was happening, um there was the adoption of California AB 3216. That happened in September. And so even though that was in September and we were in November adopting our policy, we had had some insights about what AB 3216 would say and what it would expect. And we tried our best again to incorporate into that into the policy that was adopted by the board um on November 6. Next slide, please. I'm mindful that everyone is not well verssed on California uh policies and laws. also wanted to pause for a minute a minute to let you all know and understand what Assembly Bill 3216 says. It is the phone free schools act and it was coming from a from a you know a time or even now where a lot of legislators recognize that phones and um electronic devices can really interfere with the educational mission of schools. Um we want to make sure our babies are ready for academic excellence. And so there was a lot of conversations about how and you heard it in public comments as well um how um electronic devices can actually lower pupil performance

particularly among lower per achieving peoples and promote cyber bullying and contribute to an increase in teenage anxiety, depression and suicide. So, in response to that knowledge and awareness, um California said that every school uh district must by July 1st, 2026 develop and adopt a policy to limit or prohibit pupil use of smartphones while on campus or under the supervision control of school employees. Remember, this is by July 1st, 2026. Uh Berkeley Unifi adopted its cell phone policy on November 2024. Um the uh AB3216 also calls out that there are specific exceptions um under which a pupil may still possess or use a smartphone during school time. Um and that is in case of an emergency or perceived threat of danger, when a teacher or administrator grants permission for use with any reasonable limitations, when a licensed physician determines use is necessary for the pupil's health or well-being, and when possession or use is required in a pupil's individualized education program or IEP. Um, Assembly Bill 3216 was amended to be cow ed code 48901.7. The assembly bill and the egg code also says the policy must be updated at least every 5 years. So, bringing you back to BUSD. Um, and the policy that we presented to the board and that was adopted in November. The language is before you here on this screen. I want to call out the language in that policy. It was definitely an improvement from when we had electronic signaling devices. Um, but we knew that there was still work to be done. What that particular policy called out was that our students across grade levels could not use uh their smartphones, their watches, or their pagers.

I think you I think you're on the wrong slide. Oh, next slide, please.

Oh, thank you. I was like, no, I'm not. Yes, thank you. Uh so our policy said that uh they cannot use any of those devices again including pagers. I love that one. Uh on campus during non-instructional time um as long as the device is utilized in accordance with the law and any rules that individual school sites may pose. So I'm sorry they said that we that students can use them as long as they met that criteria. It also said that mobile communication devices shall be turned off during instructional times. And it said the students shall not be prohibited from possessing or using a mobile communication device under any of the following circumstances. And again, those circumstances were similar to what was said in AB3216. So again, that was the policy that B USD adopted in November of 2024. So last year, um, in March of 2025, CSBA came out. Again, CSBA is that is that organization that many districts uh look to for guidance on their policies. And so in March 2025, CSBA came out with updates for their sample policy that was based on and better informed by um AB3216, which had now passed. Those updates said that the policy updated needs to be updated to add options which offer different approaches to regulating the use of smartphones and other mobile devices. And it also said the policy must clarify language related to the search of a student's personal electronic device. If you recall the the board policy I just read to you, we did not have um specific language about the search of students personal electronic devices and we had not fully taken advantage of the opportunity to differentiate um across grade levels. And so with this particular update, the district had an opportunity to further differentiate and restrict cell phone use based on grade level. In October of this year, go back, sorry. Um, we again met with the policy subcommittee to discuss possible changes and updates to our policy. So again, the policy was already in place and passed. We're now talking about amendments or

enhancements to the policy. And then on uh October 15th, we brought it to the school board for what we call the first read. Next slide, please. Again, we're going to do a freeze frame because I want to pause and recognize that not everyone knows what a first reading is or or how BUSD and other school districts adopt board policies. So, I wanted to take a minute to explain that. It's here on the screen. Um, but this the summarized nutshell version is that policies first go to the policy subcommittee. The policy subcommittee is made up of two of our board members as well as staff. Um these are public meetings and these u meeting agendas are um posted and there's opportunity for public comments. And so in collaboration with staff and informed by data, community input um as well as um other draft policies and samples um that policy committee sits and talks about what revisions um might be necessary or in the case of many of our policies, what should the policy say to start a policy from scratch. This draft is then brought to the board of education as a first read. You can think of a first read as kind like a preview, if you will, but it's an opportunity for the entire board to now look at the policy and weigh in and get feedback and again for the public to engage hear public comments. Um, I think of it, um, again as a preview, but it's really the first read as an opportunity for a discussion. After the first read, um, a number of things can happen. Um, and oftentimes what happens is that the policy comes back to the subcommittee. Um because oftentimes during the first read, which is also the what happened in this particular first read, a board director might give additional information or direction or ask some questions that they want the sub um committee or the staff to explore. In this case, um I apologize, I can't remember which board director it was, but there was definitely some um clear direction for the policy subcommittee to think about how we might be able to differentiate further um across grade levels and grade spans. And so again, the policy came back to the subcommittee where there was

another series of robust discussions to figure out how we might do so. Um, and we are here in front of you this evening with what we call the second read. Um, oftentimes people think about the second read as the decision, right? And and oftentimes it is the time for board to take action. But we want to remind folks um that this action um or the decision that is made by the board does not have to be approve or reject. it could be that the board is not ready to make a decision and instead wants to engage in more discussion um as they do for the first read. And so I wanted to make sure that the members of the public are clear about that process. Um this is the board's uh public opportunity to do business. This is your public business meeting. And so it's not about you saying yes and no to everything. It's about really you engaging with staff and community around the things that you are thinking and the things that you are using to inform the decisions that you make. out of freeze frame and back to the policy. And so now showing you all the policy that we brought forth to the board uh for first reading in October. Um notice that this policy says proposed amendments because this was the first time that the board um and the public saw the results of that um sub that policy subcommittee. Hopefully you notice a couple differences. um we had added what AB3216 said we had to add which was making sure we have um some protocols for um seizing if you will devices and so it says the superintendent or designate may undertake measures or strategies in accordance with law to limit student access to smartphones and other mobile communication devices. A student's personal electronic device shall not be searched without the consent of the student or students parent guardian except in the circumstances that are laid out before you. Um again that was us complying with AB3216 clarification and then us trying to take into account the the um the differentiation or the opportunity to differentiate. We had um our policy said that smartphones and mobile device communication devices shall be turned off during instructional time at all grade levels. Smartphones

shall be turned off during the entire school day in preschool through fifth grade and smartphones shall be turned off during the instructional time or during instructional times for 6th through 12th grade. So again, um during instructional time, we wanted the phones off. For our elementary students, we said it needs to be off all day, instructional or non-instructional. And then for our secondary students, 6 through 12, we said that it should be off during the instructional time only, which meant the students were allowed to use it during passing periods, recess, lunch, etc. Next slide. I want to be clear that when we bring uh policies to first reading, even though again it's oftentimes after much uh robust conversation, um that first read does not mean that we're satisfied or settled with what we're presenting. Um and so even we brought that first read to the board in October, we were still grappling with with several outstanding questions. And one of those outstanding questions really was um and this is no offense to middle schoolers, we were like, what are we going to do with the middle schoolers? We recognize that middle school was a, you know, relatively unique stage of development that they sit at the intersection of two very different developmental in instructional environments. They're beginning to develop independence and they want more autonomy. And at the same time, many are still young enough to struggle with impulse control, self-regulation, etc. And so though we brought uh the the first reading to the board and it it clearly grouped middle school and high school together as secondary. This is what we were grappling with um both at sub policy committee and when we brought it before you. Next slide please. We also uh brought it for first reading knowing we wanted to know and needed to know a little bit more about the current student mobile use in BUSD. Um we wanted to understand uh the big issues or even understand if phones were a big issue in our schools. um how often and when students use their phone, um what the views were on current school policies, as well as what approaches they believe are reasonable and manageable. We surveyed 1,600 plus of our high school

students. We also surveyed 1,200 plus of our middle school students. We surveyed and got responses for from 250 plus of our teachers and we surveyed our school administrators, both principles and assistant principles with 20 plus responses. I'm going to pause now for you to hear from Yasmina. um to to get a sense of what those survey results told us and how um those survey results inform the further amendment that we're bringing before you this evening. I also do want to There you go. There you go. You're good.

How about now? Yes. Okay. Um, I also do want to recognize that 1,600 um, survey results for our students and our middle schoolers is more than 50%. So, um, it was a very good turnout and we're very proud of that. Um, I'm going to start with elementary. I know that elementary is not contentious as much. Um, but I do want to recognize that uh, we did get a response. And so for the elementary schools, the responses were from our principles and our vice principles and our teachers. Um and so everyone was in agreement luckily um that all elementary schools uh have a same policy which is bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools. Um of the staff members and principles that were surveyed uh almost 80% of them stated that cell phones are currently not a major challenge in the elementary school level. So this is on a scale of 1 to five level one and two. Um, and if issues do arise, uh, they are resolved through brief conversations with students and parents. What came out of the elementary school survey, um, is what's going to inform some of our amendments that you're that you will hear later, and that is that smartwatches are actually becoming uh, a bigger concern than traditional cell phones. So, we have students that are not bringing cell phones to school, but are coming to school with tracking devices and Apple watches. Um, and then that there is always some confusion that arises when parents give very different instructions that conflict school rules. And a couple of examples that came up was no schools, no phones in school. However, the students are saying, "But I need to answer if my mom calls." Um, and so the recommendation that came from teachers and from our principles in elementary school level said that cell phones should be off school during the school day as they are in airplane mode. um and that the calls home obviously can be managed through the office just like

we used to do it when we were all young. Um they also recommend that parents and student that we as the district engage in more education for both our parents and students on cell phone use as well as parent controls um and age appropriate policies and practices with um with students. Next slide please. Um, so for our ele uh middle school respondents, this slide I'm going to talk about, this is only going to be our principles, vice principles, and our teachers. So this is the adult perspective of the middle school um survey. Uh the respondents were in agreement that middle schools report having a practice of strictly prohibiting cell phones during school hours. 50% of the respondents, so this very different than 80% in elementary schools, stated that cell phones are actually a major challenge in their everyday work. Um the our respondents stated that there's inconsistent enforcement by adults which confuses the students and also creates resentment towards stricter teachers, right? Um, students are also non-compliant with the policy and they find sneaky ways in which they can actually use their mobile devices when they do have them with them under the table or earbuds. Another thing that came up is again smartwatches and headphones are emerging as a major loophole to the phone free schools. Um the teachers also reported the constant monitoring is exhausting and is significantly cutting into instructional minutes. Um because as one distinction is we can sit here and we can propose a policy and we can adopt a policy but it it the burden of of implementation is actually on our classroom teachers predominantly because they're the ones that are in the class and they have to observe 20 plus kids and their behaviors. Um they also identified again that

sometimes there is um an issue of parents that do not support or actively undermine policy which means that they text their students during the school day or object to confiscation of cell phones when the administrators do get involved. The recommendation is that there should be a clear, equitable, and cons consistently enforced school or district-wide policy with strong admin and family buyin. Um, and that there should be some form of a physical system to keep phones inaccessible. There was a lot of discussion in the survey around yonder pouches and there was a divided um opinion as to whether they're an effective tool or not effective tool because as you know we have very smart students that can go around the yonder pouch. Um and then also they called for strateg strategies around bathroom and unstructured spaces where misuse usually occurs at middle school level. And as well a call for parents to agree at registration and acknowledge the school policy and help the educators enforce that policy within the school. Next slide, please. And now our babies and what they thought um about the survey. I do have to say um that their responses were very thoughtful and eloquent and I really enjoyed um reading them. But positive good news at least um is that about 32% of our middle schoolers do not have a cell phone. And this is uh very good. And then another 32 little and another 32% do do not report that they do not use their phone um a at school. So the issues that the students identified as something that is that they see with using their phones in school or having used phones at school is that the phones distract from

learning. They include games, Tik Tok, YouTube, texting in class halls, bathrooms during PE, lunch, and passing. Students that report that other students often sneak phones, especially in the bathrooms, and enforcement feels inconsistent, and phones are um enable or tempt cheating. Phones also fuel drama, cyber bullying, mean group chats, rumors, and non-consentual photos and videos. Um, also some students report that not having a phone makes them feel left out because they're missing out on the group chats. Many worry that not that not having a phone in school. So, this is not directly to the phone, but not having the phone uh they would not be able to reach their parents during an emergency or they will use access to helpful tools such as calculators or bike directions. Their recommendations is that students in middle school would like to see often away during class but allowed at lunch, recess, and passing period because they see non-instructional time as their time. They ask for clear rules, consistent enforcement, and stepbased consequences, warning, confisc confiscation, and call home, not random harsh punishments. Many oppose a full ban because they need phones to contact family, handle emergencies, medical needs, and schedule changes and are okay going through but are okay going through the main office to make these calls. Next slide, please. So, our high school um the first part again is going to be our administrators and our teachers. Um and they were in agreement that the high school the current policy at the high school is that phones uh phone policies vary by classrooms and teachers. Um they identified that the biggest issue um with phones or biggest challenge is that

there's no clear consistent schoolwide policy and uneven follow through by staff and admin. uh teachers described that it's playing that cell phone playing cell phone whack-a-ole with minimal consequences and teachers feel that they are the only ones that are enforcing the rules. They also recognize that cell phones have a significant impact on our students that it is they're demonstrating chronic distraction and addiction-like behavior. Um they recognize that parents contact dur during the school day undermines the rules because they text their students and the students feel the need to respond to their parents. And then some parents refuse to in allow their students to turn in their phone if the classroom rule is to turn in the phone at the beginning of class. Students also use burner phones. So they will put a burner phone in the pouch but keep the actual phone with them. So now not only do they have access to two phones, they have access to multiple phones. Uh the recommendation that came from the high school is a uniform non-negotiable policy that applies in every class with clear expectations, escalation steps, and consequences handled by administrators, not just left to individual teachers. There needs to be a need for progressive discipline because taking away a phone every day for the entire school year is not going to dissuade students from continually bringing their phone. But also clear indication of who is going to come confiscate the phone, where is it going going to go and how it's going to be handled. There's also a need for parent buyin as well as campuswide consistency. Um, our high school students also recognize that uh phones are distracting and report having trouble focusing. Um, a a percentage of them has been accused

of cheating when their phones are in their hands. And a lot report conflict with teachers. Oh, sorry. Next slide, please. Thank you. Um, report conflicts with teachers such as losing points or being called out when texting parents or doing important personal work. and they feel that they're unfairly being judged, that they are off task. A smaller group also reports peer conflict, arguments, cyber bullying, group chat, drama, and recording without consent. A few would describe addition addiction and isolation. They say that it's harder to socialize. They report eye strains. Um, as well as friends who are always on their phones. Some note also that Berkeley High Wi-Fi is too weak or slow uh when phones are required for school work. Their recommendation is often away during class but allowed at lunch passing period before and after school. Many say that phones are needed for emergency, parent communication, medical needs, quick school related use. Lots of student mentioned phone pouches, phone hotels as workable in class solutions, especially if all teachers use them the same way. Um, or even try to tie their attendance or participation to the phone use, which is not technically legal. Many students argue that it is their responsibility to self-regulate, especially in high school. So, after looking Thank you. After looking at all of the survey results, and there's it's 3,000 surveys, so there's a lot more information in there. Um, we were grappling with a very kind of different considerations. On one side, we wanted to address the negative effects of cell phones that are very evident to all of us, including distraction and focus time. Um, and as well as uh a decrease in well-being and

mental health of our students. Um but also the ability to enforce a policy in a very large school of 3,000 students that it has an open campus and uh that is geographically large which makes it really hard to have a central location to store cell phones because you have to remember that we also have to allow students to have access to their cell phones in case of an emergency. Um, and then also if students are off-campus during lunch, this policy would not be enforcable because as you may be aware, our staff members are not off-campus uh during lunch. Um, as far as discipline and progressive discipline, schools actually cannot legally suspend students solely for uh using a phone or being in violation of the school phone policy. Could you go back? Thank you. Um, so that's another thing. So we have to figure out if you have a repeat offender in which ways that would be um managed. Um and then our high schoolers also brought some very legitimate reasons as to why they need their phones which is ability emergencies, their IEPs, medical uses, a lot of their calendars and class schedules and email communication with teachers and counselors and work schedules um are all on their cell phones. and they also use their cell phones to pay for their lunch. Um, so that they don't carry cash. Um, so that's kind of the considerations that we um took. We also looked at next slide please. We also did uh well, Anika met with um some of the superintendents in our neighboring districts, but we also looked at what policies are are uh being adopted or what practices are being adopted in the districts that are around us. And as you can see, it's a very much a mixed bag. Um, some uh some some school districts

are limiting based on grade level. Others are uh bringing a blanket policy uh that requires either yonder pouches or turning cell phones in in a physical location at the beginning of of the uh school day. And um but all in all, it's everyone is either limiting or prohibiting So after all of this, next slide.

Next slide please. Um we are bringing back to you now the November amendments November 25 proposed amendments to our policy. So in addition to the search and seizure as well as the ability of the superintendent to limit this the the cell phone use in our uh schools. Uh we realized that it was very important to define what mobile communication devices are and this would resolve the issue of loopholes in our schools where smartwatches and other internetbased tracking devices um go unchecked um because they're not a cell phone. So we included a definition um and then we based on the survey results we also changed the middle school association sort of um in order to ban cell phones from bellto in middle school just like we do in elementary school but allowing our high school students the opportunity to use their phones during lunchtime. Um I also do want to point out that in the actual policy which is attached there is a typo in this very crucial um uh part. So um read the slide don't read the word document. Um and that's it for me.

No that wasn't. You have the next one amendments. Yep. Yeah. Oh she didn't click. Click again. Oh one more. Sorry. There you go. One more. There you go. So we Yeah. After that, one more. You're going No, you're going wrong way. Other way. Other way. One more. There you go. Okay. So, we're back. Oh, go back one. Sorry. Go back. We We have a clicker. We just We don't know where.

It's not working. We don't know where. Uh so again, we're before you today uh for the second read, asking the board to take action um on policy 5138. 5131.8 mobile communication devices. Um, taking into considerations these additional amendments from staff, again, we've added options which offer different approaches to regulating the use of smartphones. We've also updated the policy to clarify language related to the search of a student's personal electronic device. We've expanded our definition of of electronic device. So, it's not just electronic signaling, but we also have included uh the watches, etc. that our that our survey um let us know needed to be included. Um, and we've actually differentiated the cell phone use limits based on grade level. Um, again, but actually making the spans a little different. Having smartphones and mobile communication devices turned off during the entire school day. Uh, for students in preschool through 8th grade. Again, another way to say that is the bellto bell, which I've heard say a lot this this evening. Um, and then for smartphones and mobile communications for our high school students, having those turned off during instructional time only um for 9th through 12th grade. Um before we ask the board to engage in a discussion, um we want to remind you all as directors as well as our our our um folks here who are in the audience and listening online that again this is the policy. What this does not spell out and what we still have a lot of work to do around is the implementation and the enforcement um of the policy. And so I wanted to again distinguish the two that as the board discusses and takes action um you are not going to be making decisions on yonder packs or uh the pockets on the walls or anything like that that has to be done but it's only done after there's some agreement and decision around what are our expectations um for cell phones and other mobile devices um on our school campuses. Next slide please. Um and finally I would be remiss Go back one please. Oh sorry go back that way. Yes, I would

be remiss if I didn't again um speak to uh the importance of partnership and collaboration with our the parents then partnership with the parents you are not

so again I cannot stress how important it is you we heard it over and over and over in the survey um I myself was a classroom teacher principal and now superintendent and so recognized just how important it is for us to have um collaboration and partnership with our families meaning that when we move towards implementation of a policy, we all have to be moving together because it's a collective responsibility. So again, you heard some of the survey results that said it's hard because the parent is still texting the child. I've been guilty of that myself quite honestly when I'm trying to reach my seventh grader and then forget like, oh no, you can't respond and she feels that pressure to respond or just when uh we confiscate phones or otherwise ask our students to do certain things with the phone and we have families who are saying no, don't do that. So, wanted to remind uh folks that we do not provide devices at school. I think every educator, myself included, would say, "Don't even buy them. Keep them at home. Keep them in your car when the kid gets out of gets um gets to school." And so, really excited to think about when we talk about implementation, it's not just about what happens once the babies get to campus with the phones, but also how we can partner with our parents and guardians before the students get to campus by first maybe saying, "Let's not get them phones." Or if they have phones, how do we keep them in the car? or we also um thought about and wanted to share that what we recognize from this whole process um many of our educators of course are are parents and guardians I myself am too and we've talked to many parents and guardians is that a lot of this is really about um wanting to better understand what we can do collectively to keep our babies safe um to make sure that they are not overly exposed to all the the ills and evils that you heard about in public comments that they are able to be social and in a relationship and in community authentically um and we know that just taking away the phone during an instructional day will not solve for that. And so we have been looking at and exploring ways that we could have um education sessions or information sessions for families around how to make sure that students engage in social media responsibly. If they have a phone, they use it responsibly, etc. So wanted to just name that as something that we also see on the horizon as we think

about implementation. Um, as you heard director Vasadev speak of, we are planning to have um an engagement webinar on December the 16th from 6:00 to 7:30 and that is all focused on implementing policy on mobile communication devices in schools. It will be open to our families and to our staff as well and to our students. though we are thinking about if we have a huge response um breaking those uh webinars up to have family ones, student ones and staff ones or just have a multiple series of them uh for those mixed groups. Next sl next slide please. And then again loud and clear we heard that families just wanted more resources and information. you heard um some studies that were quoted perhaps in public comments. And so um to the right of this screen, we do have some resources for families. And again, we are committed to building this out, not just in the form of our workshops or webinars, but also um making a dedicated web page on our website that has not just our policy, but again, ways that families can learn more about keeping our students safe um with these devices. We also the students did not want us to share this. Uh but even before a policy is implemented or before we even have clarity around what the implementation will look like, we wanted to tell families the the the kept secret that our students have besides how to have burner phones and all the things that they are really good at doing is that parents can actually um not only not buy the phone or not send them to school, but if you do for one reason or another, there are ways that you could actually set up limits on the phone use and um help us support healthy device use. you could actually pause or lock devices so that when the kids get to school, you can from your laptop or your device actually shut it down so they couldn't use it if they wanted to. Uh you can manage screen time and guide content choices. And so we're also going to be making sure to put on our website um ways that you can be proactive and help us implement these policies or help us do the very same thing that I think we're all wanting to do, which is to make sure our babies are not um exposed negatively or distracted from the amazing instruction that's happening in our classrooms. And so with that,

directors, we're going to stop and allow you to ask questions and engage in the discussion around the policy. Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much, Superintendent and um Yasmina. this is a a challenging issue and you've shown that it's gone through a lot of process um and we're at the phase where there is a policy with a proposed amendment which I think addresses a lot of the balancing questions that have been raised um across age appropriate levels uh middle school elementary middle school high school um realizing that high school um may require more flexibility given that some students may have jobs they may have non-traditional parenting arrangements um there's the lunch hour. There's a whole host of issues. Um, I know this is an emotional issue as well. We're going to talk this through with this this these board members. Um, also I, you know, I want to remind folks that have decorum. I I know it's emotional. Just refrain from shouting out loud. Look, I've put on my special X-ray glasses. I see everybody. You know, I'll zap you one if I you you shout out loudly. Just joking around. There's no such thing that kind of glass. Um so um in terms of board action today um uh you can see on this slide here. Should we roll back to that slide superintendent? So that that's up there. We're all

the everyone to see as well. Um the third from the end I think. Yeah, exactly. Um with the the little is that you know

Yeah, the flowchart thing. That's super helpful for everyone to see that. So, um, we're having a conversation about this this slide here today. Um, as with any type of policy, when you draft policy and law, you're talking about scope and scope is important to consider because it can be overinclusive or underinclusive. If you overdraw it, it's going to capture things you don't mean to capture. If you underdraw it, it's going to not capture things that you want to capture. That's why the flexibility and that balance is super important, especially when you're talking about the difference the difference between a kindergartenner versus a senior in high school. All three of my kids went through that whole process of course and I know that when we decided to agree to allow them to have cell phones in middle school and the first time I've got I received excruciation for controlling the use of that cell phone, I realized I had opened the door to the underworld. I shouldn't have done it. Um, so anyways, um, so board members, are there any questions for Superintendent Ford Morell and Yasmina?

I'll start. Yeah.

Um, I'm sure we all have questions and comments. Um, I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of this presentation and the engagement with students and with educators. Um and the emphasis on reasonable and manageable policies I think is really important. Um I one one thing that I that struck me that I is new to me tonight is this emphasis on mobile communication devices including smartwatches. And it really struck me that that's already an issue in elementary school that the elementary school principles are saying cell phones are not an issue but smartwatches are. And I'm cons. So I'm I'm wondering if you've learned anything in all of your research about effective implement because this policy is calling for us to ban those smartwatches. So, I'm wondering if you have beginning ideas about what implementation of that is going to look like because I imagine that's a whole additional challenge.

Yeah. So, one of the suggestions that came is that and I don't have an eye watch so I don't know but um if it's set to because the students are saying that they needed to look at the time right to know what time it is and so there is a clock in all of our classrooms. Um, but also if it's set to airplane mode, it cannot receive notifications. You cannot receive calls or text messages, but you can still tell time. Um, if it's that important at elementary school level, um, I think for us it would be really hard also to enforce that because what I envision is an elementary school teacher, I don't know if Aeron's still here, um, but greeting all of her students and be like, is your phone on airplane mode? So it's it does cut into school-based enforcement does cut into instructional time. Um so that is maybe with the adoption of the policy parents might rethink about giving their children eyewatches or whatever smart watches um at that level. Yeah. sounds really tricky as a as a former teacher, but and I can also imagine the kid says, "Yeah, it's in airplane mode." And then 10 minutes later they take it out of airplane mode.

Um I So another another thing that um has come up for me just in the last day or two is have we done any thinking about our afterchool programs? Um and you know cuz belltobell implies the beginning of the school day to the end of the school day. But we have many students who are staying on campus in our elementary and middle schools until 6 PM and afterchool programs. I remember as a principal that cell phones were actually a much bigger challenge in the after school program than they were during the instructional day. Have we done any thinking about that and if we had any conversations with our learn staff about that?

We did have um the survey did include our afterchool staff. Um so I I would have to pull it. I don't know on top of my head. Um but I think that the theme is across the same right that the enforcement is not strong and it's not uniformed even when we think that it is where we have direct policies um and especially in after school right where kids are more running around they're not classroom based so I imagine that it would be more of a challenge I would also add uh just to the point you just made director vice president Korn uh that even with the amendment it still says entire school day and bellto bell or entire school day can very easily be construed to not mean after school. And so that might be something that we that we amend further um to make it clear that it's uh you know, smartphones, mobile communication shall be turned off during the entire time on school campus or or something like that

or during district programs. Yes.

Yeah. I would appreciate an amendment that clarifies that. And I imagine that folks in the learns program would appreciate really clear um language in the policy about afterchool programs. Um, I guess, well, just the the last thing I want to say is that I know in in many of the emails that I've received and I think in a couple of couple of the public comments that we heard tonight, there's been a call for pilots of different approaches. Um and and I wonder it it kind of strikes me from the surveys that you've done that in a way the existing practices at school. We're treating the existing practices of schools kind of as a pilot and we're asking folks to reflect on how their existing practices are working or not working. Um do you agree with that sort of thinking? Do you have any was there anything

I think that one that is true that there have been informal pilots right in that school we've asked schools what they have been doing um at the same time I know that once we move to that implementation phase again that's the big phase the implementation and the enforcement of it um we will likely be doing a lot of piloting again there's so many different options of ways that schools could restrict the yander pouches the put it in the put it in the the what's it called the little pocket on the door at the hotel um right and so we definitely want to get feedback on what's working and what's not working. And then not only just on where to put them once you get to school, but really what does that enforcement look like. When we did explore some of the other school districts, we looked at um LUSD and and again some of the neighbor ones in Alama County. Um that's where the rubber meets the road. And I was looking at LUSD and looking at the the consequences, if you will. First time is a warning, the second time referral to a counselor. Um and the third time is to call home. And I'm just thinking our babies who are like call home, right? Right. And so we we want to think about um they do say that and that's no disrespect, but they'll call home like what's going to happen, right? And then again, sometimes when you don't have families on the same page, calling home means nothing and then you're back with the cell phone the next day. And so back to the point that Yasmina made earlier in the presentation, because it's not um a suspendable offense, we are going to have to pilot, if you will, or really kind of try out or consider what are some makes sense responses if our babies um don't adhere um to the policy. So, I I do anticipate there will still be piloting that that will happen once we get to implementation.

Thank you. And I would just like to say that I I I I we do need progressive discipline to help us enforce these policies, but I personally am really glad that it's not a suspendable offense. I don't want to see us suspending children for cell phone usage. I think suspension should that kind of exclusionary discipline should only be used in really rare cases and we want all kids in school learning. Um, so I I understand that it makes enforcement more challenging, but I think it's really important. Um, I don't have any more questions. I will just I'll I'll end with a just a comment about the high school. Um, I I've really grappled I've gotten many many emails calling for bell-to-bell K12 bans on cell phones and I've really grappled with with questions about that. And I I think that your analysis here of the challenges of implementing a bell-to-bell policy in an open campus setting um are really real. I did my own research and tried to find any other high schools in any of these other districts that have open campus off-campus lunch and a cell phone ban. And I could not find any examples of of schools that have both of those um conditions. So, I think that it's really important that we figure out how to really consistently enforce a very clear and consistent no phones in class policy. And it's alarming to hear stories from parents about my child was permitted to play on their phone after they finished their work in class.

We we need to figure out how to be really consistent ac across our high school classrooms to make sure that that's not happening. Um, but I do think it's important given the the conditions of our high school, um, for our kids to have access to their phones during lunch.

Thank you. I just want to follow up on that really quickly. For some of those folks here who don't have kids in high school, um, having had kids in high school, um, the open uh, layout of BHS and that lunch hour is very different from what you might have experienced in high school. Certainly different from what I experienced. If you want to check it out, just go to downtown Berkeley Shadic between what noon to 1 and see this the stream of Berkeley High School students coming out. Um they have an open campus. It's very different experience than some of us may have experienced. Oh, thank you so much. Got it. Um I should have known that with three kids going. Stay away from downtown.

Stay away. You'll never get a parking spot or might get run over by by people walking fast. Um, director Schnafi. Oh, are you sure? Director Vast.

Um, yeah. I just thank you. I love that this came back to the full board. Um, because it's always great to have the perspective of my colleagues, especially those that have been site administrators. So, thank you, Dr. K, uh, for your feedback and and I think you brought up a lot of important points. For me, what was interesting to read in the student survey were the concerns around the accusations around cheating. Like implementing something that is going to deteriorate the relationship between teachers and students for me is also like a no-go. So, being really thoughtful about that, right? And we also know that our stu that there are students who and I'm sure as part of their accommodation, if they were special education students and they needed their phone for something, that would be part of their accommodation. But I also want to make sure that those students and their needs are also protected within whatever wherever wherever we land on the policy. I like the direction that we're going. I like the amendments that are being proposed. I do say I think it's important to continue to engage the parents because parents are fundamental partners in this.

And so for me that was going to be my question. I know we typically don't respond to when people shout in the public, but that was what I was thinking as we were going through this. We really do need a parent survey. I you know serving on the policy committee I'm fine putting a little bit of the brakes like the direction where we're going but I don't want the forum just to be an informational thing. I think you have to go and ask something and I think we have an amazing opportunity

to get feedback from our parents and to also ask right are you going to be partners in this? This is really important. We need their buyin, right? They're they're a key stakeholder and superintendent. I've been guilty too of texting my kid was like in class from his watch, right? like and so I think it's really it's really important that we have those discussions and the dis and figure out the disciplinary issues figure out the implementation. I will say from the Berkeley High perspective I heard from a sheepish student and said I I support limiting especially during lunchtime if there's a way that I that we could limit it. I don't want my friends to know that I think this right like it would be vastly unpopular for my friends to know that I'm expressing this. But I think that you know our kids are really smart. our our BHS kids are brilliant and they know that this has an impact on their mental health. They're fully aware, but they also want agency to have that conversation, right? And to and so I think there's more work that we need to do in terms of getting their buy in also on the policy. Um, but I but I do think uh we need to go to our parents in December with questions and then we need to take back that feedback and bring it back to the policy committee because we need to do what's best for our community. I love looking at all other districts. for examples, but I think we really need to we're at I think it's great that we're having these thoughtful discussions and I want to like applaud the district for all of the surveys that you did for our students and and staff. I think that's incredibly useful for the policy committee and you know that I said this to you there. I feel like we're deciding in a vacuum how are how are teachers feeling? How are administrators feeling? So all these conversations came out of that and then you took that feedback. So, thank you so much and for for getting those survey results and now um I look forward to hearing from the parents.

I just wanted to say Director Ambassador Depp, I feel like I let you down because you were so excited for us to announce the December 16th engagement. And what I did not say is what you just said that our intent at that engagement was not just to come and speak at our families, but actually to get input and feedback from the families inclusive of having surveys uh and also having some scenarios for them to respond to. So, I let you down, but I'm glad that you were able to capture that. Um, and want the the families who are here and those online to know that again that December 16th was a kickoff to that series of engagements around implementation um and what it can look like going forward. So, thank you. You never let me down. Just have thoughtful conversation. Thank you.

It's an important reminder with the December 16th um uh engagement series of engagements. So, uh that's not the end of the conversation, right? Um Director Shinowski. Yeah. So to follow up on parent engagement, um I'm just wondering as you were putting those surveys together, why was the decision made to survey those particular groups and not parents?

We had already gotten some feedback from families in drafting of that first policy that we passed in 2024 and did not do a mass, you know, inquiry to our students and our staff. most importantly I would say not even I sess that first our staff because again as we we found in this survey but also from experience that's those are the people who one have the real time data around what's happening with cell phones and devices etc at the schools once it's the students are allowed to come with them um as well as those who have to enforce whatever policy we put into place so it was not to exclude any voice it was to start with the voices of the folks who were were on the ground and being impacted by this the babies were impacted too which is why they were also a part of it um I I too my mom and I have lots of ideas but we wanted to start with what actually makes sense for the educators who are there every day. What are they seeing? What are they experiencing? And what do they recommend? Um we heard from lots of families as well as we were doing this process. Um and there was particularly in the middle school grades. Um a lot of feedback asking for bail to bail. So, we were getting that feedback and quite honestly at the high school level, it was it was mixed with the overwhelming feedback from high school families actually saying what you heard some public commenters say today, which is let our students uh have it during non-instructional times because they need it for certain reasons. So, we were definitely getting that feedback, but as director said, we now have a concentrated way to then say here's what we want to do and let families respond.

Okay. Um, and just as a follow-up to that, I personally support 100% Belltobell ban. Um, I hate my kids cell phones, but I also, um, know that there's a wide variety of feelings about that and the implementation of something like that. And we do need parent support in order for something like that to be successful at all. And so I just urge us as we as we survey or get family engagement that we're very thoughtful about we we don't always get um full family engagement and feedback and so I would like us to be intentional about that. Um I have a couple more questions. So, um, the high school is really complicated for me because I don't actually know how we would implement a bell-to-bell ban. Um, and even what we're thinking about for middle school, cuz I think a lot of the policy, middle school is easier because it's a closed campus. The kids come in, they're there all day, right? I can imagine something sort of working. Um, but they are moving around throughout the day, so it makes it difficult to have one central spot, but it's much smaller as well than the high school. The high school is so huge. So, I'm just um wondering if there's been thought about the implementation at the middle schools and how that could potentially translate to the high schools. Um, what what that would look like. Okay.

So, um, currently our middle schools and all of our principles and vice principles were very adamant about having a bell-to-bell schedule. Um, they feel that they have a good plan in place and with of course like ironing out the implementation aspects of it. Um, like you recognized middle schools are smaller. Berkeley High has 3,200 students. So, it at King I think is our biggest is 800. I don't know where Francisco um 800. So with 800 kids you c it's easier to manage even if you are collecting phones in a central location the campus is smaller. Berkeley High has four city blocks that is consolidated. So for kids to get to a central location in the case of an emergency to get their phone it would be impossible. Um so for middle schools the principles were adamant about being able to limit the cell phone use by um either taking the phones during the day or by um having the phones blocked right or put away during the day. Um, I don't know that the same is implementable at the high school just because in middle school at least you have some repeated teachers throughout the day whereas at Berkeley High you have 600 600 um six classes, six different classes and 600 places where students go. So the idea at the middle school is that kids would come in and put their phones away in some central location and then go off for class the whole go off for school the whole day.

There's different modalities at different middle schools. Okay.

And again, I want to I want to clarify is it's easier easier at a smaller school of of 800 versus 3,000 plus, but it doesn't mean it's easy, right? Right. And so even when we collected the data um at the at the middle schools, though there was, you know, it was pretty unanimous that that there was a desire for bail to bail, that's not to imply um that everything's working fine right now. So there will still need to be um engagement groups and and pilots, if you will, around what implementation looks like at the middle school level to make sure that it's actually done and and um complied with by um not just most, but all of our students. Um, you know, there's a lot of things that come into play. Also, when you are thinking about even something as simple as uh put your phone in a pouch, um, be it the yonder pack, you know, we I did the yonder packs, I want to say like eight years ago when I was over in San Francisco Unifi, and our kids are savvy. They figure out how to get out of those yonder packs and it was a huge expense for the district because they were they were getting abused and and broken, etc., and we had to replace them. So we also want to think about um implementation not just who's going to enforce it but any fiscal um you know cost if you will for any thing that we decide to do. Similarly when we say give us your phone um there's liability in that actually there's is hundreds of examples current day and my previous experience where I I you know you took the kid's phone and something happened to that phone at some point throughout that day you're liable for that phone. And so again there's there's fiscal costs for the district for replacing phones. So when we talk about the implementation, I don't want to imply that it's easy. It's it's easier at the middle schools, but there's still going to require a lot of communication and coordination with our with our families, our staff members, et. And that's again why we're really stressing that that implementation piece is the piece where we really need to come together and figure out and we might have to do um some pilots with with the best solution being don't bring cell phones to school, don't bring devices to school or if we can work with our families to say when they get to school if they have to bring

them to to figure out a way to cut them off um using those technology tools that I just talked about. And I also just want to caution um director Schnowki, I did hear you say um that we're talking about these webinars. Um we have been thinking about ways to engage diverse stakeholders. And the reason why I say that is because I do have we do have family groups in B USD who if I host a webinar or if I host a meeting like this, they do not feel comfortable coming because they do not feel that their voice and their experience is valid or heard or recognized. And I also want to be careful to not just say that there's lots of feelings around devices. For some folks, there's really practical reasons why their babies have to have devices. You talked about our parents, uh, uh, President Chang, I'm sorry, students who are sometimes like pseudo parenting or have extra responsibilities. And so, um, we want to make sure that when we have these conversations that is we recognize it's not just feelings that there's some folks, um, have those feelings because there are things that they need their students to do. And I want to make sure that whatever form we have to engage our families and our stakeholders, it really does allow for those various voices and perspectives to come out without ridicule, without ridicule, without accusation or without assumption that those families don't also care about their baby's mental health and well-being. And so it's it's a complex thing. I think we're all committed to the same end. And so we're excited to start these engagements on the 16th to figure out how to get it done together.

Thank you so much. Just want to add something. I think I want to add a comment. uh uh thanks for providing all that information. I want to remind folks again that while this is a public forum forum, it's a limited public forum. So please res restrain yourself from disruptive behavior and shouting out. If you've ever given a presentation where you have your back turned to the audience and someone shouts out, you know how disruptive that is. uh and it's an alarming experience to have for someone to do so when you're back at Stern and they're trying to present information. That said, we understand this is an emotional issue and lots of folks have a lot of interest in it. There's an opportunity at the end of the board meeting to also provide comment. Um so, thank you. I'm going to go on to director Shinowski. Yeah,

one last question. Um, so I know for my own child, um, who is addicted to her phone, um, she in one class is told that she can listen to music, which is banned because I've blocked all of the apps. So that no longer can happen. But in a different class, there was a progressive discipline. So the first time her phone was taken away by the teacher for that period. The second time the phone was taken to the office and she could pick it up after school and I got a phone call. And the third time the phone was taken to the office and I had to come and get it. And I really appreciated that because even though it was a pain I and you know I was really grateful because it gave there was some accountability there. Um and I waited till she was 13. I thought I did everything right about the cell phone and it's still Yeah, I hate it. So, I'm wondering if our policy can have some kind of progressive discipline in it like that because I know as a teacher myself, it's really hard as a teacher to have different rules in different classes. And I mean, my kid will say like, "Oh, this teacher is so cool. I can do this." Right? This teacher is terrible because they took my phone away. And maybe if we had if we as a board provide the structure for that kind of progressive discipline. Um and then parents will know too because they'll get those calls and then they'll have to go and pick up those phones and have those conversations with their kids because I really do feel myself as a parent like it's it's incumbent upon me to make sure that my children are restricted with their cell phone use more than anyone else. like I can do more than anyone else. So, is that possible that we could add that in?

Yasmin can go a little bit deeper into it and I don't want to confuse folks, but there are policies that kind of express our our intent and and what we want, our values, if you will. That's not the probably the best term, but then there's administrative regulations. The administrative regulations is the how-to. It's the implementation. It's what does it look like in practice and on the ground. And again, when we're talking about the next series of engagements, that's what we're really trying to understand like what what is it going to look like in terms of implementation, where they're going to put the things, who's going to collect them, but also in terms of uh enforcement and consequence. Are we going to say call the parent? Are we going to say you got to pick them up? Are we going to say you don't keep you, you know, we're going to hold it for a week? All those things are definitely going to be spelled out, but that's not in the policy itself. It's in the AR. Does that make sense?

Yeah. Thank you. And I have one last question. So if we were to pass this policy tonight, but we get the feedback and we decide that we would like a stricter policy in two months, we can bring this back and we can change the policy because for me it's important. I want that bell-to bell limit immediately in our middle schools. Like we have a policy right now that's gone through a second reading. We know that it's disruptive and we know that we can build the capacity at our middle schools and then we expand the the restrictions at high school with sort of a pilot at our middle schools that we can see if we can implement something stricter at the high schools.

Is that that always can amend the policy? Yes. Yeah. Thanks Dirensia for reflecting that. Um you know there's a number of options members of the public of procedural outcomes that could occur here. Once a policy is passed doesn't mean that's it. It could come back, you know. Um, all right. We have director next. Yeah. I just wanted to follow up on something really important that the superintendent said about making sure that we have diverse voices at the forum. And so with that, I would like to make sure that our worldly interpretation service is available by the 16th and

that we also Yeah. Yeah. and that we also that we figured out because it is going to impact a lot of students. And if we truly want diverse voices, we know that there are families whose older siblings may be taking care of the younger siblings who may have other reasons why they need their cell phones and after school programs. Um, so I just want to make sure that if we're true, right, in wanting those voices, then we're going to have that available and that the survey will also be multilingual so we can capture the perspective of our immigrant families and newcomer families, too, because I think it's very important that that we be um comprehensive in our outreach.

Okay, I want to I want to respond to that one because for sure we're going to um make sure that our any surveys or anything we send out are multilingual. Um definitely committed to making sure that we engage um our families and our caregivers across the multiple diversities. Um because we are still figuring out how and when we can implement the the worldly uh platform director. It might be that December 16th is one webinar engagement and then when Worly is up and ready, which we anticipate is probably closer to January, there's another one that we can then implement the interpretive uh services. But yes, I hear what you're saying, but I want to make sure people don't get confused. I don't want to not do December 16th if worldly's not in place. I would just commit to saying we will have one for sure where that interpretation is available.

Sure. As or have one in Spanish. It's fine later. Um, but I but I don't want that to get lost in the shuffle because that's a significant part of our student population that will be impacted by this policy that affects all of our students. So, yeah. Thank you. Thanks, uh, Vice President K.

Yeah, I have just a couple of quick additional thoughts. Um the the conversation about implementation at the middle school um brought me back to this student data um where you're reporting that about 2thirds of kids say that um they're not allowed that cell phones are not allowed at all during school and the rules are fully enforced. But then the others are kind of all over the place. Um but you're I think you're saying that all the middle schools have a policy. So, I'm wondering if we can disagregate that data by school to help us figure out is are there one or two schools that are doing it more effectively and is there another school that needs some help and can we help that school learn from the other two?

You want me to name names?

No, I do not want you to publicly name names. I just want to say that I'm looking at this data and it it seems clear that the middle schools can learn from each other. they could have a middle school community of practice about how to implement a beltto bell cell phone ban. Um, and my other thought on the topic of parent engagement is just I wonder if in addition to forums about cell phones, if we would consider going to some of our existing groups like the African-American success advisory committee, like DAC, the English language the English learner advisory committee and engaging with those existing groups of families who represent populations who we want to make sure to engage um to have these conversations. conditions.

Great. Thank you. Any other another question? Um, so this is a far as I understand it's an action item,

right? So there's been some conversation here about uh the importance of transparency and further engagement. I'm recognizing I just want to be on the record on the factual facts on the ground record. There has been a lot of prior engagement despite some folks making assumptions that there have not been or assertions of such. There has been a lot of work previously. That said, more transparency is never a bad thing, right? And you're seeing this slide here in front of you. We're having this conversation out in the open. It's out public. Um the amendments that have been proposed, you know, there is what is it? It's a bell to bell up to 8th grade and the high schools like concerns about flexibility. Um we've had conversations about appreciation about our diverse community and understanding the inclusivity of various needs of non-traditional families and kids possibly needing to work the afterare circumstance. Do they need phones in afterare? Um when your kid pivots into afterare possibly until 6, do you want to be able to reach them? Some parents are like yeah others like I'm not sure. So um that's a a stakeholder interest issue and there's a lot of different stakeholders in Berkeley on this issue. Um there's no one single uh viewpoint per se. Uh so we want to craft a policy that is um made in a way that um will be implementable. Um as I said before is not overly broad in it scope or under broad that results in us coming back to the table and having to redo things let's say in like another 6 months though that's a possibility again procedurally we can come back again. Um I want everyone to understand that. So, um, given that this is an action item and all all these I'm kind of trying to summarize this conversation and I'm not, uh, adequately doing for everyone, I'm sure, but, um, you know, I'm asking if there's some form of motion.

I'll make a motion to approve the policy with the amendments described, but I would like a request that we revisit this with more family engagement and with um some more information about the implementation because I I do think that that's an important piece, but I'm moving this in order to make a step forward. Thank you, Director Schnasty. And I would like it to be less than 6 months that we revisit this.

Okay. Okay. So, Director Schnowski has proposed a motion to approve with the amendments that you see in front of you on this flowchart um to move it forward. However, with the engagement that we're already planning December 16th and within before the next how many months, right, Trishnosi? Within six months. Next six months to revisit the policy again. Yeah. So that's before I

I would like another presentation where we look at implementation in the middle schools and understand the details of that a little bit more so we can see if we can expand that to the high school. So as soon as possible once we have that information along with the webinar and any family surveys and caregiver surveys that we can do. There are any questions about this motion? I would just like to add that I would like that revisiting to include thinking about adding language about afterchool programs. Yes. Do you want to set a a a more specific date on the revisiting? Director Schnowski,

as soon as the schedule allows before the end of the school year. Is that specific enough? Yes. Good. Uh before you all take a vote, sorry, President Chang, wanted to um just make clear um that the revision around um making the language comprehensive to include after school. Vice President uh Korn can be made in real time. So if you so you all can approve the policy with that particular addition and and I'm sorry, director Vas, sorry, director Shinaskki, I thought that's what you meant when you said with the provisions we discussed. So we were already planning to um include after school. Great. So we don't we don't need to like word smith that. You'll figure out where it fits. Thank you for pointing that out. The real time aspect. What do you

And I agreed to that being for my part of my motion one of the amendments included in the motion. Okay. So they'll be included in real time as part of this current motion. Are there any other amendments or questions? Is there I'll second Director Shinosk's motion to approve the amendments suggested here with an additional amendment including after school programming and an agreement to revisit this topic before the end of the school year with a com a more specific conversation about implementation. Yes.

And family feedback which yeah some which will be starting in December. Um is We have a motion and we have a second. So, do we have the eyes? I I I I. So, a motion's uh moved asked. Thank you. All right. We were going to put a slide about how folks can engage in the policy subcommittee and we failed to do so. So, I just want to make sure that everyone knows that our policy committee meetings are on our website and when we do bring back this conversation prior to it coming to the full board, it will likely come to the subcommittee. So that's another opportunity for folks to come and hear the discussion and engage. Absolutely. Sub welcome visitors.

Yeah, we get lonely there sometimes. So please do come. Um all right. So uh I think we had a we had a uh consent pool director Schnowski for 13.16. We should discuss that now.

Yeah. So I can explain why I pulled this. So this is a contract with is it emerges? emerges um for contractors for our uh sped IAS and I've expressed it before and I'll express it again. Um the use of contractors and in my opinion the overuse of contractors is expensive. It does not promote sort of a holistic approach to um relationships within our schools and uh between our educators and students. Um, and so I would like some more information about this. Um, I see that this is an additional amount to what we already passed um, earlier this year to cover the costs up through August 30th. Um, so I am curious about where the $1 million increase comes from as my first question. I'll pause after that and then I'll I have a few questions if that's okay. Um, since you since you move this, I Yeah, you can proceed with questions unless you want to wait for Associate Superintendent Ruben Dyke to respond.

I think it's usually easier to ask one question than get an answer so it doesn't get lost. If that's okay with that, I guess. Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Yeah. So part part of this increased cost is we were trueing up costs that um were remaining from the prior school year and also part of it is because of increased costs in services. So that that's the general explanation. Okay. And I'm wondering um if all of these um contractor positions have vacancies that need to be filled right now within our district and what will happen if we fill those vacancies with BUSD employees? Will we be able to um stop the contracts and move to an in-house service? Well, I'm looking at my um colleague from across the table because this is this is a an ongoing big project. The short answer is no. We don't have positions for all of the contractors. However, it's important to know that these are services that are needed for students with IEPs and anytime those those minutes are included in an IEP, we're legally responsible to provide them. So, assistant soup, uh, Tobias Espinosa, I don't know if you additional information.

Yeah, so we do have some of them that are matched up um to vacancies, but some of the positions are not. Um, and we are working on um figuring out how many are not so that we can um figure out if we do need to create those positions and create the matching FTE. Um, in regard to your second part of your question about what will happen after we hire people, yes, we would get rid of the contractors. Um that is our goal. Um and so we would be reducing contractors as we fast as we can with hiring. Um I'll do a plug. The personnel commission held a hiring event today. Um and we have potentially 21 people in the um onboarding process right now that would help us to fill some of these positions and remove some of these contractors. So just to be specific about my question. So, if those 21 contractors were to get onboarded and start, let's just make it magical, December 1st, then we would be able to terminate those contracts effective November 30th without any problem with the way that the contracts are written. Um, I'm not sure that we would be able to close it that quickly, but as quickly as what's written into the contract, and I'm not sure that I think we have 30 days written into the contract at this point um, for this um, contractor. So, we would notify them once we feel like we're going to have a start date for these people, we would notify the agency as soon as possible to notify them that we have replacements and that we don't need these positions. Um the one thing that does cause us an issue is if we do have new students who move in or students who qualify for additional services as um uh direct as associate superintendent Hooandike said um when it's written into an IEP we are immediately um as soon as that IEP is signed we have to provide it. Um and unfortunately we don't have a closet

full of um people waiting um that we can just throw out there in a classroom the next day. So contractors tend to be where we end up returning to. So we are hoping that we will be able to sort of fill these with our people, reduce the contractors and not have too many additional positions that keep getting added that we will be able to um through attrition and through other processes reduce the amount of need we have overall so that we don't continue to add contractors or FTE. Yeah, I I understand that we don't have a closet full of people to step in, but I also think that a million dollars in contractors is more than like a closet full of people. So, there's many we should be hiring many people. I I'm not saying we eliminate contractors altogether that I understand the legal requirement to provide those minutes and make sure that we have people to do that, you know, at the, you know, turn of a dime,

whatever the saying is. Um, so that's not what I'm suggesting, but this is a really large amount of money um that's going to contractors. So I would like to see us open those vacancies to make sure that we are putting those positions in our budget so that and and removing them from the contractor line um to save again to save money and to provide some continuity for our students and also our workforce. Um, so yeah, that's why I pulled this.

Um, if I could respond a little bit, um, we do have currently about 25 true vacancies, um, that we are working to fill. So hopefully those 21 that we have onboarding. Um, and there were more than that that came to the event today. So there may be more that end up getting hired. Um, those will fill up those positions. And then we are looking at approximately possibly another 30 positions based on the current contractors which are included in this contract. And so we are looking at um determining whether or not those are real um positions and um but and we will be bringing back to the board if we do find that we need to create FTE so that we can create the matching FTE.

And I have one more question. So last time when we were looking at the afterchool contractors, we were given sort of a breakdown of the amount of time that we were getting for that proposed contract.

And I don't see that attached to this item. I I don't expect that you'll know that off the top of your head, but maybe in the future. I found that really helpful because it lets me compare the cost of contractors to the cost of our own employees. Um, and then the other question I have is, is the milliondoll contract necessary or can we do something similar to what we did with the learns contractors where we said we'd like to approve a chunk of that because it's required and needed to provide the services that we're providing and then come back for the conversation to keep it going. So, I'm just wondering about that amount.

Um, the uh short answer is no. I mean, this amount has been calculated based on the number of minutes and the IEPs that we need to be able to provide. That is different from after school where there's a little more flexibility to put students on a waiting list. We can't do that same thing with students with IEPs. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Uh those are all good questions. Um so um we now are moving on. Do we have to make a motion to absolutely do right? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for your reminder, Vice President Korn. Um do we have a motion? Um I I forget what item number it was. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, I acknowledge the concerns that Director Schnowski brought up and um, it seems important that we go ahead and approve this item for the reasons that Associate Superintendent Hogan has um, enumerated. So, for those reasons, I move that we approve item 13.16. Thank you. Is there a second?

Crickets. I will second because of the compliance issue. I also recognize the important questions that Director Shinowski raised. These are um short long-term issues I'd like to continue working on. Um so I've seconded the motion. Are there eyes? I I two eyes and two silence means what? I think I would I hear what Director Shinowski is saying and I would love to see a reduced amount for this contract. Okay. Can I kick it back into conversation? Would what was your position on what was your vote? I think this is not the importance of it.

No, it's not. I'm sorry. I apologize. Yeah. Well, it seems I mean we don't have I mean you and I are are the two of you voting voting which way? I'm a no. You're a no on this for the amount. We have We need a direct I'm going to abstain. Abstain. Okay. So, this item did not pass. Pass. So, does any Would you Are you suggesting that you'd like to make a different motion? Yes. Or amen. That's okay. Right. But I guess I'd like to kick it back to the staff to see what's a feasible reduced amount. Your motion is reduced.

So, as as I stated, we would have brought a reduced contract if we didn't require these services. So, we are requesting the million-doll contract. This is different from what happened with the board's vote on the afterchool contract where we have more flexibility in adding students to a wait list and not um providing those spaces. I I will make the motion to approve the contract with the understanding that I would like for it to come back to us. Um, and I'm reluctantly changing my vote um, and making a new motion to approve this item. Um, because I do not want us to be out of compliance and end up with legal fees that far exceed the contractor. But again, and I appreciate that this is that this is the minimum that you're bringing to us and so I hope we can continue to revisit this at every opportunity.

Okay, we've changed second. I'll second. Second. Great. Do we have the eyes? I I so director was that I also Okay, cool. That's unanimous then. All right. Thank you. Had good conversation on that. So,

number waited patiently. Oh, those those are all done. Those are all done. Okay. So, um do we have any public commenters at this point? Online. Online perhaps. Yeah. I'm sorry. Okay. Um, sir, can you provide a you can you guys can come on up and you want to make sure to fill out a green card. Yeah. Okay. So, can we use his other green card for now? Yes. I have no idea. So, we're going to try to use your green card from previously. What What is your name, sir? Craig. Craig. Yeah. Can you use the previous one? I think so. Craig Mal.

Craig Mal. Okay. We're going to pull that up. Mark it as two times and Craig Malum. Okay. Correct. And then others. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Yes. Oh, yeah. One minute. And uh and others, Mr. Hoffmeister. Um Okay. So, yeah, if you haven't spoken before, please bring up a uh fill out a card. Good. I can see some green cards here. Uh Craig, you've got a minute. Thanks.

Okay. Thank you. First, I'd like to apologize for shouting out. That was rude. I apologize. Um, but like you said, strong feelings. Um, I do think a survey of the parents is a great idea. More than just getting feedback, as we know, you get feedback from the people who feel most strongly about things. The survey is actually an opportunity for you to ask some, I think, some more nuanced questions and find what the parents perspective is on a lot of these things. some of the issues around whether students have additional responsibilities, you know, acting as a second parent, etc. It's the kind of thing you can tease out from parents more than probably from the students. Um, and I also think the survey would be an opportunity to ask um the parent community for their support. Would you support X? Would you support Y? Does this idea sound like it would work? It's actually a lot of information I think you could you could gather from the parents. So thank you. Thank you. Appreciate the recognition of the quorum. The apologies. Apologies are always appreciated. That next on up um do you have you have a green card?

I I think he has one Mr. Hoffmeister.

Scott Hoffmeister. So I just wanted to point out make one very quick comment which is related to there was some discussion of like we as parents can limit our kids access to phones at will uh during school hours. I just want to point out that, you know, for an iPhone, the way that you block all access is downtime. And there's only one downtime period allowed. And we, you know, many parents use that at night in case the kiddo gets out of bed and wants to surf. And so I, you know, that would be something that I would use to say one downtime period during the school day and one downtime period at night, but that's not an option. Thank you. Thanks. That's helpful. Uh, next sign up. I'm sorry. Um, sorry. We're We're doing like old school hard copied

telegraph relay. Um, oh, going coming up. Um, thank you so much. Thank you, Lillian Kang.

Yes. Hi. Um, I'm a parent at B USD. I have a fourth grader and a sixth grader. Um, I've actually taken my sixth grader out of B USD. Oh, I've taken my my sixth grader out of B USD um because of this being an issue. And I'm I was coming here tonight. It's my first council meeting hoping that the board would think about the long-term effects for our children. And I know we also have to consider, you know, our underserved population and people like you were saying who have different lifestyles and jobs and stuff. And I also think the survey like I was I've never heard about us ever having an opportunity to have a say in this which I think seems very strange for Berkeley when so many other um counties and districts have done that. Um I think as a parent I'm just asking to please include us because asking the children is like asking kids who are addicted to sugar, do you like sugar? Do you want more sugar? Do you will you only eat one sugar a day? like that survey to me seems kind of pointless to ask children who can't really make, you know, long-term. Anyways, thank you.

Thank you. Uh, next sign up with Grace Yang.

Okay. As a parent, I restricted the phone, my son's phone, many, many ways. You have no idea. But our kids are smart and Reddit lists every single hack possible. It's not enough. The social pressure to be on the phone during lunch is real. We need to be on the same page to get a buyin from from the students. I recognize it's hard to implement at all school level, especially at the high school level, but we need to figure it out. The situation is dire. The addiction is real. Our societies are zombies. Look all around us. If we don't do this now, when will we do it? How does a phone add how bad does the phone addiction have to get before we do the hard decision to ban the phone and electronic dis devices in our schools? Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Riy Lee.

Thank you so much. Um, tonight what I heard the priority is is quote what's manageable and reasonable. In other words, administrative ease and what is easiest for the adults. I implore you to shift your priority to what is best for student learning and student well-being. I know it's hard. It's going to be hard. I know it's going to be hard, especially at the high school. But you cannot at this point in time in November 2025, you know, when you still have a good six months before the state law says that you have to have a policy in place. You cannot at this time say it's too hard at the high school, okay? When you have not explored or talked to other districts who are doing this at their high school with open campus lunches. For example, Baltimore City, which is a much bigger city than Berkeley, is doing this with yonder pouches in which they are locking and then unlocking um and accounting for their off-campus lunch. Santa Clair Unified is also doing a similar thing. So, in other words, please do your speakers. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Next on up, we have a green card. Hi, I'm Kathleen Vu. I've got three kids in Berkeley Unified. Hello, Kathleen. We want to start the timer. Sorry. We have one person to manage both. Thank you so much. Um Kathleen Vu. Okay, you're going to get one minute. She's going to start that timer over there. Thanks so much for coming up.

Yeah, I have I'm Kathleen Vu. I have three kids in Brooklyn Unified. Um I'm going to second what this person also said. What I'm hearing is that it's going to be hard for you and we have to do hard things for our kids because they're worth it. The science tells us that it's detrimental and we're hearing I'm hearing that like it's inconvenient. I'm hearing that like it's going to be hard for me to implement this. I don't know how we all got through like the 90s and 80s and 70s without phones or how we found each other on campus, but we all managed, right? And they can too. You We keep hearing how smart they are. They're smart. They're smart. They're smart. Pretty sure they can figure out like how to live life like from 8 to 4 without a phone. Thank you.

Thanks a lot. So, uh, are there extended board comments? Oh, sorry. Thank you. Okay. Then we have Dr. first on with the person online. Can Can you Lindsay Noelt? Hello, Miss Noelt.

Hi, my name is Lindsay Noelt. I'm a parent. It is hard to engage with Berkeley Unified School District. Board members and superintendent rotate every few years. Policy meetings have historically been noticed more often than not, only 24 hours in advance. with meetings that happen in person during the workday with no virtual option. If you wanted to find out what happened in that meeting, good luck. There are no meeting minutes available to the public. So far, you've heard from families that have sought out ways to connect. I'm really glad that you plan on seeking more feedback in order to inform the opening of this particular policy again before the end of the school year. But I'm disappointed in the constant insistence that engagement has been robust because it only began after we started demanding it. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, next on up at all, no other speakers online. So, we have um extended board member comments. Director Shnasu would like to make comments.

Yeah, I just want to clarify um because I had pointed out that it would be really challenging. I think that it it's not that it's hard and that's why it can't be done. It's that our high school is a super unique place with an open lunch policy. You have kids coming in and out all the time and you have 3,500 kids at the high school. How many kids do we have there now? 3,500 kids and one school site. So my comment is not that it's not worth doing. There are lots of hard things that we can do. My comment is about can we implement it? Can we faithfully implement that policy and make it work? We have three middle schools. We now have a bell-to-bell policy at our middle schools. We have three middle schools that we can use to figure out how we could expand that to a bigger school. It doesn't it's not it's not it's hard and therefore we're not going to do it. It's we've got to figure out how to do it well because Willard Middle School has a policy right now and it works sometimes and it doesn't work other times. So what good is the policy if it's set up to fail? That's my that was my comment and my um intention and what I was saying. So it we can do hard things. I'm happy to engage in those hard things.

Great. Thank you so much. Uh hard things. Um so uh we have an adjournment. It is what 10:30. Thanks so much for everybody coming and taking time sitting late to Thanks.