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

Before we went to.

On. On. On. ... ... ... ... Thank you.

The public comment card, which you can find at the entryway table, or if you are participating via Zoom, individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app. If you are accessing the meeting by phone, press star nine. The time allotted to each speaker is two minutes. The total time allotted is one hour. Speaking time should not be transferred from one person to another. There is also no substitution of speakers. We alternate between Zoom, comment and in-person comment. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civilly without interruption of intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time as if were your own. Be open to other points 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 Closed session for the special board meeting tonight are public employee appointment, director of classified personnel human resources, director of education technology, and assistant superintendent of human resources. Items listed for closed session for the regular board meeting of tonight are public employee performance evaluation, public employee discipline dismissal release complaint, Conference with legal negotiators, public employee appointment, conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, government code section 54956.9, liability claims, and then we will adjourn back and reconvene open session. Is there any public comment?

There is no public comment. There is one.

There's one board member that is on Zoom. She needs to announce herself and let the public know that she is on Zoom.

Okay.

Hi, my name is Trustee Jamila Smith-Foles. I'm on Zoom. Superintendent Cotton, were you able to hear me?

I can hear her.

I'm sorry, were you able to hear me?

No, we were not able to hear you.

This is trustee Jamila Smith Falls. I'm on Zoom. Are you able to hear that?

Yes.

Thank you.

So with no public comment, we will now adjourn at 411 into closed session and we will reconvene open session at 630. Thank you. of May 13th, 2026 for our regularly scheduled board meeting as well as our special meeting. I bring this meeting to order at 7.05 p.m. To access translation in Zoom, please click on the globe icon at the bottom of the screen. If you are here at Dijon and need a headset for translation, you may pick one up on the back corner of the auditorium. You may... Please prepare now for... for public comment. If you are here in the auditorium and you'd like to make a public comment card, please fill out and submit a WCCUS public comment card. You can find them on the table in the entry hallway. If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand in a Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. Once the item has been called, no more public comment cards will be accepted tonight. After a comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in the order received and we will call on speakers one at a time, alternating between public comment here at Dijon and one on Zoom. Public comment generally lasts one hour. The time allotted to each speaker is two minutes. In the meantime, we are moving on to the rest of our opening procedures. The Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Okay. Good man. Okay, we are now moving on to B3, land, labor, and body acknowledgement. We recognize that we are presently on the lands of the Chinchenyo, Mi'kmaq, Karkin, and Ohlone peoples and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. Labor and body acknowledgement. I acknowledge that the burden of environmental exploitation and systematic injustice falls upon the labor of black and brown bodies in the building of this country and its institutions. I remember that black and brown bodies 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, forced, and undocumented peoples in the building of what we refer to as the United States. Author Dr. Rochelle Rogers Ard. West Contra Costa Free School District Board anti-racism statement. The governing board is committed to the work of anti-racism, the conscious and addictive effort to identify, challenge, correct racial inequities in the systems and institutions within our schools and community. Racism, explicit or implicit, stands in direct conflict to the fundamental principles of district education, to carry district 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 inequities that they produce have shaped us, our schools and society. The board strives to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as a 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 develop a stronger understanding of how our personal experience and feelings fit into a larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of our governing board individually and collectively is responsible for creating a nurturing and anti-racism learning environment where each student, staff member and community partner is respected and valued member of the district community. The governing board is uniquely positioned that is our responsibility to identify 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 wellbeing. While building strong and inclusive school communities, the board commits to holding each board member accountable towards these goals and moving the work of anti-racism forward. We also commit to holding West Contra Costa Unified School District staff, students, and community to living these standards of anti-racism in our schools. Board approved March 20, 2024. Can I get a roll call superintendent call in?

Trustee Reckler. Good evening, President. Trustee Smith-Fold.

Sorry, Trustee Smith-Fold. Present on this call.

Thank you. Trustee Hernandez.

Good evening, President.

Clerk Gonzales-Hoy.

Good evening, President.

And Board President Inanna. Good evening, everyone. We are now moving on to reports verification of closed session, and we will do a report out on our special board meeting. Do we have anything to report out for our special board meeting?

For our special board meeting, the board voted to approve the appointment of Sylvia Greenwood as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources. The vote was as follows. Moved by Gonzales-Hoy, seconded by Hernandez. Inanna was yes. Gonzales-Hoy, yes. Hernandez, yes. Reckler, no. Smith-Folds, yes. And then we have our remaining closed session. Would you like me to report out on our closed session items?

Well, we will not close out and adjourn closed session and reconvene open session for our regularly scheduled board meeting and do our, and we could continue on with the report verification of closed session.

Thank you. Regarding item A24, the board voted to approve the appointment of Kimberly Chamberlain as Director of Classified Personnel, HR. The vote was as follows. Moved by Gonzales-Hoy, seconded by Hernandez, and Yana was yes. Gonzales-Hoy, yes. Hernandez, yes. Reckler, yes. Smith-Fold, yes. In addition, the board voted to approve The appointment of Laurie Wong Roberts as Director of Education Technology, the vote was as follows. Actually, the vote was unanimous. The board voted unanimously for that appointment. For agenda item A25, there is no report out. For agenda item A26, the board voted to reject claim number 671870 related to alleged personal injury. The vote was as follows. It was the board voted unanimously. I apologize. The board voted to reject claim number 671591 related to alleged personal injury. The board voted unanimously. The board voted to reject claim number 671594 related to alleged personal injury. The board voted unanimously. And the board voted to reject claim number 670855 related to alleged personal injury. The board voted unanimously.

Thank you, Superintendent Cardin. We'll now be continuing with the agenda. I will be moving item B10 to before public comment tonight. Could we continue on with item B10? Yes, thank you for that.

We were very happy to celebrate and glad to see folks here celebrating Principal Appreciation Week on our Principal Appreciation Day on May 1st. And all of last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. And so we wanted to lift up some amazing work that is going on in our school sites. And we've asked Karen Zapata to join us along with staff members from Washington, along with Travis Bristol. Dr. Travis Bristol is a university partner from the University of California at Berkeley to speak to us a little bit about national board certification. He serves as the president of that organization, a national organization, and we are very lucky to have him here with us today. But first, I pass the mic to Principal Zapata.

Thank you. Buenas noches. Good evening. My name is Karen Zapata. I'm the principal of Washington Elementary School, a proud dual language Spanish-English school here in West Contra Costa. I was a classroom teacher for 26 years before entering the world of school administration. And I'm proud to say that I'm a UC Berkeley PLI alumni. And I know PLI runs deep here in West Contra Costa. The next couple of minutes of presentation exemplifies partnership and possibility, and I hope you see those of us before you as a rich network ready to partner for this district's amazing students and their families. First, I'm going to introduce Aracely Vazquez, a second grade bilingual teacher from Washington. Aracely is just finishing PLI right now, and her inquiry-based work, getting her master's degree, led her to propose and be awarded a $30,000 grant for our school. The grant is specifically designed to support English learner or multilingual students. I'd like to have Araceli share a bit more about the grant. She is joined by our colleague, Lisa Weaver, who is also part of the grant committee.

Good evening, buenas tardes. My name is Aracely Vasquez, like Ms. Zapata said. I'm a second grade teacher at Washington Elementary School, a proud DLI school. This project started with my PLI assignments, looking at data and analyzing how we could better support our English learners. We have held professional learning communities at Washington for the very first time. This is a time where a group of educators, Ms. Weaver and other five educators came together to analyze student work. and think of strategies that could better help our English learners. As well as we engage in peer observation cycles, we went around and observed our fellow colleagues teach ELD and engage in very powerful debrief, reflective debrief in how we could help our English learners. All of this momentum has led to teacher ownership. It was because of this PLC group and collaboration that we applied for the Lights Awards grant. It's a $30,000 grant for the next two years. And our goal is to work collaboratively develop curriculum and ongoing progress monitoring. We want to strengthen our strategies and leadership and make sure there's coherence throughout our school. As an aspiring leader, I have learned that we cannot wait for perfect systems to be in place. We must start early, trust our teachers as experts and build the relational trust that serves as the vehicle for all school improvement. I want to thank my colleagues for helping me out with my school assignments and engaging in this very important work. I want to thank Principal Zapata for her support and giving teachers autonomy. And my professor, Dr. Bristol, who introduced me to the grant and encouraged me to apply. We are asking the support of the district and to continue this work and to support bilingual programs. Thank you very much.

The other person I have the honor of introducing is Dr. Travis Bristol. In short, Dr. Bristol was Adeselyan, my professor in PLI, and someone who has inspired us both to push our edges of equity-based school leadership. The accolades are many, and I know our time is tight, but Dr. Bristol is the leader of the National Board Certification Program, and he's going to join us to share a bit about his work.

Thank you. So good evening, members of the school board and Superintendent Cotton. It's a joy as a professor to be here with my two former students. Kara, I taught... I was gonna say KZ, but it's Ms. Karen Zapata in 2022 in the PLI course. And then I taught last fall, I taught Ms. Araceli Vasquez in the course. And it was a very interesting moment when I said in class that teachers should, that principals should work on small gains. And then Araceli said, oh, my principal is actually doing that. And then I said, well, who's your principal? And she said, well, Karen Zapata. And so one of the things that I did once I learned that there was this connection, I went and I visited their school, Washington. In fact, there are actually four other teachers here in the district who are currently in PLI. Now, Ms. Zapata mentioned that I'm the board chair. I just want to make sure I don't run the organization. I'm the board chair for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. National Board was established 37 years ago and National Board, it is the gold standard for teacher certification. So across the country, every state, a teacher will get a teacher, will get a state license. And then after three years, after hard work, that teacher can then go on and earn National Board certification. Now I'm not here in the role as board chair, but I am here in the role as a professor at UC Berkeley. And one of the things that I was so taken by as I spoke to teachers across the country was about how pursuing national board certification improved their practice. In national board certification, teachers videotape their classrooms, they reflect on their practice. And if you speak to any teacher, they will say that national board certification was one of the most impactful professional learning opportunities. In 2021, Governor Newsom invested $250 million. I'll say it again for maybe the folks in the back. Governor Newsom invested $250 million in a statewide national board incentive program. When teachers achieve this national board certification every year, that teacher gets $5,000, not from the district, but from the state. And so one of the things that I did three years ago, partnering with Oakland Unified, and I believe I gave Superintendent Cotton, there was a press release from Oakland Unified yesterday. There's a lot happening in Oakland. And one of the things that we're really proud of and Superintendent Sadler is proud of in Oakland is the work that we've been doing at Berkeley to work with teachers in Oakland. To date, we've engaged 128 teachers in the district. We've seen a 700% increase in teachers achieving national board certification. And again, in Oakland, teachers get $5,000 from the state and then $1,000 from the district. That's $6,000 annually. And so the hope is, clearly given that I have two students here in the district, is that we might work our way up north and find a way to partner with the district to increase teacher professional learning and also to pay teachers a little bit more because teachers deserve to be paid and well compensated. So hoping that we can partner together. Thank you for your time.

Can I ask Principal Zapata, Dr. Bristol, Lisa Araceli, if you guys can come down front, we're going to do a picture with you.

Okay, thank you, everyone. We'll now be continuing on to the regulatory agenda. Item B7, WCCU's public comment. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, but not on tonight's agenda. Public comment will last approximately one hour. The time allowed to each speaker is two minutes. Should additional speakers remain at the conclusion of one hour, Public comment may be extended. This time allowed per speaker after the first hour is generally one minute. Individuals wishing to speak, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card now or participating via Zoom. Individuals will need to raise your hand in the Zoom app. Prior to the beginning of this item, on the agenda. If you are calling in by phone, press star nine. Speaking time should not be transferred from one person to another and there is no substitution of speakers. Speakers can also make public comment again for a discussion and action item on the agenda after staff presentation. The public will have 10 minutes per item and one minute per speaker. The same protocols were cited above apply. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed in a civil matter without interruption or intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time on 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, members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. So please turn in your public comment cards and please raise your hand on Zoom because this item will now be closing. Do we have any public comment?

Yes, we have public comment. Kim Chamberlain.

I touched it nicely, I didn't make it. Hi, I'm Kimberly Chamberlain, IFPTE Local 21 SSA Chapter President. For a little bit longer. I would like to very much thank, thank you for the opportunity. Yes, I'm emotional because it's been a very big dream for me. I have fought very hard for the classified people in this district. I can only say that I hope I continue to serve them in the new position as well as I did in my union position. Because I won't just be fighting for the 147 people that I've represented. I'll be fighting for the entire district to keep them in good standing and making sure that they're serving our students correctly, which goes right in line with congratulations to all classified. You are phenomenal. Next week, we are celebrating you. You are the best at what you do. You make the kids come out and I like to recognize you all. It is phenomenal how much students want to come to school just to see you. My grandson, for instance, doesn't always like to go to school. We told him, but your teacher's aide is going to be in there and she wants to see you today. Oh, all right, I'll get out of the car. And then he goes into school for the day. How many other kids do that just because they have that one person that we tell them want to see them and then that person is there with a smile? Thank you so much for doing that for my grandson and all the other kids in our district. I truly appreciate it. Thank you to all the custodians for making sure that we have water running so that our schools will run too. Thank you for making sure that the garbages are empty. Thank you for that.

Next public comment is Heather.

please unmute yourself yes I'm Heather oh look what you've done you've defunded our school and studies and journalism excuse me so sorry we called for someone on zoom I apologize hopefully you can give us another rendition in a minute thank you

Heather?

Yes? Can you hear me? Yes. My name is Heather Harvey McNabb, and I'm the parent of two amazing VISTA students, one third and one seventh grader. I'm also a VISTA high school graduate as well as a WCCUSD employee. I chose to transfer my children to VISTA virtual after COVID because I didn't feel I could keep my children safe, even with them attending the very school I work at. The job I started, so I could be with them, the climate on our campuses I would call less than favorable. The negative behaviors classroom distractions lead to lead to loss of learning the teething and bullying fighting lack of staff and teachers, as well as lack of supplies and funding for programs left me with no other choice. But to put my children at vista virtual so I could ensure they would receive the best education possible, while ensuring their safety. Learning doesn't happen the same for every student vista provides high quality education for students and families seeking an alternative to the traditional public school. We choose this to because they provide outstanding teachers personalized learning in person enrichment opportunities and outstanding student support systems to help students achieve. Their educational goals and prepare each student to succeed in a rapidly changing world focusing on helping them thrive academically emotionally and socially. It's all about the students. They're learning their experiences and making them lifelong learners. There are many reasons families choose VISTA. Maybe traditional school just didn't work. Their child was bullied, threatened, assaulted at school. Maybe there are health reasons, medically compromised family members, housing or transportation challenges, the need for greater support or wanting their child to be safe. The mental health of our children is extremely important. And in a current world filled by hate, it is essential that we take these concerns seriously. What being a VISTA student means to my children, it means that they are excited about learning and want to go to school every day, even if they are sick because they don't want to miss out. They have become independent and confident. They are becoming leaders and are thriving. The program is truly unique and absolutely irreplaceable, just like our teachers. Please reconsider the cuts to VISTA. Our children's future is in your hands.

Isaiah Johnson.

Come on, come on, stand up here.

My name is Seven. I am in kindergarten at Neesham. I love field trips because I like to go in water. They are so fun because I like to be outside, we should have more field trips because they are so fun and creative.

Field trips.

Gene Kitcher, please unmute yourself.

Well that's an act to follow. My name is Jean Kinsher, and I'm a teacher at Verde. My community receives programs through the Richmond Outdoor Coalition, including a snow trip led by the Headwater Science Institute, classroom instruction and field trips led by Kids for the Bay, and the family camp led by Yes Nature to Add Neighborhoods. I'm here today to share the impact that I've witnessed on the youth that I work with. Their excitement and wonder to learn about the creek and their environment is amazing. That special magical moment when it starts to snow on their snow trip and they have never experienced snow before. The excitement and fun that shocks students and families when they're having fun camping but they're unplugged from technology. The joy and tranquility that Nia Dance provides for my students, my students, students at our school, and students in our community deserve these experiences and many, many more. And as you heard the very smart gentleman that went before me, field trips, things that make these kids excited. Please make sure they continue.

Meryl Pierce.

good evening uh thank you everyone for your time my name is meryl pierce i work with the science department um i'm here speaking on behalf of the richmond outdoors coalition and really to just share some light on the benefit of field trips and how important Field trips are for youth. I could go on and on, but we have a small coalition here and it's really, really special. the beautiful moments that kids have when they're outside. So we would like to share that with you. And we are here to continue advocating for outdoor education on behalf of the Richmond Outdoors Coalition and to get kids outside because they have a lot of fun and that's what it's all about. And thank you for your time. Thank you all for Everything that you do, we appreciate you and we want to continue working together to get kids outside. So thank you so much.

Chris, please unmute yourself.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi, I'm Chris McLean and I teach at Dover Elementary. And I just wanted to congratulate the band students who performed last week at Richmond High, the violin, the orchestra students and the band students, because if you heard them, they were phenomenal. I've been teaching for 10 years and I see my my students grow from elementary to middle to high school and I just see the the vast improvement and just how beautiful they play and I think that elementary band programs are so important for these kids to be able to have an outlet to express themselves and to be able to to express themselves like I said I also wanted to speak about the the talks that's been going around about computers now i understand perhaps in the lower grades about students not being able to take their computers home but i think especially in sixth grade even though it's still elementary school the rigor and the demands academically are much higher and we're writing five paragraph essays we're doing research projects we're I think it's very important for them to have access to computers and for it to be one-on-one, in my opinion, not four students for one computer. And lastly, I think that ethnic studies in Kennedy High School is super important because ethnic studies, in my opinion, is just as important as learning about English or math or science because it really gives you tools to understand how the world works, how this country works. So please reconsider all these cuts and all these changes that you're thinking about making. Thank you.

Isabel Gil Garcia.

Good evening, board. My name is Isabel Gil Garcia, and I'm a teacher at Richmond High School. My purpose here tonight is twofold. First, I'd like to speak on the positive impact that the Richmond Outdoors Coalition has had on our larger Richmond community. I had the opportunity this year to step outside my classroom and attend the second annual Richmond High School Snow Trip this past year. This was a life-changing experience for a variety of reasons. Not only did it allow me to connect with my students in a different way, but it showed me how a genuine learning doesn't only happen inside the classroom. Seeing students outdoors, learning about climate science through play, being in nature and challenging themselves to try new things was an experience that I will carry with me, an experience that all students in Richmond deserve. Building on the positive impact that extracurricular programs have on student outcomes, I would like to request the board reconsider the termination of Richmond High's theater manager, Sam Taylor's position. Sam is an essential part of our community, doing so much behind the scenes to make student productions come to life. Without Sam, performing arts at Richmond High School will be severely impacted. Having worked alongside Sam in a theater production, I can attest to the dedication that Sam has to ensuring our students have high quality productions. I personally witnessed Sam build us a two-story set with a non-existent budget and truly made magic happen. Sam and I had plans to bring another theater production to Richmond High School next year, which cannot happen if their position is terminated. Richmond High has still not recovered from the loss of our scout Lolita last year, and ripping another long-term community member from our community will continue to have disastrous impacts. Which brings me to my very last point. It is abundantly obvious to me that the board is not acting in the interest of students with this latest round of budget cuts. I understand that our district is in a financially vulnerable time, but I cannot take the board seriously when we continue to spend exorbitant amounts on consultants and high-level positions that have little impact on the lives of students. Performing arts, meaningful field trips, ethnic studies, these are the things that make students look forward to coming to school that provide them with a holistic education. I urge the board to stop this latest round of budget cuts

Mariana Calvario, please unmute yourself.

Hello, good afternoon. My name is Mariana Calvario. If you don't know me by now, I'm the girl who cussed you out last time. I'm a Kennedy alumni who is currently studying at UC Davis for political science and Chicano studies. As this will be probably the last time I'm going to be speaking about ethnic studies, I just wanted to let you guys know how incredibly selfish you guys are. If you guys couldn't read the room or whatever, you're not only taking away ethnic studies, you're taking away Children going outside, you know how crazy that sounds? I would like to make it, yeah, obviously I just said that. You're taking hundreds of students education just because you don't value them. It is disgusting. Although you guys seem to not value education because it's not that hard to get your job. You guys didn't pursue higher education. I'd like to remind you that many of us do care about it because it is our only way out. I've not been present for the past board meetings, but that doesn't automatically eliminate my care for ethnic studies. In fact, I've talked to the Senator of San Jose State San Jose, sorry. So he could vote to extend the budget of ethnic studies across all high schools in California. It took him one meeting to agree, while all of these people standing behind you, in front of you, have been pleading for two years for ethnic studies, for not cutting off special ed. It took him literally, I'd like to say 30 minutes, while you guys... While these children have been pleading, a kindergartner was literally speaking on the podium. I just wanted to let you guys know it's racist too. If you continue with the elimination of ethnic studies and Spanish speakers, because Spanish three is not enough. Point blank period. You guys aren't creating these policies, but you're encouraging them, which is worse. Thank you.

Marie Anayam. Marie Anayam.

The district's maintenance staff has been working very hard. I see what you're doing around. the district. Thank you for returning the Steege and Dijon to continue beautifying the campuses. We appreciate your swiftness in that urgent matter. We received the stools to help the little ones access the high sink safely. Thank you for making our temp campus more accessible to TK and K. Thanks to the maintenance crew that came out to Cameron. The project took a lot of time to plan, but it's now complete. Although school was in session, the crew was very professional and they finished it in one day. We thank you. The bench looks awesome. Speaking of Cameron, I want to warmly invite all of our leadership to please come to our Cookies with Cameron open house next Wednesday, May the 20th at 4.30. Come meet the early intervention staff and see where the youngest students in this campus. They are ages zero to five years. This is where they start receiving their special education services. We're going to have lots of sweets, so get ready to eat. Today, my students had a new sub bus driver. I want to say the experience was very, very positive. The driver was prepared, had a list of names and knew everything. the drop off route. It was great to see an informed and confident driver. As I always say, please consider adding the cameras and GPS on the buses soon. There is an app that us parents can use to live track the buses, just the same as we live track our food and Amazon deliveries and whatever package that's coming to your house. Remember, these students are the most precious package ever being delivered to and from school. This is my 17th speech. Please remember, students and safety always comes first. Thank you.

Caring community, please unmute yourself.

Good evening, board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I want to make a data-backed case that Vista K-12 Virtual Academy is one of this district's most underdeveloped revenue opportunities. California public school enrollment has declined every year since the pandemic. Families are leaving to chargers. to private school, to neighboring districts. And they're not leaving because they're abandoning public education. They're leaving because they found flexible, high-quality options that fit their lives. Look at what larger districts have done in response. LAUSD now operates six dedicated virtual academy schools for grades TK through 12, built around family demand for flexible schedules, health accommodations, and personalized learning. They saw the demand and invested in it. Private virtual schools like ICL Academy are charging families tuition to serve young athletes, performers, and students with medical or scheduling needs, the exact families VISTA could be serving for free. Unlike traditional schools, VISTA measures progress through work completion, meaning a student's day is defined by what they learn and produce, not just where they sit. That flexibility is exactly what modern families are paying private schools to provide. VISTA already does this. What this program do? Credentials, teachers, rigorous curriculum, individualized instruction. The program exists. The demand exists. What's missing is the investment and the promotion. Every student re-enroll in VISTA instead of losing to a charter or private option represent thousands of dollars in ADA revenue. that stays in this district. I urge this board to direct the superintendent to treat VISTA as a growth investment, resource it, staff it at grade level and promote it with the same energy we bring to our best programs. Thank you very much.

Franklin Cruz. Franklin Cruz.

Yeah, something important to say. I think we should let him go first. Good evening. My name is Franklin. I'm a student at Richmond High School, and I'm here to speak about my experience with the Richmond Outdoor Coalition. I've participated in both field trips and in-school activities, which were led by the coalition. Through this program, I have learned a multitude of different lessons, from simple concepts of knowing that some plants are not to be messed with, to... Sorry, my bad. to the mastery of skills, which I know I will be bringing with me far into the future, both equally valuable things to know, in my opinion. Regardless, the Richmond Outdoor Coalition is a great program that has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. Thank you for your time.

Savannah, please unmute yourself.

Good evening. My name is Savannah Harvey McNabb, and I am a student at Vista Virtual Academy. I chose to go to Vista because it's a safe place for students to go. Being a student at Vista means so much to me because I've made so many friends and relationships with my teachers. Vista has helped me grow as a learner, a student, and a person. It has also helped me succeed in being more independent. All of my teachers have been an impact on me, But Ms. Link, my teacher now, has been with me for two years and has boosted my confidence, has built a relationship with me, has made me a strong leader, and has made me more independent. Taking away these qualified teachers also takes away our rights to education. Thank you.

Alisa Clark.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Alyssa Clark. I've been with the WCCUSD since December as a substitute, spending a majority of my time in one extraordinary fifth grade classroom at the Verde K-8 school. I'm here to speak about my experience with the Richmond Outdoors Coalition. It benefits the community in a variety of ways. In fact, I just went on a field trip yesterday to Muir Beach with 14 of my rock stars. We took a hike around the area while learning about the importance of nature and the various aspects of the environment. I've been assigned to this specific class since March, and this group absolutely thrived yesterday. The students were able to create lifelong memories with the classmates, and seeing firsthand the impact ROC provided made me so proud to be a part of it. The most memorable moment was during the bus ride back to campus. My students asked if we can go to Six Flags Water Park for the last day of school. I told them that I would look into it, but no promises. Bottom line, though, they were incredibly thankful for this experience. The RSC reminds me of my most fond memories as a fifth grader. I've lived in various parts across Northern California, like Vallejo, Stockton, Antioch, In all nine schools from my K-12 experience, my best memories came from each district with field trips with all my new classmates that I had to warm up to. We went to the movie theaters, cherry picking, aquariums, and zoos. I remember all of it very fondly. It showed me at 10 years old that the community was encompassing inclusion, connection, engagement, and empowerment. The Richmond Outdoors Coalition impacts this community greatly and must be embraced. Please remember the ROC will continue to grow with your support. Thank you.

Sloan, please unmute yourself.

Good evening, Board, Superintendent Cotton, and WCCUSD community. From preschool through sixth grade, I want to take this opportunity to shout out our students at Chavez and celebrate the incredible work happening across our school that is making a difference. Our commitment to high expectations and to supporting all students is evident across ELA, math, and our school climate. In ELA, we use culturally rich and rigorous texts for all students. I want to thank Superintendent Cotton for joining us at Chavez on our ELA walkthrough last week. Thank you so much for your support. Also, a huge shout out to Ms. Philbin, our reading teacher leader at Chavez, for supporting the structures of foundational literacy skills across our campus. In math, our math teacher leader, Ms. Buster, leads the implementation of Eureka Squared curriculum. She leads Chavez's math collaboration and planning with teachers each month. Her deliberate focus on lesson planning serves to reinforce positive planning habits and helps all teachers with internalization of the curriculum. Finally, our commitment to having a positive and supportive learning environment is stronger than ever through our alignment with the PBIS framework. Our vice principal, Joseph Pickering, leads Chavez's climate leadership team where teachers work to embed restorative practices into our daily routines. At Chavez, we place students first and we balance systemic change with supporting positive school structures in order to maximize student impact and learning. Through our teacher leadership teams and as a community school, we strive to include the voices of students, families, and staff We are working constantly to build a community where all students feel safe, respected, and ready to learn. I also want to take this time to appreciate many of the nearly 100 members of WCCAA that have supported us at Chavez, both directly and indirectly behind the scenes. From central office administrators to principals and ISs at other school sites, WCCAA members work together every day to collaborate, calibrate, and implement innovative ideas all in service of students and families. Thank you for your time this evening and for all you do for our students. Go Chavez.

Good.

Marlene Contreras. Marlene Contreras. Go, go, go.

Hello, everyone. Good evening. My name is Mararia Alvarado. I'm speaking earlier because, I mean, you guys started late, and I have to go, but it's really important if I speak right now. I am a Kennedy alumni who graduated in 2023 as a junior. Unfortunately, being from South Richmond, a low income community and a community of color, our schools are always given fewer opportunities compared to El Sobrante, Pino or any other city you'd love to think about. Something I am positive about and I can assure you all tonight is that our schools need more and not less. And if I may, I'm going to put my major to use tonight. So get ready to hear some of criminal justice in this little speech. Being from this city, we see our youth involved in crimes or getting lost in substance abuse. And from what I have learned in my years in college, part of it is because of the lack of compassion and support we tend to receive from our schools. And this doesn't necessarily reflect our teachers because something I can assure you all is that every single teacher at the K fights for all of their students. And today is proof of that. But when these classes are considered for cuts, when there's barely anything giving to us, it sends our community and us the message that we're not worth investing in or not worth fighting for. These classes might not seem important to you all, but they definitely are. These classes might be the reason why students show up to school. And if I'm being honest, they were for me. They made me feel connected to our community and my culture. And if we truly want and aspire for our youth to thrive and success and create safer communities, then I believe these classes should be kept and focused on expanding opportunities instead of taking them away. Thank you all.

Andrew Wilkie, please unmute yourself.

Hey, can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi, good evening, everybody. It's Mr. Wilkie from Richmond High School. Just speaking on a couple of things, I want to thank Demetrio for whatever the committee is that he put together, looking into these contracts that can be cut to generate this 1.7 million. And I think that if we can use that money for what is planned for, that'd be amazing. I just want to, as music is apparently transitioning our elementary teachers to prep, elementary prep for upper grade elementary school kids, can work, but it takes tons of planning and training. And I don't see how any of that would happen. And when it doesn't work, it really doesn't work. And it's a nightmare for a lot of different reasons. So I really hope you guys reconsider this plan of still having these same individuals, still only teaching a portion of the district music classes, because it would be inequitable. Many of our schools would not get those prep teachers because there's not enough of them to serve the whole district, right? So you would already be serving not everybody. But then the kids who actually want to pursue this, who are into it, really aren't getting served. Anyway, there's ways to do what we've been doing better. But conversations and talking has to happen. And there's people who are willing to talk to you. I am one of them. So are my secondary colleagues at Richmond High. Man, if you guys could figure out a way to save Sam's position, that would be amazing. We used to do everything at Richmond High. And over the past six years, I've watched so much go. Everything keeps getting stripped away. You've taken help from us the past couple of years. Sam would be... I would be the last vestige of any performing arts at a school that was putting on student-run musicals only a handful of years ago, full student band, full theater, full tech program, all this stuff. Sam does more than just theater. She supports all sorts of different things. It would be foolish to leave such an overqualified human being go. Yeah, so I hope you guys are able to come up to that and I hope that we can figure out the seven period day if we're saving periods for other schools, it should be equitable across the city.

Evangeline Ortiz.

We were here since 5 p.m. and none of our community members have been called up. And there's no way, and no shade to nobody, right? But there's no way that all these different community members signed up before us. This is not okay. All our students who are here to speak have not spoken.

And a lot of them have an AP exam tomorrow morning.

I understand, but we're taking them in the order that they were handed up to us. And with that being said, we're alternating also with the online calls. Okay. We'll be continuing with public comment and I'll have Trustee Clerk Gonzalez go down and talk to you guys.

Bill Hodges, please unmute yourself.

Thank you. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you so much. And I apologize to all of the folks who were here. I definitely am on this call later than they were, but I do appreciate my opportunity to speak tonight. But I do want to shout out that it... Gatekeeping seems to be very real. Good evening members of the board and all who attended this evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you. It is crucial that the school board funds and maintains crucial programs within the arts and music. The proposed cuts of music and arts, arts teachers, ethnic studies, the Richmond Outdoor Coalition, and all the other cuts are a mistake. Music and the arts are a crucial part of fostering critical thinking skills and provide an opportunity for students to learn, to be creative and to appreciate these areas of study. Field trips are simply fun and educational. I consider these short sighted decisions. These are all important, beneficial incentives for learning. Additionally, in the news today, it was announced that the state of California is considering billions – billions with a B, and new funding for public schools. For all of these reasons, I truly hope the board shows its trust and support for teachers and their students by maintaining, if not increasing, the funding for the arts, the music, and these other programs. Save these jobs. Thank you for your time.

Asael Montano. Leon Ortiz. Macias, please unmute yourself.

Hi, good evening. My name is Denise Macias. I'm a proud parent of a student at Vista Virtual Academy. First off, I want to thank the teachers and staff at Vista, thanking them for opening doors for us that once were closed by this district. My daughter has felt heard and supported at Vista and is striving amazingly. Thank you to Ms. Marchese, Ms. Link, Ms. Anna, Mr. Burnetti, Ms. Foster, and our amazing principal, Ms. McCormick, and many more. They gave us hope. Today, I come to beg that you please protect and support our teachers at Vista. They're the reason for our children's growth. With their specialized knowledge to teach and support, our children can have a better future and create a better society. Education is vital to our society. It drives economic prosperity, fuels innovation, reduces poverty, lowers crime, and much more. Teachers can change the future for our children. It's because of them everyone can thrive. If we didn't have them, there wouldn't be any doctors, artists, or world leaders. You wouldn't be sitting here today in that position if it wasn't because of a teacher. So the least that we can do is support them. VISTA is a different way of learning, but an amazing way of succeeding. They deserve the same support and educational opportunities as in-person classes. So find cuts elsewhere, stop teacher cuts, and support them because they support our children. I welcome you to become part of the VISTA family because that's what we are, a VISTA, a family. Thank you.

Lupita Marin. Lupita Marin.

I'm here to talk about Kennedy, because apparently you guys ignore us. Apparently that's you guys' favorite thing to do, apparently, according to tonight. Since it's been 30 minutes and it took you guys, apparently it seems you guys do what you guys want to do, not what you guys need to do. Apparently you guys hear what you guys want to hear, not what you need to hear. You guys hear yourselves. You don't hear students. You don't hear the voices that you guys promise you're going to hear. You guys say, oh, we're going to hear every single person here. No, you don't. You hear who you want to hear, not what you need to hear. You guys need to get your priorities straight around here. Teachers who work harder than you guys know what to do. What's up with that? Shouldn't it be the other way around? That teachers put in most of the work and just don't get listened to and you guys put in minimal work and you guys are like, oh, I have all the power. Make that make sense to me. Make that make sense. Make sense that you guys are cutting a teacher who the whole entire school Kennedy loves. The whole school loves Ms. Avendaño. People want to go to her. People love everybody. We love Ms. Avendaño. We love Ms. Huerta, Ms. Blanco. And you guys want to cut other positions? What's wrong with y'all? What's wrong with y'all? It's like you guys are on crack.

Ethan, please unmute yourself.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Ethan Sorcher and I teach fifth grade at Montalvin. I also serve as the math teacher leader at Montalvin on the math district implementation team. I was on the curriculum adoption committee that recommended Eureka Math Squared. Many of the proposals that you will be asked to consider tonight by the contract review committee are sound fiscal strategy with minimal negative and perhaps even positive impact to students. I respectfully ask that you consider keeping the contract for instruction partners. Instruction Partners has been instrumental to my personal development as a national board certified teacher and our rapid growth in math achievement at Montalvin, from 17% after the return to in-person learning to 28% last year, exceeding the district average. Unlike other consultants, the work that they do is not something that can be easily replicated by district personnel. Although grouped together with other cuts to contracts proposed tonight, instruction partners' cost is relatively small, especially considering the force multiplier this contract provides to the quality of teaching and learning in our district's math classrooms. If you want to see improvement in the quality of math instruction in our district, to see our students becoming capable mathematicians and viewing themselves as math people in ways that I, and maybe you, did not view ourselves growing up, I encourage you to keep this contract. Later tonight, you will also vote to cut Chromebooks at elementary schools, at least in part because you are justifiably unhappy with their ineffective and inconsistent use across the district. We spent a great deal of time and money adopting a high-quality math curriculum. If you want teachers to use it effectively to shift their own mindsets around what students are capable of and what math instruction should be, please do not repeat the same mistake. Please invest not only in the materials, but also in the training teachers, teacher leaders, and district personnel need so that we can deliver on the promise of high quality, equitable, student-centered instruction our communities deserve. And vote to keep the Instruction Partners contract tonight. Thank you.

Gian Maldonado.

Hello, school board. Hello, Superintendent Cotton. Hello, cabinet. And most of all, hello, Kennedy community. Woo! I've always believed that Kennedy students deserve way better. The Kennedy student government, because it recognizes Kennedy students deserve better, has had multiple meetings with our administration, with board trustees, with the superintendent, with district personnel. And we've always questioned why the reductions in staff, why the reductions in courses, why the reduction in programs? And the answer is Kennedy's decreased enrollment. As you all know, Kennedy is going through a complete renovation, but for now, we're in portables. Of course, portables aren't attractive at all. Of course, our enrollment is down. No one wants portables. We question why strategies weren't put in place before the renovation with the district knowing our enrollment would inevitably decrease. Why weren't these preventions placed before? Why is it taking until now for the district to try and save Kennedy program Emphasis on the try. Kennedy students deserve way better and we all know it. We deserve an on-campus administration who actually cares about students. Where's my principal been for the last week? No one has any idea. An administration who recognizes the needs of educators and the stability of student needs. We deserve an administration, a school board, and a district who actually have student needs placed in every decision. WCCUSD, save Kennedy, and thank you, everyone.

Angela Phillips, please unmute yourself. Good evening. Can you hear me? Yes.

Good evening. My name is Angela Phillips, and I am a proud parent of the Vista High School student. My husband and I have been very happy with not only the amazing leadership of the principal, Ms. Edith, but also the wonderful teachers at the Virtual Academy from the middle school and high school. We have had the experience of being part of the VISTA community since about a little over four years ago. It was soon after COVID. Our oldest child needed more academic support, not because she was struggling. In fact, she was actually doing extremely well, and unfortunately, the district did not have... all of the resources that we would like. And her experience at VISTA has been very well received. She enjoys going to the classes. She enjoys her instructors. They are all very concerned about their students. They make sure that they receive the support and that they need, especially for children who are high achieving and need additional resources. But also, I want to thank the community. And please do not provide cuts to the VISTA community at this time. But I also want to encourage that you don't reduce the cuts to the music and arts education. It is definitely something that supports not only our younger children, but children throughout the district. It is something that provides a well-rounded education that improves their ability in all of their subjects, whether it's reading, math, or just creativity. By cutting these things, you are definitely cutting some of the best things of our district. Thank you very much.

Melanie Hernandez? Melanie Hernandez?

Whoo! Whoo!

Good evening, my name is Melanie Hernandez and I'm a freshman at Kennedy High School. Like many of you, I came to school today with dreams, goals and a future I'm working toward. But the proposal to cut classes like ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, the health pathway, even down upon the removal of the leadership position is threatening not just my ambitions, but those of a majority of students. Ethnic studies brought me pride and gave me a chance to clear my head from the haze that was attempting to fabricate the losses in humanity as victorious. Spanish for Spanish speakers not only strengthened my Spanish, but shined a light on Central America and the importance of each region in that area. Leadership isn't just a job. It fosters strength and creativity amongst us students, offering us abilities to become resilient who make resilient people who make a difference in our communities. The health pathway is so much more than a class. In a world where healthcare is constantly in the news, cutting this pathway removes the chance for students to learn skills that will serve them long after graduation. I urge you to think about what these cuts mean for students like me. We deserve classes that inspire us and prepare us for the future. You have the power to protect our futures. Please use it. Thank you.

Jesse Pogge, please unmute yourself.

Hi. Good evening, superintendent and school board members. I am speaking tonight as a concerned parent and educator on behalf of the elementary band program. This program is an integral part of our school's weekly instruction. My son has participated since the fourth grade. He will attend Korematsu in the fall. his elective band. During his three years participating in elementary band, Mr. Manzana has supported his musical growth and knowledge, his sense of confidence, his ability to work collaboratively, and his commitment to long-term goals. Musical education supports students intellectually, emotionally, and creatively. Learning to read sheet music is tantamount to learning a new language. At a time when arts education in the public school space is under fire and uncensored, under-regulated exposure to and use of technology is on the rise, we need, our kids need, musical education more than ever. Studies show that schools with music programs have significantly higher attendance rates, graduation rates, and student test scores. Clearly, this is not lost on our neighboring districts. Both Albany and Berkeley Unified School Districts have strong school music and band programs open and accessible to all students during the school day. In fact, both districts have recently increased their investment in music and band. Defunding this program will send families to other schools and other districts. I urge you to safeguard this incredible program and guarantee that our kids can continue to learn and play music together at school. Thank you.

Elisa Bell. Elisa Bell.

I'm here to speak on the removal of ethnic studies because I heard you guys are trying to take it off, and I don't approve of that. I don't because I thought ethnic studies would be so boring, but I actually love the class now, and I feel like since we actually had a petition where 400, and I think 400, 400, and how much is it? and 52 students from king elementary from about to be a freshman freshman who signed the petition and said that they enjoy ethnic studies and if you guys are the school board and you want to like listen to the kids i feel like you guys should listen to them and keep ethnic studies because if 400 kids are taking time out of their day to sign a petition i mean that says something I mean and if you see all these students are here and like to show that they care about the classes I feel like you guys should look at that instead of a choice sheet because kids are gonna like if they're gonna pick on the choice sheet but all of these kids here that's more than like 36 to fill the class that's more than enough to fill a class and I feel like if you guys are the school board and you care about the kids you should listen to them and I'm like Y'all do, right? Y'all care about the kids? Y'all don't look so enthusiastic. Thank you.

Gailie Montes, Montanez, please unmute yourself.

Hi, can you hear me? Yes. Hi, good evening, School Board and Superintendent Cotton. My name is Gail Montaña-Susana. I'm a speech-language pathologist for WCCUSD since 2003. As we recognize Better Speech and Hearing Month, I want to take a moment to speak about a group of professionals whose work is essential to our schools, yet too often goes unseen and underappreciated, speech-language pathologists or SLPs. SLPs are not an extra service in education. We are a vital part of the school community. Every single day we help students find their voices, sometimes literally. We support communication, language, literacy, social interaction, fluency, articulation, executive functioning, and access to learning itself. Without communication, a child cannot fully access education, advocate for themselves, or build meaningful relationships. And when concerns first arise about the child struggling in school, SLPs are often among the first responders in special education. We are frequently the first professionals to identify developmental differences, language disorders, autism related communication needs, learning challenges, and social communication difficulties. We collaborate with teachers, psychologists, administrators, OTs, and families to help students succeed. Yet, despite the critical role we play, our district has failed to adequately honor or recognize the contribution of SLPs during Better Speech and Hearing Month, which is this month. A month intended to celebrate advocacy, communication, and the professionals who support it has passed with little acknowledgement of the work being done every day on campuses across the district. Recognition matters not because we seek applause, but because valuing professionals means valuing the students they serve. When SLPs are overlooked, the message sent is that communication support is secondary, when in reality it is foundational. Tonight, I ask the district to do better, to recognize support and invest in the SLPs who continue to show up for students every single day, because every child deserves a voice and every voice deserves to be heard. Thank you.

Sitlaly Gomez. Sitlaly Gomez.

I'm not . My name is Elias Avalos. I am the senior class president at Kennedy High School. And about a year ago, I stood here before you advocating for my Spanish literature and culture class. And today, I obviously aced the AP exam today. We're definitely getting that five. But it was because I came here and I advocated and you listened to my voice that you allowed for that class to be restored. It is because you allowed me the opportunity that I was able to excel, to prosper. And here I am again, asking you to do the same thing. We, as Kennedy, we're not asking you to add on class, just preserve the classes that we have now. We don't want to end up a soulless, proprietary corporate school, right? We don't want to be boring. Our programs, our classes, our teachers, they make Kennedy the best school in this district because they allow our community to grow. They allow our community to be intertwined and connected. And that's why we're so cool. Right, guys? We're so cool. We're so cool. That's why I'm so cool, because I grow to Kennedy. Kennedy makes people so cool. And I'm asking you, I'm here today to protect Kennedy, please. Like, please, protect Kennedy. Protect our students. Allow them to grow, allow them to be cool. Let's see, what else can I, oh yeah, save the band. I've been in band since fourth grade. I've been in band since fourth grade. I'm an awesome musician. I played a tenor saxophone. It is because we are allowed access to these programs, to these classes, to our teachers, that we become amazing human beings, that we are allowed to grow into a tree, all right? So be the water that, you know, goes over our seeds and allows us to spread our roots, to spread our branches, right? Allow us to spread our wings. Thank you. Protect Kennedy.

Canelo, please unmute yourself. Josie enamorado.

You said my name wrong, but it's okay. I'm just going to share a brief personal experience that I've seen at Kennedy because I know the rest of my fellow peers are going to show with their words what they've experienced at Kennedy. But hi, my name is Josue Enamorado. I'm a junior at John F. Kennedy High School and the junior class president. I'm asking the board to look into Kennedy's programs because these programs are more than just activities. They're opportunities, safe place, and communities that help students grow. They give students leadership, support, confidence, and many reasons to stay involved in school, taking these programs away, meaning taking away opportunities for students who truly rely on them. Next year, I am currently in ASB leadership and the position for the ASB teacher has been unfulfilled for next year. I think it is truthfully disrespectful to the leadership teacher that she is being asked to go away. But I also believe that the leadership position should be a full-time rather than a part-time. Teachers deserve a full-time position so they can continue building their programs. Asking a teacher to be a part-time teacher is just unacceptable. These students deserve more, and I know they're going to get more, hopefully, but I'm asking the board to look into these matters, whether it's from student government and so on. We deserve more, and we deserve our voices to be heard, so please invest in our future and not reduce anything. Thank you so much.

Katie, please unmute yourself.

Hi, everyone. Katie Marchese here. I'm going to read you a poem that I wrote called Who Speaks for Students. At Vista, dear Vista, where learning's your way, students come searching for hope every day. Some came from bullying, cruel words, and pain. Some faced racism again and again. Some needed teachers prepared there to guide. Some carried struggles they buried inside. Some battled anxiety, fear, or poor health and needed compassion much more than help. So who speaks for students? Who stands by their side? Does the district speak for them? Budgets, some side. Does the union speak for them? Teachers, they say. Then who speaks for students? Who needs school a new way? We do, cries Vista. We see and we care. We help students heal when the world hasn't been fair. These teachers aren't numbers or spots to replace. They're trusted adults, a safe, calm, caring place. Though families still call us, still pleading for all. Don't take what is working. Don't dim this bright light. Invest in our students. Protect their safe site. You promised investment. You promised to care. So prove it through action. Keep all of Vista still there. invest in the children, invest in this place, invest in the teachers who lead with such grace, and somewhere a student, once silent with fear, now walks into Vista and whispers, I'm safe here. Thank you.

Merari Alvarado.

My name is Namidaru. My name is Hector Perez. I am a senior at Kennedy High School. And frankly, I'm tired. I've been doing this for the past, the last year, well, since last year. And so far, not much has changed. If anything, things have been getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. And it's only getting worse from there. And honestly, I've always wanted to blame someone since freshman year of like, why do I feel this way? Why do I feel like my classes don't feel this way? And always I blame myself or sometimes I would blame my teachers and such. And now I learned... Y'all are to blame, frankly. Because even though y'all were terrible and such, the only thing that kept me going and the only thing that kept me speaking now and will keep on speaking because I don't think this is going to be the last time you're going to see me if you keep doing what you're doing. And frankly, what was I going to say? I was going to say that... Yeah, sorry. Feeling a little emotional. So... Without my teachers, without the community here at Kennedy, I wouldn't be here right now just trying to get child's attention because I know no attention gets put into Kennedy nowadays. It's always, oh, we want to hear student voices. Ms. Cotton, oh my God, Ms. Cotton has said this in the UCBY plan and the district breakfast. We want to hear student voices. We care about student voices. Yeah, here we are. You give smiles to those that, like, appreciate you, but you don't give smiles to those that need help from you. Because, frankly, you don't want to help them. You just want to be appreciated and put your face on the big flat screen of Michelle Cotton, the best superintendent. And this time that isn't happening. That's why there's no smile going on. There's just frowning and sadness. Please change our minds of you being a good superintendent because we're tired.

Our last person on Zoom, Ceylon Harrison, please unmute yourself.

Hello, can you hear me? Yes. Okay, thank you. Good evening, board and superintendent. I am really concerned about our students not being able to have any support around the use of the N word. We have, I know you guys have done some things, but parents don't have anything they can do. The administrators are not responding. They are, some school sites are suspending kids. I've had complaints from a lot of schools and, and, um, in our district, and I want the district to give parents something to do, because just suspending, that's moving one, but there's groups of kids calling our kids the N-word, and this has to be addressed, because if our kids, if parents are doing things and finding their own solutions, it may not be communal. We want this to be a community solution. There is a solution, and we would like to do this in partnership with you all. Stop leaving us out of the room. You guys are not the experts to everything. You guys do went to school and did some things and the board, y'all know some things, but there is nothing in writing for parents to do to address if their child is getting called the N-word and other things that other parents would legally address. So we want something to do. We want something to support our kids and feeling safe and feeling welcome into the environment like the other children are getting. We want our children to get that too. And we are. not happy right now about what the lack of the action from the board of doing something about our children getting called to in work there needs to be a district policy including parents that we can address this in a way that makes it effective for our kids and all kids in the district to come to school in a good environment i'm completely

Just want to let you guys know there's two more people on the Zoom. It's Andrea and Jackie. Make sure to look at that. Thank you. Okay. And then could you restart my time? I was just letting you guys know. Is that okay or no? Thank you. Okay. Good evening, board members. My name is Julissa Blandon. I am an alumni from Kennedy High School, and I'm here to talk to you about Kennedy. In all my years at Kennedy, I had one question asked of me constantly. What makes Kennedy special? And I'm here to tell you why. My teachers have poured their entire hearts into each class every year. My teachers not only build the foundation of my education, but the person I have become. I used to be shy and to myself. I used to think that education didn't mean anything and that it wasn't for me. But then I obviously learned that that wasn't true. I am pursuing higher education. I'm pursuing ethnic studies. I am a first year in college right now. They showed me that my education wasn't just a privilege, but my voice. Classes like Spanish for Spanish speakers and ethnic studies helped me as a high school student. I felt none of the other classes really catered to me or made me feel genuinely interested to learn until I learned about what ethnic studies is and what Spanish for Spanish speakers was and that who taught it. With the little things you guys have gave them, they work miracles in those classrooms. With the little funds, you feel all the love that nobody showed us in those classrooms. They teach us not just about history or Spanish, they care about their kids. To this day, they are the closest thing to me. They are my family. I am here because you are threatening my family's livelihood. They shouldn't have to worry about being able to have a position, the right pay, the means to live, just to do what they love, what they studied for, and staying in their school with the students that love them back. I ask of you to please look at these students here. Do not diminish their voices and do not disregard our teachers' positions. You've heard them speak. You've heard me speak. What other words must we say to reach you? We are done asking nicely. We are done watching you not do what you are paid to do. If you don't have the money to do it, you better go and find it. We want these classes. We want our teachers. Since we are talking about ethnic studies, I want to remind you to open up a history book once in a while.

Thank you for your public comment. Thank you. We have now hit our one hour mark and we will be moving on to one minute per speaker for the remainder speakers.

Alberto Avedano.

Hello, Board and community members. My name is Alberto Avendaño, and I work at the RISE Center, where I have built strong relationships with Kennedy students who make up a huge chunk of our members. I'm here speaking in support of the Contract Review Committee's recommendations. Specifically, I would like to emphasize the importance of maintaining ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, and career and pathways at Kennedy. Allowing ethnic studies to be cut at Kennedy is a direct threat to students, community members, and Kennedy's future. Ethnic studies provides the foundation for young people to develop their political consciousness, strengthen their critical thinking skills, and understand their community's conditions. This not only leads to students to be agents of social and economic change in their communities, but also helps students be engaged in school and improves graduation and attendance rates, according to research studies conducted at Stanford and UPenn. Lastly, Kennedy would be losing Mrs. Avendano amongst other amazing teachers, a giant who has been an integral part of Kennedy the moment she stepped in.

Losing her would be... Ash. Ash Abbott. Ash Abbott.

Oh, look what you've done. Defunded ethnic studies and now no more journalism. School won't be no fun without leadership or APs for anyone. Please fund our school. We're going to keep on fighting just to please fund our schools. We're going to keep on fighting. Oh, just please fund our schools. We're going to keep on fighting just to please fund our schools. Don't be so cruel. So I want you to think a little bit about how awesome it is that these students are community organizing. I wonder what class helps students community organize. That's right, everybody, it's Ethnic Studies. We need students to feel alive and powerful and excited. I am so happy that I get to work with these people and get to hear from the students. Listen to them!

Jackie Avedano. Jackie Avendaño.

Good afternoon. My name is Jackie Avendaño and I'm a fifth year ethnic studies teacher at Kennedy. Thank you to the 452 students and community members who signed the petition to defend ethnic studies at Kennedy. And thank you to our beautiful Kennedy community present today. I can't put to words how heartbreaking it was to announce to my ninth grade students that I accepted an ethnic studies position at Richmond High for next year. They were silent. Some had tears in their eyes and many came up to me one by one to give me a hug. Some shouted, is there anything we can do? This is not fair. I'm transferring to Richmond High, amongst many other comments. Their response is a reflection of the value and power of ethnic studies in South Richmond. The discipline of ethnic studies was designed and fought for by the same communities a part of Kennedy. African American, Black, Latinx, Chicanx, AAPI, Indigenous, and yes, our white students who stand in solidarity. So protect the class. Vote to protect ethnic studies.

Zach Porter.

All right, so the situation as I see it right now is management still claiming it has to cut staff at Kennedy because it's the most feasible way to balance the budget. And you've backed this up again and again by pointing to projected enrollment drops and student interest in certain classes. dropping based on choice sheets. Even if we accept your reasoning, the evidence is incredibly flimsy at best and misleading at worst. We know the demographers who projected enrollment didn't account for the fact that we're in the middle of a rebuild. It's a glaring omission. And the choice sheets we've shown over and over again, those results are invalid. And you've already acknowledged this. We hope you will vote to save Kennedy's programs. Whatever the outcome tonight, no concession carries weight if a full-time ethnic studies position at Kennedy is not secured. And I just want to say, too, that the way that you've condescended to our leadership students and dismissed them is just really not cool. And they've spoken to you in good faith and come to you in good faith, and I need you to do better.

Patricia Blanco.

Good evening, everyone. Patricia Blanco, Spanish teacher, Kennedy High. I'm here to tell you to protect our programs. Please, safe ethnic studies, safe leadership, safe Spanish for Spanish speakers. Our community needs them. They are good programs. Please, on July, check our results and IP. That would be awesome. I'm talking about my class and Ms. Huerta's class. I feel proud to be part of Kennedy. Thank you to my co-workers. They're awesome. Thank you for all the students that are here. Thank you for the alumni and the community that supports us. Listen to us. Protect Kennedy. Protect the programs. We need them. Not just wars. We need facts, actions. Thank you.

Cristina Huerta.

Cristina Huerta, Spanish teacher at Kennedy High School. I have been there 14 years and it is so upsetting to think that so many of my coworkers are being told that there is not a full-time position for them at Kennedy High. We are finally getting some stability. We are finally seeing the community come together and have a greater Kennedy and We're all excited about the rebuild. We're all excited about our programs. And we are so proud of the students and the alumni that Kennedy produces. Like Luis. Hey, Luis. ITA helped you get there. And ITA is in danger, and that's not okay. Our classes need to be protected. Our students deserve every single opportunity. And if any of you could figure out how to respond to an email and like check in with Mr. DeLeon or, you know, somebody else, because we need answers. We're willing to figure things out together. That's how Kennedy works as a community.

Kumi Janahihara.

Good evening, board. My name is Kumi Anagihara. I'm a fifth-year science teacher at Kennedy. And I just want to ask, is it not embarrassing for y'all at this point as adults who are supposed to find education? We have kids out here literally begging for classes, like ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, coding classes. They're not asking for things like unlimited PE or less instructional minutes. They want to learn things. I just really, it's just embarrassing for y'all at this point to not respect the wishes of students who actually want to be educated and learn and grow. And yeah, like that's embarrassing. Thanks.

Kaylee Kefkin.

I'm a current junior at Kennedy High. And instead of studying for my AP classes today, I'm here because I might not get to take any next year. I'm also here because I wouldn't be willing to stand here before you, neither would most of my classmates, if it weren't for what we learned in our ethnic studies classes freshman year. My journalism class has taught me that I should write the stories of my community for people to hear and write about the things that are important to me, that matter to me, so that other people know what is going on when they have ignorance. My leadership class has taught me that I need to stand up for my classmates and help foster a community among them. My health pathway inspired me to try and learn more about mental health so I can support myself when I'm having issues, as well as my classmates when I see them having issues. Music has been a part of my life since I was in third or fourth grade. I had to take a break because of my mental health. However, that does not mean it matters any less to me, and I am excited to be able to take it next year, so it is insulting that you would take it away. Support our programs, please.

Nayeli Hernandez.

Good evening, everybody. It's already May, and there's still so much uncertainty hanging over the students and dedicated staff at Kennedy. Tonight, I am once again asking you to protect the future of our beloved Kennedy High School. We continue to hear about declining enrollment as the reason for more cuts. But I ask you, when do we start talking about real solutions instead of more reductions? How can we expect to attract families and students to Kennedy if we continue to take away the very programs that make our school meaningful, supportive, and inspiring? Our students should be focusing on preparing for AP exams, pursuing their goals, and enjoying their high school experience, not sitting in board meetings every other week organizing meetings with administrators, or worrying about whether the programs they depend on will disappear. I urge you to make decisions based on facts, compassion, and a full understanding of the impact these cuts will have, not only on current students, but on future generations of Kennedy students as well. Thank you.

Elias Avalos? Elias?

Hi, my name is Emiliano Hernandez and I'm nine years old. But even though I am only nine years old, my voice is still powerful. To talk about Kennedy, one day I hope I go to Kennedy High School. Every time I go to community events at Kennedy, the students are always kind and welcoming to me. They make me feel like I belong there. And those experiences make me excited to go there when I'm older. Kennedy feels like a place where students care about each other. Where everyone can feel included. I hope that when I go there one day, I could still enjoy the same classes that the students are enjoying now.

Yvette Chinchilla. Yvette Chinchilla. Sua Valdez. Kevin Perdomo.

My name is Kevin Perdomo and I work for the organization Growing Together Projects, which is funded by the Richmond Outdoor Coalition. Last year we organized a field trip to Toton Little Farm, which has an environmental education center. I noticed a few students observing a mushroom exhibit, showcasing some of the native species of fungi in our region. I asked why they were so interested. They explained that it reminded them of a mushroom from their home country. A student asked, is this edible? We harvest mushrooms just like this where I grew up. Is it native to this area? I answered, yes, these are native and edible. She explained that she was from Guatemala, that she arrived here not long ago, and that her indigenous community would forage for these mushrooms for nourishment. My family is also from Guatemala, although I was born and raised here in California. It was an emotional moment, not only because I learned something new about my cultural heritage, but because I could see how meaningful it was for this student to know that a piece of her heritage exists here too. Building these relationships to nature, to our bioregion,

Sarah Creeley. Sarah Creeley.

Hi, I'm Sarah Creely. I've been working here since 1992, but I was teaching since 89, if you can believe that. Anyways, first of all, I just want to say, Kennedy, you inspire me. I never went to Kennedy. My kids didn't go, but man, please, let them keep their classes, for God's sake. I mean, wow, just wow. Please listen to them. Please, you are inspiring, every one of you. I'm really inspired. I'm here to support elementary music. I teach my second graders, you can do hard things. But when my daughter was in fourth grade who did not like to do hard things at Hannah Ranch, she did something hard. She learned how to play the violin. Learning how to play an instrument is actually putting doing hard things into action. We tell our kids, you can do hard things. If you're playing an instrument, you are. And when you have years of experience playing, it's amazing what they do. There were some kids here from Hannah, and they left because it got late.

But their music... Joan Hadeshi. Joan Hadeshi.

Hello, I am the elementary music teacher in the Hercules area. I have 225 students across just fourth and fifth grade in three elementary schools. It has been the most excruciating experience the last four months teaching these beautiful kids because I see 121 fourth graders who I will not be able to teach next year And countless third graders come up to me and ask how they sign up for music next year. This stinks. I have kids that only come to school because they want to be in my class. I have more students than I can really handle, but I try to be there for all of them. I hope I can continue doing this hard job and not have to come up with some stupid curriculum for prep because that is going to stink. Thank you very much.

Good evening, Board and Superintendent Cotton. I'm Liz Deans, parent of a lively fourth grader at Mira Vista. Please put your full support behind reinstating elementary music and the band program. We need to protect, nurture, and boost all arts programs in our schools. We have a well-established, well-run music program with competent, highly skilled, dedicated teachers. We need to maintain that. If you're unmoved by the academic, social, emotional, and personal growth benefits, then just think of what El Cerrito High did recently by winning the prizes and the kudos that they got. Without a feeder program, that would not happen. Turning to other matters briefly, as MiraVista experiences yet another change in leadership with the departure of their principal, Mr. Whaling, after only two years, I want to lend my voice to the campaign for strong and stable leadership that we need to address MiraVista's myriad of issues, particularly site safety, security, staffing, and appropriate levels of support for the students that need it most. Pleased to see some progress in there, but we need more board support for that. Thank you.

Nicholas Boreen. Nicholas Boreen.

Hello, I'm Nicholas Boreen. I'm the middle school music teacher in Hercules. I'm here to talk about the elementary music program. It works in Hercules. We have a high school that just had over 70 students sign up for band for next year. We're having class sizes in the middle school where we are maxed out, where I think next year we might be turning students away from band and orchestra because they just... I can't teach more than 180 students, even though after school clubs and stuff, I'm teaching over 200 generally. Ms. Adei, she's teaching somehow over 200 students. I don't know how she does it, but she's amazing. She's texting me at 1 a.m. asking like not about all music, but she's like, hey, this one student might have signed up for the wrong class for music in sixth grade. Can you check on that and make sure they get there? It works in Hercules. We really, really need it. The community wants it. The parents want it. The students want it. Hercules Education Foundation, Hercules Music Boosters Association, everybody in Hercules, all the three PTOs from the elementary schools are on board with music in Hercules. Please, please keep Hercules music going. Keep all music going. Thank you.

Arisha Green.

My name is Arisha Green. I teach fashion design one and two in choir at Richmond High School. I ask you to reconsider the elimination of the theater manager position at Richmond High and the subsequent transfer of our theater manager, Sam Taylor, to Pannol. Sam designs and builds sets and lighting that brings our students' biggest creative visions to life. Sam also teaches those skills to our students. Sam works professionally in this field outside of Richmond High And so she brings contemporary, inspiring, real-world arts industry experience back to our students. Those experiences directly support many of our school's largest events, including multicultural night, band and choir performances, theater productions, and our annual CTE fashion show where students showcase full collections they've designed and constructed themselves. Balancing microphones and sound for choirs is a specialized skill and differs greatly from standard sound equalization. As our choir program has grown, Sam pursued additional training support so that she could help our students perform at a higher level. After hearing their voices amplified with excellent sound quality, I've watched students transform because someone took the time to make their work look and sound professional.

Elias Avalos. Elias Avalos. Anai Ruiz. Emiliano Hernandez. Sarah Mennonix.

Hi again, my name is Sarah. I'm here to advocate for basic safety and equity at Fairmont Elementary. First, cutting our yard supervision in half will create a safety crisis at Fairmont. Our campus is uniquely complex with multiple buildings, portables, blind spots, and we serve an incredibly diverse population with a wide range of student needs. At current staffing levels, we already have behavioral incidents and school climate issues. Half of those staffing levels is insufficient and puts our students in physical and emotional danger. and it would close our green space, our only yard space for the students for the year. Please prioritize student safety and find funding to restore Fairmount's yard supervision to its current levels. Second, the district is pushing the cost of translation services for SST meetings and parent-teacher conferences onto individual school sites while simultaneously cutting the site allocations. This disproportionately burdens high ELL schools with high linguistic diversity. That's inequitable. Fairmont has 38 languages spoken by our families. Please do not penalize the diversity of this community. Jen Douglas.

Jen Douglas, also a Fairmont parent. We are highly concerned about the safety of our children with the cuts that are being made for school yard supervision. We currently cannot cover the yard. I told my daughter why I was coming here and she was absolutely devastated because our children will not have access to grass. They will not be able to play. So not only have we received really negative data this year concerning data about homophobia, racist comments, et cetera, that will be further dysregulated if we do not have the supervision, but we also are taking a school that does a beautiful job integrating kids who struggle with behavioral problems and we're removing their ability to get outside and exercise. The lack of safety and lack of ability to get their energy out is going to make school an unpleasant place and make learning harder. Additionally, the lack of translation services is a lack of civil rights for our majority of our families, which do have language diversity. Please do not make these cuts.

Nisa Bermer.

Hello, thank you. I'm Lisa Bramer, a parent of a fifth grader at Fairmont Elementary. I'm here to talk just about what Sarah and Jen have talked about right before me. My 10-year-old tells me that ableist, racist, homophobic language is common on our yard. Cutting our yard supervisors in half not only makes it physically unsafe, it also puts our kids in the environment where this language goes unchallenged, unaddressed, when it actually matters in the moment. Our schools already operate with the bare minimum. It's very simple. If you cut our site supervisors further, it will make our yard less safe. Children who do not feel safe don't thrive. Families who do not believe their children are safe don't send their children to school. We all want our kids at school and thriving, correct? Yes. Please do not cut the site supervisors. On our translation services, requiring school sites to fund their own language while cutting the site budgets is not neutral. It's a choice that places heavier financial burden on the communities that are more diverse. It's not a convenience, it's how our families engage. We want our families engaged in our children at school, correct? Please do not cut this.

Lucas Mennonix.

Good evening board trustees and district staff. Also Fairmont parent here. Your own LCAP commits to providing safe student centered learning environments and track school climate as a key metric. Cutting our size supervisors in half, moves us backwards from being able to achieve that goal. As my fellow parents have already talked about, we're a really unique campus. We have lots of different buildings. We have blind spots and we only have one green space for our kids to be able to play on. Cutting that supervision in half, really is going to harm our children. The second thing is the translation services. The LCAP explicitly has goals around parent engagement and reducing disproportionate outcomes for English learner families. By pushing this funding request onto the sites, that really hinders our ability to engage with our English learning population. and ensure that they have better outcomes. We continue year after year cutting site budgets, and it makes it harder and harder for us to be able to get our children to achieve at the level.

Liliana Garcia. Liliana Garcia.

I had a whole speech, but unfortunately my daughter is out again. She is 16 and doesn't listen to anybody. Both of my kids are at Vista and Vista has impacted not only me personally in a microscopic level, but in a macro level as well. My kids depend on Vista. I depend on Vista. A lot of parents depend on their teachers, not only to babysit their kids, But to at least say, hi, how was your day? What are you interested about? Instead of really palling up the, oh, we don't have time. We don't have the budget. I don't have time. I want to be gone every single day. Every single day, I want to be gone. And the only thing holding me up is Vista and that whole team, especially Truman. I know everyone knows him. That's it.

Avigdor Goldman. Goldman.

Hi, I'm Avigdor Goldman. I'm here to speak on behalf of the elementary music program. Cutting the program is taking instruments out of students' hands and putting them in locked classrooms. The instruments are just gonna sit there. At a time when we're talking about how much time our kids are spending on iPads. I'm sure y'all are complaining about screen time for the kids. We're taking their musical instruments away from them. That is shameful. I don't know what to say about it, honestly. Please don't do that, please, for the sake of our children. They need instruments. A lot of the kids won't have access to instruments if you take them away from them. And that's, they're 10 years old. They're still here. They're here with me. It's 9-04. We still got to go home. And we're here fighting for our kids' music program not to be cut. Please do not. Thank you.

Jean Chambry.

Hello, I'm Gina Shambari. I'm following my fellow Fairmont parents. Just want to let you know I'm a fourth grade parent at Fairmont Elementary. I'm here because I'm very worried about the proposal of cutting our yard supervision in half and what it's going to mean for kids like mine at Fairmont. Cutting yard supervision means the field will be closed all year as we saw in previous years. This means no green space at recess and our little soccer stars won't get to play. I want you to know that the kids who play soccer on the field consists primarily of our minority student body. For most of them, this is their only exposure to soccer. Safety has always been a concern at Fairmont. Safety is the primary reason students leave Fairmont. There have been lots of instances of physical violence, uses of racial slurs, bullying. My son tends to act like the security at Fairmont. I told him, you know, get in a grown up, but there are none and you want to take more away. I hope you reconsider the proposal.

Sandy Davis. Sandy Davis. Sandy Davis.

Hello, I'm Sandy Davis and I'm another Fairmont parent asking you to fight with us for better funding for our schools and not pass along draconian cuts that fail to provide for our most basic needs like so many others are asking you tonight. At Fairmont Elementary, this means prioritizing safety by retaining our current 2025-26 level of yard supervision funding. Our current yard supervision staffing is the bare minimum to safely run our recess and lunch programs. Cutting our yard supervision budget in half will make it impossible for adults to intervene and support students through conflict and will require our field to close for the year, taking away green spaces, others have mentioned. We are also asking you to prioritize equity by centrally funding all translation services in the district so that no school is penalized for the diversity of its community. The new budget passes along all but IEP translation services to school sites, even though federal law requires that parents have access to all essential district and school-related information in a language they can understand. For a school like Fairmont with more than 38 languages spoken, we will need to use 25% of our already slim site budget to hire outside translators.

Good evening. I'm Steve Chalwick. I'm a parent at Fairmont Elementary and I'm addressing the cuts to supervisors and translation services funding. At Fairmont Elementary, we are operating at the bare minimum of staff hours and have pleaded for parents volunteers because of the low levels of funded supervision at this point in time. Basic student safety simply cannot rely on volunteer bailouts. Families already don't feel safe with the current support levels and are leaving the district due to years of turning a blind eye to these fundamental safety issues. These cuts further put our children's safety at risk, so please, you must restore yard supervision. Second, pushing SST and parent-teacher conference translation costs onto individual school sites is a glaring equity issue. These are essential services necessary for teachers and staff to communicate with vulnerable families but are being defunded. The schools serving the most linguistically diverse communities are being penalized the most. Thank you very much.

Natanya Goldman? I think we should bring back

elementary music because I learned music there and like half of my class did too. And also the younger kids want to learn music and yeah.

Eric Marsh. Eric Marsh.

Good evening, my name is Eric Marsh. I'm a parent of a first and fourth grader at Mira Vista Elementary School. I'm here to urge the board to vote to be in state elementary school music program. California Education Code Section 51210 requires the course of study for grades one through six to include visual and performing arts, including music. The word shall in California law means must. It is not optional and not subject to budget conditions. The state has made clear that music education is a legal requirement for every elementary school student in California. California Education Code Section 51050 places the duty to enforce that requirement directly on this board. On each of you personally, a vote against reinstatement is not a budget decision, is a vote to violate state law and breach your individual legal obligation as board members. Thank you.

Selda Ryan. Selda Ryan.

Hi, my name is Alana Lopez and I want to save elementary music because I love coming to school every day because of music. Music is an amazing thing to do and it's so fun for me. Every day when I come out of class to go to music with Ms. Sadeshi, it makes me happy. And taking music away from all the kids at Hannah Ranch makes every single kid sad. So please don't take away music for all the kids. It makes them happy to do music for everyone. Thank you.

Sam Clare. Sam Clare. Eduardo Kaufman.

Sorry, I was speaking on an agenda item, but I can speak now. Good evening. As a third grade teacher at Steege, Perez's students from Kennedy came to do a project with my students. Collaborating with these high school role models from across the street gave us the most impactful and meaningful day I may have ever had with students. Students looked forward to seeing these high schoolers for months. These high schoolers watched them grow up and some were family members. I could tell that they saw themselves in the elementary school students and felt pride for who they had become throughout the years. They wanted to share their achievements and learnings so that the elementary school students could experience the same successes and opportunities. After Perez's students left, my students couldn't wait to go to high school. These students are now going into high school and as of now, they won't get to take Perez's class. If you strip more and more opportunities from these students, what will they look forward to? You're taking away trusted, loving adults in classes that these students have been excited for ever since they were in third grade. Thank you.

Eduardo Cuffman. Eduardo Cuffman. Dylan Law.

Hi, good evening. My name is Dylan Law. I am the PTA president at MiraVista and a parent of a fourth and sixth grader. Really what I'm here to talk about is Ms. Magid, Jane Magid. Ms. Magid and the band program at MiraVista has been incredible for both of my children. My daughter, as one of my fellow parents mentioned earlier, we're getting ready to actually welcome our fourth principal. At my time at Mira Vista, we have a lot of chaos. There was a pandemic. My daughter had to go home. during her kindergarten year and have distance learning. There's been a lot of turnover and chaos at our school and she's dealt with bullying and other issues as well. It's been hard to find hope at school. That is not something she's found easy. Ms. Magid has provided hope and provided a purpose. You guys should be trying to continue things that bring hope to our students rather than trying to take it away. So thank you.

Yolanda Ortega. Yolanda Ortega. Diana Whitted. Diana.

Hello, board members. My name is Diana Whited, and I am a Tiger Mom of Vista High School, Vista Virtual Academy, and Vista Family of Schools. Education is a right. Education teaches us to listen, to learn, to act. When we are educated, we can take a stand. We can defend our right to learn, to be in a safe environment, to have educators that care, to have educators that are highly trained and well compensated. Cuts hurt, cuts take away our rights, our benefits. To cut our education is to cut our children. Vista High School and Vista Virtual Academy provide a safe and fully functioning learning environment. Our family chose Vista because it's the best middle school in West Contra Costa. Best teacher to student ratio, allowing needs to be met and goals to be achieved. A small campus and student body that yields familiarity and close relationships. 2020.

Ruthie Whitehead.

I'd like to start this by saying that Vista is a refuge and all its students are refugees. Whether we fled from bullying or just wanted an alternative to the social experiment gone wrong that regular middle and high school is, we are all part of a community of odds and ends that is held together with the love and passion that our educators provide. To steal from refugees, refugee children, and deprive them of the quality education they've chosen and deserve is to rob them of their futures. We all start off as seeds before we can become trees. How can we grow without water? What's the point of lungs if we don't know how to breathe? Think of it like chess. The more drastically you move pieces, the more pieces you lose. So don't steal our sanctuary. It's where we belong. Let us keep our teachers and visceral bear its teeth and unsheathe its claws and roar until you see that. Thank you for your time.

Brooke Miles. Brooke Miles.

Hi, my name is Brooke Miles. I'm a sophomore at Vista High School and play sports at El Cerrito High, but you guys already know me because I was a fall board student trustee. Here's a little about me. I have a 4.35 GPA, a three-year all-student Congress member, and head of leadership at Vista, as well as a student council board member, and I spoke at the state level for students with disability. But I'm not here to glaze myself anymore. The district has not helped any of my past achievements, Vista has. Vista has helped me go from an F student to an A plus student. I've tried comprehensive schools, they don't work for me and they don't work for normal kids. Most of the students at Vista, if not had Vista, they'll transfer out of the school district or go to a charter school, losing the district more money. I know how this stuff works and I get you're in a tight place, but this is not the community to be playing with. When I was at school today, I heard a sixth grader talking about how they didn't want to move schools. No sixth graders should be worrying about this. I've been fighting for VISTA for five years and I'm sick and tired of it. Save VISTA. Thank you.

Amy Miles. Amy Miles.

So for the past four years, trustee Brooke Miles has thrived at Vista Virtual. And many of you know this because you've either talked to me about it or I've been here. Several of you have emailed me back. I know one of you actually went to Vista, right? It's an alternative school where learning happens your way. And it's a place where universal design learning, or UDL, one of the big words right now, is not Title V jargon, but a daily reality. The thing is, you only understand programs like Vista Virtual if you need a program like Vista Virtual. If you witness school avoidance that I witnessed, that my family witnessed, my daughter who just up here, I mean, she came up here and she told you what was up with very specific concrete details. When she was in sixth grade and in third grade, she could not get to school. And what I mean by that is she was, and she told me I could say this, kicking and screaming and could not move. And this is my daughter. This is what VISTA allows kids and it changes families and it can help.

Squid Pletcher Squid Pletcher

Hello, my name is Squid Pletcher, and I graduated from El Cerrito High School in 2024. And I currently am a rising junior at Willamette University, and I'm studying music and psychology. But before all of that, I was a fourth grader at Harding Elementary School who was forced to learn an instrument by my parents. And that changed my life, and that I'm now studying music. I have played the clarinet for over 10 years, most of my life, and the music program in elementary schools is an invaluable resource to all of our students. It allows for connection between peers. My younger brother is currently a sophomore in high school, and he's a two-time California jazz champion, and this is what we connect over is music. This is the only thing I can talk to my younger brother about. If you...

Thank you for your comment.

Savala Nolan? Savala Nolan?

Hi, thank you for the chance to speak with you. I'm a parent of a Miravista student, and I'm here to support band. I'm willing to bet that almost all of you listen to music today, and that's because music matters. Well, where do you think music comes from? It comes from musicians, most of whom start playing when they're very young. Life is incomplete without music, and school and public education are incomplete without music too. Band is literally why my daughter loves to go to school. It is the reason she's excited to go to school. It's also the reason she's excited to go to high school and college, because she knows she can play music there. She can imagine herself playing music in that environment. It fills her with hope. It's shameful to diminish a child's excitement for their future, and you know it. Please vote your conscience. fund band, thank you.

Matias Cavallin. Matias. Irene Calentine.

Hi, everyone. I know many of you. I've worked with many of you. So many alums from my schools here getting paid so much money to not work with kids anymore. The reason that all the VISTA kids are here is because you're trying to cut three of their teachers. That spots for 70 children next year. You heard what we need from our amazing students, some of them who are your coworkers and your colleagues up here. It's not what everybody needs. It is desperately what a bunch of them need. And what I need everybody to understand is that when you cut our program, you are cutting opportunities for some of our amazing students whose schools were not made for. I am a 20-year special educator, eight years at Kennedy first. It almost broke me. I got to a different spot. I got somewhere where things were tailored to students in a way that Kennedy kids deserve but don't get. Please have nightmares about what you're doing.

Karen Jarrell. Karen Jarrell. Shannon Gonzalez. Shannon Gonzalez. Hector Perez.

Miss me? Okay, just one last thing. I'm trying to talk on behalf of Mitzi Perez-Cotto, one of my favorite teachers and the best teacher I've ever met. She currently is being given a part-time job at Kennedy High, even though she's worked there for a very long time now. And frankly, it would suck to see her go away because she's inspired me. She's seemingly inspired others. And honestly, I don't want to see her... I mean, yeah, she can go and... go beyond Kennedy, but at the same time, she loves Kennedy, I love Kennedy, I love her as my teacher, she is amazing, and I'm hoping she can teach more and more via her journalism class and ITA classes. Just please look back, check her out, and see everything she's able to do, and please give her a full-time job at Kennedy. That's all I'm asking for. Thank you.

Beth Kessler? Beth Kessler? That concludes public comment.

Thank you everyone that gave public comment tonight. We'll now move on to item eight, standing reports. Okay, so we have two people signed up for study reports. We have UTR and ASAT. Are they on Zoom? Oh, Francisco. We can't hear you. We can't hear you.

I know. What happens if you're skipped in Zoom?

Yeah, we actually double checked and once the item started, we cut off all the hand raising on Zoom, right? Yeah, we are not taking any more public comment tonight. We are now onto agenda, I mean, standing reports. Can we have Francisco Ortiz come up with UTR?

Good evening, Board, Superintendent Cotton, Cabinet, educators, families, students, and community. Tonight, UTR comes before you with both urgency and hope. For years, our communities in this district have been told to brace for cuts, brace for instability, brace for reductions, brace for another round of hard decisions. And for years, UTR has consistently warned this district's leadership that its financial projections repeatedly underestimate revenue while overestimating expenditures. We have said over and over again that a scarcity narrative has been driving decisions that hurt students, destabilize our schools, and erode public trust. And now, once again, the numbers are proving that concern valid. According to the recent state reporting, California schools could receive nearly 10 billion more in Proposition 98 funding through the Governor's May revision that is going to be released tomorrow. This comes after months of districts across the state warning communities about fiscal cliffs and preparing for austerity. Yet suddenly billions more are projected for public education. That matters deeply because every reduction proposed in this district has real human consequences. It means students losing trusted educators. It means larger class sizes. It means fewer supports. It means less stability for children who desperately need consistency and connection. And tonight, UTR is urging this board to reject that path. Vote no on the reductions, vote no on the layoffs. Reinstate elementary band and elementary music with the staffing and supports necessary for those programs to thrive, because music is not an extra. Arts are not optional. For many students, music is the reason they come to school, and you heard that today. It is where confidence is built. It is where students find identity, belonging, discipline, creativity, and joy. In a time when student disengagement and mental health challenges continue to rise, removing programs that keep students connected makes absolutely no sense. And speaking of connection and belonging, the fight happening right now at Kennedy High School over ethnic studies should concern every single person in this district. The proposal to dilute ethnic studies into a world history course fundamentally undermines the purpose and spirit of ethnic studies in itself. Ethnic studies was never meant to be treated like an add-on. It was created to center the history, struggles, resistance, and contributions of communities that have been historically erased from traditional curriculum. You cannot simply embed fragments into another course and pretend that that preserves the integrity of ethnic studies. That is not preservation, that is dilution, and that is erasure. And the implications extend far beyond Kennedy's school site, because what happens at Kennedy becomes precedent. At a time when communities across this country are banning books, censoring curriculum, attacking immigrant communities, targeting LGBTQ students, and attempting to erase the lived experience of Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, Arab, and marginalized communities, West Contra Costa should be strengthening ethnic studies, not weakening it. Our students deserve to see themselves reflected in the curriculum fully and unapologetically. And while we talk about equity, we also need to talk about our conditions. UTR recently commissioned an independent indoor air quality assessment in West Contra Costa after educators and students reported excessive heat in our classrooms. What the findings revealed should deeply concern this board and our community. During a March, 2026 heat wave classroom temperatures reached 86 degrees with heat indexes conditions approaching 87 degrees. This report cited UCLA research showing that heat exposure significantly impairs attention, memory and learning, particularly for black, Latino and low income students who already experienced disproportionate educational inequities. The report also found that HVAC filters have appeared not to have been replaced in over 15 months, restricting airflow in classrooms when they need to be replaced quarterly. And importantly, the report also concluded that relatively affordable cooling solutions are already used elsewhere in Richmond schools are both feasible and cost effective. These aren't luxuries. Safe learning conditions are not luxuries. Music is not a luxury. Ethnic studies is not a luxury and stable staffing is not a luxury. These are conditions students need to thrive. And this is where many educators and families continue to struggle. There is still too much That isn't clear. There still does not appear to be a coherent, clearly articulated vision for where the district is heading together. People want to believe in this district again, educators want to believe in this district again, and families want to believe in this district again. But trust is built through decisions, and this board now has an opportunity to choose a different direction. A direction rooted not in fear, but in possibility. Because the resources exist, and we will continue making decisions if public education is something to shrink or will we finally act like our students are worth investing in. We believe that our students deserve fully staffed schools, vibrant curriculum and stability. Thank you.

Y'all ready for me? Yes. Okay. Hey, good evening, board. My name is Alon Harrison, and I am the chair of the African American Parent Sight Advisory Team still. I want to thank... Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoyt for stepping up and being our liaison that we really appreciate that. Don't understand why others felt not the need to support the parents of our most neediest students in our district that are performing below our special ed students. So thank you for that Trustee Gonzalez-Hoyt. Also, I would like to address the way the district is going to support our children's academics. Our children are still scoring very low and we haven't heard any mention of how our resolution 46, 19, 20 is going to be funded. The board instructed the district to have that resolution fully funded in five years. And you guys can look back at the minutes from the date of that meeting, which is January 15th, 2020. And that was what the district was instructed to do. However, we've seen $9,000 given to our students for their graduation, their honor rolls. This is disgusting. You guys, it makes us feel like you guys are treating us like this country erasing us. This is unacceptable. These students need these activities. Our population of Black students is dwindling because parents are not satisfied with the way you're treating our children and us. For us to increase our population of Black students wanting to attend our district, we cannot reduce activities that engage them in learning. And that's just disgusting that you would think $9,000 for all of our kids. And think it's okay. Hey, that's what they... We're going to make it happen. No, no, no, no, no, no. And we want parents to be more involved. Parents have resources. The district's deficit has always been on our back since I've been in this district for 10 years. So... Don't put you guys don't have no money. You never have any money. And it's always never have money when it comes to our children. And we don't... APACs and APAC parents, we want to be involved in solutions to support our children in having an educational outcome that is... We want the best like every other parent wants for their kids. So our educational outcomes need to improve. Our children need to be reading, and we want resources that can get our children up to grade level in graduating, and they're culturally relevant to what we need. We have tonight a parent that's in the room that attempted to speak, and I want to give her an opportunity to share some of her concerns. And I did already share the concerns about the use of the N-word. and things that our parents are experiencing on campus, we need to find a solution that works and we can work in partnership with you all to do that. We wanna make sure that things in our APAC, we haven't been able to do our elections, That's it's just things like this are causing barriers from parents wanting to be involved in staying involved. Parents are asking what happened. Things have got started twice. We haven't been able to do our walkthroughs. There's always barriers. Oh, we need to talk to these people that the union, the labor. Come on, ladies and gentlemen, we've been asking to do this for a long time. Three years. We've been asking to do our walkthrough since Nia Rashid Rashid left. Can we get this started and quit asking to do things that we have a right to be involved in our children's education? And it's not complicated. So I'm asking the board to allow the parent to come up. I'm going to give her the last minute. She's an APAC parent. She wanted to share something with the board. And you guys can stop the clock after the one minute.

Hancock, our daughter is Melody Thomas. She is a student at Washington Elementary where our black children are under, they're dealing with acts of terrorism. Our black students are having their rights under California Ed Code 48900 and 234 violated consistently by bullying, racism, threats, physical attacks, emotional neglect, and disregard of their rights to be protected by their teachers and their principal, Mrs. Zapata. This is heartbreaking and it's not fair. We have observed racial hostility where children are being threatened to be killed. Today on the yard, one of the students, Hispanic students, threatened a black child and asked a group Who should we kill, this black child or another child? Which one of them should die? This was on the yard. We've experienced intimidation, threats of violence. We've experienced our children, physical aggression. We had one child that had an item tossed down his throat, and he began to choke in class.

So we'll be moving on to item nine, agenda review and adoption. We will be moving some items on tonight's agenda, moving up action items two, five, and six, adding the resolutions to the end of our board meeting. And then continuing with the agenda as is. Yeah, and can I get a motion to extend the meeting as well?

President, I'll move that we extend the meeting till 11.30 with the items as described.

Can I get a second?

Reckler will second.

Okay, so we have a motion on the table to extend to 1130. Second by Gonzalez-Hoyt, second by Trustee Reckler. We'll now go to the roll call. Trustee Whitton?

No.

Trustee Reckler? Reckler, yes. Trustee Smith-Fold?

Smith-Fold, no.

Trustee Gonzales-Hoye? Yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

And Trustee Inouye say yes. Motion passes. So now we'll be moving on to action item two. Final decision on contract review committee findings. And that is Gonzales-Hoye.

Thank you, President. We're doing action items, the three action items first, then consent. Thank you so much. Could we pull up the presentation, please?

Is it working?

Okay, thank you. Good evening, everyone. Tonight I'll be presenting the work of the WCCO-SD Contract Review Committee on behalf of the full committee. At the end, I will pass it to the superintendent and the president if they would like to add some comments as well. We met publicly over the last two months to review district contracts, identifying potential savings, increasing transparency, and discussing long-term operations and financial stability for our district. We can go to the next slide. Thank you, so why was the committee created? This is more for the public, but as most people know, we're facing difficult financial realities, and we've been having difficult discussions around reductions that would directly impact students and programs. Over the last two years, we have made cuts on people and programs, and this year we have had to do more. On February 25th, 2026, the Board voted to reconvene the Contract Review Committee, One of the board goals to bringing back this committee was to increase transparency around district expenditures, particularly contracts within what's called four in the 5,000 object codes, which is everything outside of staffing, except for our bond funding. We also specifically asked the committee to identify potential savings that could help preserve our elementary music program. More importantly, this process was meant to bring labor partners, administration, board leadership, and the community into the same room to openly discuss how district dollars are being used. Next slide. One thing I am especially proud of is how broad our collaboration of this process became. This committee included board leadership, President Yonah and I, the superintendent, our cabinet, our labor organizations, including United Nations of Richmond, Teamsters 856, IFPT Local 21 State Chapter, and the West Contra Costa Administrators Association, as well as staff from various departments across the district. We had discussions involving special education, educational services, Title IX, college and career, safety, IT, community engagement, human resources, nutrition services, athletics, positive school climate, academics, the superintendent office, and many others. And it's important to point out that these meetings were public. Community members were welcome into the process throughout, and we got many emails and comments in the last two months with questions about specific programs and services being reviewed. All of our meetings are recorded and are on our YouTube page. Next slide. A little bit about the structure. This was actually the third time our district has used this committee structure since 2021, where we have faced cuts in the past. And the format was similar to what we've done before. At each meeting, district staff presented contracts, explained their purpose, funding source, and operational need, and then labor representatives and board members had the opportunity to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and discuss whether contracts should be maintained, reduced, modified, or eliminated. What made this process valuable was that it wasn't simply about numbers on the spreadsheet. It became a real conversation about district priorities, staffing realities, operational gaps, and how we want to move forward as a school district. Next slide. So I will be giving a very short summary of each one of our eight meetings to give you context, but as I mentioned, they're all recorded, and we also have minutes for people to refer to. Our first meeting focused heavily on positive school climate, business services, and particularly we spent time on charter oversight, legal services, and district operations. Very early in the process, a major theme emerged in the conversations. Our district has developed a heavy reliance on outside contractors and consultants. What we've been hearing for months was honestly very true. We had difficult or important conversations about legal spending, operational oversight, and the long-term consequences of losing internal expertise and institutional knowledge. Several contracts were tabled for further review and we began discussing how we could eventually reduce dependency on outside contractors and consultants while rebuilding internal district capacity. Next slide. For the second meeting, we focused on college and career, the Title IX office, nutrition services, positive school climate, and TK-12 operations. We reviewed systems tied directly to graduation tracking, student intervention supports, college readiness, and scholarship and internship opportunities. One thing that became clear during this meeting is that every contract is necessary spending. Some contracts are directly supporting students and helping us meet LCAP goals and intervention targets. As a result, there were fewer proposed reductions during this meeting, but there was strong discussion, conversation around continuing to evaluate the effectiveness and ensuring accountability of our consultants and contractors. Next slide. The third meeting was focused on safety, student services, athletics, expanded learning, and community engagement. One of the biggest conversations centered around contracted services, security services on night and weekends, and whether portions of these services could eventually be brought in-house. We discuss accountability, training, responsiveness, and the value of having security personnel who are more directly connected to our district and school communities. We will discuss this a little bit further later because one of the recommendations. This became one of the committee's strongest examples of trying to balance operational needs with long-term district capacity building, but not necessarily savings. We can go to the next slide. The fourth meeting focused heavily on transportation, attendance interventions, human resources and IT. One of the strongest themes during this meeting was transportation equity and how transportation barriers directly impact attendance for many of our students. We discussed pilot programs aimed at supporting chronically absent students and exploring how transportation access can sometimes be one of the biggest obstacles in preventing students from fully engaging in school or attending. At the same time, the committee emphasized the importance of measuring effectiveness and ensuring interventions are producing meaningful results. Next slide. Our fifth meeting focused on community engagement and special education contracts. The meeting included significant conversations around research contracts, community school support, and data collection systems. One of the committee's recommendations was reducing the clarity social research group contract due to underutilization. But more broadly, this meeting highlighted something we saw repeatedly through the process. In many cases, contrast exists because the district no longer has enough internal staffing or expertise to complete the work ourselves. This is due to various factors, including reliance on the outside vendors, layoffs of key staff with expertise that cannot be replicated in-house over the years, or lack of recruitment. Next slide. The sixth meeting focused heavily on special education again and educational service contracts. We discussed speech therapy services, paraprofessional services, transportation for students with disabilities, staffing shortages, and the ongoing challenge of recruiting specialized staff. A major discussion centered around moving away from long-term reliance on contracted providers whenever possible and instead investing more directly in permanent staff positions. This became another recurring theme throughout the committee work. Whenever possible, we should be investing in the people inside our district rather than relying on identifying outside contracts. Next slide. The seventh meeting focused on educational services and the superintendent office, particularly literacy intervention systems, TK support, professional development, and parent engagement efforts. We discussed the importance of literacy supports, instructional coaching, and engagement strategies for families, especially African American families who have felt disenfranchised in our system over time. At the same time, the committee continued discussing how to ensure consulting and coaching contracts remain accountable, measurable, and sustainable long term. Next slide. Okay, our final meeting focused on the remaining educational services, IT, positive school climate, and special education contracts. We reviewed technology systems, website needs, compliance requirements, and legal services tied to special education. One important discussion during the meeting involved concerns around our district's website contract and whether changes may eventually require a consideration or renegotiation of that agreement. Next slide. Okay, so across all eight meetings, several themes consistently emerge that we want to focus on. Some I have already mentioned. First, as you heard over and over in the previous slides, our district has developed heavy reliance on contractors due to staffing shortage, layoffs, turnover, and loss of experience. Second, there was repeated discussion around rebuilding internal district capacity and investing more directly in our own employees. Third, we discussed accountability and making sure contracts are measurable, transparent, and tied to clear outcomes. And finally, we repeatedly discussed the importance of shifting resources away from the excessive reliance on the four and the 5,000 object codes, which is contracts or outsourcing of the work, and shifting it towards investing in what we call the 2,000 object codes or salaries and benefits for our current staff and future employees. Practically shifting that investment to internal hiring and work. Next slide. Some changes that are worth noting that did not lead to savings, but we did want to highlight and they're part of recommendations. One major recommendation was moving nighttime and weekend security services in-house, as mentioned before, instead of continuing to rely on American global security. The goal here is greater accountability, supervision, training, and stronger site support. After some internal discussion, this can occur next year for the same cost and will allow us to actually have more staff monitoring our sites to a greater degree. Mr. Booker is working with Teamsters and internal staff, including our chief business officer right now on this and will be implementing a plan over the summer with the superintendent's support. We also discussed eventually bringing charter oversight work more in-house over time, which will lead to greater accountability of the work we're supposed to be doing. And in special education, which was a very long discussion over various meetings, we discussed shifting significant portion of our paraprofessional contracted services into permanent districts staffing positions due to improvements in compensation packages and recruitment efforts. This is going to be a risk, but it also shows our focus and intention to our staff and community. This recommendation alone could impact nearly $19 million in contracts. Next slide. Three more additional changes. Another important reality the committee encounter repeatedly, many contracts exist because the district simply no longer has the staffing capacity internally to perform the work ourselves. We discussed examples such as grant writing, data gathering, community school support, and professional development services, as well as coaching. We also discussed increasing accountability around legal services, including new quarterly reports regarding how outside counsel is being utilized that will go directly to the school board. Next slide, please. This slide summarizes the total contract reductions and savings recommended through the committee process. In total, the committee identified approximately $1.79 million in proposed contract reductions across both unrestricted and restricted funds. It's important to note that these figures do not include recommendations to shift spending from contracted services into staffing allocations. since those are not technically savings, but rather operational restructuring. It is also important to point out the two horizontal lines that have a yellow and a red, those do not signify cuts, they just signify movement of those funding to potential internal staffing. And I believe Mr. Carter might touch on this as well in a minute. Even though our total is 1.79 million, about 1.3 million is an unrestricted funding and close to 500,000 were in restricted funds. On the left side, you will see what specific contracts are being proposed to be cut. And on the right, you can see the resource number as well as amount being reduced. Next slide. This final recommendation slide is probably the most important part of tonight's presentation because this committee was not just about finding cuts, it was about identifying ways to reinvest savings back into students, programs, and long-term district stability. First, we are recommending retaining seven elementary school music teachers who currently support approximately 2,000 students across WCCOSD under the current music program and model. We've heard issues from staff about our current model and this does not mean we cannot change it. But we want to take next year to dig deeper into what we're offering and change it if needed to serve more students and have more accessibility for our highest needs schools. Now I want to point out this was a specific request from the full board to the committee. The next recommendations were developed through conversation between the president and I and staff as well. Second, we are recommending restoring additional staffing at Kennedy High School to support equity, program stability, and educators retention while the district continues investing in a brand new campus. We're recommending that we restore the 1.4 FTE, which would give Kennedy a total of 2.4 FTE back since staff was going to be recommending to giving one FTE to the site already. So it's a total of 2.4 FTE. This will make the teachers whole so that there are no .6 or .8s. Classes will be determined by the need by the students, but this will allow for more offerings and electives that we've heard in public comment. Third, we are recommending retaining the theater manager position that supports theater programs across WCCUSD high schools. This gap would create huge need at our high schools, so it's important for the future of our theater programs. Finally, we are making a recommendation to begin the process of restoring Fund 17 and Fund 71 as a commitment to the long-term fiscal health of our district. This would be matching funds, and we would be committing what we found in restricted funding, which is approximately $500,000, through the committee work and matching this with new funding coming to us next year. This would deplete what we were able to cut through our work in the last two months, but in my opinion, it will be money well spent for what it will give to our students and staff. I also want to acknowledge and thank district staff and the leadership of De Anza High School for working collaboratively with us to preserve the ROTC program for students as part of this broader effort, and that is why we don't see them on our list of cuts tonight. Next slide, please. In closing, and before I pass it to our superintendent and then to our board president for any last thoughts, I want to thank everybody who participated in this process, our labor partners, district staff, cabinet, our superintendent, administration, community members, and my colleague, President Nguyen. I will say that this is not easy work and it require real commitment and sacrifice for us to meet so much. Many of us had to take many days off from our family and from our work, which is important to our district. So I wanna thank everybody for taking this very seriously. This committee was not perfect, and these conversations were not easy to have. But I genuinely believe this process increased transparency, strengthened collaboration, and gave the public a better understanding of both our financial realities and the operational challenges the district faces. Ultimately, our responsibility is not just to balance a budget, but to align our budget with our values as a school district. Thank you, and now I'll move it on to give the superintendent a chance to say a few words, and then of course back to you, President.

Thank you. I know it's getting late. I just want to say for the contracts committees, thank you for being able to help lift up some of our district priorities, our community priorities, our board priorities around building internal capacity. I think that was a very key point that was raised across the board. Appreciate that. And Oh, it's late. Again, appreciate the opportunity for us to sit in a room together. It was solutions, which is what we've been looking for. Solutions for those who are unaware is an opportunity for our labor partners along with our board and our district staff to sit down and come to agreements about kind of the work that we're doing together. And I appreciate that we had this opportunity to hopefully bring back this partnership and this collaboration. I think that is key for all of us to really hear each other and be able to support each other. So again. Thank you for great work, excellent job to cabinet members and district staff for helping to bring that information very clearly to the board and to our labor partners and to the public. Appreciate that work. Thank you.

And I want to say thank you for the presentation. Thank you, everyone who participated for the hard work. It was really hard, I think, going through this process, but we, you know, we finished it. We finished it. So now I'll go on to board questions. Trustee Regler.

Thank you, thank you for all the work, really appreciate it, and for everybody who participated. I'd like to just get some, to really understand the financial summary, so if I may, the Amazon Strike POs and HR Legal amounting to $556,000, that is all strike-related, And are you asking staff to cut 550? I mean, I don't know what the legal bill was, but is it all additional because of the strike and it will come back down or is it below our current level?

That's a great question. I'll let Mr. Carter answer the question about the Amazon PO. But the HR legal conversation was actually a very lengthy conversation around how much we're currently spending in and obviously investigations and talking to legal, we heard constantly from labor that we are outsourcing too much of investigations and work that potentially should be done in house. Also, we are seeing an increase in legal services this year specifically, and we're gonna see an increase actually coming to us at the next board meeting, specifically because of the strike and the work shortages and the, the rifts. So all of that was actually a huge increase to our legal services. I will say that it's not all, I don't want to be disingenuous and say like, yeah, it was just because of that. No, I mean, staff is anxious about our reduction of legal services for HR, but we did talk about refocusing our efforts instead of outsourcing a lot of our questions to legal, that we actually try to develop our own staff's understanding of certain things so that we're not always relying so that next year they would have less of a focus on contacting legal. I hope that helps. And Mr. Carter maybe can add a little bit more.

Yeah, for the Amazon Strike POs, that was an increase just this year for the strike specifically, reducing those dollars for next year and ongoing.

Okay, thank you. Next, if we could address iReady and Educlimber. Educlimber, honestly, I'm not really sure what that does, but iReady is the main testing and assessment platform for the district. So if iReady were to go away, and you can tell me about Educlimber, I think that's data storage platform. rather than, you know, I think it like stores student, whatever. But for I-Ready, what will assessments look like if that goes away?

Certainly. Good evening. So I'll start with EduClimber. EduClimber is a platform that the district utilizes to be able to bring together multiple sets of data to support school leaders and school educators to be able to, for example, study a student's needs, taking into account both attendance, academics, social emotional need. And so it really brings together a lot of data that oftentimes lives in different places. We are currently working with the county to try to get a very similar platform to do the same. And so as a district that is on an operational impact that's going to get in the way of education, we have a plan to make that right. For I-Ready, it is, you are correct, comprehensive assessment district wide for ELA and for mathematics. What hasn't changed is that we value deeply the importance of using data to drive instruction and using data to inform our practices. And so this is going to force us to really think about what it is that our educators and our principals need to be able to measure progress and growth. And so some initial conversations that we're having, for example, for mathematics is leaning on the use of our curriculum embedded assessments. We just invested a lot of funding into Eureka Squared and Desmos. And our plan would be to utilize those assessments and the module assessments to really continue to inform instruction. And that would provide us a more common tool district wide for elementary Eureka squared for secondary Desmos. We're still in conversations about what that's going to look like, but just to give you a picture, that's what we're thinking right now.

And what happens with literacy testing and for all, is it all common across all schools? We'll have, we'll have common data.

Certainly. So what isn't going to change is that we do have an adopted literacy screener that you all adopted this year, this past year. and so that's gonna be a screener that provides common data, kindergarten through second grade for every school. This is new news, so our team is putting together their heads and collaborating with the county to see how it is that we can better gather data to really support us, not just on those foundational literacy skills, but also our standards that span all grade levels beyond second grade. And so we haven't figured that out yet, but we plan on partnering both with our central office team, our county, and our educators to find what is not only best for our students, but also something that our teachers and principals really have buy-in into.

Just to add to that, we are working with the county office. There is a data platform system that they have put in place that we are very seriously looking at. There are assessment components to what they're offering as well, although that may come as a cost. I'm learning now. But we're trying to figure out what will be the best way to move forward with progress monitoring. Again, as Catherine stated, with our math, we have our curriculum embedded assessments that we could use for progress monitoring possibly. For literacy, we're looking closer at that. And so this was a decision that was made fairly recently. And so trying to figure out what is it that we can do to ensure that we are progress monitoring and have a consistent system across our district.

So it's not going to be a clean savings of 344, 345 K. There's going to be some amount of costs that goes out.

Not sure yet. We will keep the board posted and keep the community aware of what's going on, but we're having initial conversations with the County office right now.

Okay. So then elevation curriculum associates, instructional partners, great minds that would all go to restricted funding, right?

Yeah, anything in a resource over 2,000 is restricted dollars. Elevation is on Title III, and the Curriculum-Associated Instructional Partners Great Minds are on educator effectiveness.

But that's not the funding that would go towards the Fund 71 and Fund 17. We talked about, for example, for elevation, the concern is that we're outsourcing a lot of our professional development and coaching. So we had conversations about moving that funding in-house to hire our own coaching. So for both these areas, correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Carter, we're not eliminating, it's just transferring this money to another funding source because some of this work is going to be moving in-house.

Yeah, yeah, I think I got that.

Oh, okay, I'm sorry.

Remind me what Clarity Research does. Nobody knows, cut it. No, I think Mr. Carter is looking it up right now.

Again, these are all very new developments.

So he's pulling up that information.

Hold, hold please.

Okay, you can come back to that, it's only 78K. Let's move on to SPG therapy. So this is a SPED contract. Is this 400K transferring to staffing potentially?

There were a number of contracts that, again, we talked about that building capacity piece. There were a number of contracts that the committee decided to move forward or move over to staffing. In the event we're unable to staff those positions, we do have that flexibility to go back to contracted positions for contracts vacancies that we have to fill in order to serve our students. But we are initiating instead of relying solely on our contracted services, we're moving those funds into into certificated or into certificated or classified positions so that we can try to fill those positions before relying upon those contractors.

But will this 400K, is that in any way in danger or in jeopardy in the event that you are not able to hire? Because it's a statewide, nationwide shortage. It is a shortage. It's not just us. Yeah.

If we are not able to hire, that does shift. We still maintain our relationships with those contracted groups. And if there is a need in order to meet the needs of our students, we would shift those funds back over. So it's not a savings necessarily. It's just a reallocation of our funding.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. I'll stop now and see if anybody else has questions, but I do have some questions on Kennedy's master schedule.

And President, excuse me, Trustee Rekla, you wanted more information about clarity, correct?

Yeah, just remind me what they do.

Yeah, so for that one, it's being reduced because we didn't utilize the whole amount. So it's actually a contract for 156. So staff mentioned that they will only use about half. So then that's why we're actually cutting it in half. But the contract itself is, it's kind of a data gathering for sites around community schools. So they do work with our community schools directors. Yeah.

and they provide support around qualitative data for community schools specifically.

Thank you. Trustee Riggler, I mean, Trustee Smith-Folds.

Could you tell me, we don't have a specific cost because it fluctuates, but could you give me an average cost about fire abatement?

Yeah, the fire watch on average, somewhere between 70 and 90,000 a year. depending on number.

So that is because we cut the contract that goes with fire abatement, security contract, the at night security contract had fire abatement baked in, is that correct?

The 450,000 was board approved for AGS specifically for security. The entire amount wasn't used and a portion of it went to Firewatch. Firewatch would be an additional cost on top of the AGS 450, yes.

So the 450 that is now shifted over to say, let's find in-house staffing to do that. That's one total fund. 450 is one total fund. We are going to have to come up with 90 on average high end, 90,000 just for fire abatement. Is that accurate?

That is accurate. I don't know if Mr. Booker wants to speak to if the in-house security will overlap a little bit with Firewatch with their new schedule.

Thank you for the question. The plan is that the in-house security will have the ability to do fire watch. So it would cost some of that cost. Don't know how much it would cut, but that would be part of their duties if it were to come up. I think this is the first year where we've had this many fire watches, and a lot of it is due to construction and the incident that had occurred at El Cerrito High School where the generator went out. That was a large amount of that cost because we had to have a fire watch based on what the fire marshal said.

So when you're hiring for these positions, these nighttime positions, you're hiring for someone who also has that specialized skill to do or the ability to be trained in fire abatement and fire watch as well?

Yes, it's a service that any security company, low-level security company, would have for their folks. So the intent is that once we get in-house folks in, they would be provided that basic training.

Thank you very much. And then I have a question about when are we – I thought it was tonight in consent, but maybe it's not. We have to come back. You're coming back to the board for more money for legal. Is that accurate?

Yeah. Tonight in consent, there is one law firm's legal increase. We would need to bring back a different law firm's increase at the next board meeting.

So there's going to be two. We have one tonight and then you have one coming up again.

Correct.

our legal fees don't seem to be all the time trending down, but they are going down, but that depends on what's happening, correct?

We have been trending down the last three years, actually. This year is an outlier due to the strike and the layoffs and a high reliance on legal this year, but the trend has been going down the last three years.

Do you think that cutting the legal fees gave enough cushion?

and gave enough cushion.

So going from- Gave enough cushion for, so we know that we've been trending down, but we also know that we come back to the board quite often because of our legal fees. So when you cut it in, you go from 500 to 250, right? But you know that every year we go over 250. So if we know we go over 250, cutting it down to 250 is not really a savings because you got to come back and ask for more money because there's no cushion there. Is that accurate?

That's accurate. And that would be a risk. It would need to be a concerted effort from HR and staff to reduce their legal usage and reliance.

Okay. And then I have a question about when there was conversation about the theater manager. And I believe I saw on that slide something about fees and utility facility fees and that money that's created from renting the theaters, that's what I'm assuming that's for, right? That money that's created, what is that money typically or supposed to be used for?

Typically we use those funds to replace the wear and tear on the facilities that get rented out through those facilities uses.

And according to this slide, would that money still be used for that or would it be used to go to a salary?

part of those facilities use revenues would go towards paying the salary to bring back the theater manager.

And then what happens? Where do you get the money to then upkeep the theaters?

So the plan for 26-27 would be to look at increasing the facilities use rates, rental fees, and reducing overtime by bringing back a fourth theater manager.

Dedicated to a particular school or roving?

the plan would be to have them rove to multiple schools and oversee more schools than being just assigned to one currently as they are. But that's a discussion with labor.

So the tentative idea is to have a theater manager or a couple of theater managers that rove throughout the schools that have theaters. That's all schools that have theaters.

No, but there are schools that still have theater manager needs, and it would bring down our reliance on overtime from other staff having to go when the theater manager's at their current site.

So when you talk about a theater managers, I'm going to give you an example of Hercules. So Hercules has a small theater that we all know. We has a small theater, but inside that theater, those people who operate the lights, the soundboard, the props, they are all students, right? The students operate that. the person that's in charge is a teacher, right? We have a teacher that takes on the responsibilities of doing the theater. He creates the place. He does a class. He does that. So Hercules would not get a theater manager. Is that accurate?

We haven't worked out what the schedule would be, but the idea would be that all six high schools had a roving theater manager, at least partially throughout the week, be able to support those school sites. Hercules included.

During the week?

Yes.

Okay. So that theater manager would then talk about a theater class, not the theater program, because most for us, the theater meets after school, right? Like when you do theater, you meet it's after school. So that would be something that you're in discussion with. How does the schedule look?

Yes, we're looking at the schedule, but they also shift their schedules because a lot of events happen later.

After school, right. So it's interesting trying to figure out how a couple of people are going to be in six places, right, at one time, even if they do it once a week or however that's going to look. I want to go to when we're talking about Fund 17 and Fund 71. Mr. Carter, we spend about $500 million annually to run the district. Is that right, give or take?

Give or take, yeah, around $530, yeah.

Okay, and then when we, so when we are looking to put back about a million, right? We're looking to put back a million according to the, according to the slide. Okay. We're looking to put back a million. What does that million help do? What would it do? Because you have to, let me be a little bit clearer. You have two funds, you have fund 17, you have fund 71, right? If you're looking back to put back a million, where are you looking to put, are you looking to put the entire million in one? Are you looking to split it up to put some in fund 17, fund in fund 71? What does that look like? And how much are we already depleted out of both of those funds?

Okay, so that could be at the Board direction. If this was to pass as is, we would need a resolution to commit those funds at the Board adoption. That resolution could be defined as what percentage goes to Fund 17 and what goes to Fund 71. This would be new revenue for 26-27 that would be committed. The amount we've spent, we used to have $38 million in Fund 17. We're down to around 27 this year. We'll spend about 19 of it and we'll have somewhere around 8 million left. So adding a million or half a million to that fund would just extend the life of Fund 17 in order for us to offset our structural deficit. Fund 71 has plans to spend about 15 million down per year for the next three years. Putting a million or half a million back into Fund 71 would just slow the burn of the fund balance of Fund 71 slightly.

So some could describe it as kind of budget dust because it's less than to make a real impact on where we are and what we need.

Trustee Smith-Fox, I think I can answer this because this recommendation came from the superintendent and I think that part of it is that we want to make the symbolic gesture to the community that eventually we're going to have to come up with a plan to replenish these two funds, right, as we are looking at our deficit. Hopefully with the new funding coming from the state, if it does come as positive as it looks like it will, we can talk about how to do this in a bigger way. But if the Board does not want to do this at this point, I mean, we could talk about where to utilize the restricted funds, but the problem is that it is just restricted funds, right? So it'd be hard for us to save a position because it might not fit the criteria for these restricted funds. But our idea, and you're welcome to share anything you'd like to ask to add, Superintendent Cohn, was that it is important, I think, that we show that we are utilizing these funds for a reason. we should eventually try to come up with ways to fill it. And even though this is maybe budget dust for some, it's, it's a million dollars, right? That for a lot of people who are losing positions is probably a huge number. And for me, out of the 1.7 million, we didn't find that much money. 1.7 million compared to 500 million in our budget is not very much, but yeah, I think close to a million that we would, invest in our own reserves. To me, I think it's important to show that. Superintendent Conner, I don't know if you wanted to add anything else.

So Superintendent Conner, before you do that, if I'm just talking about the $350 million that we spent, not the $500, let's go not $500 because we have the $150 that we do with bonds and et cetera. If we just go through the $350 million that we have, that we spend, a million is one-third of 1%. Is that accurate?

Roughly.

Roughly one-third of 1%. Okay. I'm sorry to interrupt, Superintendent Cotton. I do want to hear what you have to say about this, but I do want to get one more question out. When we are talking about the music program, and we're talking about the music program is 1.1 million, give or take.

The program itself is 10.2. It's about 1.5 million.

So about 1.5. So to retain the music program as it was prior to the negotiated agreements that we made, it'd be about 1.5 million. Is that accurate?

Correct, at 10.2, yeah.

All right, so it's 1.5 out of the 10.2, 1.5. And because 1.5 was found in this cycle, what we're doing now, that's one-time funding, correct? Would it not have to have 1.5 found again next year?

The unrestricted reductions in the case of iReady and HR Legal and Amazon Strike POs would be ongoing savings if we keep them off the books.

So if you keep everything off the book, the 1.5 goes year over year over year over year to save music? I'm talking specifically about music.

It could, yeah.

But okay, let me just see if I have this. I'm trying to figure out this very clearly. You found the money in contracts of 1.5, 1.3 to restore the music program as it was prior. Is that accurate?

No, we're only restoring seven of the 10.2. And so it'd be just over a million.

So you're saving seven positions out of the 10.2 positions.

Correct. Yeah. So it would change it a little bit.

So it's going to change a little bit. So with that change that you have now, seven instead of 10.2, seven people instead of 10.2 people or seven positions instead of 10.2 positions. Tell me what it looks like next year. Is it already banked into the budget? We have it now, but is it banked into the budget for not the 26, 27 year, but the 27, 28 year? Is it already in the budget or do further cuts have to be made to ensure or further adjustments have to be made to ensure that you maintain that seven positions?

The funding would be ongoing. We could continue to fund those seven. We still would need additional reductions in 27, 28, regardless of this plan at all. We still have 14 million in the fiscal solvency plan of reductions that need to be made in 27, 28. So we will still need a fiscal solvency plan. We will still need reductions and we will still need to identify about 14 million in that third year. It could come from the teachers, but the funding that was saved is ongoing funding.

As long as it's not put back.

As long as it doesn't come back.

But in the 26-27 year, you're still going to have to reduce by $14 million. Is that accurate?

Correct. That would be in March of 27 for the 27-28 school year.

And then one of the reduction possibilities is to put music back on the table.

That would be another consideration that could be of that 14 million, yeah.

Trustee Smith-Fold, part of the recommendation is that practically we give this one more year. We're not prepared, especially after talking to the music teachers and staff, we're not prepared to make the change of putting the music teachers into prep. There are a lot of things that teachers brought up that we are not equipped, we don't have a plan yet for it. So we could be setting them to fail. The idea is to take next year, meet with the music teachers, the superintendent's gonna create a subgroup between staff, the music teachers, I think some parents, to talk about what are the deficits, deficits are bad word right now, the deficits of the program and what's not working. And how do we change it and make it more successful? Or how do we transition it to a more successful program potentially through PEP? So that would happen next year. This allows us, even though it's ongoing funding, it allows us to have that conversation through the fall instead of in a couple weeks, which we're not prepared to have. And it would honestly require funding between materials, supplies. locations and training because the music teachers talked about curriculum and professional development specifically. So we were just not ready to make that transition so quickly. So thankfully, we were able to find some money. And because of the reduction from 10 to 7, there are a couple of music teachers who have already resigned or transferred. So then it also allows us to not have to riff people, even though we didn't, but for them to lose their jobs. So it kind of happened organically. And the superintendent is going to talk to staff about what changes could we make to the program to make it more successful even already for next year.

Yes. Um, the other, the other point I wanted to just lift up, we are drawing down from fund 17 and we are, um, using fund 71 to support our fiscal solvency plan. What I, I really pushed, um, as we started to talk about, so then what happens with this $1.3 million that is, is there, um, through the contract committee, I said, we need to maintain a commitment to putting back. So putting back into Fund 17, putting back into Fund 71. It's not a huge amount. I agree with you. But we need to kind of get that muscle of keeping that Fund 17 and Fund 71 in mind. And when we are, when we do come into other funding, when we do, we need to keep that in mind and that we've got to continue to pay back into those reserves.

Thank you for that. I do wanna talk about SPG therapy for special education. Can you tell me a little bit about that contract?

Thank you for the question, Trustee Smith-Folts. SPG provides us various services, primarily speech is their primary service that they do provide. Speech therapists has been mentioned when we haven't been able to fill those internally. Those are legally mandated services, so we do have to find a way to provide the services. So that's the primary function of SPG. They do, like most of the staffing agencies, they have the ability to recruit and find other staff members as we need. So we have hired some, I believe, I don't have it in front of me, but I believe we have some RBTs from them and some other staff members. They also provide, and historically they've provided some professional development for our paraprofessionals.

So speech therapy is required in some of our IEPs. So when we have a lack of speech therapists from in-house, we have to contract out because it's part of an IEP. And IEP are legally binding contracts. Everything inside that four corners of that contract, we have to provide. Is that accurate?

That's correct.

knowing sometimes things can be predictable, right? So if you have a student who has an IEP and they have their annual IEP goal and they haven't met their goal of hitting the marker in their speech therapy, then you know they're gonna continue to the next year. They haven't worked their way out of having that service. Is that accurate?

That's correct.

Do we have an idea if we're going to end up having to need, based on the students that have IEPs now, not the new ones coming in, not with some of our students are graduating, based on the kids that we have right now with the IEP services, do we have enough speech language pathologists or speech therapists, or do we have enough to cover the students that we have now with IEPs?

At the moment, we do not.

So at the moment, we do not. So that means that we are going to have to contract out to get people in to cover those IEPs. Is that accurate?

In all likelihood, we will need some level of contracted support for next year.

And this is before the new IEPs come in because we know new IEPs come in throughout the year, right? So we know that students get IEPs throughout the year. We know that students are reviewed throughout the year. So services can be suspended because a child had hit a marker or services can be increased even during an annual IEP. Is that accurate?

That is correct.

Okay, thank you. And then Mr. Carter, with knowing that, where does that money then come from if we have to increase the contract for our students with IEPs? Because we don't have the in-house coverage to ensure that. Where does that money come from?

It would come from the unrestricted budget to increase our special ed contribution.

So then we would increase our deficit spending?

That would be correct.

Thank you. I'm complete for now.

Do we have any further board questions?

Seeing that, Trustee Wagner. Thank you. I've just got a couple of things. I want to follow up on music and then ask about Kennedy. So if I understand music, there will still be a reduction next year versus this year. Yes. What will it look like? What is being offered this year versus what will it look like next year?

The reduction would be of 3.2 FTE. The very short discussion that we've had about this is that staff is going to look at what schools have the shortest amount of students enrolled, potentially cutting those. But I do want to preface, staff is going to review the current music teachers and decide where to place them next year as well. So where to place the music program. So there's still a lot of unknowns, even within our current program, because there is, I think, a need, a want to change even what we have right now to make it more successful. So I think that's hard to answer. I don't know if the superintendent has any additional conversations, but because we just finished this work Monday, there's just been very preliminary conversations about what will happen.

Just to reiterate that, these are conversations that are live time right now. So as we're able to work with staff and work through what are our plans, we'll be able to communicate that out to the board and be clear with the community about our next steps.

Right, but to be transparent, and just here, people listening should know that it's not gonna look like this year there will be at least some potential reductions, probably, maybe.

There may be some shifts to the program, but for the most part, our music program will continue. And I think that the community has really been concerned about that, and we want to make sure that folks understand that from... 10 FTE to 7 FTE still allows a substantial amount of of the music program to remain intact this year as we sit down and really think through what is our music what are the some of the challenges that we're facing what are the things we want to lift up in our music program how do we hold on to those things that have made a huge difference for kids and how do we address some of the challenges that make the music program, and some feedback that I've received has not been as productive, helpful as possible for our students.

And then it'll still be opt-in? It's expected to still be an opt-in program?

At this moment, the program looks like it for next year will resemble what it looks like this year, but that is something that we need to discuss. We have not had a chance to discuss that with staff. We haven't had a chance to discuss that with students or with parents or with principals at this point. And so once we're able to really engage those conversations, we can talk about what it may change I don't want to be hasty and take a process away before we have a clear picture of where we're going.

Okay. If I can switch to Kennedy now, if somebody can please clarify for me, I do not understand what's going on with ethnic studies. So I believe that every, correct me if I'm wrong, every ninth grader in this district takes ethnic studies as their social science and

I can speak to that. That's actually not correct. And so there is a requirement that our students have to have access to ethnic studies. And that can happen in two ways. It can happen through taking the ethnic studies course, or it could be through integrated world history. And so students have the option to select at Kennedy to choose to take ethnic studies or they can take it through the integrated, they can meet that state requirement through the integrated platform.

And so at Kennedy, on their master schedule now, there will be no straight pure ethnic studies. It will only be an integrated course?

That's not correct. So our choice sheets include ethnic studies and so students have the option. In fact, today we redid the choice seats with our incoming ninth graders from Dijon that are gonna be at Kennedy and ethnic studies was on the list.

So would it be a correct statement to say that ethnic studies at Kennedy is solved?

We have to look at the numbers. We haven't studied the choice sheets yet, but it is correct to say that students had the choice to be able to select ethnic studies if they wanted to take it.

I think I'm more accurate. If we do add the FTE and students do say they want ethnic studies, it would allow them to have ethnic studies next year with the added FTE, both the one and the 1.4.

Okay. And then explain again for the rest of the allocation for the FTE for Kennedy, what will be made whole? Because the point is to like take away these .8s, right?

Yeah, I think the intention, you're welcome to also add, The intention is that no teachers part-time, practically, because we don't want any of them to leave. They might not teach the same course they're teaching this year because it's going to be depending on student choice in collaboration with the educators, but every teacher will be made whole with this added FTE. They may have the same schedule. But it all will depend on the new choice sheets, which, as Ms. Acosta-Rapraska said, the students retook so that in case there was any issues, hopefully they'll be solved now.

Okay, thank you.

Board, I don't know if this is appropriate or not. I just want to be mindful of time and that you've extended the meeting. There are two items, this item, but there's also two other items that must go. We need some direction from the board tonight. So could we move on to public comment?

President, before we move on, can I just ask two questions? They're very short questions. Two short questions. Two very short questions. One, Can you tell me who, once an FTE is assigned to a school, who then places that FTE in the master schedule? I don't like the word master schedule. Who places that FTE in the primary schedule? Is that done by an administrator? Is that done by a vice principal? Is that done? Because the primary schedule is held by the administrator. Is that accurate?

That's accurate. So it's typically a collaboration between the administrators that work together on the master schedule. They consult with the instructional leadership team at the school site. But it is driven both by making sure that our students are set up to graduate A to G eligible, as well as their interest and their choice sheets, which really drive the number of sections that are needed for any given course.

So it's a rather complex type of process.

It most certainly is.

Primary scheduling is something that's a very hard thing to do.

And it continues to adapt because as we study the schedule, we might notice that some students failed a course. And in order to graduate, they need to have access to take that course. And so it is complex and it is ever changing.

Thank you. I'm complete.

Okay, so we'll move on to public comment.

Christine Hatcher, please unmute yourself.

Good evening. This is, I think I'm given, I've been given an opportunity just to kind of make the standing report for WCCA. Is that correct? Because I know it's going to be more than a moment, a minute. So if I could just get clarity before I start. Can you hold on to after this item and then we'll bring you back?

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Nicole Ripley, please unmute yourself.

Hi, I'm the parent of a first grader urging you to protect the music program. I hear your incisive questions about year after year funding, but a solution has been found for where we are now. Do not cut this without a plan. With no alternative in place, this would be irresponsible and premature. The consequences would be long-term. Small shifts in FTE is far better than no music. Music is the first place many children feel successful in school, where a quiet student finds their voice. A struggling student discovers confidence. Children learn they belong to something larger than themselves. Research consistently shows that arts education improves attendance, engagement, academic performance. And at a time when children are spending hours of classroom time on screens, schools should be a place that offers something different, hands-on experiential learning. It's also about the future of our district. Parents notice that there are fewer opportunities for kids. They are leaving. Arts enrollment is part of that. Enrollment's declining. Do not cut band. It is really important for belonging, pride, and to the future of our district. Thank you for our time. Please do not take this away.

Kim Moses. Kim Moses, please unmute yourself.

Can you hear me? Yes.

Okay.

Good evening, Superintendent Cotton, cabinet and board trustees. It's been difficult to hear the community outcry this evening about the cuts required to keep the district fiscally solvent. Prior to December 2025, the board engaged in deep discussions about the poor fiscal position of WCCUSD and the impact of future financial investments. Cuts to education hurt everyone, and they should only be made as a last result. However, the board has set priorities that require these deep reductions. But reductions need a clear plan for implementation. WCCUSD's ability to provide continuous, quality education for our students is in jeopardy. It is concerning that the identified reductions are proposed to be used for new expenses rather than addressing the current and future deficit. I am complete.

Mitzi, please unmute yourself.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. I find it a little unsettling that you are providing a $5,000 stipend for WCC alum new educators. while you're pushing out lifelong Richmond residents that want to continue at Kennedy High and teaching there. Our students at Kennedy deserve programs that they are proud to be a part of. We at Kennedy are the only ones impacted this heavily. You're impacting our ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, construction tech, health, information technology, academy, and journalism classes. How can you ask Eagle Scholars to turn intern to promote the school for students that choose to go elsewhere. You have to ensure that these programs are thriving, that teachers are supported, that students are given all the chances to be the best rising stars that they are. Some suggestions are to champion for the students by fully funding positions, providing more AP courses and invest.

Skye Nelson, please unmute yourself.

Hello, board. Can you hear me?

Yes.

I'd like to restate the concern that we can cut projections now, but we do have a regular pattern of requesting more in June or May. $143,000 for stepping stones last year at that time. That was unexpected. But I'd like to speak more about ProCare, a company we use for paraeducators. They are also bought out by Salient, who was bought out by Olympus Partners, who's a private equity firm. In 21 or 22, they paid out $40 million in dividends to their investors while we were living off COVID funds. So when we talk about You know, saving a million dollars, and you look at the amount of money that's being taken out of our communities by companies like ProCare, who would spend $3.2 million more on paraeducators than we would in-house. We also need to understand that the workers aren't available because they've gone and increased their workforce from 4,000 to 14,000 over the last five years. Those workers aren't there because they work for Soliant.

Marie, please unmute yourself.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Oh, OK. I want to thank the board for holding these contract meetings. I wasn't able to attend because they are during the day. I'm glad they're videoed, and I was able to watch them online. I did see the first student contract. Part of the contract is not being followed. Me and several other teachers have looked over the contract, and there are some violations. For example, in the contract, it says that the district is supposed to provide pictures of every student who is riding the bus. And then the bus driver is supposed to have a roster with the student's name and picture, which is very important for safety. Because as I've always said, I am a speech therapist. I work with the students who are communicatively disabled. Delayed, nonverbal. Just this morning with the sub driver, you know, she's asking, what's your name? The student wasn't able to respond. We were there to say the student's name, but it would have been nice if the roster with the pitcher, it included the pitcher. Thank you.

Francisco Ortiz.

Hello again, Board, I want to take a brief moment to appreciate Board leadership, Trustee Gonzalo-Soy and President Ayanna for setting up the contract committee. We did what we were tasked to do. We found the 1.7 million, which was more than the 1.1 million to save elementary music, and I appreciate the recommendations coming from the committee. One other thing that I want to remind you all is that Tomorrow, the governor's going to release the May revise with $9.7 billion slated to come to California public schools. A conservative estimate would raise 40 to 50 million in excess revenue or unseen revenue for 26, 27. The 1.1 million to save the music teachers, to save Kennedy and to save the theater manager programs is a viable option for you all to take today, knowing that we can expect a conservative amount of 40 to $50 million in the coming year. Thank you.

Christina Huerta, please unmute yourself.

Thank you. Thank you, Luis. Once again, Christina Huerta. I just wanted to clarify and address Trustee Reckler's questions about ethnic studies. At Kennedy High School, the program we have built is for ethnic studies to be a class that our ninth graders take as part of the social studies program. And so the reason we were given at Kennedy by site admin as to why the class was not going to be on the master schedule is because there was no student interest. But as we explained, all the students currently enrolled at Kennedy have already taken the class. And what we needed to check in was with our incoming eighth graders. And part of that work happened today. So that was to address your question. Some of these classes were not included in the selections for our students from the get-go back in February. And then I am a member of IOT. My opinion was asked or our opinion was asked after the fact. We were not included into the conversation beforehand. So I just wanted to clear that up. Thank you.

Last public comment for this item. Salon Harrison, please unmute yourself.

Hello. I just want to say I'm very concerned. I don't ever see our kids no more. After our resolution in 2021, y'all just took us out and started phasing us out. And some of these people look like the children that are the lowest performing and the most neediest children in our district. Y'all just made us disappear. Oh no, that's over. They're not in FAD no more. Put our kids back in this budget. Put our kids back part of what needs to happen so these children can have a quality of education. That is you guys' responsibility. And that's disgusting that you guys continue to take us out of things and act like we don't matter and we don't get to have a line item to address this data. This is a systemic problem. This isn't a problem that just happened yesterday. You guys need to do something about this, and you can. So please do it. I'm complete.

That concludes public comment for this item.

Okay, so we'll move on now. Do we have a motion on the table?

Yeah, just for speed's sake, I'll make a first motion. I move that we accept and approve the recommendations as introduced by the Contract Committee.

Oh, I second.

So we have a motion on the table by Gonzales Hoy, seconded by Hernandez. And we have comments. Can we limit our comments to one minute because of time sake?

Yeah, I just have a couple of things. So again, thank you for the work very much. And just very quickly, I'd like the district, I've said this before, but to look into a joint powers authority, JPAs, for anything that we can combine across with other districts through the county office. I don't care if it's eye ready. I don't care if it's garbage, sewer. I mean, like whatever it is, there should be ways that we combine together in lower costs as joint unit. So that's the first thing. Second is that I know that there's added expense, but I believe that it would also decrease expense. You have to look at your own legal team. The budget is big enough. I'm telling you, we're getting ripped off. I know we're getting ripped off. And if we had an attorney that could not only traffic, but could give us our own advice, the bill will come down. So it would be an attorney, a para, and a secretary, but you guys have got to look at that. You have got to look at that. And I think you might need to bid it out again. I mean, have we gone back to legal and been like, what can you do for us? So that's another idea. I believe in a common assessment. I don't know what the assessment should be, and I don't know how much we should be testing. I feel like there's too much assessing, but I believe we should have a common one for all grade and all subject matter so that you can figure out across the entire district where the challenges are and what works. And I also don't think you should be charging translation to schools. So I think that's a very valid concern that was raised. And those are my comments. Thank you.

Trustee Smith-Vold. Lack of sufficient information. There is a lack of sufficient information to make a informed decision. I've heard over and over it's a preliminary conversation. We hope we will get some money. We know that there are gonna be increased expenses year over year over year. These actions of the board have to be more than performative. The definition of a band-aid is what we're doing. We need to have an actual plan, a plan that is sustainable, a plan that is year over year over year. If music is what we value, then music is what we need to value all the time. We have not talked about comprehensive schedules from eight periods to six periods. We are so zip coded and so reactionary instead of creating the conditions for success, which means sustainability and actual ways that have implementation across the board. Because we have not set a vision as a board, we cannot articulate to our superintendent what we require for all of our schools. Lack of sufficient information requires an abstention as a vote. I am complete.

Trustee Gonzales-Hoy.

Thank you. I just want to very quickly thank staff. We spent so many hours together last month and a half to make this happen. We spent so many hours discussing each reduction, the plan, and we spent every day this week, I think, together, the three of us, I think there is lack of information, but there's also lack of information on how the cuts are going to affect our schools. Let's be clear how we are cutting Kennedy back is going to hurt students. All of our cuts are going to hurt students. So these recommendations are not just sure. They're important to a lot of people, to a lot of students. I don't agree with a lot of the cuts. Unfortunately, we have to make them. Site reductions got me really worried. The yard supervision got me really worried. I don't agree with the reduction of the period schedules at the high schools. I think that's going to hurt English language learners. and African-American students, but nonetheless, we're here. And to me, this is a win that we were able to get to this point to at least put a little bit back for our students. Thank you.

Trustee Hernandez. I want to thank everyone who participated in the contract review committee. I appreciate the transparency, the collaboration, and the thoughtful discussions around balancing physical responsibility while continuing to keep students centered. Once again, I just want to thank everyone for being open to have these difficult conversations.

I also just want to thank everyone. I think we've put in a lot of hours and a lot of work and I think a lot of conversation that led us to this point of the recommendations that we're now doing. I also want to say we are trying our best we are trying to keep this is not a band-aid fix this is more of a like let's get some time going in there so we can have deeper conversations and to what the effects are going to be because i think we're making decisions that are potentially affecting our students because we don't have enough information because we are not taken into consideration, decisions being made at the site levels. So I truly believe that this buys us time to really think about what our next steps are, to be able to then come back and say, this is the direction that we're now heading. We cannot just do this drastically. And I think the whole point of having the contract committee was to find funding to be able to then reinvest back into our schools.

I am complete.

So we'll move on to the vote now. Trustee Reckler? Reckler, yes.

Trustee Smith-Folgs? As Smith-Folgs, I will not vote for a plan. I will not vote for something that has not been planned out, something that is not implementable. Smith-Folgs abstains.

Trustee Gonzalez-Hoy?

Yes.

Trustee Hernandez? Yes. Trustee Inouye is a yes. Motion passes with one abstention. So we'll now be moving on to item E5. That is a resolution number 252680, reduction or discontinuance of, oh, I'm sorry. We are supposed to be going back to standing reports. Could we bring our last standing report back up?

Ms. Christine, please unmute yourself.

Thank you, I appreciate the time. Good evening, President Inyala, Superintendent Cotton, and members of the board, as well as the West Contra Costa Unified School District community. The West Contra Costa, my name is Christine Hatcher, I'm sorry, and I am president of WCCAA, which is the administrative arm of our administrators here in West Contra Costa Unified School District. Recently, we were invited to participate in the district's contract review committee alongside the district's labor partners. While each group represented the particular interests and perspectives of its membership, we were nevertheless able to find common ground in our shared commitment to making decisions in the best interests of students. Before the close of one of our meetings, Clerk Gonzalez-Hoy reflected on the productivity of the group and noted that the strength of the discussion was due in no small part to the diversity of perspectives present in the room. His comments echoed what Lonnie Guinier spoke of years ago, that diverse thinking and inclusive problem solving produce stronger outcomes and create the possibility for genuine forward movement. It is in that spirit that I make the following statement this evening on behalf of WCCAA. I want to briefly address the tone and discourse that emerged during some of the public comments this evening. While disagreement is a necessary and healthy part of democratic engagement, language that calls into question the competency, intelligence, legitimacy, or professionalism of people of color is deeply concerning and stands in direct contradiction to the purpose and spirit of what was a hot topic this evening, ethnic studies. Ethnic studies challenges us to examine systems of power, privilege, marginalization, and voice. It asks us to reflect critically on how language has historically been used either to humanize or diminish others. When rhetoric becomes dismissive, belittling, or rooted in assumptions about the capability of educators and leaders of color, it does not move us toward understanding or collective progress. Instead, it reproduces the very dynamics of exclusion and oppression that ethnic studies seeks to examine and disrupt. As Paulo Freire wrote, washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. Our words matter. The ways we speak to and about one another either contribute to greater humanity and understanding or reinforce division and harm. Privilege does not automatically accompany title or position, nor does position replace lived experience. Each of us enters these conversations carrying experiences that shape how we understand schools, systems, opportunity, and inequity. That reality should invite humility, not hostility. Even in moments of sharp disagreement, we can retain the responsibility to engage one another with dignity. We can challenge ideas and policies without demeaning people. Our students are watching how we, as the adults in the room, navigate conflict, difference, and power. And we should model the kind of discourse that we hope they will carry into classrooms, community, and their futures. Thank you very much. I appreciate your allowing me the time this evening.

Thank you, and that concludes our last report out. And now we'll move on to action item five, which is the resolution number 2526-80, reduction or discontinuation of classified services for lack of work or lack of funds.

That's Dr. Greenwood.

Good evening, Board. On February 25th, 2026, the Board of Trustees of the West Contra Costa Unified School District adopted resolution number 2526-57 and resolution dash 2526-61 to reduce and discontinue classified services due to the lack of work or lack of funds for the 26-27 school year pursuant to education codes 45117 and 45308, resulting in the layoff of classified employees no later than the end of the school year of 2526, as described in this resolution 2526-80. And we're recommending approval.

Okay, so we'll move on to board questions. Two questions per board member. And do we have any questions from the board? Okay, seeing no questions to the board, do we have any public comment on this item? Okay.

Jeffrey Bean, please unmute yourself.

Good evening. Thank you for taking my comment. I appreciate it. I stayed up late. I work tomorrow. I teach elementary school, and I stayed up late to pick on the previous item, and I had my hand up, from the beginning of the item until the end, and I was not called on. I find this disappointing. If you're going to honor Zoom comments, you should honor them instead of not calling on people who have their hands up. If I want to encourage my community members to get involved in the board deliberations, and I can't be satisfied that they will actually get called on if they're present in the meeting. That's unfortunate. For this particular item, I am concerned about the possibility of yard supervisors being dismissed from schools. We already need more adults on campus, not fewer adults. Our In particular, students will do well in school if they feel safe at recess. So please do your best to minimize the impact this will have on our students. Thank you.

Sky Nelson, please unmute yourself.

Hi there. Thank you for taking my comment. I think you're aware that we've been working on understanding. The cross district issue with this. Availability of workers and raising contracts and we went to Sacramento this week and delivered. She personalized every district showing that. It's almost very little exaggeration to say that all of the districts in our state. Have an increased acceleration of costs from 2021 onward. So there's a source of our cuts that is coming from beyond what we can control. I think we need to be really cognizant of this when we are looking at cutting positions and as has been said before, look at the money that's coming in from the state budget this year and understand that we can I have some question to address this in the legislature this year. So please consider pausing on these cuts until we have more information from the summer session. Thank you.

That concludes public comment for this item. Thank you. Do we have a motion?

President, I move that we approve resolution 2526-80 with the exception of what was removed from the last item.

Do we have a second?

I second.

So we have a motion by Gonzales-Hoy, seconded by Hernandez. Going on to the roll call, Trustee Rekler. I'm sorry, do we have any further comments on this item? Seeing none, Trustee Rekler for the vote. It's been banned.

Sorry, for this one is the theater manager. For the next one is the music and the FT's for Kennedy.

Okay, so this one is theater manager. Okay, Reckler, yes. Is Jeff making a face? No, okay. Reckler, yes.

Ms. Fultz.

Yes, because these are cuts that we already made. I think we should have stuck with the cuts that we had in the beginning. Complete.

Gonzalez-Jorge. Yes. Hernandez. Yes. And then Yana said yes. We'll now move on to item six, resolution number 2526-81, eliminating or reducing particular kinds of services of certificated employees. Yes.

On February 25th, 2026, the Board of Trustees of the West Contra Costa Unified School District adopted respectively resolution 2526-56 and resolution number 256-60 to reduce and eliminate particular kinds of services resulting in the layoff of certificated employees by no later than the end of the 2526 school year as described and set forth in resolution number 2526-81. and the recommendation is for approval.

Do we have any board questions? Do we have any public comment? No public comment. Do we have a motion?

President, I move that we approve resolution number 2526-81 with the exception of what was removed with the contract committee vote.

Do we have a second?

I second.

MOVED BY GONZALEZ-HOY, SECONDED BY HERNANDEZ. MOVING ON TO, DO WE HAVE ANY COMMENTS? SEEING NONE, MOVING ON TO THE VOTE, TRUSTEE RECKLER. RECKLER, YES. TRUSTEE SMITH-FOLDS.

SMITH-FOLDS IS A YES. WITH ITERATION, WE HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN COMPLETE.

TRUSTEE GONZALEZ-HOY.

YES.

TRUSTEE HERNANDEZ.

YES.

TRUSTEE INDIANAZ, A YES. Now we'll move on to our consent items. I have a point of order.

I have a point of order. I just want to say before we move on that I would be remiss not to say that we have one of the hardest working student trustees that I've ever seen. And I just want to say it out loud. This young man goes above and beyond in everything he does at his high school, in his personal life and on this board. And I just don't want to run out of time before I say that. So my point of order is I'm just taking a half a second to comment on, he is a model. student in WCCUSD. He is a model student trustee, and he deserves all the respect that any student trustee or trustee or individual or human deserves. I'm complete.

Okay. Now moving on to, so any.

I move that we approve the consent calendar.

Do we have a second?

Item, sorry, consent items.

I'm sorry. I second. Okay, moved by Gonzales-Hoy, seconded by Hernandez. Moving on to the vote. Trustee Regler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Fold? Smith-Fold, yes. Trustee Gonzales-Hoy? Yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

Trustee Angliana is a yes. Now we'll move on to superintendent communication.

I'm willing to forego, but we can move to, if the board is open to that, to item E1.

Is everyone okay with that? Moving on to item one. Okay, so we'll move on to action item E1, Curriculum Adoption in Geometry and Algebra II.

Thank you so much. I'm gonna invite up Mark Labocco, our coordinator of math, to present his slides.

All right, fantastic. Good evening, Superintendent Cotton, Board of Trustees, cabinet members, I'm Mark Lubaco, math coordinator. I'm here to share some exciting times we're having for mathematics in West Country.

I heard it was a two to three minute presentation.

Two minutes, you got it, I'm cutting it all down. Yeah, you guys adopted Eureka Math Squared for TK6, Desmos for grade seven through algebra one. We had a committee that actually looked at Amplify Desmos to continue it on for geometry and algebra two. We had selection criteria set up, pulled from ed reports, teacher supports, assessment, student supports, intentional design. We added some additional district criteria. And next slide, please. Desmos student-centered, it's a problem-based curriculum, meaning students are presented with a problem, investigate together and share ideas. It's a blended curriculum, meaning that most lessons use both print materials and the digital platform, and teachers have access to some powerful online tools as well. Next slide. Desmos aligns with the new California math framework. In fact, they're setting up the next edition, California edition, that aligns even better with the framework. It's asset based. We know students bring their knowledge to the classroom, and this is what this program elicits. They're engaged in pairs and groups to investigate and make connections, and it also aligns with our math vision and mission statements. Next slide, please. After training, piloting, and deliberation, the Geometry Algebra II adoption team, 10 teachers from high school, reached consensus to recommend for adoption Amplify Desmos Math. If the Board approves, this would be a six-year adoption of both print materials and digital tools, along with two and a half days of professional development starting this fall. Next slide. These next two slides are the anti-bias screener that we've been doing for a couple years now. Here are a few indicators. Next slide. Note that 100% of respondents stated they had no concerns with the curriculum having bias, generalization, stereotypes, or misrepresentations. Next slide. and some teacher testimonials around the rationale for the adoption, advantage for English language learners, great activities that help visualize difficult concepts, and structure continuity for five years of secondary math learning. Next slide. We're excited to move high school math teaching and learning forward with this high quality tool to help us towards our district math vision of all learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics. Thank you, trustees.

Thank you for that presentation. Do we have any questions? Trustee Rekl. Thank you for the abbreviated presentation.

In my limited time though, can you address professional development? Because I see 2.5 days here, but what's the plan to educate everybody and make sure that they understand the curriculum?

Thank you for that question. So just like last year, we brought in a representative from Amplify, and what we have is a one day before school starts where we have three hours for the novices, brand newbies, and three hours for the veterans. So it's kind of a differentiated professional development where teachers get what they need from Go, which is nice. On top of that, I'm working with Amplify reps to figure out what we can do in October, potentially during one of our smoke days, right, to make something happen for us there as well. And then we also have like half a day of Zoom opportunities as well.

Okay, and then just very briefly, are we buying all this curriculum at once and rolling it out at once? If it is my recollection with Twig, there was kind of like this phase-in strategy, but I think it was due to not having money. I don't think, so like are we rolling it out all at once, or is there some sort of staggered?

No, we're good to go. This is gonna be geometry and algebra two are gonna be our curriculum for next year, straight up.

Thank you, that's all I have.

Do we have any further questions? Seeing none, do we have any public comment on this item? No public comment. Okay, do we have a motion?

I'll move the adoption of Amplified Desmos Math California for Geometry and Algebra II, including two days of onsite professional development and a half day of remote professional development to support effective implementation.

I'll second. Okay, so moved by Regler, second by Gonzales-Hoy. Do we have any comments on this item, Gonzales-Hoy?

Very quickly, I just want to thank you, the team, teachers. I know there's a lot of work that goes into the adoption of a curriculum, so thank you to the whole department, because I know that even though we only heard it for two minutes, it's a whole year's worth of work, and it's not easy finding curriculum that works for us, right? So thank you so much for the work.

Okay, moving on to the vote. Trustee Reckler? Reckler, yes. Trustee Smith-Foltz? Smith-Foltz, yes. Trustee Gonzalez-Joy?

Yes.

Trustee Hernandez? Yes. Trustee Llanesay, yes. So now we'll move on to E3, resolution number 2526-77, annual declaration of need to fully qualified educators.

Dr. Greenwood, you're up next. Declaration of need, and we'll see if we can get through E3 and E4 in the next 10 minutes. And go.

This is what we send to the state every year for declaration of need for the number of waivers that we have to submit. So we do a guesstimation every year for this process. And so we're asking for a recommendation for approval.

Okay. Do we have any questions? Seeing that, do we have public comment? No public comment. Okay. Do we have a motion?

President, I move resolution number 2526-77. Do we have a second?

Regler will second. Okay. We have a motion on the table of Gonzalez-Hoy second by Trustee Regler. We'll move. Do we have any comments? Okay. We'll move on to the vote. Trustee Regler? Yes. Okay. Trustee Smith-Fold? Smith-Fold, yes. Trustee González-Joy? Yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

Trustee Yianna Zayas? Yes. We'll now move on to item four, resolution number 2526-78, declaration to hire 30-day substitutes.

Also, this is also a declaration we have to submit to the state for the number of possible 30-day substitute permit to authorize those individuals that are coming into the district to serve as 30-day substitutes. And we're asking for approval.

Okay, do we have any questions? Trustee Gonzales-Hoye.

Thank you. Sorry, I do have a very quick question, Dr. Greenwood. I heard that in the governor's budget, there might be actually something in there about extending this to longer than 30 days next year. Is there any truth to that? Because I haven't looked in that detail.

I haven't seen anything new pop up just yet, but he did in the past. It was extended to 60 days, which was a great help to the district. And then with us being able to keep substitutes in the classroom longer and keep continuity with certain sites. So I will look out for it. Thank you. That's it.

Thank you. So do we have any public comment on this item? No public comment. Do we have a motion?

President, I move the resolution number 2526-78. Eight.

Reckler seconds. Okay, so we have...

We have Gonzales Hoy, seconded by Trustee Regler. Do we have any further comments? Seeing none, moving on to the vote. Trustee Regler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Ford? Smith-Ford, yes. Trustee Gonzales Hoy?

Yes.

Trustee Hernandez? Yes. And Trustee Inouye, yes. We'll move now on to resolution, yeah. No, we'll move on to, do we want to do our superintendent report very quickly? I think we can go back to the resolutions and then we can close. Okay. So we'll now go back to our resolution number 2526-82, recognizing national principles day.

Good evening. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of the West Contra Costa Unified School District hereby proclaims May 1st, 2026, as National Principals Day in the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

Do we have any questions on this item? Seeing none, do we have any public comment? No public comment. Okay, do we have a motion?

President, I move resolution number 2526-82 in recognition of May 1st, 2026 National Principals Day in the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

Do we have a second? Okay, I'll second that item.

I have a board comment.

We're still moving on with the agenda. We're not at board comments yet.

No, I have a board comment on this item.

Okay, go ahead.

I want to say that there have been some amazing principals in WCCUSD. A lot of them are sitting on cabinet. Our superintendent was an amazing principal. Dr. Moses was an amazing principal. We have a principal at Hercules High School that got the Principal of the Year Award. We have Renee Lama was an amazing principal. We have just so many that I would end up forgetting the names of them, but I just want to say thank you to all those amazing principals that invest in children and put them first. I am complete.

Okay. We'll now move on to the vote. Trustee Riggler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Fold? Smith-Fold, yes. Trustee Gonzalez-Hoy? Yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

Trustee Yalaza, yes. We'll now move on to Resolution 2526-85, National Teachers Day 2026.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education... of the West Contra Costa Unified School District proclaims May 5th, 2026 as Day of the Teacher in West Contra Costa County.

Do we have any questions on this item? Do we have any public comment? No public comment. Do we have a motion?

I move resolution number 2526-85, National Teacher Day 2026. I second.

Moved by Gonzales-Hoy, seconded by Hernandez. Moving on to, do we have any board comments on this item? Okay, seeing none, moving on to the vote. Trustee Rekler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Fox?

Smith-Fox, yes.

Trustee Gonzales-Hoy?

Yes.

Trustee Hernandez? Yes. And Trustee Inouye, yes. We'll now move on to resolution number 2526-83, Classified School Employee Week 2026.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby declares May 17th through 23rd, 2026, as Classified School Employee Week in the West Contra Costa Unified School District in recognition of and appreciation for all classified employees and their dedication to our students.

Do we have any questions on this item? Okay, do we have any public comment?

No public comment.

Okay, do we have a motion? I'll move this item around classified employees recognition.

Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Moved by Smith-Ford, seconded by Gonzalez-Hoye. Do we have any further comments on this item? Seeing no comments, we're moving on to the vote. Trustee Rekler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Folts?

I think a classified employee, Smith-Folts, yes.

Trustee Gonzalez-Hoy? Yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

Trustee Anyana is a yes. We'll now move on to resolution number 2526-84, Jewish American Heritage Month.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education and WCCUSD Superintendent proclaim the month of May, 2026, as Jewish American Heritage Month.

Do we have any questions on this item? Okay, do we have any public comment on this item?

No public comment.

Do we have a motion on this item? I'll move it. Do you have a second? I'll second. Moved by Regler, second by Gonzalez-Hoye. Do we have any comments on this item? Okay, seeing no comments on this item, we'll move on to the vote. Trustee Regler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Fold? Smith-Fold, yes. Trustee Gonzalez-Hoye?

Yes.

Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

And Trustee Yaneza, yes. So we'll move on to Resolution 2526-87, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2026.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education proclaims May 2026 as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month to inspire equity and celebrate diversity in our schools and communities throughout the district.

Do we have any questions on this item? Do we have any public comment? No public comment. Do we have a motion? I'll move Asian AAPI Heritage Month resolution. Do we have a second?

Second.

Moved by Smith-Ford, second by Gonzalez-Hoy. Going on to the... Do we have any comments? Seeing that, moving on to the vote. Trustee Reckler? Yes. Trustee Smith-Fox? Smith-Fox, yes. Trustee Gonzalez-Hoy? Yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

And Trustee Yaneza, yes. And I skipped one. We'll move on to resolution number 2526-86, National School Nurse Day 2026.

Now therefore be it resolved that the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education celebrates and acknowledges the accomplishments of school nurses everywhere and their efforts towards meeting the needs of today's students by improving the delivery of healthcare in our schools and offers gratitude for the nation's school nurses and nurses in WCCUSD who contribute to our communities by helping students stay healthy in school and ready to learn and keeping parents and guardians at work, not just on this National School Nurse Day, but at every opportunity throughout the year. Do we have any questions?

Do we have any public comment?

No public comment.

Do we have a motion?

President, I move this resolution.

Do we have a second? I second. Moved by Gonzalez-Hoy, second by Hernandez. Let's move on to the vote. Trustee Rekla? Yes. Trustee Gonzalez-Hoy?

Yes.

Smith-Fozard, yes. Trustee Hernandez?

Yes.

And Trustee Hernandez, yes. And that concludes our meeting for today. We are adjourned at 11.31 p.m. And our next regularly scheduled meeting will be May 27, 2026, Elevanya Dijon. Good night, everyone.