West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education - Regular Meeting

meeting of the West Contraosta Unified School District School Board at 5:01 p.m. access. Oh, I think we need to fix her translation. to access translation in Zoom, please. Sorry, let me start again. To access translation in Zoom, please click on the globe icon at the bottom of the screen. If you are here in Dejon, you may pick up a headset for translation in the back corner of the auditorium. The board is about to go into close session, but before we do, we're here to listen to public comment on close session items. Individuals wishing to speak on the close session items listed. If you're here in the auditorium and haven't done so already yet, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card, which you can find in the entryway table, or if you are participating via Zoom, individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app. If you're accessing the meeting by phone, press star 9. The time allotted to each speaker is 2 minutes and the total time allotted is 1 hour. Speaking time shall not be transferred from one person to another. There is no substitution of speakers. We alternate between a Zoom comment and an in-person comment. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruption or intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time as if it were your own. be open to a different point of view if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented

in public comment. The items listed on the close session agenda tonight are conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation one case public employee discipline dismissal release complaint conference with labor negotiators public employee performance evaluation. Is there any public comment tonight? Yes, there is. Her first public comment is Gabrielle Micheletti.

Oh, thank you. As a leader in UTR, I hear a lot of things from members. One of the things I'm hearing about this TA is that it is enough for some of them to stop their current job search. However, for that to actually work, this TA must be ratified by this board. We watched district staff spend wildly on security and scabs. But if you invested in your educators rather than spending all this money trying to strike, break, and fight the community, perhaps our students, educators, and staff would be better off. UTR does not disagree that changes need to be made in the district's financial practices. We have been saying for a while now that WCCCUSD must end its over reliance on contractors and bring the work in-house to a more stable workforce. It is concerning to look into the first interim and see that the estimates are that district staff has already overrun the budget for professional and consulting services by $8 million sub agreement for service by $4 million and almost doubled the budget for travel and conferences. WCCUSD staff need to stop playing games and create budgets based on more accurate assumptions of income. I have no idea what staff thinks they will win by con continuing to not invest in educators or students, but I hope the board will stand up to ensure that this agreement is ratified that so that we can start to actually improve the working and learning conditions in WCCUSD. Thank you. Our next public comment is Jean Kinster. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening board. Please bear with my voice. I'm suffering for four freezing days on the picket line. I'm now sick and I'm trying to recover. I wanted to ask that you please ratify our contract so I can go on to the next step. We care deeply about our students and our community cares deeply about us. We would like to button this up and get it moving. so that we can focus on helping figure out how to make things better all the way around, not so much money on contractors and and all this other stuff and see how we can change it. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Francis Ortiz. Good evening, board trustees. I want to begin by thanking Superintendent Cotton for confirming today that UTR educators will not be docked pay on their end of month pay warrants at the end of this month. As we head into the holidays, that assurance matters. And I also want to raise a serious concern that some of our um psychologists, SLPs, and nurses have been working 110 and 120% of their case loads and still have not been compensated for that additional work. Earlier district proposals and the 24 2025 NSMPOU compensated work beyond a 1.1 and a 1.2 2 FTE at a pro-rated PDM rate. That language reflected past practice and appeared in earlier iterations submitted by district staff this fall. At the very end of the process, district staff reverted to an hourly rate which would result in a pay cut for members performing 1.1 or 1.2 duties. That change constitutes regressive bargaining, which I assume is not a board directed decision. We urge the board to direct district staff to honor past practice and compensate all work beyond 110 and 120% at the pro-rated perdium rate and to ensure that our specialists are fully compensated for the additional work they do in service of students. Um lastly, I want to thank the entire UTR membership for ratifying our tenative agreement with a 93% approval rate and over 86% participation and we are hopeful that um our tenative agreement will be placed on the upcoming board agenda. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Crystal. Please unmute yourself. Crystal, please unmute yourself. Can you hear me? Yes.

Okay. I want to thank the board members who supported us during the strike. And I also want to encourage all the board members to vote yes on our tentative agreement. Um, when voting, please remember staff like myself. Um, I recently purchased a home, but unfortunately because I wasn't uh provided a living wage at the time, I was I had to look for a house farther out in Fair in the Fairfield area. Um, so just think about families like me um who want to stay in our communities but are unable to because of the pay that we're getting. um if you guys vote on this tentative agreement, then more families like me um will be able to stay in our communities. And I also want to express how frustrated and angry I am that our SULPA director, Guthrie Flechman, was not at the bargaining table or that he didn't send a knowledgeable knowledgeable representative to rally for the sped department um and seek important things that our families and students need and deserve. Um it seems when things get tough, he's never around. He wasn't around the first couple of weeks when school resumed in August to help staff navigate and put out fires around his directives to put all sped students in genet classes. Um and now again when we needed him the most, he was nowhere to be found. We need a self director who will be be with us through the good, the bad, and the ugly times even if they are get are in school getting their doctorate. Thank you very much. You guys have a good night. Our next public comment is Mark Mitchell.

So, board and superintendent Cotton, I had I had asked that my card be pulled, so I was a little surprised, but I do just want to say um the members are very excited about our tenative agreement, and we're counting on the leadership of our board um and the board majority that supported this tenative agreement to shepherd it through to implementation. and we're counting on the goodwill of our superintendent to participate in that. Um, so we look forward to working to make that happen in the new year as soon as possible. I think it goes a long way towards stabilizing the staffing of our district and attracting people to come and stay here, especially in the ranks of our special education educators where we really need to bolster um you know the staffing to serve our students and to cut down on this contracting uh addiction that our our our district has fallen into. Um, I do want to say, um, I'm very disappointed to report that, um, the STE educators that were, um, whose belongings were, uh, destroyed at the direction of the district still have not been compensated. That was reported out um, after a closed session many uh, meetings ago. I just checked in with Miss Griffin, and she still hasn't been paid. Um, and I just think, you know, the mean-spiritedness behind this refusal to pay our most agrieved educators has to come to an end. Um, I don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but, uh, let's do what's right and once and for all pay the agrieved educators of STE Elementary School that have served our students year in and year out and have been treated deplorably by our district. Let's make it right. Thank you. Our next public comment is Sam Clear. Sam clear.

Hi, my name is Sam Clear and I'm the secretary of United Teachers of Richmond. I was really fortunate to get to work with all the sites during our strike. I saw students, caretakers, community members, and educators all fight for the conditions and staffing that our students deserve. Relationships all over the district and community were strengthened. However, the community's relationship with district staff leadership will be broken if harm is not repaired. You have heard the community loud and clear. We need to put this tenative agreement on the agenda as soon as possible. Stalling continues to erode trust. Thank you. Our next public comment is Marissa Shade. Please unmute yourself. Marissa Shade, please unmute yourself. Yes. Um, good evening. My name is Marissa Shade and I'm a speech language pathologist or SLP at the K12 level. First, I'd like to thank Guadalupe Inana, Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy, and Cynthia Hernandez for standing up for our students during strike. As an SLP, we work with some of our community's most vulnerable students. We work everywhere in the school from the general education population for kids who are working on stuttering and speech sounds to our extensive support needs classrooms where kids may be non-speaking. We are essential staff and we are needed at every school. In fact, some schools need two SLPs because of the great need that there is. The tenative agreement that was reached between UTR and the school district contains a case load cap for SLPs which is something that was desperately needed. I have been working at West Contraosta for 8 years and have recently begun looking around for other positions

for SLPs because this district did not have a case load cap and did not provide full healthcare coverage. The new TA has improvements that have now allowed me to remain here within my community. At the beginning of the school year, we had several SLP vacancies. I know that we had to utilize many contractors to fill those vacancies and I think that this new TA would be attractive to potential direct hire SLPs so that the district doesn't have to use additional funds to pay contracting companies. Please place the TA on your agenda and ratify it as soon as possible so that teachers or SLPs like myself can stay in this district with a contract that is fair and attractive and will bring in more qualified staff. Thank you for your time. Our next public comment is Andrea Living House. Hello, I'm Andrea Livinghouse, speech language pathologist and UTR executive board member. I'd like to say thank you again to trustees Anyana Arnandez and Gonzalez Oi for your advocacy and support of educators and students. I would like to ask the board to ratify the tenative agreement with UTR as soon as possible. UTR and the district bargaining team reached an agreement on December 10th that would put our schools on a pathway toward educator retention and stability. I've been considering looking at other districts for next school year, but the ratification of this agreement would make me reconsider staying another year in West Contraosta. I know I'm not the only one, so it's urgent that this agreement, which got a 92% approval from UTR members, is put in place immediately. It is baffling that the district staff would choose to delay the ratification of this agreement and

not put it on today's agenda. We'll continue to monitor the status of this TA as well as the teamsters TA and encourage the board to ratify both at their soonest opportunity to enable stability for our students. Thank you.

Public comment is Marie Ana. Oh, sorry. Um, I'm just going to keep this short. I'm asking the board to please ratify the UTR contract. The students need this. Thank you. Next public comment is Priscilla Lao.

Good evening. I work as a SLP in the district. I want to begin by expressing my continued gratitude um to trustes Enyana Gonzalez Hoy and Hernandez for standing up for students and the staff who support them every day. I also want to share our concern that our TA as well as the Teamsters TA was not included in tonight's agenda. These agreements directly impact the adults who work most closely with students and when they're delayed or overlooked, students ultimately feel the effects. These new agreements are meant to help attract and retain staff our students rely on and ensure their academic, social, and emotional needs are being met. We expect the board to respect both the purpose of these agreements and the students they're intended to support by moving forward in a timely and responsible way. Thank you for your time.

Next public comment is Sarah Kley. Hi, I'm Sarah Kley, a teacher at Hannah Ranch. I've been there 30 years and I've been teaching in this district since 92. And I just want to say that what's happening right now with our class having over 2,000 students who don't have teachers and we're already in our 70th day of school. It's a crisis. It's shocking that it's taken like business as usual. I mean, put yourself in the shoes of those children, of the families. If we're losing students, maybe we're losing them because the parents want their child to have a teacher for God's sake. It's the number one factor in student achievement is teacher quality. So, this is really really an urgent urgent matter and it needs to be treated with urgency. And so I implore you to please facilitate getting this TA ratified and making sure that it is implemented quickly so those poor children who are in those 70 classrooms will have a chance of getting a teacher and that we'll get more speech pathologists. Those kids deserve it. And I really just have to say I am incredibly grateful to our union president Francisco Ortiz. He is phenomenal. You know, I told him I've been here since 92. He is my favorite. Sorry, Demetrio. But you know, I am also very grateful to trustees Gonzalez Oi and Lana and also Hernandez. Thank you so much for doing the right thing. When we were bargaining, you were saying you had to wait to look at the numbers and

everything. So, I'm not sure I understand. What's the hold up? Why are we waiting on this? Like, let's get it done for the kids. Let's change their lives for the better right now. Right now.

Our next public comment is Michelle Schultz. Good evening. My name is Michelle Schultz. I'm a second grade teacher at Hannah Ranch. First of all, I would like to take the opportunity to thank trustees Enyana Gonzalez Hoy and Hernandez for recognizing that the negotiations that we have gone through these last 11 months is so much more than the adults in this room and in this district. It's about the children. is about their needs and I appreciate you recognizing that and putting the students first. Second of all, I am deeply concerned that our TA is not on the agenda because I have already heard of paras from ProAre who are applying to the district because of what they saw on the picket line. they are ready to jump ship from the contractors and we need to make sure that they have somewhere to land because if they don't have a place to land they're going to end up either back at the contractors or in another district. Thank you very much.

Our next public comment is Lackey. Brett Lackey.

All right, I'll keep this short and sweet. Um, I would once again also like to thank the trustees that stood with UTR and the teamsters in ratify or you know coming to a tenative agreement and I'm really hoping that that agreement will continue to help attract uh permanent staff and continue to support our students as well. Um, the district needs to continue focusing and prioritizing permanent credentialed staff and wildly overspending on stop wildly overspending on contractors. And um, the other thing I'm just going to say is that yeah, I am also concerned that the TA is not on tonight's agenda and I would urge you all to please uh, get it on the agenda as soon as possible and get it ratified. Thank you. Our next public comment is Michelle Milford.

Good evening, trustees and superintendent Cotton. Once again, thank you, Clerk Anyana, Trustee Gonzalez Hoy, and Trustee Hernandez for your bravery in supporting a tenative agreement that prioritizes attracting and retaining permanent, highly highly qualified educators. Every student deserves to learn in a stable environment with consistency and should never experience a classroom ran by a revolving door of subs or a virtual teacher in Ohio. At this moment, we are sinking fast into a private equity quicksand. But the improvements made in our tenative agreements combined with the right budget cuts can help pull us out. According to the first interim, the district is once again going over the approved budget for services and other operating expenses by 15.7 million. Over half of that misspending is on professional consultants. But the only thing we really need consulting on is how to not spend $75 million on consultants and instead invest that money in permanent staff for our students. Members of the board, please continue your advocacy for our communities and holding staff accountable. Thank you. Our next public comment is Eric Jeep W. Jeepson. The good people of West Contraosta elect five people to supervise the education of our children. Two weeks ago, the board showed courage as they instructed their employees at the district office to think not about the past but about the future. As a longtime citizen and employee of West County Unified, I was proud of the board and I am proud of the

board. And I agree with you. It is time to ditch the bad contracts of years past that send our taxpayer money out of our community and into the hands of private equity. It is time to instead pay people who live right here in our communities in Richmond, Elserto, San Pablo, Kensington, Hercules, and all of our communities. This is what will make us strong. So, thank you for your courage and please do not let any fearful employees slow you down for being the change that we want to see. Our next public comment is Promise Rose. See where is it? Okay. Sorry, that was quick. Okay. All right. Um, hi, I'm Promise Rose, Betty Reits Oscar Middle School. Again, thank you to Guadalupe, Demetrio Gonzalezo, and Cynthia Hernandez for standing up for our students. Um, Mr. Demetria, you experienced the hypothermic conditions while visiting us over at Betty Weed Saskin and yet everyone who was available was there out there not for the board, not for the district, but for our students. I am begging begging the board to please take into consideration putting the TI TA onto the agenda and really take into consideration not to cut any of the valuable classes and courses that our students use to develop their seals and critical thinking skills that we alone bare bones at Betty Reed Saskkin have been instilling in our students. We have seen much trauma come

in. We have seen many needs come in and we have supported them on the backs of our teachers, our speech pathologists, our counselors giving, giving, giving to the point where we are in pain and falling. We need not only this TA, but more. But we're only asking for this TA because our students need it. We can't do it anymore. not on our own. Please show that you support us and put this agreement on the agenda and please listen. Thank you.

Our next public comment is we

greetings. My name is Bill Hodes. I'm a secondary teacher at Hercules Middle School. Um it's my second year there. And um I actually started in the district back in 2014. So um I left and I came back because I was told by one of my fellow educators that you guys really needed teachers and that I was somebody that they felt would would really fit well in. And um so I came back and I've been back for about 5 years and I am seeing a lot of the same things that were happening back in 2015 2016 and it's it's disappointing but I will say that um you have amazing teachers here. You have amazing board members up here. You have people who are so dedicated administrators at my site even are saying how raw our emotions at our site are right now. There is so much discrepancy between and how how people are feeling that I feel as though the need to ratify this TA cannot be overstated. Please do so. Please quote stop stalling. Please prioritize the people who are here who are dedicated to this community who are dedicated to the students who should be your top priority. Thank you. The

next public comment is Caroline Krueger Cen. Good evening. My name is Caroline Krueger Hansen and I am a proud UTR member and one of my school's UTR representatives. I want to begin by thanking board members Guadalupe Anyana, Cynthia Hernandez, and Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy for their support and engagement throughout our negotiations. Your willingness to listen and stand with ed educators made a meaningful difference and that support mattered. I am here tonight because I am deeply disappointed in the lack of leadership, transparency, and respect shown during our contract negotiation process. Good faith bargaining requires presence, accountability, and honesty. Yet, Superintendent Cotton did not attend a single bargaining session. Not one. At a time when trust was fragile, the absence of the district's top leader spoke louder than any statement ever could. Instead of showing up at the table, Superintendent Cotton chose to stay home and communicate directly with parents in ways that framed educators as unreasonable. Those messages made us look like the bad guys when in reality we are the ones in classrooms every day serving students under increasing demands and limited resources. These communications undermined negotiations, damaged trust, and placed educators in an unfair adversarial position with the families we work so hard to support. Leadership means showing up when conversations are difficult. It means listening, not deflecting, and taking responsibility for the integrity of the process, not shaping a public narrative from a distance. The board has a responsibility to ensure district leadership models the values it expects. Integrity, collaboration, and accountability. I urge you to reflect on how trust was harmed and to commit to

future negotiations that are transparent, present, and conducted in genuine good faith. I also urge this board to place our tenative agreement on the board on the agenda and to ratify it immediately. Our educators, students, and families deserve stability, closure, and the ability to move forward. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Kirsten Cohen.

Good evening. My name is Kirsten Cohen. I am a fifth sixth grade teacher at Shannon Elementary where I am also the proud UTR representative. I would like to know who is being held accountable for all of the misinformation and lies that were put out to the public in regards to the teacher strike and negotiations. Certain people should either be fired or they should resign. Cheryl Cotton and Leslie Reckler, I am mostly speaking to you. Your continuous lies and false information as well as your absences have not gone unnoticed. In the words of my Elserto High School principal, Mr. Aronian, "Shame on you." I went to school in this district kindergarten through 12th grade and haven't been an employee since 2004. This is by far the most dysfunctional our district has ever been. I also want to strongly urge the board to put our tenative agreement on the agenda and ratify it immediately out of respect respect for teachers and staff. Thank you. Our next public comment is Christina Werta. Christina Werta. Good evening. My name is Christina Werta and I'm a Spanish teacher at Kennedy High School. Yep. My site has been plagued by vacancies for so many years that it's hard to even keep track. The world language department used to include three Spanish teachers and one French teacher. We had a vacancy a few years ago and that led to some of our current juniors taking their first class

of a year of a language other than English on egeneuity. They had very little support and without a full-time teacher in the classroom, several of them failed. Eventually, it was decided to close the position. So yeah, technically we don't have a vacancy in the world languages department anymore, but our department of four is now down to two teachers. Our students deserve better, and this TA will help us recruit new teachers to our district and most importantly be able to retain them. It is urgent that the TA be added to the board's agenda and ratified. The district budget needs to prioritize hiring teachers instead of overspending on contractors. Kennedy students deserve to have a permanent teacher in every classroom and they deserve and Kennedy students deserve to take electives of their choosing whether that be Spanish, French or any other language. Thank you. Our next public comment is Jeffrey Bean Jr. Jeffrey Bean Jr. Good evening. I'm Jeffrey Being. I teach uh fourth and fifth grade at Shannon Elementary in Penol. Uh thank you to the three board members who uh urged the staff and directed staff to approve a contract with us. Um, I asked the board to please take quick action to ratify that contract. Um, and I would like to get my retroactive pay and the same paycheck I get my um, docked pay for the strike dates. I think that's only fair

in order to show that you're working in good faith with educators. Um, I was disappointed with how things went the last 10 months. I am disappointed this wasn't resolved more quickly and I hope that the district staff and board learned from this experience and knows that next time our union will not back down. Thank you. And our last public comment is Kristen Kase.

Good evening. My name is Kristen Kase. I've been a teacher in the district for 30 years. Um and a resident of Richmond for 40 years. I have my we shall overcome sign. Um my first graders made this last year when we were singing in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King and one um we sang this song at our candlelight vigil um on Saturday when we're negotiating and I appreciate Demetrio for speaking up after that service. Um one thing that Dr. King taught us is that we need to be upstanders standing up for what's right and not bystanders for and that we need and I one thing that I've taught my first grade students is we need to study history to learn from our mistakes and not repeat the mistakes of the past. For many years our district has been on this austerity budget of saying no money, no money, we can't do this, we can't do this. and our students have suffered. Um, that is one reason I chose to sing the we shall overcome song because it's a civil rights issue. If you have first graders and kindergarteners and TK students who do not have a teacher, that's a civil rights issue. If you have students who require speech services or IEP services and they are not receiving them, that is a civil rights issue. We can no longer afford to ignore the lack of educators in our district. And I'm concerned that in the um Superintendent Cotton's message, she said, "We have to pass this on to the county to see what they say. You are the leaders of our district." The county already approved for four

years waiverss to pay less than we're required by law on salaries. We urge you to put student everyone who gave public comment. We are going to recess to close session hopefully back at 6:30. Thank you very much everyone. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the open session of the regularly scheduled December 17, 2025 meeting of the West Contraosta School District Board. The board is returning from close session and I am calling open session to order at 7:09 p.m. I am also beginning the special meeting of December 17, 2025. So we're running two meetings tonight simultaneously. We have our regular meeting and then we have our special meeting agenda going at the same time. to access translation in Zoom, please click on the globe icon at the bottom of the screen. And if you're here in this auditorium and you need translation, you may pick up a headset in the back corner of the auditorium. In a few minutes, we will begin the public comment agenda item. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter that is not otherwise on the agenda, but is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contraosta Unified School District. Please prepare now for public comment. If you are here in the auditorium and you'd like to make public comment,

please fill out and submit a WCC public comment card. You can find them in the table in the entryway. And if you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. If you're participating by phone, press star 9. After your comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in the order received and we call on speakers one at a time alternating between a public comment here in Dejon and one on Zoom. Public comment generally lasts for one hour. The time allotted to each speaker is two minutes and in the meantime we are moving on to the rest of our opening procedures. B2 pledge of allegiance. If you're winning, willing, or able, please rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. B3 land, labor and body acknowledgement. We recognize that we are presently on the lands of the Chicheno Karkin Aloney peoples and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. Labor and body recognition of acknowledgement. I acknowledge that the burden of environmental exploitation and systemic injustice falls upon the labor of black and brown bodies and the building of this country and its institutions. I remember that black and brown people were born and died working this land against their will for generations. I also acknowledge the continued contribution of the labor of

survivors over the centuries to today of all immigrant labor, including voluntary, involuntary, trafficked, forced, and undocumented peoples in the building of what we refer to as the United States. Author Dr. Michelle Rogers four, West Contraosta Unified School District School Board anti-racism statement. The West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education is committed to the work of anti-racism. The conscious and active effort to identify, challenge, and correct racial inequities in the systems and institutions within our schools and community. Racism, explicit or implicit, stands in direct conflict the fundamental principles of WCCUSD education. To carry WCC education into the future, we recognize that we must continually renew and reflect on the roots of racism and develop new ideas to meet the times. Unjust ideas and policies and the racial inequity they produce have shaped us, our schools, and our society. We strive to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as board members. We challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growth and learning, to deepen our listening and our examination of racism and oppression, and to develop a strong understanding of how our personal experiences and feelings fit into a larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of our school board individually and collectively is responsible for creating and nurturing an anti-gracist learning environment where each student, staff member, and community partner is respected and valued member of the WCCUSD community. We are uniquely positioned and it is our responsibility to identify and dismantle racist ideas and inequitable policies in ourselves and across the district. Therefore, we commit to supporting anti-racist policies, programs, and practices for our children's education and well-being while building strong and inclusive school communities. We commit

to holding each board member accountable towards these goals and moving the work of anti-racism forward. We also commit to holding West Contraosta Unified School District staff, students, and community to living these standards of anti-racism in our schools. Board approved March 20th, 2024. We're up to number five. Roll call. Superintendent Cotton, will you please take role? Yes. Student trustee Miles. Good evening. Present. Student trustee Han. Good evening. Present.

Trustee Hernandez. Good evening. Present. Clerkana. Trustee Smith Foss. Good evening. President Trustee Gonzalez Hoy. Good evening. President Board President Reckler.

Good evening. I'm present this evening. We are now going to move to our special agenda. Item two, recognition of Elsto High School football team. Superintendent I would like Superintendent Cotton, would you like to take the sign up?

I absolutely would. As a former gout show myself and cheerleader, I'm so proud. You guys come on out. Last Saturday, our football team through their own perseverance, through their own hard work, and through outstanding coaching, they came and won. They had the play down in Los Angeles. They did an amazing job, and we are so proud of them. Please give them a hand clap. So proud of them. What is even more amazing what is even more amazing is this is the first state championship for Elserto High School in the area of football. And we again cannot say how proud we are of you. Our our cheerleaders came down to cheer on the team as well. And we had a huge actually huge following of family and community members who who came down to Los Angeles to make sure that they were there for that game. I attended that game. It was a good game, but you know what? The other team didn't stand a chance. So, great job everybody. Co coast Tim, do you mind? There's a podium there. Do you have a couple words? Do you see it right there? A couple of words for the team, a couple of words for the community.

I'm right there.

Good. Yeah, I got a few words, man. Um, what a difference a year make. Um, last year we was in this building um for a whole different reason, you know. Um, we we didn't fall through adversity. Um, we didn't uh fought through a lot of uh heartache and pain of us not being able to showcase our talents last year, but these dudes came back this year. Uh, they was resilient. Uh, they refused to lose. They they refused to say the word lose. Anytime I even brought that up, they told me, "Man, we don't even think about that." And you know, it showed they played no matter if the game was uh close in the first half. Our second half resilience kind of paved the way for us being in the position that we are now. And uh I can't be more proud of the players, the coaching staff, cheerleaders, um team moms, administration. uh that gave us a chance to I mean make amends of what happened last year and and with that chance you know we took advantage of our opportunity. Um I love these guys. I love everybody that had a hand in this in this joint and you know we're going to continue pushing. There's nothing like gaucho pride and you know this green and white is something special and for us to you know put the icing on the cake and win the first ever state title brought it home especially for a public school you know what I mean it's going to be something I'm going to cherish with myself and with these guys for the rest of our lives and one thing about being a gaucho you can always come back you know what I mean because I'm a former gaucho and we always give back man it's it's not about uh this and that

it's all about, you know what I mean? Loving where you come from and loving loving each other, man. And, you know, it's a beautiful thing to see all this come together, man. I'm so proud. I'm I'm so blessed and, you know, for me to get this opportunity to coach these young men, to lead them, you know what I mean? It's just a experience that I'm never going to forget. You know what I mean? And it's a beautiful thing. So, you know what it is. I did it my way. Let's make it happen. Thank you, Coach Johnson. Again, I'm gonna take a picture.

Thank you, Superintendent Wayne, for being here and being at the game. But again, I just want to say I'm very proud of each and every one of you, both for the students as well as the adults that are part of this team. So proud of you. I cannot believe the amazing things that we've done that you've done this year. I wasn't here last year. I don't I've heard the stories of what happened, but knowing that through adversity, you are shining. That is amazing. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can I invite the board to come down? We're going to do a picture all together if that's okay. And then for each of the players, I've got certificates for you. Um and then also for each of the cheerleaders, I have certificates for you as well. So,

For those of you at home, we're just waiting for the room to clear so we can move on with the rest of the agenda. We're just going to take a few more minutes until the room clears. Thank you.

Okay, let's try to get started again. I'm now coming back to the regular agenda. I'm on number six, report ratification of close session and we are the board is not reporting out at this time because we are going to return to close session at the close of open session. Moving on now to B7, recognitions of board members,

California Education Code 3514. We're sorry. I'm sorry. all discombobulated.

Thank you. Uh I was about to jump into the next item and that was premature. First off, we need to say thank you. Thank yous are in order. Uh we've had two amazing leaders who have sat in and supported uh the board and in turn supported all of our district and our students. And we appreciate your service. We appreciate your support. First off, I would like to extend a a thank you to Clerk Guadalupe Inana who served as our clerk this year, stepped into a leadership role as her first time on the board, and we appreciate that, and we appreciate all the work that you've done to support again the students of West Contraosta. So, clerkana, I have a plaque for you. Good evening everyone. I want to say thank you to everyone um for the support during my first year on the board and being here in a position of leadership. It's been a really big learning curve. Um, I think I've grown and I've learned and I've tried to stay focused with centering our students. I am really grateful I think to be put in this position at this time and I only see great things ahead. So, thank you everyone. want to thank you for the support staff. Um, and I look forward to the many years ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you. I also want to say thank you to our board president, Leslie Reckler. Um, I joined the board about a 100 days ago. I've joined this district about a 100 days ago and have been working as a partner with the board since then. I have appreciated your leadership and your support. Um, we've had many conversations of really getting to what is it that that our district needs to grow and to thrive. And I appreciate the time that you've taken to talk with me, the time that we've been able to again engage around those things that make a difference in the lives of our students. So, thank you for all of that. You specifically said no plaque, but we did not give you a plaque, but we gave you a certificate on really nice paper. How about that? And we want to say thank you. Board President Reckler, do you have a few words? Thank you. So, I want to thank you, Superintendent Cotton. I want to thank the board. I want to thank the cabinet uh for all your support this year. And I really want to thank Rosa and Hennessys for all of their support. They're amazing. They support the superintendent. They support the board, too. They got every detail right every single time in a maze of a million details. It was really a pleasure to work with both of you and really thank you very much for your support and that's all I have. Thank you. Okay, moving on now to B8 annual organization.

You script. All right. California Education Code 35143 mandates that a yearly organizational meeting take place within a specific December time frame. In years in which no regular election for governing board members is conducted, the organizational meeting is conducted on any day in December, but no later than December 20th. Board bylaw 91000 states, "At this meeting, the board shall elect a president and a clerk from its members. Two, appoint a secretary to the board. Three, authorize signatures. Four, develop a schedule of regular meetings for the year. Five, develop a board calendar for the year. Six, designate board representatives. And we recommend that board representatives are not chosen tonight, but are decided at the January retreat when all board members can voice their pref preferences. Board bylaw 91000 further states, "It is the intent of the board that all board members have an opportunity for board leadership. In order to fairly rotate the offices of the president and clerk among the five members of the board, the following process is is established. A newly elected, excuse me, board member who is not an incumbent will serve a minimum of one year on the board before qualifying as president. Number two, the board clerk will replace the outgoing president. This member shall be one who previously has not served in office unless all board members elected to at the same time have previously served in office. Number three, the board clerk will be the member who has the highest number of votes compared to other board members elected at the same time. This process continues until all board

members elected in the same year have served as board president. Number four, an appointed board member shall join the rotation only after first being elected. Number five, newly elected and reelected board members are added onto the existing order of rotation in the order of the number of votes received from the highest number of votes to the lowest. Number six, when the only board member members who have not served as an officer are new to the board, the board may elect a board clerk who has served in office. Number seven, a board member may decline to serve as board clerk. This will drop the board member back one position in the rotation. And number eight, this format will be followed except in unusual or exceptional cases. The board has the ultimate discretion to elect or not elect any board member for any office. Page 29 and 30 of the board's governance handbook adopted in May of 2024 further states, "In the event no member of the governing board has served for at least one year nor wants to serve, any member may be nominated and elected to the presidency. The clerk is elected from amongst Ford peers. Members must accept their nominations prior to the vote. Both president and clerk may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms and are eligible to serve again if no one else is willing. Even though anyone may be elected to either president or clerk position with a board majority, the elected clerk of the board shall serve with the intent to serve and be trained to step up as president in the following year. Any board member may self-nominate for either position. There is no voting by proxy. The board's governance

handbook contains a recommended procedure for elections and I will be following it. First, the superintendent precides over the election. I will ask the board for nominations which must be seconded. An individual nominated for either position can decline the nomination. Traditionally, the nominated trustee will second the motion as a means of accepting the nomination. The superintendent will then ask for a vote for each nomination. Once one person receives at least three votes, the vote is final. The new board president and clerk will immediately assume their duties. Does anyone have any questions? Let's begin. I'm starting with the president of the board and will now accept nominations for president or president.

I nominate clerkyana for president of the board. I'll second. First, clerkyana, do you accept the nomination? I accept. And would you like to second your nomination? I heard that it was seconded over here. I will second my nomination. Thank you. Are there any other nominations for president of the board? Seeing none, the nominations for president are closed. Would board members like to make comments?

I'm wishing you every success and I'm here to support you in anything that you need. Any further comments? Seeing none, let's go to the vote. The motion test. Okay. The motion is

motion. The motion is moved by trustee Reckler and seconded by trustee Inana. Going to the vote. Student trustee Miles. Yes. Student trustee Han. Yes. Trustee Hernandez. Yes. Clerk Anyana? Yes. Trustee Smith Folds? No. Trustee Gonzalez Hoy. Yes.

President Reckler. Reckler. Yes. Congratulations to our new president. Now I'm moving to elect a clerk to the board. I'm now accepting nominations for clerk of the board. I would like to nominate uh trustee Demetri Gonzalez Hoy. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, do you accept the nomination? I accept.

Would you like to second your nomination? Yes. Are there any other nominations for the clerk of the board? Yes. I'd like to nominate Trusty Hernandez. Trusty Hernandez, do you accept the nomination? Thank you, Berna.

Are there any other nominations for clerk of the board? Seeing none, the nominations for clerk are closed. Would board members like to make comments? Seeing none, let's go to the vote. The motion is Oh, goodness. Who initiated the vote? Have you initiated the motion?

Thank you. Uh, Trustee Hernandez moved and Trustee Gonzalez Hoy second. Um, we'll go for the vote. Student Trustee Miles, yes. Student Trustee Han.

Trustee Hernandez. Yes. Clerk Inana, yes. Trustee Smith Boltz, no. Trustee Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Trusty Reckler. Reckler, yes.

We had four yes votes, one no vote, and one absent. Congratulations to our new clerk, Let's take five. We're going to take 2 minutes to switch up some seats here.

No, I move for it.

Okay. Now, we're moving on to item B2. The board will now make a separate motion to approve the following routine matters. First, appoint the superintendent and secretary. Appoint the superintendent and secretary to the board as prescribed by law. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Is there any public comment on the item?

We have no public comment. I will now accept the motion and second to approve the superintendent cotton as secretary to the board. I move that we approve uh superintendent con being secretary to the board. Smith will sec. Are there any further comments from the board? Okay, we'll move on to the vote. Um Miles, yes.

Han, yes. Trusty Ernnandez, yes. Trusty regular. Yes. Trusty folks. Yes. Trusty clerk and I mean clerk and clerk Gonzalez boy. Yes,

it's going to be a change and we have to get used to it. So, we have Oh, President and Jana. Yes. And we have five yes zero no abstains. Now we will move to approve resolution number 26 2526-47 certificate of signatures. Are there any comments on this from the board? Is there any public comment on the item? We have no public comment.

I will accept a motion and second to approve resolution 2526-47, certificate of signatures. I'll go ahead and move resolution number 2526-47, certificate of signatures. I second. Are there any further comments from the board? So now we will move on to the votes. Trusty Miles, yes. Trustee Han, yes. Trusty Hernandez, yes. Trusty Rec. Trusty Reckler. Trustee Fods.

Smith Foes. Yes. Trustee Gonzalez. Hoy. Yes.

Okay. So, we have five yeses and passes. Um, now we're moving on to affirming the board's calendar. Included in the agenda is the previously adopted schedule of regular meetings through the 2025 2026 school year. To this you will find board meeting dates for the 26 27th school year as well as dates for retreat superintendent reviews, budget and LCAP hearings and adoptions and the board governance calendar that includes the statutory requirements the board as well as items that the board has added such as ongoing quarterly stage updates. Are there any questions or comments from the board?

Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Thank you. I did want to ask for one change, which was the January 14th meeting. I wanted to request that we move it to January 21st, which is the following week, the following Wednesday. So, can I get a Trusty Redcliff.

Yes, thank you. So, I checked that date and January 21st is fine. I also want to point out uh to the board uh and just to make sure that when we're establishing the board calendar, the superintendent midyear check-in moved to April 25th, 2026. In her contract, it's the end of January. So, I just want to make sure that everybody notes that and I'm fine with it. Oh, I forgot. There's one more thing. Um, the super the end of year superintendent evaluation is uh has to be delivered before July 30th. Um, so um I just wanted to point that out. It's not on the calendar. Maybe we could tack it on to the retreat or something like that. And those are my comments.

Thank you. So, do we have a motion to move the January to approve the calendar and move the January 14th to the January 21st date? I'll move it. I'll second. Is there any further comments from the board? Okay, now we'll go to the vote. Um, Trusty Miles, yes. Trusty Han, yes. Trustee Hernandez. Yes. Trusty Reckler. Reckler. Yes. Trustee Smith Folds. Smith FS. Yes. Trustee Gonzalez. Hoy. Yes.

So we have five. Yes. And now we move on to item B9. West Costa Unified School District public comment. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contracasta Unified School District, but not on tonight's agenda. Public comment will last approximately 1 hour. The time allowed for each speaker is 2 minutes. Should additional speakers remain at the conclusion of 1 hour. Public comment may be extended with the consent of the board. The time allowed per speaker after the first hour is generally one minute. Individuals wishing to speak, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card or if participating via Zoom, individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app prior to the start of the item. Speaking time shall not be transferred from one person to another and there is no substitution of speakers. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruption or intimidation. Please listen actively to each speaker's comment and respect their time at the podium as if it were your own. Be open to a different point of view if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, the board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. Do we have any items for public comment?

First public comment is Don Gosny. Good evening. You know, congratulations to the board's new president and clerk. We, the people, have high hopes that instead of being the captain on the Titanic, that the district will take a path to fi financial solveny and sustainability. I'm also pleased that the labor strikes are, at least for the short term, a thing of the past. Now, we just have to find a way to pay for all the new benefits agreed upon without expecting the students to suffer because the district can no longer afford basic necessities. I also wanted to congratulate the Elsto Gauchos for their state championship football team. I understand that they were honored last night by the Elsto City Council. Considering that 60% of the Elsto City High School students reside in Richmond, imagine my disappointment that through a 5 and a half hour council meeting last night, not a single word was mentioned about this great victory. It embarrasses me greatly that so many of our community leaders in Richmond have no idea what's going on in their city. Rest assured, I will remind them of that this slight already did. I've been with the bond program from the very beginning. I was one of the people working with the board president Charles Ramsay that helped create it nearly 27 years ago. I've been with the bond oversight committee since the beginning nearly 23 years ago. Right now, I'd bet there's no one that knows more about your bond program than me. I mention all this to give some weight to my next comments. When the voters passed Prop 39 in 2000, it allowed the district to fund the bond program to repair or replace all 53 of our schools. One of the conditions though is that there must be an independent community-based oversight of the program. For a lot of reasons, your citizens bond oversight committee tasked with the oversight of the bond program has not been provided with the tools they need to adequately protect the $2.4 billion of their money. With only a couple of exceptions, none of them have been there for more than a year. A third of them have been there for only about six months. And of the entirety of this time, they've collectively missed more than a third of the meetings. How long did each of you take to get the hang of things to be on the board? He says, "There are good and decent people uh capable of doing the community's work, but unless they get

the guidance they need, the district is going to be in a lot of trouble in short order. We have five projects going on right now budgeted for $794 million, more than it has ever been worked on at one time. One-third of the total amount authorized by the voters. I will not stand here and provide specifics, but would advise you to all to reach out to me if you really want to uh know more and care about this. Thank you. Our next public comment is Maisha Harris Gash. Please unmute yourself. Good evening all. So first, what are you the board going to do about these continued microaggressions in this district? Number two, since the conclusion of the UTR and Teamster strikes, there's some bad blood throughout the district. How does the healing begin? How are relationships and school culture and climates restored to ultimately provide a learning environment that's conducive to optimum learning environments for our students? Number three, for a lot of our students, their school is a safe haven, a place of peace. And very importantly, their school is their safe zone. Unfortunately, some people forgot that. Remember, these are still our COVID babies. Number four, this is about the third time I'm telling the board about Mr. Henderson's wood shop um at Kennedy High School. Why are Kennedy students still using a drill, a saw, a piece of equipment from the 1960s when there are two brand new ones still in boxes on the floor blocking a table saw that Kennedy students cannot use because of these two thousands of pound boxes? When are these going to be put in for our students? When is this board going to demonstrate that Kennedy

students are just as important as students above the BART tracks? And finally, I recognize that I'm seen as black first and a woman second. I don't do disrespect quietly. Ask my students about that. You can feel whatever you want to about Dr. Greenwood and Dr. Moses. Just put some respect on their academic achievements, please. And thank you. And finally, finally, we're about to go into break. Everybody, self-care is very important for your physical and your mental health. So, please relax, rest, and rejuvenate. And bring in 2020, what six with joy. Our next public comment is Marie Ana. Shout out to the positive school climate department that sent out the sincere heartfelt letter to the teachers, students, and families. We needed that message after being in some very stressful situations. Please continue sharing those words of advice. I'm still waiting for an email response about the suspected typo in the Williams quarterly report. As a parent with two st students in the district, I deserve a response in a timely manner. I have more safety concerns about STE things seem to be escalating there. I don't know if anybody hears us parents, we are asking for help. First, there was the October 3rd incident that nobody wants to talk about. Then this week, we

were tagged on the fence right in front where Lydia, my four-year-old, plays. Thank goodness. I'm thankful maintenance came out and painted it over. I will be sending the pictures. I am not going to say what it was, but there are safety concerns that are for real. Also, the gate that surrounds Lydia's yard. Do you know there are three and a half inch gaps? STRANGERS WALK CAN WALK UP TO THE FENCE. Pass anything to a child. I am asking for a screen to be put in that fence to help protect the children. IT'S THE CHILDREN WHO ARE THE VICTIMS IN all this. And again, it's our black and brown children who are not being sent the resources. I cannot forget about my sped family. I'm still waiting for the transportation handbook and hope that soon cameras and GPS will be added on the buses. The safety of the students should be everyone's top priority. This is my ninth meeting. I gave my kids the night off, but I'm not giving up on STEG and the safety of all the students. I'm working towards the best possible safe and productive learning and writing environments. Thank you. Our next public comment is Francis Ortiz. Please unmute yourself. Oh. Uh, our next public comment is Jean Kinster. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening board. Again, I apologize for my voice. Um, on November 5th, I talked at this board meeting and Gunthreman got back to me right away with an email. I asked about, "Can I please know which of my students that don't hear right, which of my students that don't see right, so I can give them the resources they need until it can be fixed." Crickets. nothing. I have a child wearing a Baja, a bone anchored hearing device and I don't know what else I need to do for him because the third party online contractor deaf and um heart of hearing teacher hasn't gotten with my counselor, the psych yet to even make a plan for this baby. This is ridiculous. I need to know how to help these children until they can get their other needs met. I also am advocating for my three of my ELD students. They got assessed in the classroom, not in the classroom, but this year at school. These babies don't like to talk to people they don't know. Two of these kids got a one and one got a two. I took video and sent it to I forgot his name, but the guy in charge of the the um ELD stuff. And in this video, you can hear these kids talking about money and bubble gum and how this is their favorite because of this color. And I haven't videoed yet, but they talk about how ferocious dinosaurs are. And they talk today about the solar system and outer space and astronauts. How can these babies be a one and a two? They should be IP, but because they don't like to speak to a stranger, two of them have IEPs. one stutters. So, I'm assuming maybe they just figured he didn't know what he was talking about, and the other one might not been as cooperative if he as he should have been, but he also needed the ability to finish the assessment properly. We have to do better by these children. And if

the assessments are wrong and we know and we can show you a video, I really think you guys need to think about reclassifying them into a different level. Thank you. Our next public comment is Kim Chamberlain. Kim Chamberlain Good evening. I'm Kimberly Chamberlain, IFP Local 21 SSA chapter president. Tonight, I'm addressing the board and all of our cabinet to make sure that we're all aware that the next two weeks, our families are going to be in need of assistance. It's going to be cold. Some families over the last few weeks have had dire straits and we want to make sure that everybody is looking out for them. Please, if you have time, go to food forthought and volunteer those there. This is a program that is very dear to my heart. It feeds our families. Last year, we fed almost a thousand families in our district in West Contraosta and we donate to them our entire holiday funds every year. So, it makes a big difference for those families. Making sure our students are fed and well cared for is a huge difference. that makes them want to come to school. That makes them want to learn. And that also means that it shows that we are keeping them in our forethought as we have the last few weeks. I believe that our cabinet members have been very well

versed in making sure that they keep our students and our community in their thoughts. We've shown that in making sure that they had learning opportunities during the strike that they have kept in great communication with us as leaders myself in particular. I'm not speaking for others as some do speak for myself and I don't believe in that as something that should be done. I will speak for myself and I support my cabinet because they have been truthful and very much communicative to me. So, please go volunteer for food for thought. I would appreciate it.

Our next public comment is Aaron Kalentine. Please unmute yourself.

Hello everyone. Um, first off, I wanted to say um congratulations uh to all of the new board members in their new well to our board members new positions. Um, and thank you to all of you for your service, especially the student board members. Um, it's so appreciated. Uh, and I wanted to say especially to um, President Anyana and Clerk Gonzalez Hoy and, uh, Trustee Hernandez. Um, getting to see you and some of your kids supporting teachers on the picket lines um, and at our rallies was amazing. I continue to be impressed and inspired by the power and commitment that our community is building together. Um, and this is what solidarity solidarity looks like. Seeing our trusted and locally elected leaders out in the cold and marching with us and listening to students and teachers very actively. Um, uh, and then coming back to the board and working these late nights and continuing to do the work at the critical levels that most of us who work daily in schools can't do. Thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for supporting your teachers. Thank you for making sure that, you know, hopefully before we get to 30% of the contract being over, we'll have one signed. But please keep it up. We are winning for our students uh when we continue to fight to be safe and fully stable and fully staffed. Um we need to keep working on class size. We need to keep working on our special education article and department. I feel like every time I come to a board meeting, I hear more of my special education community standing up and talking about what we need. Uh I don't think that this is I mean it's problems that we need to address, but it is not a problem for us to be dealing with these things really directly. Thank you for your work. Please continue your good fight. And

again, to all of you, thank you for all that you do. Our next public comment is Christine Hatcher. Good evening, President Yala and members of the school board. My name is Christine Ganhatcher and I'm the president of the West Contraosta Administrators Association. I'm here to affirm the importance of maintaining civil discourse even and especially when we hold differing perspectives about the direction of our districts district excuse me and the decisions before us. Healthy disagreement is an essential part of the democratic process and effective leadership. However, the manner in which disagreement is expressed matters. When dialogue becomes personal, dismissive or inflammatory, it undermines trust. It erodess relationships and it distracts from our shared responsibility to serve students, families, and staff. As educational leaders, we have a profess we have a particular obligation to model the values we expect to see reflected across our schools and community. I am increasingly concerned that some recent discourse is not aligned with the district's own policies and commitments related to bullying prevention, anti-racism, and the creation of safe, inclusive environments. These policies are not aspirational statements. They are guiding principles that should inform how we engage with one another,

especially in public forums and during moments of tension or disagreement. WCCA remains steadfast in its commitment to working collaboratively with Superintendent Cotton and her cabinet to address the complex challenges facing our district. We believe that progress is best achieved through respectful dialogue, mutual accountability, and a shared focus on solutions rather than division. Our association stands ready to continue engaging in this. Our next public comment is Crystal Banigan. Please unmute yourself. Good evening. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Thank you so much, uh, members of the board, uh, Superintendent Cotton and the general community at Levana Dean. I apologize I can't be there with you in person this evening, but I wanted to bring up a couple of things that are very concerning. Um, even as I'm hearing public comment this evening. Um I received um a notice on Parent Square today um this afternoon um about a Quanza event that's going to be virtual and it's going to be for 1 hour and it's for tomorrow. And as a parent, as an educator, as a black woman, I am disgusted by the way that the Office of African-American Student Achievement is treating our students, our culture, and our parents. We like, no one decided about this event. Why is it virtual? if it's so meaningful, why wasn't anyone told about it um until the day before, right? We get um messages about board meetings 72 hours in advance, but a Quanza event that's meant to be meaningful and cultural um we get less than 24 hours notice, that's irresponsible and ridiculous. Um, I also wanted to um just, you know, congratulate these members of the board who again I want to remind were voted into their position by their neighbors and friends and we do expect for things to change. Um, I understand Superintendent Cotton has not been here a long time and I do appreciate um her poised efforts at this time, but we really have to do better. WCCUSD, we we we have to do better. And until we do, I'm I'm going to be at every board meeting saying the same thing. Thank you and merry everything.

Our next public comment is Sam Torres. Good evening, board and staff. My name is Samantha Torres, and tonight I'm speaking as president of the Richmond United Soccer Club, a 30-year-old allv volunteer nonprofit serving Richmond youth. I do not receive any compensation for my service on behalf of the Richmond United Soccer Club. In October, the district announced a new facilities allocation process in November. On November 14th, a public Zoom lottery with bingo style number draws was held. Richmond United Soccer Club won the lottery for Richmond High School publicly. On the record, some of you were present. 2 days before the lottery, district facilities emailed me to confirm our request for Richmond High. I confirmed we needed the space and was told any unused time would go to another Richmondbased program as it should. Yet, after we won the lottery, the weekday slots we requested at Richmond High were not allocated to Richmond United or even another Richmond program. Instead, they were allocated to the Albany Berkeley Soccer Club. This is the same Berkeley based organization that displaced Richmond United soccer club and the Richmond Steelers and more organizations from the measure K funded Kennedy High stadium for 2 years despite documented policy violations. So let's be clear, Albian Berkeley Soccer Club is not in the WCCUSD. They are not in West Contraosta. They are not in Contra Costa County and they were not part of the Richmond High lottery. Richmond High is the only reliable district Homefield Richmond United has. So this is not a misunderstanding. This is not a clerical error. It reflects a pattern and it raises serious ethical concerns. So my question to you is simple. What leverage allows a non-resident organization to override district policy, bypass a public lottery, and repeatedly displace Richmond youth from Richmond facilities?

At the February 15th, 2025 board meeting, this same organization publicly offered the district $5,000 while asking to continue using Kennedy High. Were there other offers, formal or informal? We don't know because it's been 321 days since I submitted a public records request. Our next public comment is Richmond branch number 1058B. Please unmute yourself. Yes. Good afternoon to the outgoing board president Ruckler and the incoming board president and Ayana and the clerk Gonzalez Hoy to the honor other honorable board members. I am the president of the Richmond branch. My name is Willie Robinson. I'm simply joining tonight to extend my uh appreciation for the effort that has been put in by our incoming superintendent. I know the time has been short and I believe the board made the right decision to bring uh Superintendent Cotton on board and I'm looking forward to looking at her evaluation of what she sees as this district and how it's moving forward. I appreciate the board's opportunity uh of patience with her as she put together a plan, one that we in the community can get behind. We're not here to praise her. We're here to hold her accountable. I just believe personally that she has what it takes to move this district forward. And I'm hoping that through the evaluation process, appropriate uh measurement tools have been put in place to evaluate her at the time of her evaluation and see and and judge her on what she is bringing to the district. I believe she have a lot to offer. I am here to let her know that as spokesperson for the Richmond branch, we are supporting you. We are behind you, but we are going to hold you

accountable. God bless you. Thank you. Our next public comment is Alon Harrison. Please unmute yourself. Can you guys hear me? Yes, we can.

Good evening, board. Um, and congratulations, President Trustee God. I've seen you grow into this. This is beautiful to see you here making it as a parent and stuff. That's that's good. I I appreciate your efforts to get here. I just want to share that um like um a speaker said before, we are still struggling with communications and parent engagement and involvement. We need um our our leazison to be a part. We need our superintendent to be a part of this solution so that parents can organize and be a part of the solution of changing educational outcomes for our children. We have um come to the board several times and we will not stop coming. But can you please um work with us, meet with us so that we can come to a resolution on how um communication needs to be done, how parent involvement is is a key factor into changing our children's educational outcomes. That's greatly overlooked. and we want to be partners in this work and we're not um having an opportunity to be brought to the table. So, can you all please um foster that bridge and help us make that connection? I'm complete. Thank you.

That concludes public comment.

Thank you to everyone who gave public comment tonight. Uh we'll be moving on on to item B10, agenda review and adoption. Do any board members have adjustments that they would like to make to the agenda? Trusty regular. And we move E1, the decision hearing for voices uh right up to after consent. Does anyone have any problem with that? Okay. So, so we we will be moving E1 to right after our consent items. Um, so any more changes? None. Okay. So, then we'll be moving on to item C, business item and consent items. Do any board members have anything that they would like to pull? from the consent calendar. Seeing none, we will approve the consent item as presented. Um and now we will be moving on to decision hearing for voices. So we will be moving on to item E1, decision hearing for voices charter school renewal. We are now up to the decision hearing for voices charter school. I am opening the public hearing

script for Good evening everyone. Good evening everyone. I am now opening the decision public hearing regarding the charter renewal petition submitted by Voic's Collegebound Language Academy proposing the renewal of Voices West Contracasta which is currently authorized by the district. The time is 8:21. The petitioners are asking that the district board approve the charter renewal petition for voices contraosta for the term of July 1st, 2026 through June 30, 2031 for a 5-year term ending on June 30th, 2030. However, West Contraosta staff recommends the board either deny the petition or renew it for two years for the period of July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2028. contingent on voices and the district agreeing on a written written improvement plan adopted by the governing body of the charter school towards improvements. The board held an initial public hearing regarding public support for the renewal on October 8th, 2025. District staff reviewed the petition and published a report outlining proposed findings and recommendations on November 20th, 2025. The format for the public hearing today is as follows. District staff will present the staff report including their recommendations findings to the board. Then the representatives from voices shall be given equivalent time to present in response to the staff report. We estimate that both presentations will be about 15 minutes each. After voices west contraosta presentation, we will take comments from the public. Public comment on this matter will be limited to a total of 10 minutes with one minute

per person. The time may be extended without with consent of the board. The board will then have an opportunity to ask clarifying questions of the district staff and or petitioners regarding the charter renewal petition. The board will then deliberate and take action to grant or deny the Richmond charter uh renewal petition. After the vote, I will close the public hearing. District staff will now present to the board. Will district staff please introduce themselves and proceed with the presentation of the staff report.

Yeah. I'm going to introduce Margarita Romo, coordinator of business services, and our consulting company, Edmetrics, to uh report uh for voices. Thank you. Just just a moment. Good evening board members, Superintendent Cotton, and WCCCUSD community. My name is Margarita Romo and I'm a coordinator in business services. This evening, I'm joined by Dr. Linda Delgado and Mr. Douglas Pelton from Edmetrics. They are joining us over Zoom tonight. Tonight, we will present our staff report for Voic's charter renewal petition. Our presentation provides an overview of the school, the students served, and its performance data. It will support the board in making the renewal decision tonight. Next slide, please. Tonight, we will present the voices charter renewal petition staff report. As mentioned when the hearing was open, voices will then present their response to the staff report. Um, and this is this slide just outlines how tonight will go. Next slide, please. AB1505 introduced a new three- tier system for charter renewal that went into effect on July 1st, 2020. State identifies the performance levels for each school based on its state dashboard indicators. Performance levels are released in March. Voices had met

the middle performance criteria in March of 2025 for last year based on 2023 data. The WCCUSD review team used published criteria support from CDE and the state dashboard data to project that voices will meet the low performance criteria. Low performing schools are presumed to be denied or if meeting certain ED code requirements may be renewed with a 2-year term. To clarify, the performance level will not be released for voices until March, which is too late to directly inform this decision. However, the charter team consulted with the California Department of Education Charter Division to perform the analysis for the Voic's current performance level. The board's options named here will be explained throughout this presentation and will be reviewed at the end. Some strengths identified in the staff report include strong conceptual educational program, a robust and positive school culture, committed and consistent school leadership. Some challenges identified include inconsistent adherence to the dual language program, significant site challenges, and multiple years of decline in academic performance data. At this point, I'll turn it over to Dr. Delgado to go over the school enrollment and performance data. Good evening. Um, I would like to request that we move to slide six, please. Um the next section of this report provides a comprehensive review of data beginning beginning with a voic's student enrollment and then to performance data with an emphasis on the

specific student groups served. And that is slide seven that we're looking at. Shown here are student groups attending voices including subgroup populations and ethnicities served. The first four columns were accessed through the CDE site data quest and the final column was provided by the school. Of the district subgroups um differences that I will point out for English language learners, the school is serving a higher percentage than the district. And for socioeconomically disadvantaged, the school is serving fewer students than the district. for ethnicity. Um, two differences include that African-American students are not being served by the school um in numbers commensurate with the district at this point and Hispanic and Latino students are being served um at greater numbers than the district. Slide eight, please. This is a comparison of standardized test data from the CASP including state district and voices WCC for English language arts. Percentages shown represent students at or above grade level. Um the data are grouped by year and I used blue for the state, red for west contraosta and yellow for voices. The state and district have made steady gains over these years that we're reviewing. While voices was stronger than the district in 2021 and two, the next three years show consistent declines in ELA. Slide nine, please. Same um same slide only looking at math

in this case and the data is focused on the same grade spans uses the same colors as the prior slide. The state and district have again made steady gains while voices was stronger than the district initially. Um the next two years it slipped behind and throughout 2025 the school has shown declines. Slide 10, please. This data focuses on ELA comparisons between the state and voices. The focus shifts here to include only state and the school as the law centers on these two entities. This comparison provides performance data for the dominant student groups served at Voices. The lefth hand chart is 2024. The right hand chart is 2025. Blue is for the state and red is for voices west contraosta. In each chart, the first two columns represent all students. Next are English language learners, then Hispanic and Latino, and finally the the last column is socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Between the two charts are evident for each group at voices and all are well below the state for students served. Slide 11, please. Again, the state shows modest gains in math and the school showed declines in each category and consistently underperformed in the comparison. Slide 12, please. Although this data shows declines in the English language progress from 2019 through 2024, the Voic's team are

justifiably proud of gains in English language performance indicator for the last year. Next slide, please. The second to the final column on the right shows EL student status for the goal of all ELELLL instruction that is reclassification or RFP. Voices reclassified at a rate of 5.20 while the district reclassified at a rate of 15.10 10 nearly meeting the 15.70 rate of state reclassification. Again, the higher the number, the stronger the results. Slide 14, please. This slide returns to the issue of determination of the school's performance rating and the law's guidance for renewal, education code 476072A1. It states that the chartering authority, the district, shall not renew a charter if one of two criteria apply for two consecutive years immediately preceding the renewal decision. The first criteria does not apply to voices due to their attainment of the blue category for suspensions. The second criteria, however, does apply. It says, "For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or lower than the state average and for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year received performance levels that are lower than the state average.

This chart shows data for voices and state in all three academic performance indicators, English language arts, math, and the ELPI. The top chart is 2024 and the bottom is 2025. From left to right, data are shown for Hispanic and Latino students, English learners, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. On the far right, the chart shows dashboard color groups which in some cases are the same for the district, for the state rather, and the school. However, according to the charter schools division, the critical element are the numbers, the distance from standard. For ELA and math, the smaller number is the goal. And for ELPI, English language performance indicator, the larger the number, the better. For ease of understanding, the stronger of the two between the state and voices is outlined in fuchsia. Without exception, voices lags behind the state. Next slide, please. This slide recaps the dashboard ratings for the years listed in the top row and the years used for this recommendation include the final two columns on the far right. Slide 16, please. To support renewal, voices provided two J data charts initially pulled from the platform which is a verified other source of data. This data shows that for several grade levels and on average students did meet one year's growth in ELA at Voices. Next slide.

This chart shows the voices for math. Unfortunately, the LL data does not align with the state CASP testing data provided in slides 8 through 11. Now, um, Douglas Pelton will review the cabinet observations from the visit.

Next slide, please. Thank you. Um, the first of all, the uh, legally mandated site visit occurred in September of this year and was attended by WCCUSD cabinet or their designate. Um, in the interest of time, let's please hold questions for the cabinet until the presentation is complete. Um, for maintenance and operation, the focus was on site challenges. Uh during the annual visit, WCCCUSD leadership team noted widespread inadequacies within the site sufficient to warrant a letter of inquiry and a notice of concern. Staff noted that each of the communications were responded to in a timely and detailed manner. Concerns remain regarding the intended construction at the new facility where TK is currently uh being being used and inevitable challenges to providing education to students in a construction impacted environment. Next slide please. uh from human resources. As reflected in the staff report, the school has struggled to maintain teaching staff with appropriate teaching credentials as defined by education code. The school has lagged the district and state in the number of clear credentials. Though Voic's leadership team have identified action steps to bring more of the teaching staff to a fully credentialed status. We also noted that the site principal has worked to maintain her staffing and noted that 100% of the faculty stayed

from last year to this year. Next slide, please. From a communications perspective, the school's website showed robust student diversity that is not entirely reflected in the enrollment numbers. concerns the families are using what's app which is not a secure application for school information communications staff wondered how the what's app group that is available to the community how specifically access is made equitable and finally during a review of the school's website during the site visit a staff mobile device was not able able to access the school website, which brought up questions that this may present ac equity challenges as many families use mobile phones as their primary means of accessing the internet. Next slide, please. For K12 school operations, concerns were focused on the age and condition of the primary facility. Door and window configurations are largely original design and construction, potentially violating current building codes and safety regulations. Uh WCCUSD will continue to monitor the facility improvements uh that were committed to in response to the letter of inquiry and uh the notice of concern. uh and we did receive uh responses in a timely manner uh with with staff uh uh noting that they had addressed all the concerns in those notices. The next slide, please.

Um from a teaching and learning perspective, Dr. Delgado focused uh throughout her part of the presentation on those issues. Uh of other notes were that adherence to the dual language methodology appeared to be insist inconsistent in the classrooms during the site visit tours. Uh learning results uh in the CASP and dashboard data are a cause for concern lagging behind the district and state and nearly every measure. Uh we did note that the staffing level in the classrooms during the annual site visit were impressive. However, in some cases, the classroom environment was not conducive to learning. As an example, two grade levels uh with two teachers were in one classroom area at this original site. Next um slide, please. And finally, with special education, with the addition of leadership staff uh within the CMO, the school has worked at tightening the IEP process, including efforts to use consistent and appropriate language per special education law. Initially, questions emerged during the annual visit concerning the IEP review process, but these were answered to the district's satisfaction. The school described a concern that special education was overenrolled, leading to equity concerns, and this was discussed and explained to the district's satisfaction during the site visit. Next slide, please. Uh this final section of this presentation returns to the board

options and the team recommendations. As you can see here in this slide, um option one for the board is to deny the voic's WCC petition based on a presumptive low performance category and low academic performance as demonstrated by CASP scores. Option two is using the presumptive low performance rating approve the charter for a two-year term with the agreement that the voices board draft and adopt a plan to address the underlying cause or causes of low performance reflected in the written plan. Under the presumptive low performance or low performing rating, the following expectations do satisfy the state requirements for authorizers to renew for 2 years. If renewed, these would be the expectations. academic performance, appropriate increases in 202526 ELA, math and ELPAC state test results, and continued growth levels from those reported on the 2425 state dashboard, a written plan identifying and addressing underlying cause or causes of low performance adopted by the governing board of the charter school and strategy. ies to recruit under reppresented student subgroups. The school will need to identify additional recruitment strategies to target groups not currently enrolled as well as measurements to monitor the impact of those actions.

This concludes the WCCCUSD staff report presentation of the renewal petition which will be followed by a presentation in response by voices west contraosta. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Um may the representatives for voices now present to the board. Will the representatives from voices please introduce yourselves and proceed with the presentation?

Good evening. I have shared the presentation earlier this evening. Is that available for us? Wonderful. Thank you. Okay. Good evening, President Inala Inyana, excuse me, Superintendent Cotton and board members and district team. I'm Ellen Magna, chief innovation and strategy officer for Voices. And I'm joined this evening by those of our staff, families, and charter partners who represent the heart of our community and are able to attend during our winter break. Our story began with a clear purpose. Our West Contraosta families wanted a high quality culturally affirming researchbased dual immersion program. Voices WCC opened in 2018 as the only dual language charter school in this district. A school built on trust, stability, and opportunity. Today there are more than 400 students across TK8 guided by our core theme of soaring with purpose grounded in excellence and our values of inl cis pue escolad and activismo families brought us into existence chose us and stay with us because they know the value of bilingualism cultural affirmation and rigorous academics delivered in two languages. Before going any further, I want to thank you for your services. We know that you make every effort to ensure that all students get the best education possible and these are very trying times in many ways. I deeply appreciate the service and effort of our elected officials especially during these difficult times. Next slide. Oh, this

slide actually. This is perfect. Thank you. We want to start tonight with our stance which is approval. We must be clear the proposed changes of our performance category mid-process is in our experience an outcome that eliminates our ability to demonstrate how we meet legal requirements. Our authorizer colleagues across the state have refused to recognize such a switch and what WCCUSD is preparing to do tonight is truly unprecedented. Furthermore, the rescheduling of this hearing without mutual agreement is a violation of process, practice, and education code and has unfortunately undemocratized the process by moving the meeting date to a time when many of our families could not be here. These actions have damaged trust with our WCC community as they feel that the WCCUSD has violated our agreements and been dismissive of their sacrifice and effort to ensure a vibrant dual language community for their children. To restore the trust that has been compromised with our community, we urge you to begin the process of restoring that partnership by approving our petition. By approving us under the middle performance tier, you provide the stability our children and community deserve and allow us to immediately return to the path of collaboration and partnership. That said, as a commitment to collaboration, if your final direction must be to change our category to low performance, we are fully prepared to submit a performance improvement plan. We are actively developing this and are ready to partner with you to make sure it meets every expectation. We are a high demand program. Families are seeking us out because we are comparable to local dual language schools. And crucially, our students are significantly outperforming their peers at the local structured English immersion schools they would otherwise attend. In summary, we want you to walk

away with three big picture takeaways from this body of work. Number one, first voices WCC provides a powerful and rare dual language option for families and children of the West Contra Costa community. Second, the data clearly shows that we are systematically developing a deep understanding of how to accelerate the learning rates of traditionally minoritized children. And third, we are highly likely to continue this improvement and meet our long-term dual language and academic targets. Next slide. Thank you. In reviewing our school, the district identified several strengths that align directly with the commitments we make to our families. Our warm, positive school culture, one that affirms dignity and builds trust. The consistency and stability of our leadership and the commitment of our staff reflected in our 100% staff retention. Our continued enrollment growth from 133 students in 2018 to 421 today. And finally, our upward academic trajectory. It is clear that families in Richmond understand the long-term benefits of bilingualism, biliteracy, and cognitive development. And they actively choose voices because they know what it provides. These strengths are not accidental. They reflect exactly who we are. And we are the foundation for in the foundation for our continued growth and partnership moving forward. Next slide. As we shared in our initial hearing between 2018 and 2022, our school faced real challenges. The pandemic and turnover created instability, uneven progress, and uncertainty for our families. However, over the last three years, we have stabilized staffing, rebuilt culture, strengthened instruction, and become a full TK8 program, fulfilling the vision Richmond families had set in motion. And today, in a time when education systems are

experiencing significant instability, Voic's WCC is a place of consistency and excellence for families with a laser sharp focus on developing our ability to accelerate student learning with within a consistently implemented dual language program as our ultimate goal. Next slide. We recognized as the district also noted that our academic indicators were not where we wanted them to be in the 22 23 school year. So we were made intentional and strategic shifts to our programming over the last two years. What is important today is that the 2025 dashboard shows improvement in every single indicator which is something very few schools accomplish in one academic cycle. The level of improvement reflects stability, focus, and a coherent instructional system. We now have strong MTSS structures and a national school of character focus to push us towards the green and blue levels. And we are doing all of this while offering a rigorous bilingual program that families trust and believe in. We are school on the rise truly soaring to excellence. And the data confirms that our improvement is not accidental. Once again, it is the result of deliberate research aligned shifts. Next slide. At Voices, our network-wide strategy is to ensure our programs take an additive approach, honoring and building upon the profound linguistic and cultural knowledge our students and families bring, all while holding a deep and urgent concern for the academic outcomes of our English learners, our students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and our students with IEPs. We are focused on accelerating academic growth for these specific groups in culturally affirming ways because the majority of our students belong to one or more of these significant student groups. Roughly nine out of 10 students over the past several years. This concern led us on an intense learning

journey to support student recovery from the pandemic. That journey is reflected in the graphs on the screen which uses distance from standard as the measure. We chose this metric because charter renewal is based on the California dashboard outcomes which are reported in this way. Simply put, the closer the bars are to the zero, the top of the access, the closer the students are on average to meeting state standards. The graph shows that through the 22 23 school year, Voic's WCC consistently outperformed the state across our significant student groups. Prior to the pandemic, our outcomes were even stronger. In 2223, driven by our desire to do more for our students, we shifted our strategy to focus intensively on remediating COVID learning gaps as a tier one approach. While logical at the time, the strategy did not produce the results that we hoped for. And as reflected in the 2024 scores across the network, the graph highlights the two schools up for renewal this year with a slight divergence beginning in 2223 due to the disproportionate impact of the great resignation at WCC. From this data, we learned two critical lessons. First, stability matters deeply for our student outcomes, which is why it has been a major focus for our network and our school. Second, and more importantly, the data confirmed that a remediation first tier one approach is incompatible with academic acceleration for historically minoritized student groups. With these lessons in hand, we made a decisive pivot pivot in the 2425 school year. We redesigned core instruction around grade level standardsbased learning grounded in dual language principles and a strong sense of belonging. These results produced a clear and powerful bounce back.

This is evident in the strong growth trajectory leading into the 2025 scores. Importantly, this approach works regardless of a school's starting point. Verified data showing more than a year's growth in a single year at Voic's WCC signals that our students are not just recovering, but actually accelerating. These hard one insights from our network's journey across academic acceleration are deeply meaningful to not only our community community but broadly relevant beyond it. Next slide. Importantly, this slide shows the bounceback was evident in ELA as well. Next slide. Furthermore, in this slide, we have a comparison with the nearest dual immersion program to our families using again distance from standard as the measure. DFS shows the average number of scale score points students scored above or below the statewide standard met cutoff of the CASP. A positive distance from standard indicates that on average students exceeded the standard, while a negative distance from standard shows how far on average they fell short, making it a clear indicator of overall performance and year-to-year progress. Again, the closer each of these bars are to zero, the top of the axis, the closer the students are on average to meeting the state standards, which you can see in these top two graphs here. We know that as a board you must make decisions based on what is best for students and families. Here you can see that three of four voices student groups did better than the comparison school last year on English language arts and two out of four student groups did better than the comparison school in math. Additionally, our English learners outperformed the comparison school on the English learner progress indicator which is the bottom graph. It gener in general it can be said that the voices WCC is achieving equal to the

nearest dual language school in math and better in English language arts and language development all while providing more than 400 additional dual language educational spots for the West Contra Costa community. In the next two slides I will show you a few other examples of how our students are performing compared to the local schools. A vital point to reiterate here is that our students are learning in two languages. The rest of the comparisons I will talk about do not offer this. Losing this dual language program would be a profound loss for our community. Next slide. During site visits to Voic's WCC, an individual board member shared their stance that the WCC USD charter schools should should be showing comparable, if not better, results than the local schools our students would otherwise attend. In response to this question, we examined the dashboard data for the closest local elementary schools our students would otherwise attend. On this slide, you'll see Voic's achievement on the ELA dashboard indicator highlighted in purple compared to the four geographically closest schools. Again, using distance from standard, you can clearly see that Voic's students, including significant subgroups, are closer to meeting standard than the surrounding elementary schools. Next slide. Thank you. Here you'll see the same comparison for the math indicator. Again, you'll see that Voic's students are scoring closer to standard than the surrounding elementary schools. I hope this addresses curiosity around our comparative scores. Next slide. As mentioned from the start, we are actively developing a performance improvement plan and stand ready to partner with you to ensure that it meets

every expectation. You can see a version of this here seeking to address address academic scores in math and ELA, multil- language learner supports, and student recruitment. Next slide. We respectfully request that you approve this charter renewal honoring the commitment and effort of this community, most of who you witnessed here last week. We stand ready ready to partner and collaborate with you all working day in and day out to provide a culturally affirming stable and academically invigorating learning environment for our students. We will continue to soar together. Thank you. Thank Thank you. At this time, I would like to invite public comment on the charter renewal petition. Again, as I stated earlier, each speaker, sorry, I guess we'll do board questions first. Um, do we have any questions for the board? Uh, Trusty Regler,

thank you very much. So, my first qu Thank you. Thank you both for the presentations. My first question is for district staff. Uh, is Voices West Contraosta showing to be fiscally solvent for the next two years or five years? Um, hi. Uh, good evening. Um we uh recently reviewed their 2526 first interimm report and uh no noted no issues um with their budget.

Thank you. Next I would uh this is for voices and for our team as well. Am I reading this correctly that they have 9.3% of their educators with clear credentials? Is that accurate? Yes, that is accurate. Okay. So, the followup is what is going on there and what are you doing to work on full credentiing?

Thank you for this question. This gets to the heart of one of our greatest challenges um and most innovative solutions. The reality is that we cannot simply recruit our way out of the B-Cloud teacher shortage. So, we're committed to growing our own. We view credentiing not just as a compliance checkpoint, but as a multi-year supported career pathway. Many of the individuals you see in our credentiing numbers are already beloved members of our school community. They are instructional assistants or resident teachers who are actively supporting to become the credentialed bilingual teachers of tomorrow. We provide them with guidance, financial assistance for tests and programs, and structured induction. This pipeline from intern to preliminary to clear credential is a strategic investment in our community's future and the most sustainable way to ensure that we have highquality educators uh for our dual language program that it deserves.

How many of them are close to clearing credential? Great question. We have uh two who have clear credentials. We have four who have preliminary credentials. And we have um nine staff in credentiing programs along with um some intern credentials and emergency permits at STIPS and PIPS which I can give you those numbers as well if you'd like. Well, I'm just curious as to how long you think it would be before they become credentialed.

It's a multi-year pathway for each person. So we have a unique uh career pathway for each um individual. Um so we we anticipate um moving everybody along that path in the timely manner that is required once you receive your intern prelim and um to get to that clear credential. Okay. Thank you. Um for West Contracasta, what would um a support plan look like? What would you look for in a in a plan? How often would you be consulting with them? Uh what would this memorandum of understanding look like?

Dr. Delgado, would you like to touch on that? Yes. Yes, I I would be happy to. Um it looks as if Voices has begun work on an improvement plan, which is a great start. Um I think that quarterly reviews of data would be helpful. Um yeah. Okay, I've asked three. I've got another one, but I'll I'll hold. Do we have any trusty hand on this?

Uh, this is for voices. Um, can you explain how Voices ensures equitable enrollment and retention of students with moderate to extensive disability and why your current special education severity profile differs from the district's average?

Great question. Our commitment is to provide exceptional and exceptional and legally sound education for all of our students and we at Voices operate with an inclusion model. Uh what this means is that uh we at this time don't have any students with extensive needs but are prepared to serve them at any point that they are um in within our our school. Um so we um are constantly on a path of understanding what our student services need um and are ready to be flexible in in uh responding to those needs. Can you verify who holds uh credential authority over special education at voices? Who? I'm sorry. Could you repeat that one more time? Credential authority. So, SULPA.

Oh, sorry. Sonoma County SULPA is our SULPA that we have been working with. Uh we also were uh applying to a new SULPA uh Elorado County and have recently been accepted uh through their SULPA. How many uh credential special education teachers do you have currently? That is a a great question. I can get you that answer. I don't have it in front of me at the moment.

Okay. Okay. So, while you get that answer, um, can you explain a little bit more of your plan when it comes to special education and meeting the commitments, the measures, and the specifics? Absolutely. Um, and currently, um, I I did get an update. Uh we have three of our um ed specialists in internships I believe and that uh but one just completed for special education at the moment. So sorry, sorry to cut you off. So you're saying that you only have one credential teacher. Uh they are all in programs and we are actively working towards

but they're not fully credential. Correct. We have one that's just finished a program. So when are they going to finish their internship programs? Uh we anticipate within this next year or so. Okay. Sorry for cutting you off. No, no problem. Could you also repeat the second question that you asked? I want to make sure I answer what you've asked fully. What is your plan and your commitment to making sure that measures are being met by your sped students?

Yes. Um so I started about a year ago and when we integrated my role as chief innovation and strategy um one of the first things we did was to partner with our special education team and department and outside expertled analysis of our entire program. Um and these changes some of the changes that we've made have been a result of the partnership that we've had with outside um specialists and uh special education law and service delivery folks. Um so we in this partnership have transitioned to have a uh district support of a director of special education specifically. Um and we are constantly uh working to refine our um our policies and our guidance with our schools to ensure that they have strong district support provider oversight um and that we are fully working towards being uh the exceptional and legally sound education that we expect to have for all of our students.

I have more questions but I'll let others ask. Trustee of Gonzalez Hoy. Thank you. Uh thank you for both presentations. Um I want I would like to clarify about this teacher credential question. Um because I got confused. So actually before I go into that question, how many years have you been open as a charter school? Voices uh West Contraostto is opened in 2018. Okay. So, you've been open for six years, but you have one teacher credential.

We have two Is this just for special education or across our general education as well? Got it. So, one special ed, but then correct two additional general ed. Two clear credentials uh in our general ed and four preliminary credentials who are actively uh working to advance that to a clear status. Correct. Okay. So, the strategy is that you're trying to get teachers to get a credential by being in the programs and then you'll have more credential teachers. Correct.

But that doesn't make sense to me because you've been open for six years. So, if that was your strategy for six years, shouldn't that shouldn't you have full credential teachers throughout every grade level at this point? Great great question. Uh that has not been our strategy uh for the last six years. This has been a recent strategy for us over the last year or so. Um, in which we have been working hard to partner with different organizations to ensure that our our staff know exactly which programs they can they can get into and have support in doing that. So, what was your previous strategy? I'm sorry. What was the previous strategy?

Uh, recruitment of teachers with BCloud. So doing extensive recruiting um across our different areas that um we know can provide opportunities to meet more credentialed by CLA uh B-clad teachers and we and as I mentioned earlier we recognize that um with a teacher shortage and especially teachers who hold a B-clad um that is that cannot be our only recruitment strategy which is where this new in uh committed to growing our own strategy has developed from. Okay. Thank you.

Trusty Smith vaults, can you talk to me about your admin credentials? Your principles and their credentials. Are they fully credentialed? Um, currently at this time, we do not require administrative credentiing for our school leaders. However, that is a path we are interested in exploring and would be interested in partnering with you all on I'm complete. Any follow-up questions from the board? Trusty regular.

I'd just like to ask one more on special ed. So in the report it said that there were four education specialists for 52 uh sped category students uh to West Contracasta. Is that a significant ratio aside from the fact that we have uh incomplete credentiing?

Uh thank you for the question uh trusty regular. Um when you say significant um can you can you um say more about uh specifically what you're asking um as far as ratio? Like is that much lower than ours or comparative to our ratios? Is that essentially what you're asking?

I mean I guess just in general is four education specialists for 52 sped students adequate? Um yes it it it would depend on the category but based on the the mild to moderate disabilities that the the majority of the students there have um that is a ratio of about 13 students per teacher which is a a lower ratio uh by um it's a little above half of what our ratio would be at at 25 uh students to one. Okay. Thank you. Um, Trusty Miles, uh,

I just want to piggy back off of Trusty Hernandez. I just have two questions for Voices. Um, how does Voices uh, advertise your special education offerings and what does it look like? And then, um, if a student wanted to come to Voices, um, what does the process look like? Is there an assessment or evaluation for do all students automatically get accepted if there's space? And if there is an assessment, is that process different with students with IEPs? Great question. Um, I'm sorry that can you repeat your first part of that question? I want to make sure I can fully answer each part.

Um, so if voice does voices advertise special education offerings and if so, what does it look like?

Thank you. Uh we do offer a fully inclusion model uh a full inclusion model and so when anybody comes to us we actively share with them what our model is and what that means for any student who enrolls with us the supports that we offer to ensure that they uh can be successful in an inclusion model. Um again, however, upon any student enrolling with us, um we do the our due diligence to ensure that we understand what they may be coming to us with if they do have a previous IEP. Um and following the uh law, we have a 30-day um meeting in which we discuss what uh what the school looks like and what to expect in an inclusion model. um and to which we then um provide opportunities to adjust services based on how they are navigating our inclusion model. I hope that answers your question. And then this the second portion of your question, did that answer it as well? Okay, thank you.

Do we have any more questions from the board? I have one more question. Um, what collaboration do you guys have between voices here in West Contraosta and Voices over in uh San Jose? I believe it's your other when it comes to special education. It does your Can you explain a little bit more of the collaboration?

Absolutely. Um, we have a wonderful director of special education who makes frequent trips uh up here to Richmond to be in person with both our ed specialists and our principles um and our our larger school leadership team. Um, so we have a rotation schedule that not only applies to our director of special education, but our greater instructional team and our SLT or our executive team. Um, so we ensure uh that we are being equitable across all of our sites. As you all know, we have our main office is in San Jose, but we know we have schools outside of that. And it's every we put every effort into ensuring we are equitable and that access um not only for professional learning, but also joining on campus to be on the ground with them because we know nothing can truly replace that in-person support um and being able to observe directly what is happening with our students and our families and our staff. And then I have one more question, but this is I'm going to transition to your financial oversight. Sure.

Can you clearly or provide an explanation of the financial uh conditions of voices compare separate from your central office deficit?

Hi, good afternoon board. My name is Dr. Mata and I I could answer this question. Could you please repeat the question for me please? Yes. Can you provide an explanation or explain the financial conditions of Voices West Contraosta specifically separate from Voic's central office network and whether the central office deficit will impact the resources available for students in this school in this area.

Correct. So the financials are are separate. The financials for the CMO will not impact um the voices west Contra Costa site. As far as the financial go for the years that we are requesting for the approvals, uh our reserves are within the uh 30 range as far as reserves. So fiscally um the school is sound you know this school year and the outy years for the years that we're requesting um to be approved. Thank you

Tristy Gonzalez. Thank you. Um I do have one question about your reclassification rates for voices. um why are your reclassification rates so low and put it aside comparison to our district but you're a dual immersion program so I would expect your numbers would be really high um but even compared to some of our schools or even the state you're falling behind why is that happening

that's a great question uh we often are looking at our growth for each of our students um so we know that when students come to us they come to us each at individual levels and we are working again on a personalized uh pathway to get them to meet the criteria needed for reclassification. Um we have recently uh revised and revamped our reclassification system and regulations to ensure that we have a high bar for what is considered um for reclassification around our internal assessments and basic skills assessments. Um so some of that number is a result of wanting to keep a really high bar for our students. Um ensure ensuring that uh they are fully able to access um English content but more importantly than that as a dual language school. Uh we start with an 8020 model meaning that our students in TK start with 80% of their day in Spanish and that eventually transitions to 5050 by third grade. And so what we often see is a lag in the English mastery only because we are prioritizing and we are um centering Spanish language first and so that typically lags a little bit later in their uh educational journey while they're with us.

Thank you. And just for reference, I have a master's in dual immersion. So I have studied dual emerging schools for a long time. And that answer doesn't really make sense to me because dual emerging schools for the most part have larger numbers of reclassification because you are moving them in their language and they use the root of the of that language to then pass the test. Right. So can you explain to me what is your internal goals for reclassification for this year and for next year?

Great question. We are actively working to reclassify as many students that meet the threshold as possible. So within the last couple of weeks, we have re-evaluated all of our assessment data to ensure that any student that's with us, we capture and we know who has scored that level four and can be reclassified right away. We understand that the system itself to reclassify students uh is one area in which um we wanted to make sure we had an ongoing process for capturing all of those students. However, uh it is our job to ensure that they also get to that threshold for reclassification. Um and so as mentioned, um we are our our goal is to have a very sound researchbased dual language program and we are actively working on uh putting together our fundamentals of instruction in a revamped way. Uh we recently hired a director of dual language instructional leadership to help us with this process. uh who has been with us for about six months and we are really excited about uh the ways that we are redefining some of our dual language model. Thank you for that. Uh but going a little deeper, do you have like an actual internal goal of we're going to reclassify 15% of our students this year. We're classified 16% of our students. Do you have an internal goal of uh reclassification?

Our goal is to be commiserate with the state. So the state is typically around 15% and so that that is our goal is to to be comparable to what the state is.

Okay. Thank you.

Any further comments, questions? Um again as I stated earlier each speaker is allowed at one minute with a total time of 10 minutes. The time may be extended with consent of the board. Speaking time is not transferred from one person to another. There is no substitution of speakers. Um, could we have how many speakers do we have? 22. Okay. And it's 10 speakers, one minute a speaker. 10 speakers, one minute per speaker.

You might want to have them line up if you want to.

Are we going to alternate? We have some online speakers. So, we'll be alternating the 10 speakers. First public comment is divaji deleon. Good even good evening members of the board. My name is Davag Deon and I'm here to ask you tonight to please give choices the chance it deserves to stay open. My son attended a public school at in this district and I'll just say it was less the the experience was less than satisfactory for us at voices. My children have found community and stability. I know the school struggle after co many schools did. But here's what matters. Our school is outperforming other district schools. The data shows we've turned things around. Our teachers are dedicated, committed. Our families are engaged and our students are succeeding. If you close this school, where did this where will these kids go? The alternatives in this district offer that this district offers are not acceptable for our families. The other dual immersion option is overcrowded and isn't local to many of us. You'll be taking away the only program that meets our children's needs for and forcing them into schools that didn't work for us before. I'm asking you to look at where we are. Our next public comment is Eddie Shakon. Please unmute yourself.

Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, good evening board. My name is Eddie Chakon. Um, honestly, I can't help but think about like the westerni western system and the culture that has taught us to resort to punishment when something is wrong. And you know, I can't help but feeling that this potential school closure carries the weight of a punishment. The idea of even closing a school feels dis disciplinary, like a response shaped more by control and institutional norms than by the needs or voices of the community it affects. I recognize how important dual language programs are for our kids. Voices has empowered my daughters personally by grounding them in their values, their culture, and leadership skills. And voices, I believe, has helped kids create a sense of identity and pride that is going to stay with them long after they leave the classroom. I urge y'all to please consider uh you know, your decision of keeping it open for our commun. Thank you. Next public comment is Gandhica Nunion. Hi, my name is Donica Win and I'm a parent of two kids at Caliber Beta Academy and a child within the district. I also represent one of the 550 people who showed up last week in support of voices renewal vote. And I stand with my friends from voices on their sorry and I just excuse me last week in support of voices.

Can you hear me? Because I cannot hear you. My name is Miss L and I'm a second grade teacher at Voices. I was disappointed last week by what had happened, but tonight I want to leave that behind and I want to be crystal clear about something. Voices is definitely a school on the rise. Look at our most recent data. Our ELA and math scores are really dramatically improving. We now have our science program. We have a social studies program. Our ELA and Spanish language curriculums are are solid. But more than that, I want to talk about the credentiing question. I'm one of those teachers who came in without a credential. Because of Voices, I got to Lyola Marmont. because of voices I'm going to finish my induction program within this year. Also about the admin credential I we have a powerfully effective principle and we stand behind her regarding reclassification. We have a crazy high bar and we're going to have to deal with that because I think more students should have been reclassified. Um please do grant us the two years. Next public comment is Elio Garduno. Good evening. My name is Ariel. I'm a first stator and I don't want my student to sit down cuz I love all the teachers and all the staffs.

Our next public comment is Marie. Please unmute yourself. Oh, yes. I just want to say um voices, I hear you guys and I stand with you guys. Um when I looked at the Williams reports that were put out last week from the walkthroughs, I saw you guys had some of the highest scores. I love that what I saw. and you guys have a good system going there and I hope it can still continue going. Thank you. Next public comment is Anna Swaza. is Jose. Gracias. Next public comment is Erica Jones. Please unmute yourself.

Please unmute yourself.

Good evening WCCUSD board. My name is Erica Jones and I am a dedicated parent of two sons attending Summit Tamopias at both the middle and high school levels. Tonight I'm advocating for the strong support of Voices Academy for their renewal, a school that wonderfully serves its community as a vital dual language immersion program. My family's decision to choose Summit was an intentional one and I personally visited every middle district and charter school that my eldest son expressed interest in at the annual education fair. I presented him options with uh schools that demonstrated excellent leadership and he chose them at TAM expressing that he could see himself learning and growing there. As a parent who encourages self- advocacy, I'm here to advocate for the fundamental right of parental choice. The potential nor renewal of summit would devastate our family. So, please renew voices. Your vote to renew would ensure that current students could continue their journey of learning and growth. Thank you so much. Next public comment is Katie Vasquez. Katie Vasquez. Deia Valdivia. is the voices. Voices

Martos. And our last public comment is Monica. Please unmute yourself. Hello. Can everyone hear me? Yes.

To my name is Monica Diaz. I am a Voices parent. I have two daughters now in sixth grade who have been there since the first day Voices opened its doors. I currently also have another daughter in kindergarten. Voices is important to us because it is the only place where my kids can learn in both languages, honor their identity, and feel part of who they are. Having gone through Dover, Chavez, Helms, Kennedy, and Richmond High, I myself know firsthand what it's like to grow up without real safety, support, and healthy accountability. That's exactly why I choose Voices for my kids every day, so my kids can have a better learning experience where their basic needs are met, and they can truly thrive academically. Board members, you have an important decision to make. And I ask that you don't take it lightly. If you vote to close voices, you're not just shutting down a building. You are breaking apart a community that took years to build. Buildings can get fixed. Test scores can go up. But the trust, culture, and values Voices offers cannot simply be replaced. This is why it's so necessary to keep voices open. Do not take this away from our children. Next public comment is Petronila Fernandez. Petronila Fernandez. Good evening dear board trustee community members and staff. My name is Petronila Fernandez a parent of two student at making way and I'm here to support our sister school voices. Our children deserve a better education as well as a long-term school abil stability. The most vulnerably traditional public school in Richmond and San Pablo area not preparing our children for a better future in term to work professionally. For years the education system is in this community has need improvement and

until that happen as a parent we have the right to choice other option so that they can receive a better equal quality education with dignity respect that every student deserve in our community with that said I ask you to think as if there were your own children's please vote for the renewal of voices this. Thank you.

Next public comment is Scotty. Please unmute yourself. I'd like to say in in uh relationship to keeping voices open is that I spoke to one of the parents there this afternoon because I've represented that parent in other areas, particularly the area of the use of um uh black kids being called a And that's something that this district has uh not dealt with itself in terms of eradicating that particular thing. And the parent said very specifically, if they shut down voices, I will not bring my kid back into this district because of the situation in the district. When I approached voices about that, they immediately and I gave them a timeline that I knew that they wouldn't uh be able to comply with. I thought in terms of how they would address that situation, they handled that situation. They promised two weeks turnover. They delivered a plan and it is working for those parents and those kids. Thank you. Next public comment is Gabriella Casillas Garcia. Professional social

voices. Next public comment is David Belu. Please unmute yourself.

Hi. Um I think everyone uh can appreciate you know the mission voices uh set out with and the the community has it set out to serve but uh it's clear it's been six years and they have not not succeeded there. um the lack of credentiing, the significant underperformance on test scores, the uh very low reclassification rates. This is all incredibly alarming. And as difficult a decision as this may be, I I don't I don't see how it's in the best interest of the students to issue a renewal for this charter. Um you as the board are have to make hard decisions and this is this is one of those. But, uh, I think it's fairly clear that, you know, per staff's recommendation, this should be a non-renewal. Thank you. Next public comment is Vincent Mole. Vincent Maul. Sasha Ser. Good evening esteemed members of the board. I am Sasha reading interventionist and J1 teacher in my second year with voices. Are we familiar with the word confluence? It means the act of merging into a single unstoppable force. We acknowledge the tough job that you have and that you must rely on data. But even data has its limitations. It cannot capture the daily growth inside of our classrooms. This year we built two vital foundations. First, through our weekly MTSS meetings, we are strengthening all our systems across academics, attendance, behavior, and SEAL. Second, I have personally spent

this term building a robust reading intervention plan which is ready to be launched. When we found out board members were coming to visit, our principal's message was, "You're already doing great work. Do what you do daily." This is a testament to her confidence in our commitment. To close our school would be to divert the river. Our next public comment is Iani Rodriguez. Good evening, board superintendent. Uh, I am a teacher at Voices, first grade teacher. I know you guys had a lot of questions about credentiing, so I'll tell you a little bit about my path and my journey at Voices. Um, I did not want to be a teacher. That wasn't a career path that I ever wanted to follow, but I stumbled upon it. I did want to help my community and the way I found it to do that was through teaching and with my superpower of being bilingual. I wanted to share that with students from my community and that's what I did. Uh my first day I wanted to run out the door but I stuck with it and now uh I just passed my math uh CaltePa. I'll be passing my next one very soon and I will be uh have my preliminary credential. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to finish these teaching programs and then to get a clear credential, but me and alongside with many of my colleagues are doing that for our community. And for those reasons, I think you should renew our charter. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Melanie Olsen. Good evening board members. I'm Melanie Olsen, a parent of three district students, and I'm speaking tonight as Voic's school counselor and a licensed clinical social worker. As you saw last week, we have an amazing community. 500 showed up last week for the school. We place high value on social emotional learning, encouraging our future young adults to be resilient, confident, and of strong character. We have a dual language program, which is a rarity. are in a commu in our community though it is a high need enrichment with a population of many Spanish-sp speakaking families we have a fully inclusive special education program with multiple educational speroom specialists in classrooms not in separate rooms it is an impressive program that will only improve with the exceptional help of pathways our school has room to improve all schools do as a WCCUSD parent of three I have seen that all of their schools have faced many of the same challenges you have listed as concerns for voices. Our next public comment is Kevin Troy. Kevin Troy.

Good evening. My name is Kevin Troy and I'm with Young Main Corps Legal Council Voices. Glad to be here this evening in strong support of the voice's WCC charter renewal. As Voices communicated to the California Department of Education and Contraosta County, this charter was automatically renewed as of midnight on December 10th when the district board chose to delay its action on the renewal charter. Education code section 47605B gives the district board 90 days from the date of charter submission to approve or deny the renewal charter. State Board of Education regulations provide that if the charting authority does not take action to deny the renewal petition within the statutory window for review, the charter is automatically renewed. Voices submitted its charter on August 20th. 90 days elapsed on November 18th. Voices in the district agreed an extension the 9-day timeline, but by its terms, that extension expired on December 10th. So, however you look at it, this charter was automatically renewed at midnight on December 10th. Thank Next public comment is Carmen Ag. Carmen A. Hola. My name is Carmen. forch.

Our next public comment is Vanna Leon. Hello, my name is Biana and I'm in fourth grade. Voice is a fun, safe place where I laugh and learn a lot. For example, morning announcements, Mr. Miss Carrie shares funny jokes that make me smile. I love all my friends so much and I wouldn't want to leave them. I love my teachers and all the staff. I love that I learn new things every day and I learn and and I really enjoy running in our athletics class. We do so many activities like group projects and learning how to draw. I also get to spend time with my friends and we we have celebrations and go on exciting field trips every year. I love voice because it's my happy place. Please vote yes so our school won't close down. Thank you. Restore to excellence. That concludes public comments. Thank you to who gave public comment. The board will now have an opportunity to ask clarifying questions. Hold on. And I will now accept the motion on this item for staff. Staff recommends that the board either deny the petition or renew it for two years for the period of July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2028

contingent on voices and the district agreeing on a written improvement plan adopted by the governing body of the charter school towards improvement. You are welcome to put any other motion on the floor as well. Are there any further comments from the board? Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Thank you. Um, is it okay if I first make my motion and then make comments after? Sure, that's fine.

Thank you, President. Um, I move that we approve resolution number 2526-45 approving a 2-year renewal of voices with the amendment that the attached resolution includes and is amended to have a fourth condition in the plan of improvement. The condition shall require that the plan to explicitly address strategies to increase the diversity of student population, improve reclassification rates, and increase the number of fully credentialed teachers. Reckler will second that.

Thank you. So, we have a motion on the floor by Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, second by Trustee Reckler. of comments.

Thank you. Um, first I want to appreciate uh both staff, our staff for their presentation. Miss Delgado, it's good to see you. Um, haven't seen you in a while. Um, and Voices staff and families for being here and being here last week. Um, I do I do want to say that there are many things that really concern me about the school. Um, and I to be honest, I was really close to voting to close the school. And I'll tell you why. You've been open as a school for six years. In my opinion, both academic achievement, reclassification rates, and honestly, number of teacher and turnover should be much better than it is now. It is pretty bad. And I am speaking out to parents because you should ask for more of voices staff and leaders. Now I'm giving you the chance both parents and staff for two years to change outcomes of the school. If I'm still around and it doesn't change, I will absolutely vote to close it. But I believe that you deserve a two years to make a change and make it better. And I do that because our district I believe our dual immersion program is doing better than voices in both diversity, reclassification, number of teachers, etc. But our transitional bilingual program, which is really what I compare voices to, is doing equally as poor. So I also can't say close the school and go to our transitional uh program because it's it's not doing great either. So, we're also pushing our district schools equally as hard to improve. And our superintendent hears that from me all the time of our newcomer program and our bilingual programs to make do better, but your classification numbers are

really bad. I think your goal should be higher than the state to be honest because our goals are state the state is doing pretty bad in reclassification rates to be honest with you. I I have to stop saying I'm being honest. You already know I'm being honest. Your reclassification rate should be higher. You're a dual immersion school, the whole school. Your reclassification rate should be the best in West Contra Costa. Secondly, your number of teachers after six years should not be what we heard today of credentials. We also struggle with with finding teachers. But that your numbers I don't think we have a single school that even our lowest performing school that compares to your school when it comes to number of credentials. Now I will tell you you have amazingly talented and passionate teachers I'm sure but your turnover which is what I'm hearing is happening is really bad. Your diversity needs to improve in both special education and other ethnicities. Um, and your academic achievement needs to grow. Now, I do like the idea of personal pathways. I do appreciate that answer. I think that makes sense. It's as if every kid had an IEP. I think that every school should be doing that. So, I like those things. I also went to visit voices. I saw some very inclusive classrooms and I liked what I saw in some school some classrooms. Um, but I think there has to be so much growth in the next two years for me to be able to approve this school. Um, now I want to go back to my belief of charter schools. I believe charter schools should be the top academic

achievement schools in the district. Why? because that's really where they were born. They were born to provide better education to kids that is not provided in the traditional in traditional setting. Your school does not fall there. So, I'm challenging all of you to rise to that occasion in the next two years. Um, okay. That's it. I think I've made my point. Thank you. Any other comments from the board,

trust on this? Um, I just want to make it clear that I am very concerned when it comes to your special education, especially having one credential teacher and two others in a credential program for 52 students. And I want to echo what uh clerk uh Gonzalez Hoy said that yes our district is not perfect and we don't have we we don't have all credential teachers but you as a small school it is very concerning. It is very concerning especially around special education and you know that's my biggest concern and that's my comment to you guys. Okay, without further comments um from the board, let's go to a vote. Um, student trustee Miles,

no. Student trustee Han. Um, Trusty Hernandez, yes. Trusty Reckler. Reckler. Yes. Trustee Smith Folds. Smith Falls. No. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Yes. And Trustee Anana is a yes.

Thank you all. Point of order. We have to extend the meeting because it's 9:54. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you all. At this time, the public hearing is closed at 9:54 p.m. And do we have a motion to extend time? Yeah, we have a action items and then we have to go back to close. So, should we do 11:30 just to be safe with the hope that we won't need to go to 11:30? Do you think that would give us enough time?

Reckler will second. Okay, we have a motion to extend to 11:30 by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Reckler. Um, Trusty Miles, no. Trusty Hernandez, yes. Trusty Regger, yes. Trusty Smith folds, no. Trusty Gonzalez, Voy, yes. And Trusty Anyana is a yes. President, could we take just a three minute recess?

Yeah. Could we take We'll be taking a three-minut recess. Okay, we are back now and we will be moving on to item D, the superintendent communication. Cheryl, this is superintendent Cotton. This is your Good evening everyone. I want to go on record for this. Now more than ever, I commit, maybe even more so, I double down on the vision of we are one. Please go back to the first slide. Thank you. As a district, we've experienced one of the most challenging times and for myself as an educator, the most challenging time in my career.

Um, we've gone to the strike, we've gone through the strike, and now we need to heal on the other side. Uh, we've got to consider the ways that we will hold fast to our ties that bind. I need the community to know that I care deeply about each and every child, each and every staff member, every family, and I care how my words and my actions impact our community. And I just want you to be aware of that. We are connected and we are one. Next slide, please. I want to say happy holidays. Um from all of us at the West Contraosta Unified School District, we truly wish you a joyful and restful restful restful holiday season. Uh taking a look at our upcoming schedule, we will be reopening on January 5th, 2026. Please note that the district office will be closed on December 24th and 25th as well as on January 1st. The district office hours remain Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4:30. For our schools, they will be closed from December 22nd until January 2nd. And we hope you have a wonderful break and look forward to seeing everyone refreshed in the new year. Next slide, please. I want to take a moment and I just to let you know I will be inviting her back to our January 21st meeting so we can give her lots of of love and appreciation. But I just want to take a moment to say thank you to Melissa Payne who served as our interim associate superintendent of facilities maintenance and operations. She did that role for a little over the last year, but a year

and a half, but she's been a district employee for over 10. And she's made the decision to step down from her position to focus more on her family. Her leadership has helped to bolster our department, complete and initiate some of our most important projects, including Lake, which is completed, but just getting started, STE, Kennedy, and Richmond High School. Having worked with Melissa over the past few months, I'm still in awe of her organized brain, her thoughtful insights, and her ability to get stuff done. While she's no longer working in the district, she will always be a member of the West Contraosta family and will always be my friend. So, thank you, Melissa, for all of the work that you did with us. Next slide. Today we are excited to share some positive updates regarding our labor negotiations. On December 15th, the United Teachers of Richmond uh members voted to ratify their tenative agreements with our district. This evening, tonight, December 17th, the Teamsters have also voted to ratify their tenative agreement, marking a significant step forward in our efforts to support our staff. So we can all clap for that one. Uh I just want to highlight some of our our key uh elements of these agreements. Um first there will be salary increases 5% increase um well let me say what the agreement holds. It holds a 5% increase effective July 1, 2025 and a 3% increase July 1, 2026. Additionally, by July, I'm sorry, by June of 2027, we will be providing 100%

benefits for both labor units. This demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the well-being and financial stability of our staff. Also in the agreements, um, as you can see, for recruitment and retention for both the UTR as well as our Teamster members, uh, a one-time stipen for special education educators, a onetime stipen for credentialed WCCUSD graduates. That's interesting and exciting. A one-time uh, educator retirey bonus as well. Service credits for educators, expanding our service credits. um our salary salary schedule placement uh special education educator 5% salary schedule support for our international educators an increase to pair professional progressions a cash and loo increase for teamsters health benefit allowance for part-time teamster members as well as a new gsmo technician um that a general oh goodness I just drew a blank It it is, you know, 10 o'clock. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um but really excited about this work. We also um are have have in our agreement um a student teacher ratio for our international academy newcomer classes at Richmond High, Kennedy, and Helms at 25 students to one. I do want to note that our estimated three-year cost of these agreements um and all of the financial impacts will be over one $105 million over the next three years. I do need to note that. Next slide, please. So, as we move forward, and just to clarify, I've had a number of of

questions about why this item was not ratified by the board this evening. As we move forward, it's important to remember again we are all part of one community and one district. UTR and Teamsters members both ratified their agreements. Next, it will be submitted to the county office of education for an AB1200 review. Uh following this, we'll present the agreements to the board for final ratification. This is a crucial step in implementing the changes that we've agreed to. Our commitment to these agreements requires thoughtful action by the board to adjust the budget accordingly. The integration of these changes into our long-term fiscal planning will begin promptly. This ensures that we not only meet the our current commitments but also sustain for future growth and stability. So, thank you uh for everyone's continued dedication and support as we step into this new chapter together. Next slide, please. So we want to spotlight our students and we did at the beginning of this meeting tonight. I want to say congratulations. What a incredible achievement. Um our Elserto gauchos of which I am one class of long time ago. Um, they just claimed the 2025 CIF State Division 4A football championship with an impressive win, the 35-12 victory. Uh, it was very exciting that game. Like I said earlier, the other team didn't stand a chance. Um, a significant milestone for both the school as well as the community. Uh, the Gaos finished the season with a remarkable 13-2 record. And I did not say publicly that was I think a third of that team were sophomores. They're going to be winning a long time.

I'm excited about that. Um so let's continue to support our students as they strive for greatness. Congratulations once again to Elso Gaos on their historic win. So what's coming up? Habari. What does that mean? What's the response? Oh, you guys. Habari Ghani means what's the news? The response is the first or the the day of Quanza. I'm going to say UMOA. Um means unity. So, Habari Ghani, you say um let's try it all together. Habari.

There you go. Uh excited to invite uh the community to join us virtually for a Quanza celebration. I heard someone say Quanzan virtual. I did it all virtually seven nights every year during well before and since the pandemic. So yes, we're trying a virtual event this uh time around. Please join us tomorrow evening from 5 to 6 uh for a great opportunity for families and staff to come together and and enjoy a new tradition and learning more about Quanza. Um it's something that I hold near and dear to my heart and I'm I'm looking forward to sharing that experience with all of you. Uh the virtual quanta celebration is going to be hosted by ASAT and Oasisa and it promises to be a meaningful gathering so you can definitely join us by Zoom. Next slide. So let's talk about more exciting winter activities. Our winter performances are happening across our schools. Our students have been working hard. It's a great opportunity for the to it's great opportunity for us to support them and enjoy some festive cheer. These events um are just beginning actually tonight going through right before the break and then picking up in January as well. So definitely come out and support our talented students from across the district. Next slide. I also want to lift up that the holiday season gives us an opportunity to keep our minds sharp and make sure that you are reading over winter break. Reading is a fantastic way to build your brain power. It's not only a great escape uh but it's also a way to stay academically engaged even when school is not in session. Just 20 minutes a day makes a huge difference. So remember, strong readers often become strong writers and

speakers. So encourage your children to and and even yourself, adults, pick up a book over the break. It's a great opportunity. Let's make reading fun and enjoyable part of our winter break. Happy reading, everyone. And finally, our last slide, join a committee uh either at your school or a district committee um that so that you can have an impact on our community. Uh we have several communities committees that you can join each focusing on different aspects of our school community. If you're looking for more information, please check out our website. Um but I encourage those folks who haven't tried it, get active, get involved. And with that, any questions? Thank you. Well, thank you for that superintendent report. um small and short but meaningful. Um now we'll move on to item E2. Um delegate authority to the superintendent and her designate to enter into a contract with Heracle Solar PH1 LLC for the purchase and sale of the solar system at Richmond High School. May Mahia Hooper, I believe this is your item.

Good evening board. Thank you for having me tonight. So, uh, at Richmond High, we are embarking on the modernization project, and part of that involves, uh, creating a new building within the staff parking lot. It'll be our new two-story classroom building, uh, which is currently occupied by a section of the solar array on that campus. Uh because the solar array was leased from another company uh which financed the ability to build those in the originally we need to purchase the solar um so that we can move forward with the project. So, district staff is requesting the board to de delegate authority to the superintendent or her designate to enter into a contract with Hercules for a purchase and sale of the solar system at Richmond High School in the amount of 1,14,115.

Well, thank you for your presentation. Are there any questions from the board? Uh Trusty Regler, thank you. Was that in the budget? It will be as part of the overall uh construction and project budget for Richmond High that was approved by the board. Okay. So, it is in the budget. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Do we have any further questions? Okay. So I want to accept the motion and a sec. Oh, do we have public comment on this item?

We have no public comment. Okay. Now I will accept a motion and a second for this item. Uh, I'll go ahead and move delegate authority to the superintendent and her designate to enter into a contract with her herless solar PH1 LLC for purchase and sale of the solar system at Richmond High School.

I'll second. So, we had a motion moved by regular, second by Gonzalez Hoy. Um, are there any further comments? Seeing none, we'll go to the vote. Um, Miles absent. Han absent. Um, Hernandez, yes. Trusty regular. Reckler, yes. Um, Smith Folds absent. Um, Gonzalez Hoy, yes.

And Trusty Anyana? Yes. Um, moving on to item E3, amendment number four to contract for the design and construction of the Steie Elementary School replacement project between the West Coach Costa Unified School District and Alton Construction LLC Mahia Hooper. I believe this is also your idol.

It is. Thank you, board. Uh, so tonight we are very excited to embark upon the next phase of construction at Siege Elementary. Uh we've received approval from the division of state architect for the um demolition of the existing underground utilities as well as placement of new underground utilities and the preparation of the building pads. Um this is our uh as you see stated here it's stage two because we've already done the demolition of the buildings which was stage one. And the reason why it's called increment one is because the increment two package is the building um component of the design. Um so we are moving forward with this item tonight to help accelerate the construction schedule uh while DSA is reviewing the building package. Uh this was sent um out to bid by Alton Construction and uh staff has reviewed the um the results of that bid and are recommending moving forward with adjusting Alton's contract so that they can begin construction on this phase.

Well, thank you for your presentation. Are there any questions from the board? See no question. Is there any public comment on this item? Yes. Uh Marie, please unmute yourself. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Okay. No, I just wanted to say thank you for this update. I know the facilities department has been working very hard on this new rebuild. I'm super excited about it. And um I saw today the another newsletter came out and um I give props to whoever's doing it because um it's really good to have this open communication with the families and the community and I appreciate that. Thank you. I want is there sorry I will now accept the motion and a second on this item. I'll go ahead and move amendment number four to contract for the design and construction of the stage elementary school replacement project between West Contracasta and Alton Construction LLC.

I'll second. Sorry. Moved by regular, second by Hernandez. Um, Trusty Miles absent, Trusty Han absent. S Trusty Hernandez, yes. Trusty Reckler, yes. Trusty Smith absent, and Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, yes.

And Aana, yes. Motion passes. Uh moving on to item four. Oh E4 a board policy 6142.7 physical education and activity second read. Mr. Costa Van Broscus. Um I believe this is your item.

Yes. Thank you. Good evening President Anyana Clerk Gonzalez Hoy Trustee Superintendent Cotton and community. Uh this board policy 6142.7 physical education and activity is before you tonight for a second reading. The governance committee, our WCCUSD staff and the board has reviewed this policy at our last board meeting for the first reading. As a reminder, in 2023 the board approved JOTC and marching band to be eligible to receive physical education credit. This latest update adds cheerleading, dance, and drill to that list, which takes us to having the full advantage of the flexibility that's provided by the education code. And tonight, we are recommending that the board approve this policy.

Well, thank you for your presentation. Is there any questions from the board? Um, Trusty Reckler, I do have a question and it is now if the board passes this, what is the imple implementation plan to let families know? Is it going on a choice sheet? Is what's the the roll out?

Absolutely. So um the first step would be to develop an administrative regulation um based on the passing of this latest edition which would be published in our principal handbook. Um our uh district staff created a process to be able to do this with the support of our counselors and we would publish the process to our families in our parent uh handbook. um that would delineate the process for how families can take advantage of this. Okay. Thank you. Of course, I don't have anything else.

Seeing no more questions for the board. Um is there any public comment on this item? We have no public comment. Okay. I will now accept a motion and a second. I'll move that we approve board policy 6142.7 physical education and activities. I'll second. Moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Hernandez. Um, any further comments from the board? Seeing none, we go to the vote. Um, Brooke Miles absent. Trusty Han absent. Trustee Ernnandez. Yes. Trusty Reckler,

yes. Trustee Smith Folds absent. Trustee Gonzalez Hoy, yes. And trustee Inana, a yes. Motion passes. Moving on to E5. Uh, board policy 1330, use a school facility. Second read. Superintendent Cardin, I believe this is your item.

Yes. Thank you. This item adds to policy 13:30 um prohibits the use of our facilities um that could be used in a commission of a crime or prohibited by law. But most importantly, um, it also prohibits the use of district property for the purpose of immigr immigration enforcement activities as such as staging activities without a judicially issued warrant, subpoena, or order. Well, thank you for your presentation. Are there any questions from the board on this item?

Just thank you for pushing this through. Is there any public comment on this item? We have no public comment. Okay. Could I get a motion? Uh, President, I move that we approve board policy 1330, use of school facilities. Second. Um moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Hernandez. Um any further comments? Seeing none, um going to the vote. Um absent Trusty Miles absent, Trusty Han, um Trustee Hernandez, yes. Trusty Regler,

yes. Trusty Smith fus absent. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, yes. And a yes. Motion passes. And now we'll be going back into close session. There's no discussion.

Okay. Okay. Uh moving on to item F. There's no um discussion items at this meeting and we'll be going back into close session. So, we are back from close session. Superintendent Connor, do we have anything to report out? There's nothing to report from close session.

Okay. So, we'll move on to item H. The next schedule, board of education meeting um scheduled for January 14, 2026. Oh, I'm sorry. It's a late night. The next meeting will be scheduled for January 21st, 2026 here at Leavana Dejon Middle School. Uh, moving on to item I I am now bringing the regularly scheduled meeting at special meeting to a close. The time is 11:29 p.m. Have a good night everyone. I'm wishing you a winter break. Feel the family, friends, and special time. See you in 2026.