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

Good evening everyone. Ready? Did it There it goes. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the January 28th regularly scheduled board meeting of the West

Contracasta Unified School District. The meeting is called to order at 6:34 p.m. Zoomlo 5:34 p.m. The West Coast Unified School District Zoom. The board is about to go into close session. But before we do, we are here to listen to any public comment on any close session item. Individuals wish you to speak on close session items listed. If you are here to in the auditorium and haven't done so already, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card which you can find in the entryway table or if you are participating via Zoom. Individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app. If you are accessing the meeting by phone, please press star 9. The time allowed to each speaker is two minutes. The total time allowed 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 inerson comment. The public comment period is a safe space with diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruptions or intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker comment and respect their time as if it were your own. Be open to another viewpoint if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. The items listed on the close session agenda tonight are one public employment discipline dismissal release plate to conference with legal counsel existing litigation government code section 54956.9 and conference with labor negotiators. Is there any public comment?

There's no public comment.

Well, with that be we will return to open session at 6:30. Thank you. Good evening. Welcome welcome to the sess welcome to the open session of the January 28, 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting of the West Contra Costa Unified School District. I am calling the open session to order at 6:40. In a few minutes, we will begin the public comment agenda item. Members of public of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter that's within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contracasta Unified School District but is not on the agenda, please prepare now for public comment. If you are here in the auditorium and you would like to make public comment, please fill out and submit a West Contra Costa Unified School District public comment card. You can find them at the table on the entry of the hallway. If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. If participating by phone, press star 9. After the comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in the order received and will call speakers one at a time, altering between a public

comment here at Dejon and one on Zoom. Public comments generally last for one hour. The time allotted to each speaker is 2 minutes. In the meantime, we are moving on to the rest of our opening procedures. V2, the pledge of allegiance. If you are willing and able to rise, please stand for 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. B three land and labor and body acknowledgement. Land acknowledgement. We recognize that we are on the lands of the Cheno Makma Kark and Aloney peoples and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. Labor and body acknowledgement. I acknowledge that the burden of them 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 that the continued contributions of the labor of survivors over the centuries of 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 AR item four West Contra Costa Unified School District board anti-racism statement. The governing board is committed to the work of anti-racism. The conscious and active effort of identify challenge and correct racial inequities in the system 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 racial inequities they produce have shaped us, our schools and society. The board strives to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as board members. We challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growth and learning to deepen our listening and our examination of racism and oppression and to develop a strong understanding of how our personal experiences and feelings fit into the larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of our governing board individually and collectively is responsible for creating and nurturing an anti-racist 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 at is our responsibility to identify and dismantle racist ideas and inequitable policies in ourselves and across the district. Therefore, we commit to supporting anti-racist policies, programs, and practices for our children's education and well-being while building strong and inclusive school communities. 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 Coach Costa Unified School District staff, students, and community to living the standards of anti-racism and our schools. Board approved March 20th, 2024. Item five, roll call. Um, can I get a roll call, superintendent?

Student Trustee Brooke Miles, good evening. Present. Student Trustee Sasha Han. Good evening. Present. Trustee Leslie Reckler. Good evening. Present. Trustee Jamila Smith Folds. Good evening everyone. Present. Trustee Cynthia Hernandez. Buenoses. Present. Clerk Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy. Good evening. President

and board president Guadalupe and Yanaos present. Now we'll be moving on to a report ratification of close session. I do have one item to report from close session. Agenda item A22. Regarding agenda item A22, the board in closed session took action to approve the special education settlement agreement in the OAH case number 2025081029. The board voted as follows. Uh Inana, yes. Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Hernandez, yes. Reckler, yes. Smith Bolds, yes. That concludes the report out from close session. for that when I'll be changing um the agenda for tonight. will be bringing up item B9 and B10 and then it will be followed by public comment will be middle college high students presentation redefining the mobile app and that is Katherine's item It is.

Good evening, uh, President Clark Gonzalez Foy, members of the board and community. We are very excited tonight to have our students performing from Middle College. They're actually going to be doing a presentation that they did already in front of cabinet. Um, it's a student-led presentation to talk about a app that they created to support students with dyslexia. So, I'd love to invite up to the podium and please give a huge round of applause to middle college students Emma, Lola, and Arthur. this one.

Sorry. Okay. Hi everyone. I'm Emma. I'm Lola. I'm Arthur. And we are seniors at Middle College High School in San Pablo. So to introduce what we wanted to talk to you about today, our team has been a part of our school's Mesa program for over three years now. And last year, our team decided to look into the lack of accommodations for students with dyslexia in the school district, meeting with Mr. Flechman, as well as interviewing and surveying special education administrators and teachers alike. And through the research we've conducted, we've developed a prototype application that Excuse me. Can I have you speak directly into the microphone, please? Yes.

Perfect. Thank you. Okay. Through the research we've conducted, we've developed a prototype application that we now hope to implement in the school district. So what started as a project for an engineering competition flourished into a desire for us to support the special education department and through discussions with students with dyslexia who shared their struggles um having not been properly accommodated alongside teacher accounts feeling stretched thin due to manual accommodations. We hope to aid both of these populations with redefine. We also wanted to clarify that our objective with this presentation is to have our app idea taken into account with the board and possibly implemented into the school district. Our presentation does demonstrate our prototype, but we want to emphasize the concept of a textbased dyslexia combination tool, understanding that specific app features have leeway to vary based on district protocol requirements and student needs. So, as the slide says and to set up some background, one in five students is diagnosed with dyslexia according to the National Library of Medicine, meaning that a significant amount of students in every classroom face challenges with reading. Next slide, please. So, our survey of 28 special education staff and school admin in the WCCUSC district indicated that 72% of individuals don't agree that there are sufficient dyslexia accommodation tools available and tool accessibility and classroom device compatibility were ranked most and second most important respectively. Next slide, please. So again, students with dyslexia often struggle with comprehension, confidence, and independence when working with

standard text. At the same time, based on the survey that we previously mentioned, 73% of educators um spend up to 5 hours weekly manually formatting uh texts and feeling overworked. And at the same time, 93% of those teachers agree that they wish for a tool like Redefine that would automate that process. Next slide, please. So, in response to our users needs for something that is accessible, portable, and easy to use, we made Redefine free, userfriendly, and downloadable on any student device such as a Chromebook or a tablet. Next slide, please.

So, our survey also took into account the most widely used accommodation tools. We took this information to understand what Redefine should offer. Rather than non-extbased workarounds like text to speech, Redefine uses textbased changes like the ones currently implemented in classrooms, such as changing the font size, background color, and more. [clears throat] With each prototype iteration, we tested Redefine with students and interviewed educators at our local elementary school to utilize user feedback in our design process. During testing, we asked students to try Redefine with multiple children's books and example texts, asking them for their input on Redefine's effectiveness in making reading more comfortable. Next slide, please.

There's some pictures, so you can keep going. These were

Yeah, then these were conducted last year 2025. All right. So Redefine's core function can be broken down to three simple steps with the first being the student taking a picture of any form of text whether it be a classroom poster or a book page. Um and alternatively can they can also upload a PDF if that is more convenient. Next slide please. So next, oh yeah, so next, Redefine will scan the image or PDF using optical character recognition or OCR to recognize those words. And finally, Redefine will use a list of text related changes to make it easier for students with dyslexia to read. Thank you. Next slide. And now we're going to have a walkthrough of our app, Redefine. Next slide, please. So this is our app. This is the homepage of it, which is what users will see when they first open the app. And the first feature that we want to discuss is the help and info page. So next slide, please. This page has information on dyslexia, questions users might have about our tool, and a short tutorial on how to use it.

Oh, next slide, please. And now we're taken to the dyslexia support andformational resources page. Student and teacher resource links include curriculum and instruction guidelines as well as guides to understanding dyslexia in order to raise awareness. Next slide, please. So, returning back to our homepage, we will now press take a photo. Next slide, please. Oh, thank you. And clicking that button will take students to this page where they can take their physical book page and align it with the camera. And after hitting take the photo button, it will capture that. Next slide, please.

And once redefine the photo is pressed, redefine will reformat our photo, applying the textbased changes using the timer button. Students also have the option to track their learning progress. And it doesn't show the time until after stop to ensure that it doesn't induce stress on the student. And we acknowledge that adding this timer can act as an attractive nuisance. So there's even the option of omitting this feature if the app were to be implemented and then our process is done. To use Redefine again, users can just return back to the home screen. Uh next slide, please.

Now our last feature that we want to discuss is the uploading a PDF file as um for old. Yeah, next slide. So just wanted to say for like older students like in middle school, it might be easier to upload a PDF. And from here, teachers can click a file and redefine the PDF. And the reformatting process is the same for the PDF upload method. And that concludes our app walkthrough.

So, we've already tested our prototype at both elementary and middle schools. And I don't know if you can read it, but here are some of the things that both teachers and students had to say after our tests. Okay, so diving into the main parts of how we programmed Redefine, we wanted to bring up how these methods were made possible. Coding in Python and utilizing the open- source Kivy app development framework, we coded a function to handle photo uploads via the camera. When a photo is taken through Redefine, the file is labeled with a timestamp that allows the program to reformat the most recent image as it searches through the devices file explorer. Next slide, please. So, uploading a PDF follows this conditional statement. If user opens file explorer and selects a PDF then its path will be stored in the PDF path variable directing the user to the upload page. Next slide please. And after that we send the file to a service called OCR space which reads the text in the image. Then the service sends the results back in a structured format and from that we can pull out the actual words and save them in a variable called response text. Uh, next slide. Oh, yeah. So, here are the specific textbased changes or formatting rules that Redefine applies. Under the label class, we define many aspects of what parts of the text will be changed such as the font type, color, size, line spacing, as well as bolded text. Background color of the text is set to blue through specific numbers highlighted on the screen. These numbers are in the form of RGBA, which are values that correspond to color codes. Next slide, please. So redefineses testing showed us strong results. Um students on average read 34%

faster and how we calculated that was through timing them in comparison with with redefine and without meaning a regular physical book without accommodations. And nine out of 10 participants preferred it over physical books because you students said that they found it easier to read with these accommodations. And teachers said that it saved them up to 80% of prep time. So four out of the five hours that they typically take. So Redefine is functional, fast, userfriendly. So it could be a powerful potential tool for the district. Thank you. Next slide though. [sighs] And those are our citations if you guys wanted to take a minute to look at them because we did do a lot of research on accommodations that have been proven to help students as well as interviewing teachers who have experience in supporting students with accommodations. Next slide. All right. So, we kind of have a little bit of a motto. So, it's called redefine clearer text brighter minds. Thank you so much for your time. Yes, we definitely want to take a picture, but does the board have any questions or comments for the students? And I'd also want to open it up um to Dr. Fleshman um as our self director the understanding of the impact of of this type of a of an app um or tool for our students. But first board do you have any questions comments for our students?

Do we have any board comments? Um regular thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I'm wondering if you could tell us a little more about how you got the idea, what what sparked the idea and what's what's the class or the program of study where you uh what class was this for?

Definitely. Um so we are currently a part of our school's Mesa STEM education program which is a compet competition-based after school program where students do different engineering and STEM projects. And while we were thinking of an idea of what we wanted to do for our junior year project, we were very inspired um to help the district, especially knowing that um special education accommodation is just so important to have, especially in um the primary education system. And so we really thought that we could leverage technology and our skills in coding as well as presentation to be able to provide a tool like this.

And then if I could just follow up, is Mesa a class? No, it's a after it's a a club or could you talk a little bit about that? Oh, yes. Uh Mesa is a STEM education program. It's usually hosted by local centers like California State East Bay. Um that's our local center and there are high school chapters. I believe there's one at Hercules in Penol Valley as well. Okay. Thank you very much, Chris. Do we have any Gonzalez?

Thank you. Thank you so much for the presentation. First of all, this this is incredible. Uh I just want to just preface that. Um I wanted to ask if you guys have had any contact with um I think it's the coding dyslexia. There's like a big organization in California that does advocacy in the state around educational issues uh with dyslexia. I was wondering if you guys have contacted them to share this incredible resource. That is another great question. Um, that is actually the first time we're hearing about their resource, but we do think that we could definitely get in contact with them. Thank you. I think I think that that would be great. They'll probably love this. So, thank you. Could you repeat the name of the organization?

I think I think Don't quote me though. Um, it's called the coding dyslexia. I know the the ED. So, I'll um when we come down um I would love to give you my email and I'll put you guys in touch. Sounds amazing.

Thank you. Well, thank you for that presentation. Um hope we could go down as a board. We have some certificate for you. So, let's go down. I I would really love to hear either from um a couple of our cabinet members the impact that this could have. I think that this is this is huge. Um Dr. Fleshman is Sak Costa Rascus.

Certainly. Uh thank you superintendent for the question. Um I think from what the the students have already um demonstrated from their work in some classrooms and the um immediate uh impact that the students who have already had access shows that this can um uh reverberate out uh much more broadly for students uh in our district um and potentially beyond. Um, and I think the important thing also to note is that with the universal screener for reading difficulties across the state, um, this can also support students who may have reading difficulties but don't have IEPs. So we don't um while I very much appreciate the the focus on special education that you all have had since we started this conversation about a year and a half ago now I think um I think it can it can have impact even beyond special education because there will be many students who are identified with reading difficulty who may not qualify for an IEP but there's no reason why this resource couldn't benefit them. Um, you know, I I it's it's amazing. I think back to, you know, 20 years ago when I started as a a little more than 20 years ago when I started as a classroom teacher here, um, and hearing about ways that we can like get a stack of different color paper. So, when I was running my photo copies, I'd have a stack at the bottom of of a different color for exactly the intervention. And now here to be in in 2026 and have our students creating a way that that can be automated um, and and immediate as well, right? student finds a book in the classroom library, they don't have to wait for the teacher to go down to the to the copy room tomorrow and run the print on colored paper because they have redefined right there. So, I think um the the capacity or the or the potential is is kind of untapped and and we won't know until we start, you know, utilizing it further, but I think it's it's really really promising um and really super neat to see. I have to commend you all to see the different iterations that you all have come up with throughout this process. um from our first conversation

to first presentation to even now seeing you know just the little subtle changes that you've you've put put to play um is really impressive. So um I've thanked you before but thank you again. This is this is really exciting.

Of course. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Yeah, I'd just love to add um aside from the content, the process and the demonstration of learning that you just showed this community, your peers, your board members is absolutely incredible. And it's exactly the type of deep research, presentation skills, implementing feedback, uh and really solving problems that affect your peers and your community. It's the type of learning that we want to see. And I just say, watch out world. We see a patent coming your way. So, congratulations. And if it's okay with you guys, we'd love to take a picture for with you. Let's give him another round of applause, please.

Thank you everyone. Um we'll be now moving on to item 10. It Yeah, item B10, the recognition of our student board trustees for their participation. And that's um Miss Cotton. Is that your item?

Yes. I just want to say thank you um student trustee Broo Miles, student trustee Sasha Han. You two are amazing, amazing uh young people who have stepped into this role very thoughtfully um and prepared to share your thoughts, prepared to share your experiences and to provide student voice to this board. And it's been amazing to work with you. Um I know that it was a short period of time but as we talked about earlier a lot happened in this very short period of time. Um and I hope that this helped to provide some perspective around really understanding what is going on in the educational realm but then also to build your leadership and your leadership capacity and I know that you will be both will be great leaders in the future. So very proud of you both, very excited and love to watch your leadership on all student congress as well. And so not just leading here with the board um but also leading with your peers and you are both leaders at your school sites. So again, thank you for all of your fantastic work. We do have a plaque for you and we have flowers to say thank you and we think that you are amazing.

Well, thank you. Do we have any comments from our board? Um, Gonzalez Hoy.

Thank you, President. Uh, Trusty Han, Trustee Miles, I just want to thank you for not just the time, but uh, as Superintendent Con said, I think your passion that you brought, uh, your voice was so important. Uh, every time you spoke, I was so incredibly impressed with your perspective. Um, and if you like, if you enjoyed this work, I hope that you will now go to the county or go to the state because they have also space for students who are interested to serve on those boards. I think your voices would be incredible there as well. Uh, because I would love for for you guys to continue to, you know, seek that policy if you're interested. Um, and then you know continue hopefully with this work and one day that you're up here on our seats because uh I would love to cheer you up one here one day. Uh, but thank you so much for everything. Uh, and you know, don't be a stranger. We just saw as one student trustee come back and stay involved. I hope that you both will continue to do that as well. Thanks. Any more comments from the board?

Well, I want to say thank you for your voice on this board, the contributions that you guys brought, all the questions. You guys always had great questions. So, I I really do want to appreciate, you know, uplift, like I said, the voice that you guys brought to this space. I want to say that this is just the beginning. Like I can't wait to see what the future holds for both of you, you know, as products of Wisconsin. So, thank you. Thank you for sitting here with us. Thank you for being part of this team and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Um, do you guys have any comments?

I'll go quick. Um, thank you guys. Oh, you were you were really amazing. Everyone here, all five of you, including everyone else on every side of me, you were all so welcoming, so supportive. You're like, "I have a question." Oh, okay. There we go. Um, I have a question. You're like, you're like, "Call me. I'll I'll explain it to you." And you'll explain and explain until until I get it. and everyone here, everyone like all of you and then everyone over here too have been so supportive and so helpful and so accepting of my presence on this board and really really grateful because it's so wonderful to have a place where you feel so welcomed. Thank you.

Um I can't say it as good as Sasha Sasha does but um thank you guys. Um, it was really great experience and thank you guys for all being so like easy to reach because I know some people like never respond to their emails. So, just thank you guys all for being very involved. Well, with that being said, um let's all go down and take a

Well, thank you. And now we'll be moving on to item be six um I mean seven WCCUSD public comment. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contraosta Unified School District, but not on tonight's agenda. Public comment will last approximately 1 hour. The time allotted to each speaker is 2 minutes. Should an additional speaker remain at the conclusion of one hour, public comment may be extended. The time allotted per speaker after the first hours generally one minute. Individuals wishing to speak, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card or if participating via Zoom. Individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. If you are calling in by phone, press star 9. Time shall not be transferred from one person to another. There is no substitution of speakers. Speakers can also make public comment again for each discussion action item on the agenda after staff presentations. The public will have 10 minutes per item and one minute per speaker. The same protocols recited above apply. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed in a civil manner without interruptions of intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time at the podium as if it were your own. Be open to a different point of view if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. Is Is there any public comment? Yes. Our first public comment is Don Gausny.

Good evening everyone. You know, every couple of three years I come before the board of education and senior staff ask me the same question over and over again. And even though the makeup of the board and senior staff pretty much changes frequently, the response is the same. I asked a question about whether any of you know anything about workplace safety. And the response back seems to be a single focused response about active shooter alerts. As as if as long as you keep active shooters off campus, then all will be well with the world. If you're all as smart as you think you are, this should scare the be Jesus out of you. Absolutely, 10,000%. We want to keep evenminded stupid people with guns off of our campuses. But safety for the kids, safety for the employees, and safety for visitors extends far past this. Here's a little pop quiz for you. You know those metal fire extinguisher boxes we see in the hallways? How large should the padlock be that keeps the kids from grabbing the extinguishers? That's a trick question because we all know that these should never be locked. Except we see this all the time. And how about those extinguisher boxes with padlocks that have no extinguishers inside because they've been relocated into locked classrooms. Now, let's take a walk into the labs and shops where there are supposed to be emergency eye washers and safety showers. Except I have photos of those emergency safety devices with a half ton of items leaning against them. Or they're in the shared storage room between the labs, the ones where the doors are locked. Now, imagine it's your child that has set their hair on fire as I did in the ninth grade or splash some nasty stuff into their eyes and they need to move that stuff away or find someone with a key before they die. Now, let's keep in mind my 55 years of industrial safety before we examine your shop classes. Last time I was invited to see the showcase shop, I counted eight items before I even stepped through the door that would red tag them if this was a real job or classroom. You need to take a closer look at where the kids attend classes and the employees work. And no, this is not something you can learn by watching a YouTube video. You

need to talk to someone that is well trained on what to look for and what kinds of records to keep. By the way, your two recent things at Lake Elementary and and our next public comment is Maisha Harris Gash. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening everybody. I just want to say I'm exhausted. I am absolutely exhausted. Um but I wanted to talk about my kids as I usually do. Um so today is minimum day. It's a day where um I decided today, you know, let me check on all my kids. and making a few phone calls. I had a student who I noticed he hadn't been to school Monday, Tuesday, and so far not today either. Um, but had a phone call made cuz I needed to utilize my bilingual scout and um, the student came to school. But that also allowed he and I to have a conversation and discussion about the importance of coming to school. So, that was some good time today. You know, another one of my kids coming to class late, kind of just strolling in. So, we had to have a conversation about that. Um, but like I said, today was like really exhausting pouring into my kids the way that I did. Like, I can't do this every day. Um, and most of us teachers, we cannot do this every day. Um, but it was definitely beneficial cuz, um, I told my kids, I don't feel like coming to work sometime. I understand y'all don't feel like coming to school sometime, but these are the reasons why. Like, I told them, I haven't been feeling well. you guys haven't been feeling well, but I still have to be here because I need to be here for you. So, for us just having that, you know, transparent conversation. Your teacher is not perfect. I feel the same way that you guys feel. Um, so it ended up being really productive. Even though I told him, I'm thinking about not coming tomorrow. I'm thinking about not coming Friday, but even though I say that, I know that I'll be there. Um, so just wanted to share that with everyone that, you know, just taking that time every now and then to even it's just a few of your kids because we don't know what all of our kids are coming to school with and just maybe sometimes having that honest transparent conversation with

them will be encouraging for them to improve say their behavior and you know just come to school. So hey everybody have a wonderfully blessed night. Our next public comment is Marie Anam. Thank you for responding to my emails about setting up a meeting. My goal is for for the meeting is that everyone brings solutions and no more excuses. We're talking about how to make things a little better for the students and staff at Siege who are real human beings with feelings and want a loving, caring home to be in. I see some resources have come and I'm forever grateful. Let's come together and work on these important issues. FYI, my question emails and presents, they aren't going away. I know these are hard topics to discuss, but I'm not giving up. What kind of mama would I be if I let these things discourage me from speaking the truth and advocating for my kids and their schools much needed resources? If your child was enrolled at any school lacking these resources, I think you'd feel the same way as I do, and you'd be speaking out, too. Everything that I bring to your attention is backed with eyewitness testimonies, numerous evidence, photos, and even a video. I want to be clear, I don't have any issues with the staff. STE is a wonderful, loving family that is welcoming to all. The children enjoy learning from the dedicated staff. Lydia loves all her teachers and her transportation driver. It was lovely seeing the hip-hop performances last week. I saw how much the staff and students have bonded. When the rebuild is complete, what a joyous celebration will be had. I'm still waiting for an email response about the suspected tie up in the Williams quarterly report from October 22nd. I haven't got a response.

I'm also patiently waiting for the sped transportation handbook and hope that one day cameras and GPS will be added to the buses. This is my 11th meeting here. Please remember to put students first. I'll be back. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Bill Hodgej. Please unmute yourself. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Wonderful. Good evening, Board. Um, I am a uh high school, uh, excuse me, middle school. Uh, it's been a long day. Middle school science teacher at Hercules Middle School. Um, been going over the some information that is on your guys's agenda for this evening. Um I'm looking at this presentation from uh Mr. Carter and I I noticed something that that was quite interesting which states that due to high numbers of vacancies many physicians such as speech therapists, psychologists, aids and paraprofessionals have been contracted out at increased rates. In addition, they say that they state that approved tenative agreement added additional expenditures to adopted budget at first interim estimations. And so the purpose of part of this fiscal solveny plan um appears to be thinking or considering um cuts to full-time equivalent staff across the district. And I am con regularly just in awe of the idea that um not being able to hire high numbers of vacancies for a variety of positions including teachers, including these other extremely important positions throughout the district. Um, we continue to talk about then cutting positions and it just it's it is really confusing to me to think about how you're going to recruit, retain, and earn the respect of the staff that you have and the staff that you want to have. when you continue to

consider and discuss cutting tens if not potentially hundreds of positions from the from the Our next public comment is Kimberly Chamberlain. Good evening. Kimberly Chamberlain local 21 SSA chapter president. We're going to discuss fiscal solveny this evening. I am seeing it on two areas. As we are discussing this fiscal solveny plan, there's no solutions. We used to join together and come up with solutions. the unions and the district cabinet, the HR department, we used to come together. We're not. And now we're having a fiscal solvency without communication in clear defined areas. We're going to take apart, just as others have spoken, people that work with our students. We're going to develop plans that will affect our classrooms. Whether it's taking a teacher out of a classroom, a parah, an LVN, we're going to affect somebody that's going to turn around and not dump that garbage, not unplug that toilet, not be able to get the data that you're all asking for on a consistent basis, hourly, daily, by the minute. You're going to be taking apart WCCUSD.

Thank you.

Next public comment is Sky Nelson. Please unmute yourself. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, I can.

Good evening everybody. I want to um uplift two things that need addressing. I think just need to be known. I want you to know that are exciting. Um, one of them is exciting. AB 1204, Assembly Bill 1204 is uh on the docket for this summer. Uh, it's a revision to the local control funding formula and um well needed by Assemblyman Alvarez. It's going to address the base grant annual increase of 4% every year. Uh, undup unduplicated pupil count allowing more fair treatment of dual and triple categories. regional cost factors increased uh for certain re regions like the Bay Area cost of living being accounted for increasing supplemental grants and lowering the threshold for concentration grants. So uh those are technical things but it's a chance it's it's actually happening. It's an uh bill that will uh hopefully pass and improve the funding formula that has already improved our star our schools in the last 10 years. We I just want people to be aware of this and um look for it in the in the summer. Also, the parcel tax uh needs to be brought back to attention in my opinion. I'd love to hear um in the newsletter in the coming weeks uh what what we can do to help in the community what the status is on uh the the text of the bill to the partial tax renewing measure T and what we can do to get the word out to the public um as a community and support each other in that process of renewing that $10 million u tax grant uh tax bill. So, thank you for your time and have a nice night. Our next public comment is Samantha Torres.

Good evening. My name is Samantha Torres. Tonight I'm here with a balloon to mark a birthday, but it's not a happy one. This Friday, January 30th, marks one year since I submitted a public records request regarding the use of the Kennedy High School stadium facilities. I submitted the request through the district's official online form and followed up multiple times with public records at wccusd.net. After a year, I have received no lawful resolution. The California Public Records Act Government Code section 6253 requires a response within 10 calendar days with a limited extension of up to 14 additional days. A one-year delay is not compliance. What we are seeing here is what happens when transparency breaks down. Just like on a national scale, when EP specific files are delayed or withheld, it erodess public trust. Transparency is not optional in a functioning democracy. until yesterday. I gave the district the benefit of the doubt, assuming staff capacity issues. That changed when district facility staff emailed me asking that I and the nonprofit youth soccer organizations I represent as a volunteer provide records so the district could respond to someone else's public records request. As a former custodian of records for the state of California, I want to be very clear. the responsibility to locate and produce records rest with the agency, not with private nonprofit organizations. Public agencies do not get to decide when or to whom the law applies to in a functioning democracy. Yet, what I am experiencing appears to be a pattern with the Phil within the facilities office, selective enforcement of laws and policies, including what many groups now view as a farce of a facilities lottery. A process described as a random lottery loses its legitimacy when organizations can win and still be

denied access. Youth sports is a $40 billion industry and yet the participation keeps declining.

Our next public comment is Andrea Livinghouse. Please unmute yourself. Hi, this is Andrea Livinghouse, speech language pythologist from the United Teachers of Richmond. Firstly, I want to say how impressed I am by the students who presented about the Redefine app. And secondly, I want to express gratitude to our student trustees Sasha Han and Brooke Miles for their dedicated service to our district. Thirdly, so after we along with Teamsters and SSA went on strike for 4 days, you seemingly heard us to some extent when we advocated for stable and fully staffed schools since we finally reached a reasonable tenative agreement. However, right after you turn around and propose so many cuts. So that shows that you missed the point of our message that our schools are underfunded, understaffed, and underresourced. I'm appalled at the plan to merge Saskin and Penol middle schools. I'm deeply concerned about the proposed cuts to school site programming. It is also very troubling that while special education is being gutted at the federal level, you are proposing a $3 million reduction with the ominous reason special education program restructuring. Our special education programming is vital for student success. And it is despicable that you continually target some of our most marginalized students while simultaneously espousing performative statements about inclusion and equity. You can't have both. To have equity, you need to invest more in our special education programs, not less. And yet, once again, you are under reporting the funds we are receiving from the state. On your budget reality slide, you mentioned that you've been forced to contract out for SLPs due to vacancies. And yet, we know that you ignored four applications for the district employed SLP positions for this

school year. Get it together, West Contraosta, and show students their true value by expanding your investment in them. That is all. Our next public comment is Giorgio Gio Constantino. Uh, dear superintendent Cotton and President President Anyana, my name is Giorgio Gioatino, a former Richmond teacher, recent district parent, and current California State Scientist at the Richmond Marina Bay campus. I am continuing my effort efforts to garner support for current and future employees with disabilities including intellectual disabilities as I have as a trainer in my profession. I have seen struggling trainees some who do not make it and I have advocated for doing more to support them. The response I originally received in my workplace was that no such efforts were needed. I disagreed and um I don't give up. Recently I discovered the state employee training document which I just left on my chair back there. Okay. [laughter] Um and uh this document uh says that we need to do more to support these employees. And this document comes from the governor's office, the highest level state agency. This government agency has 30,000 employees. Because I was a boxer, I like to throw punches in twos or more. This document is punch number one. Boom. Okay. All right. Punch number two comes from you students with disabilities. I have just been granted permission to give a presentation to our management and disabilities committee soon. I want to share with them your answer to the following question. In the future, when

you are starting your new career, what expectations or hopes do you have of this future employer for ensuring your success? Boom. That's punch number two. Boom. Boom. Let's hear it on the count of three. One, two, three. Boom. Boom. Okay. Example of my response. Okay. If I were to do this, I would say, I do well with directions and writing. I also do not want to be afraid of sometimes I am slower than my co-workers at learning a new procedure. I do not want to be afraid to come to work because I made a mistake. I do not want to I I want to be able to use any available technology for supporting me in accomplishing my duties. These jobs are your jobs. If you are interested in submitting a response to be shared anonymously, please reach out to special ed director Flechman. Our next public comment is Danielle Jorgens. Please unmute yourself. Hi there. My name is Daniel uh Rogers. Actually, my uh fourth uh grader and TKER attend West Contra Costa County West County Mandarin School and we've been part of that school now for quite some time. Um, I'm a bit distressed uh to hear about the the push back about the financial solveny. I think that there is work to be done obviously to make all parties happy. There's no way that we're going to be in such a big hole and still come through. Okay. Um, I remain disappointed that the district has found itself in this position. Um, and I appreciate the efforts of uh, Superintendent Cotton to get us over the finish line towards somewhere where

we're not in constant stress uh, and potential takeover talks with the the state. Um, but you know, I think that there are smart decisions that could be made. Um, I actually like the idea of having campuses combined in a efficient way. our particular school is spread across two different sites which is really unfortunate. Um so having us housed in one site makes a lot of sense. Uh I understand it's going to impact a lot of families out there. Um and then the other thing I wanted to talk about this evening was the seventh grade uh Chinese uh foreign exchange trip that happens uh annually. I hope that the board will support that and give it the go-ahad. I think that there's significant fundraising that's done by families to support that. And you know, it's a huge boon for the district. It's a huge opportunity for our students to learn and to have tangible interaction with a language that they're learning as part of our school. Um, which we should all be very proud of. Thank you. Our next public comment is Ethan Sorer. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Ethan Sorcerer and I teach fifth grade at Montalban Manor K8. I want to thank the central office staff for their attempt to gather community feedback regarding their fiscal solveny plan and their two information sessions which superintendent Cotton estimates uh drew in over 200 people. Considering almost 30,000 students attend schools in West Contraosta Unified, this represents less than 1% of the community that is going to be affected by these cuts. And I want to lift up some additional

perspectives that may not have been adequately considered. The district is proposing cutting all school community outreach workers. Earlier tonight, we stated our commitment to building strong and inclusive school communities. Our SCAW is the link between our community and our educational system. The person who organizes the events that benefit our community and brings people to our decision-making structures. How will cutting the position that many of our families perceive as their trusted adult, their main point of contact with our school and our district, affect your relationship with our community? The district is also proposing cutting four of our district's 5K8s. Earlier tonight, we stated our commitment to identify, challenge, and correct racial inequities in the systems and institutions within our schools and community. The district's prepared equity report demonstrates that students who identify as African-American English learners or receive special education services at K8s outperform their peers at our traditional middle schools. Is the less than half of 1% of our overall budget that this move would save worth exacerbating the historic and institutional inequity students from these groups have traditionally experienced? This decision is not one to be made lightly and it's not one you need to make tonight. You can table this action item until February 11th and use that time to visit our K8s, meet with our families and learn why they choose this non-traditional option. Thank you.

Publicist Colleen Valentine, please unmute yourself. Hello, my name is Colleen Ballentine. I'm special services director, United Teachers of Richmond. Been a special ed teacher in the district at least 20 years. I definitely stopped counting. Um, currently an RSP teacher at Eller Horst. So, I'm [clears throat] calling to remind people that need reminding if they do the case load maximums for special education teachers. RSP teachers are assigned up to 25. MMSN which is mild to moderate support needs are assigned up to 14. Extensive support needs assigned up to 11. Counseling and rich classes assigned up to 10. Full inclusion signed up to 13. UTR fought hard to get these numbers for the supports that these special education students need. To give you an example, when I first started, MMSN was 17 and it was not a functional number. And as the students needed more supports in the classroom, we fought hard to get that to be a number that supports the students, we fought hard only to now feel as though there's some convoluted effort to save money by quite frankly messing with these numbers. I mean these this concept of a blended case load or whatever is going on where some of these teachers are managing MMSN and RSP outside of a school and district understood ISP program is very confusing to me. I'm I'm speaking off the cuff whereas normally I write a little more for these speeches. But where I'm going with this is I'm hoping that the special education department starts to understand that this instructional support provider model that they are talking about putting into schools has a rationale language as I was on the team

when it was made and it states it is the intent of the bargaining unit to offer these programs as it is a sitebased choice not something that the district hands down. Please adhere to the rationale language.

Our next public comment is Peter Best.

Good evening y'all. My name is Peter Best. I am the dean of students at Montalan K through 8 and I also have students who attend school in the district. I am here to speak about the fiscal solveny. Um, and similar like Mr. Sorcerer said, really just asking for more time. It's myself, it's Mr. Sorcerer, it's Miss Casillas here on behalf of Mont Talvin. And I know that if our community um were able to speak and feel heard that you all at least will get to make them feel heard. Um, in the state that America is in right now, our black and brown black and brown families are not only not feeling heard, but they're frightened and scared. So, I think it would be a good look to actually hear them out and give us a chance to gather and come together and share um how we feel about this decision that you y'all will be making. Um even more so, like Mr. Sorcerer said, come on down to the school and talk to the families respectfully. The only time I see district people at the school is for photo opportunities. I've been a part of this district for 12 years, and it seems the further and further people get from schools, they're only there for the good. come here and um see what the families are saying and what they're feeling and our students as well too. Um a lot of our students need uh 78 at our schools that are talking about being cut. And I also want to just bring up our racial equity stance which we make sure we talk about before every staff meeting, before every board meeting. And one of the points is to partner with our families when engaging in decision-m like Mr. sources said I think it was 30,000 people around there. Give us a chance to fill up these seats so so we can partner with them and engage in the decision- making with them and also just making them feel heard whether y'all going to make your decision or not. Like give our families and our students a chance to be heard and feel heard and feel important and um yeah, thank y'all.

Our next public comment is Karen. Please unmute yourself. Good evening. Uh my name is Karen Gerald. I have been working with the district um for over 30 years, most of it in special education. And I can currently see that in the last five years or so, the district has made more cuts than it has during the bankruptcy years and the post Walter Marx years. I am asking for you please not to vote on any budget cuts that touch children without having all the information as to actual monies that the district will be receiving. The whole plan, the idea is to increase enrollment to have sufficient teachers and not drive away families that can leave. If cuts need to be made, it should be at the top down and it should not be affecting families with children and the families should feel part of the process. Again, the whole idea of this is to make decisions in conjunction with the families, not to engage in scare tactics, not have their voices heard, and then come down with what one deceives as their choice and say that it belongs to

the families. Thank you. Our next public comment is Maria Sanchez. Hi, my message will be in Spanish tonight. No. transformation. The elementary

Gracias. Next public comment is Britney Jenkins. Please unmute yourself.

Hello everyone. My name is Britney Finley. I'm the UEE coach at Mont Talvin by way of Sica. I'm just here to send a solidarity with our parents and staff present. Um, I learned very quickly that the community members at Montaben have such a safety net cast around our students, parents, uh, and the K8 model at our school, I learned, has allowed staff to quickly have crossover around student concerns, whether that's grade level or across grade level, keeping in mind our students and being strengthbased. Um, our district and our school sites reference and read land acknowledgements, speak from anti-racism and equity lenses along with other educational buzzwords and are in risk of rupturing trust at the schoolside level and displacing students from a school that is in walking distance or short commutes and also our students are surrounded with adults that may have known them since TK more. So it is feels irresponsible to spring such decisions and actions on our families without explicitly getting parent and student feedback. The these stakeholders and voices that we should all be considering most. A colleague of mine today, Mr. Rosski made a great point. Taking away the Kite model reduces a level of choice to our families. And when you consider families that have multiple children close in age range, it eases the burden of worktime commutes and coordinating drop off and pickup times and scheduling for their students, even having afterare provided. These are all things that our families and students benefit from. I urge the board to intentionally connect with our K8 students and families and make decisions on their behalf with their academic, mental health, and social well-being in mind. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Zach Porter.

Good evening. Uh my name is Zach Porter. I'm an English teacher at Kennedy High School. Um I also supervise uh the school drama club. I'm here to speak about the status of Kennedy's after school program, which has been paused indefinitely as of this school year. At the start of the school year, the status of the drama club was in limbo. Our afterchool program coordinator left at the end of last school year, and Bay Area Community Resources, who had partnered with expanded learning program in previous years, uh would not be partnering with Kennedy moving forward. Club supervisors like myself were told that the program was pausing as there would not be an outside coordinator. uh but that maybe if we were willing to do the administrative work ourselves, our individual clubs could still meet. We waited the first two months of school to hear whether our clubs would be funded before being told that unfortunately the clubs would not be funded until further notice. Some clubs have been meeting without funding during lunch, but it pales in comparison to what we had. Uh Kennedy thrived after school. Students said places to go, to grab a snack, to study or work with a tutor, to watch K-pop music videos with their favorite science teacher, to play chess, to practice for a play. Now, it feels like unless you're an athlete, you're ushered off campus the minute the final bell rings. There's been a rumor going around that the money for the after school program was given to the athletic department. I'm not saying there's any validity to the rumor, but the fact that the rumor exists speaks to how divisive it can get when certain programs are cut and certain student interests are prioritized over others. Um I started the drama club at Kennedy three years ago at the request of some some students who were interested um after a several yearlong drought in uh dramatic arts at Kennedy. We put on two plays. We borrowed a stage from Richmond High School. It's been amazing. Um Kennedy is a community school and an afterchool program is an essential component of that work. Um so I know that myself, many teachers and students are ready to revitalize the program. Um, and we really want to get that started now.

Also, uh, don't vote on the fiscal solving thing tonight. Thank you.

Next public comment is Katie Maresi. Please unmute yourself.

Hi, my name is Caitlyn Maresy. Um, so first I want to start off by just saying how proud I am of the student trustees. I have the privilege of knowing Trusty Miles who is more solutionoriented than most of the adults that I see making decisions for our district. She's a fierce advocate for all of Vista and WCCUSD students. She is academically focused, a student athlete, a Mesa captain. Yes, Vista also has Mesa and a visionary for what our schools and the district could be if the right people started making the right decisions. That being said, our student trustees cannot solve all of the opportunities for improvement this district still needs to address. I urge the board to center student need and mental health in conversations about Vista and Vista Virtual. Vista's programs serve more of the highest mental health needs within the general education and resource programming population. Yet, we experience ongoing cuts. Despite this, our student pulse data, which is our student well-being, consistently outperforms the district. For many of our students, independent studies, isn't a convenience. It's a necess it's a necessity. Comprehensive schools settings cannot meet their needs and in some cases never will. Vista provides stability, access, and dignity for students who otherwise fall through the cracks of your comprehensive schools. Lastly, I invite the school board and cabinet members to be curious and truly come to learn about your schools that you are serving and making decisions for, especially schools like Vista. Each year, we extend this invitation. Please come to our school, join our Zooms, meet our students and their families, and learn who they are before you consider them just numbers. They are people with feelings and needs

that must be met, and that is your responsibility. Thank you. public comment is Helen Kang.

Good evening everyone. My name is Helen Kang and I'm a sixth grade teacher at Harding Elementary. Um, I stood before you a couple months ago to urge you to really consider carefully um, special education. I went on strike to stand up for special education students, families, and educators. And now I'm here again because I see special education programs on the chopping block, as well as a lot of rumors about other programs also being potentially cut. So the you could you know the district can vote to go ahead and do this and implement restructuring special education. Some of the rumors that we're hearing are uh getting rid of full inclusion programs, CEC programs, and other programs that are smaller and require more staff. But you will be paying that same amount or possibly more down the road because these programs help make sure that students thrive in gened classrooms and sometimes even exit. We have students who exit CEC. So unless you want to be paying more money in the future because students leave and have to go to non-public schools, then I really urge you to carefully carefully reconsider how you restructure and reorganize special education. People are already hearing these rumors and already thinking about leaving because they need to make they need to have job security. So, you may end up losing some of your most talented special educators because of, you know, what's being presented tonight and

uh discussions that you all may have been having um prior to tonight. So, again, please please please Our next public comment is Aaron Kalentine. Please unmute yourself.

Hello board. Um I'd like to echo uh the congratulations and the deep gratitude to our student trustees. first um your dedication to real democracy and your dedication to bettering your future and skills and the future of all of the students that you go to school with is an inspiration. Uh thank you for being the kind of kids who keep me in this work even though I do not know either of you personally. Um, I would also like to say thank you to the middle college students. And then I would like to ask you board to pause in any austerity vote um until your money is where your mouth is. You have heard so many people talk about the anti-discrimination policy that we all talk about and I hope that we believe it. You heard parents say that you don't know me and you don't know my children and it's impossible for you to make this decision for us, especially with no time for input. Less than 1% of parents commenting means that you didn't reach the parents and they haven't spoken to you and we are not listening to them appropriately as a group. Um, I am 20 years a special education teacher. When you stop listening to the people that you work for, you have stopped working for them. Um, please please do not vote on any budget until we know what the impacts will be. Until you have had time to consider what's going on. We are months out of date for a teacher contract. Surely we can give this weeks if not months to consider. We have a real opportunity right now to do amazing things in our community. We keep on seeing and hearing about the amazing things that our community is doing. Please support this. Slow down before you hurt the children that we are all purporting to serve. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Sam Clear. Good evening. My name is Sam Clear and I am the organizing chair with the United Teachers of Richmond. During the strike, we saw the passion and power of our communities. However, as of now, they are not given any opportunity to participate in the plans to cut programs and staff as well as merge schools. We need more time to work together and make sure our decisions reflect the needs of our community and respects families and students. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Alain Harrison. Please unmute yourself. Salon Harrison, please. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay.

Good evening everyone. Um, I just really hope that we, you know, take the time and and and and really listen to the community. right now is um we know things have to change but I think our superintendent we her slogan is we are one sometimes that one looks like a little deeper conversation um we did you did meet with some of us but it's I think that it's just a this is a big change whatever has to change and and people do want to be heard I um am asking the board and the district and the superintendent to really think about how you all can think about fully hearing the community um even if the tough decisions have to be made so we can do it as one even if we don't agree on everything but we can have our voice heard in some things like we can see how we're going to fit in the change cuz things are going to change and we and and it's um very disturbing when you don't know how you fit in that change but you have to be a part of it so I think um each site each school site like really knowing how this change will affect them if it happens will be a good thing to start doing. And next month is Black History Month. I hope that we can some make history and getting something to address our students being called the N-word. So, I'm hoping that our district is working towards that and we can make history with that being something that we don't do on our campuses. And I am complete. Thank you. Next public comment is Gabriel Micheletti. Hello. I'm here tonight because I hope

the school board will stand up against this artificial self-imposed timeline of cuts and actually gather community input. Despite it being required that the agenda be listed on Friday, no details on cuts were added to the agenda until yesterday afternoon. I also don't understand the point of requesting an equity impact report on these cuts, but not having the report on the agenda until after the cuts district admin are pushing a vote on. District staff can say over and over that they want to hear from the community, but these actions are clearly demonstrating the opposite. Many of these cuts are really cutting off your nose despite your face. I have no idea why students would stay in schools where the schedule doesn't let them meet A throughG requirements. There are next to no options for elective. They don't get the joy of activities such as art. I'm actually very curious how staff intends to find out what student interests are for electives because it certainly is not reflected in the classes they are currently enrolled in. Talk to students and academic counselors and you'll hear time and time again that students are stashed where there is room, perhaps in two PE classes a day because it's where there's room. and cutting elementary scows who are often a linguistic bridge between school staff and the community is fullhearty. If you want to think purely in dollars, they're often also the link that helps families ensure that our schools are getting the upp dollars that we qualify for. Vista Virtual provides excellent services to students for whom our traditional public schools are not working and provides a viable alternative to expensive non-public schools. Please take the time to do this right, to actually engage the community rather than rushing a vote tonight before you have even heard the equity impact. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Jean Kinster. Please unmute yourself. Hello. Good evening everybody. I sat here flabbergasted last board meeting and I listened to a clear message that came from the board in general, not necessarily by everyone on the board. And one of the things that was loud and clear is that we don't trust the governor about how much money he says he's going to give us towards our budget. Okay, fair. We don't know anything about Prop 55 funds or any of the other um things that the voters going to vote on that's going to produce money for our school. Okay, I get it. But we cannot stick our head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend like that that isn't even a possibility that's coming or it doesn't exist. Somewhere somehow it has to be noted on our budget staff that yes, we understand more money is coming. But we're telling our parents and our committee like it doesn't exist and that's not okay. I'm I just I don't understand what the rush rush rush is to vote in this budget. We have until February. slow down. Wait, I heard the board loud and clear saying, "Well, the the TA given to the teachers wasn't I don't know, not fair or wasn't done properly because there wasn't community say." The community needs a say. Where is the community say on this? Cutting down the 78, wanting to close down campuses, wanting to combine campuses. Guess what? Verie is the only school in North Richmond. A lot of those parents don't have a car they walk. How are those kids going to get somewhere else? You're not going to bust them. And we're one of the little schools that may or may not be on the chopping block. It's just kind of scary that we do not get input from our community on things that are going to impact them. So just ginormous. It's just ginormous. It's not

equitable. It's not fair. We're not getting input. We have to do better. Please do better. Next public comment is Mark Mitchell.

Uh good evening, President Jana and Superintendent Cotton. Mark Mitchell, executive director, United Teachers of Richmond. And I just wanted to comment that uh today at the UTR office, President Ortiz and I fielded a couple of dozen calls um from members, educators in our district, from uh elected leaders in our community, from parents, from parent advocates and community organizations asking if UTR had had participation in the crafting of this uh fiscal plan that was posted in the late last uh afternoon. and we had to tell them that no, we didn't have any uh opportunity to to participate in that to provide input and it certainly wasn't anything of our uh uh you know creation. Um I want to echo the comments of Sister Kim Chamberlain. This is not the way we've done things in this district up to now. It hasn't been a top-down dictatorial uh from the staff leadership to the the employees and the community. there's been a participatory uh process. Difficult decisions have been made in consultation. We haven't always agreed, but I think that um there's been a more respectful engagement in the past. And I want to encourage um our new superintendent and and President Jana and the board direct the staff to engage with those closest to our students and families. I mean, some of the the comments tonight have been frankly heartbreaking. Um we are not um working with a financial situation that is uh uh something new. Um and you know we've been meeting with the district for a year in negotiations. None of these things that have been proposed in the fiscal austerity plan were ever discussed in negotiations. Not one single idea. So these things coming up out of the blue after very modest pay increases to the region's lowest paid educators and staff seems unnecessary and ill thought. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Haley K. Please unmute yourself. Good evening. First, I want to start off with thanking the members of our board. Thank you, board member and board member Gonzalez Hoy and our student trustees. Your decision last week to stand with educators, teamesters is not going to be forgotten. One thing I like to start out with is when there's a confusion in my classroom on a word, we look for the definition. The definition of equity, we could say, is providing fair opportunities and resources so everyone can succeed. Looking at this fiscal plan and looking at the agenda, first off, it's not equitable to make a decision and vote on it before hearing the impact report that is actually about equity. Looking at this report, I'm noticing a lot of a lot of things. Um, my main concerns are the amount of FTE positions that are going to be cut next year. Thinking about I've only been in this district for four years and every year pink slips are coming to our scals and they have to be worried and knowing that they won a contract and they're still going to have to worry about will they have the funding for next year is a big concern. thinking about how we're thinking about cutting virtual schools, Vista, music programs, college

or career and technical education, ROC that is not equitable because other districts are able to provide those resources for your students. We need to not vote on this school solveny. Our next public comment is Francisco Ortiz. Good evening board, good evening community and good evening good evening staff. I want to begin by uh publicly acknowledging, thanking and appreciating the five courageous board members who last week prioritized fully staffed schools over chaos, student stability over vacancies, and hope over fear. you know, board, when you all approve the resolution at the special close session or at the special um study session, it brings stipulations to have increased revenue as well as cuts. And right now, UTR is working hard to mobilize all of our members to reauthorize Proposition 55, which brings over $39 million to West Contraosta. And it would be great if West Contraosta executive leadership led with us in this effort, as well as with measure T. you. We have demonstrated that UTR is a highly functioning organization who gets things done and when we say what we do, we do what we say. Right now, we are focused on bringing more revenue to the district while staff is trying to force cuts down the board and the community's throat without proper engagement, oversight or accountability. This is retaliatory and it's clear scare tactics will not work and our families will not stay in the district if these continue to move forward. How can any of

these choices be made without first hearing about the equity impact report which has very erroneous assertions in there that community schools could be used or community schools grants could be used to fund um combination classes. None of these concerns have been brought to light. None of these um cuts have been brought in a fashion where there is give and take and community input or even board oversight to make an informed decision. So tonight, you don't even need to even entertain the fiscal solveny plan because it wasn't even posted with a 72-hour notice and followed the proper procedure. So I encourage you, you the community has spoken, listen to them, and move forward in a more informed way. Thank you.

Our next public comment is Wendy Gonzalez. Please unmute yourself. Hi, good evening board. Um, my name is Wendy Gonzalez. I'm a teacher at Dollar Elementary School. Um, and I'm here and I'm here to talk about our community outreach workers. Um, I was just told a few hours ago that they were um said to be cut um for all elementary school sc. And I just want to talk a little bit about them because these are the people who call families when no one else can reach them. They sit with parents who are scared, overwhelmed, or unsure of how to help their children. They translate, explain, reassure, and connect families to food, housing, mental health, and school support. For many families, they are the only trusted connection to the school. If these positions are cut, the families who already feel invisible will feel completely abandoned. Attendance will drop. Communication will break down. Students who need the most support will be the first to suffer. As teachers, we want to help, but we cannot replace what outreach workers do. We are in the classrooms. Outre outreach workers are in the community building trust that takes years to earn and seconds to lose. When families feel supported, students come to school ready to learn. When families feel shut out, students struggle. Petting these positions tells our most vulnerable families that their connection to school is not a priority. Please understand this is not just a budget line. This is about children, families, and trust. I urge you to protect our school community outreach workers and the vital role that they play in keeping our school strong. Um, personally, our school community outreach worker, Lolita, uh, when she came to our school, we noticed the difference right away. Our family participation increased noticeably. Um, anytime anything uh

families need, we always say go to Lolita. Uh, Lolita has strong ties to the community. She knows our community and makes a huge difference in our schools. Please do not cut our school community outreach workers. Thank you. Our next public comment is Christina Werta. Good evening board. My name is Christina Wuerta and I'm a teacher at Kennedy High School. I'm addressing you tonight for two reasons. First, we just heard at Kennedy today that we are in danger of losing staff next year. Already, we are the smallest comprehensive high school in the district. And the idea that more staff will be taken from us is not only irresponsible but tiring. Our students have come to these board meetings in the past to fight for their programs and they have demanded equitable access to opportunities to enhance their learning experience. And all this talk of rifts and cuts shows them that students are not actually at the center of decisions being made by this district. We need to do better by our students and provide stability for them. And proposing to cut positions that work directly with students is not the way to do it. The fiscal solveny agenda item needs to be pushed to another date in order for those who will be most affected, our students and communities to understand the decisions being made. The second reason I'm speaking tonight is in support of the drama club and the afterchool program as a whole at Kennedy. Well, at least the program we used to have since we found out in August that there would be no more support systems in place after school at

Kennedy. This decision led to clubs disappearing altogether. Our drama club has done what they can to move onward and hopefully prepare a spring play for the third year in a row. But with only limited time at lunch and a lack of resources for snacks, costumes, and props, the club has really struggled. We want to provide students the opportunity to shine whether they are in or outside of the classroom. The drama club has done that as it prepares students to speak in front of large crowds and be proud of their talents. I ask that you reinstate as best as possible an afterchool program at Kennedy. Even though we're halfway through the school year already, I know that our drama club and wonderful Mr. Porter will put on a Our next public comment is Lisandanda. Please unmute yourself. Lisandra, please unmute yourself. Next public comment is Naen Salazar. Please unmute yourself.

Okay, please unmute yourself.

Uh, good evening everyone. Um, my name is Naen Salazar and I teach at Montalvin Manor K8. I'm speaking tonight to bring attention to the topic of the district's potential fiscal solveny plan and I'm urging that more time be given to make this decision. My teammates, Mr. Sorcerer, Coach Pete, Miss B, and school community member Miss Casillas all spoke tonight about how our families want to be heard, how our black and brown families need support now more than ever, and that this change would only make things more difficult for families and students. In a time where families are afraid to step outside for too long for fear of ICE and ICE raids, it makes no sense to give these families a longer commute to a school that is not near them. It is not only tonedeaf, it is actively putting more families in danger. Montalan Manor K8 is a very special place for staff, for students, and families. That is why we're so passionate about doing what's best for our families. We love them. We also all stand by our invitation. Please come by and visit and see why we feel so strongly. A reason why we're so close is because of our school community outreach worker, Miss Anna. She works tirelessly to support our families in every way you can think of. Our scowls need to be more prioritized for the incredible work they do every day. I plead that more time be given on the potential fiscal solveny plan so that families can be heard, K through eight schools can be visited, and more eyes can be on this from all angles. Thank you.

We have we have reached our one hour um on public comment. How many more comments? Public comments do we have? Okay, we will take it down now to the one minute for public comment. Our next public comment is Promise Rose. I'm a little taller. Oh, hi. This is Promise Rose, Betty Reed Saskin Middle School. Previously, I was at Dejon Middle School. And this is important because when I was hired on to Dejon Middle School, I sat for two hours in the office with no communication for an interview for a school that I had chosen. Um, when I interviewed for Saskin, I was asked, "Why do you want to come here?" Because Dejon broke me. Saskin had a community and Saskin still has that community. When I came in, it was beautiful. It was loving. We saw changes both socially aware and educationally aware. We are looking at project-based learning and we are seeing changes in the community that we have. Even though you took from us our scow, the person who helped us communicate with our parents while most of us are not speaking languages to over half. Our

next public comment is Luis and Katya Vega. Please unmute yourself. Hello. Um, hi everyone. I'm a parent at Stewart in Penol uh K through 8. My kids are in the DI program which many know has been in potential of fighting for years. I'm part of the DLI pack the district has started a while back. I have been stating if programs were to be combined or cut, there is a way to do it without the negative feedback that's happening now. Our schools uh our school specifically along with some others are being on the top of the block for middle school program along with possibly cutting our DLI. That's going to cut a lot of our classroom. That's our school will be shut down if both of those programs get cut. Along with this, if there was a more better plan of school A, B, C, D being combined with XYZ, it would make a lot more sense than just saying, "We don't know what's going to happen yet. Just wait and see." That's where all the parents are getting all this confusion and all this negative feedback cuz they don't know what to do this late in the school year. There needs to be a better plan for that. Thank you. Next public comment is Christina Cons. Good evening. My name is Miss Kay and I'm an elective teacher at Betty Reed Saskin Middle School. I teach college and career exploration and I'm the only Fab Lab and engineering class in our district. In my classes, my students actually get to test 15 different careers hands-on, and they participate in an on-ampus internship. They leave

with skills, perspective, and things that can help them succeed beyond high school. Your proposals are rash and fast and detrimental. Families will leave, and I am asking you to think of community schools. Our district has a severe cyclical pattern of disrupting the most vulnerable communities. This is structural racism. It is not fair that our district leadership can resign and all accountability resigns with them. I'm a child of this harm and I'm fighting for my child and my students so that they don't experience this harm. Please reconsider voting on these proposals.

Our next public comment is Allison Hwie. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening. I want to uh Good evening. I want to caution the board that the proposed reductions of LCAP funded CTE staffing that are in tonight's presentations do not result in linear savings. Those salaries form the basis of grant matching funds, often at a one and a half to one rate. When a position is cut, the district loses not only the staff member but the matching dollars that support other grant-f funed salaries and ultimately fund entire programs. This creates a cascading effect. Fewer staff leads to less match which leads to fewer grants, fewer pathways, and fewer students served. That is an exponential loss, not cost containment. A vote in favor of reducing continued LCAP investment in CTE salaries is a vote to drastically reduce CTE program in WCCCUSD. Next public comment is Joy Diaz Niaga. Please unmute yourself. Good evening. My name is Join. I'm a WCCUSD alum and current WC uh district leader, teacher, fourth grade deal teacher, sorry. Uh proposed elementary reductions, especially the elimination of school community outreach workers, cuts to RSP leadership, custodial staff, and broader reductions impacting teamsters and SSA members does not support the equity student and family center work that we claim to value. School community outreach workers are the bridge between schools and families. They support attendance, help families navigate housing and food insecurity, provide translation, respond during crisis, and take on so much labor that is not often seen or acknowledged. My sister might not have graduated from

high school without the support of a scowl and the resources that were provided to my mother. This relationship helped our family understand and navigate the schooling system. RSB staff ensure students with disabilities receive the services that they are legally entitled to. Custodial staff, teamsters, and SSA members keep our schools clean, safe, supervised, and functioning every single day. These roles are not optional. They are essential to learning, safety, and dignity. Do not cut these positions. Thank you.

Next public comment is Brian Mendes. Please unmute yourself.

Uh, good evening. Um, my wife and I are parents uh to two specialed seventh graders at Betty Reed Saskin Middle School. The first we heard of a possible closure of the school and merging with um Penol Middle was yesterday. Uh and we only learned of this meeting today. So I think you all really need some more time for parent input. Um if parents are only finding about this at the last minute, then yeah, you haven't done the work that you need to do. Um I looked at the presentation slides that you have for the um fiscal solveny uh that are on the agenda and they seem entirely focused to me on fiscal impact and I see no evidence of consideration for community impact. And uh my last point that I want to make with you all is that in my experience austerity measures never work to dig systems out of these huge structural financial holes. It takes a long time to get into such a big hole and it takes a long time to climb out of it. Um, investment usually bears more fruit than austerity does. Our next public comment is Nick Cresensi. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening board and members of the public. My comment is on two different things that have to do with this. First, the public came out and supported the teachers and the teamsters to pay better wages. The public now needs to look at themselves and support their actions by raising taxes on themselves. The district has committed to many programs. I hear lots of people saying that they don't want their programs cut. The only way to solve this problem is to bring in more revenue, which has to come from us, the employers, the taxpayers. You need to call the board and tell them that you are willing to raise taxes on yourself so the board can put a tax measure on the ballot and then you need to fight for that tax measure to raise the taxes to pay for this. Taking money from fund 71 will only make the problem worse in the future. It is a poor decision. And our last public comment is Lily C. Please unmute yourself. Please unmute yourself. That concludes public comment.

Thank you for everyone who gave public comment tonight. Uh we'll move on to agenda review and adoption. Does the board have anything that they would like to adjust on the agenda? Um, we'll go to Reckler. Sorry, President. Could um we did have big changes to the agenda that the three of us discussed. Can I mention those real quick, Trusty Reckler, before you go? Okay, we'll go to

um we are going to move Sorry, I'm just going to go through all the action and discussion items in order of what we're proposing. First E1, then F1, then E2, then F2, then E3, E4, and finish with F3. Okay. Yeah, of course. Start with E1, which is public hearing with bargain unit. Then move to F1, which is a fiscal solveny equity impact report. Then E2 which is a fiscal solveny plan. Then F2 which is a recruitment plan. Then E3 which is the expanded learning opportunity program. Then E4 the board policy and then finish with F3 which is the bond program portfolio.

Thank you. Okay. Trusty regular. I don't have anything. Thank you.

Okay. Is everyone okay with the changes proposed? Prop the changes proposed. Are we okay with that? We Okay. Okay. So, we'll be moving on to approving the the agenda with the changes for E1, then F1, E2, then F2, E3, then E4, and then F3. So, um, agenda will be moved that way. So now we'll be moving on to the consent items. Does any board member wish to move anything from the consent for um Smith folds?

I just have a question about C6. So I'd like to pull C6 for a question. Um complete C6. Any other item? Okay. So, we'll be pulling item C6 that is the West County Mandaring School students traveling to China and then we will we'll accept the rest of the consent items. Now moving on to the superintendent commu communication. Um is that your superintendent Connor? I think we should do consent first. So let's do consent. Um let's do item C6. Um start with Trusty Smith folks. So, the only question I had is the insurance. Um, Mr. Carter, can you speak to the type of insurance that's covered?

Uh, yes. They have uh received a quote for traveler insurance that's non-refundable. So, they're waiting for board approval before they purchase it. Uh, but it does cover the the the traveler's insurance that they got. Thank you. And this insurance is not connected to the district, correct? Correct. It is it is outside insurance not provided by the district and they would all sign a liability uh a liability waiver release form. Thank you so much. I'm complete. So, do we have a motion to approve item C6?

I move item C6, West County Mandarin School Students Traveling to China. I'll second. Okay. Item C6 has been moved by Trustee Smith F, seconded by Gonzalez Hoy. Uh, we'll go to the vote. Trusty Miles, yes. Trusty Han, yes. Trusty regular Reckler. Yes. Yes. Trusty Smith Folds. Smith Folds. Yes. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Yes. Trusty Hernandez. Yes.

And trustee, the yes. Motion passes. Uh, moving now on to item D, superintendent communication. Thank you. And I will keep this brief tonight. We've got lots to discuss. Um, next slide, please. I do want to pause and take a moment to remember um yesterday we um had the international holocaust remembrance day. I think as educators and community members it's our responsibility to ensure that lessons of the past are not forgotten. Um we must continue to educate ourselves and future generations about the importance of tolerance, empathy and the protection of human rights. And so please let's take some time to reflect on this commitment to build a more inclusive and understanding community where the horrors of the past are never repeated. Next slide please. I also want to acknowledge that January is board member appreciation month. Um and West Contraosta Unified School District proudly recognizes the dedication and service of our board of education. We thank board president Guadalupe Anyana, board trustees Lesie Reckler, Jamila Smith Fo, Cynthia Hernandez, and Demetri Gonzalez Hoy for their leadership, advocacy, and unwavering commitment to our students, families, and staff and community. Thank you for all that you do. Next slide, please. I want to take a moment to address some important reminders about our policies and the work that we're doing here in West Contraosta to support all of our students, including um understanding the concerns, the stressors um that immigration enforcement that we're

seeing across our nation is having within our communities. And so I do also want to um just lift up that we do have our immigration policy um and that ensures that and that we remain current and aligned with our responsibility to protect to support all of our students. I do want to acknowledge on Friday, January 30th, um been seeing in social media um a nationwide student protest um or walk out in relation to the actions that have been seen um across our nation um particularly in Minnesota um with our with ICE agents. And we do want to um make sure the community understands this district. We support our students peaceful assembly. We support our students sharing their voices and showing their advocacy. Um but please know that we are looking at all options that we can within our schools to provide that opportunity for students to engage in civic uh awareness and civic activity. um we do um and that this won't be an excused absence. I just want to make sure everyone understands that and that's been true for many of our um student um actions that have been taken over the many years. Um, I do also want to remind our students, staff, and families about their know their know your rights uh materials that are available um as well as connections to community organizations that are supporting families uh young people um and our community um particularly around issues of immigration enforcement. Next slide, please.

I also want to lift up and remind folks that attendance matters. Um, attendance has an impact on academics achievement and grades, uh, on future earnings and life opportunities. We see that in um, broader national research. Um, it also supports social and emotional development, a critical skills development, and it builds blocks building blocks for success. And so we encourage that students show up every day for school. A miss uh class is a lost opportunity to learn, grow, and connect. So thank you. Next slide. And just want to remind everyone, continue to read. Read every day. Reading builds brain power. It keeps students academically engaged over our school breaks. And we have a break coming up in a couple of weeks. But making sure that students are reading even just 20 minutes a day makes a huge difference. Strong readers become strong writers and strong speakers. So again, keep reading. Next slide. We had our last board meeting last Wednesday. So it's been kind of a quick turnaround. Um but just wanted a little lift up a few things that have been going on um within the district in the last week. one, we had a fantastic, amazing, beautiful, and well-received stage groundbreaking celebration. Um, thank you to we had all of our board members were present for that event. We appreciate your support. Uh, as well as key staff and community members and students. We had some amazing students um who led us in the pledge of allegiance and led led us in their um school chant as well. But it was a beautiful community event. Uh over 75 folks were out um for the groundbreaking ceremony and we cannot wait to see this gorgeous school that will be coming from

really there's nothing there right now. So we are creating a state-of-the-art school for our students prestige. Next slide please. We also uh participated in last Saturday in the West Contraosta Education Fair and that was led by a number of our outside um community partners um and lifted up folks from both West Contra Costa Unified School District but also um our charter schools in the area as well as uh community- based organizations and higher ed. This happened on the same day as the parents were partners conference. Um, so it was just a day of community building, of learning and growth for all of us and just really appreciate all of the work that everyone put in to host such a a powerful event for our community. Next slide. I, you know, we've been I've been I've been rocking with uh Elsto High School football this year and just so proud of the fact that they went on for their state championship. They held their uh closing of the season um uh football championship banquet last week and it was just a joyous occasion uh for the kids to come together. Thank you to the coaches there, the principal, the parents uh and the students who came together to um to celebrate the the huge win. I just want to acknowledge all of our teams, all of our groups that have been coming together. Um, we know how important our sports programs are for student growth and development. And so, thank you for all of you who support in whatever way that you do our sports programs across our district. Next slide. And then finally, we were able to visit on Monday. Uh, there was a conscious kitchen event. Uh students had

home-cooked, it was delicious, uh meal cooked for lunch in our gorgeous kitchen uh at Obama Elementary School. Uh we also had our farmers that were there that day to um share samples of the fruits and vegetables. I had a delicious date that day. Um but had a chance to really enjoy um and and be in community with our students. um was there for over two lunch periods um but was just just proud to see the partnerships that we have with our uh community farmers. What's coming up? We have our West Contraosta Science Fair is coming up on February 12th at the Enza High School. We encourage folks to come out. Um, middle and high school students will submit projects by February 6th with judging taking place on February 10th at Elsto High. So, definitely please come out and um and and see what amazing things our students are doing. We saw a sampling of some of the work around Mesa at the beginning of this meeting, but our students are doing amazing things in around STEM, science, technology, engineering, math, as well as art. Next slide, please. It is also time for new family enrollment as well as our transfer enrollment period is happening now. Transfer enrollment ends on February 27th. So, if that is something that you are considering, please submit your applications as soon as possible. If you're a new family to West Contraosta Unified School District, uh enrolling a student for the fall, definitely come on out and visit our schools and register as soon as you can. The process is very easy. Um also, it's time to enroll in preschool. Please do that today. If

you've got an a student age 3 to 5, preschool is an option as well as our transitional kindergarten and kindergarten programs. So, please check out West Contraosta. Finally, we have um the last of our winter performances um that are are going from, let's see, Hercules High um they're hosting their own Ed Fair. Is that correct? on January 31st. Um, Nestrom the 29th, which is tomorrow, will be hosting their Eastpace Center for Performing Arts music showcase, uh, celebrating Poratu also on the 31st. Um, as well as a jazz event on the 30th. and King Elementary School. They're having their dance showcase on February 5th as well as I'm sorry, 9 to 10 for K3 and then for the fourth through sixth graders. There are lots of ways to get involved and we'll be talking more about ways to get involved around our process of determining our fiscal solveny as well. But in addition to those conversations and community meetings that we are planning for the future, um there are again many ways to be involved both schools site council, our APAC, our ASAT, uh our DLCAP committees, our our MDAC, I mean all those acronyms mean something to the work that we're doing across West Contraosta. So definitely take a look at this and consider ways to get involved. Are there any questions? Trusty Smith holds.

This is more of a comment, but I'mma formulated it as a question. Do you recall where you were January 28th, 1986? That's the day that the Challenger exploded. And this is it's been 40 years. So, I just wanted and we know that there was a teacher on board. I just wanted us to take a moment to recognize that, but I formulated it in a question. I'm complete. I was a ninth grade student at Elsto High School that year. And thank you for lifting that up.

Thank you. So, moving on from my report to our student board members, their final report, and we are so excited to hear what they have put together for us. Uh, Trusty Miles, Trusty Han, take it away. Here we go. Um, so it's the end. It's been a semester. Um, and so Brooke and I had to put together a report and we looked at just everything that happened this semester. There was a lot. Um, whether that be on our district level, whether that be on the state level, whether that be on the nation level, you can go up and up and up. And it's been a really in-depth, really chaotic semester to say the least. And so, wait, can we go into the next slide? Uh the next next slide. Um okay. So what we decided so we coming into this position we felt really uh welcomed and we felt like our voice was being heard in a time where that really matters. This last semester we've seen a lot of voices that aren't being heard. And so finding a place where you feel heard is extremely valuable. What we did was we put together a survey so we could make sure or at least try to make other students within the district at our own sites feel heard or be able to put their ideas out the same way we've been able to do so over the past semester. Okay. Do you want to next slide? Next slide. So we did a role we did a role breakdown and we sent this out. It was originally going to be 50 people, but we actually had both of our school sites send it out to the entire um schools. So, it was

really great to see that. So, we did end up having um mostly students, but we did have a few teachers and a few staff members. So, next slide. And same with grade breakdown. We weren't assuming to have this many. Um, we did decide last minute to do a few graduating and freshman in colleges because we still think that they are involved in the decisions of last year since it was recent and they've been involved. Next slide, please. Um, and before we continue, I would like to add that this was an extremely small sample and there it's hard to generalize off of a sample this small, but we were able to get a lot of comments and feedback based off of personal opinions from different people in the in these schools and other students. And being able to let them share their opinions was what mattered more to us than the data itself. Okay. Now continuing on to the data. Um our site breakdown was mostly Vista which is Brooks High School and mine which is Osero. Um next slide. So, we asked about uh school supplies and tables and seating kind of broke it down and we found that in general leaning towards um liking them, which is surprising because when you're at a site, you don't tend to get that kind of feedback. But it's nice to see that we're doing well when it comes to supplies and when it comes to seating and other things, especially in a time where we be we'll be going forward and probably seeing more budget cuts in the future. So that's fun to see. Next,

and then again with our school site facility, we were presently surprised. We wouldn't didn't think it was going to average this high, but this is another great visual aspect to see our facilities are going well according to students and faculty at the moment. Next slide. So, we also wanted to put how safe students feel at school. This is on the one we are mandatory to take for the district survey, but we decided if we put this out in our survey if students would answer differently because it wasn't conducted by the district. And we did see similar results and we were also very happily surprised about how students felt at school and we thought that they honestly felt really safe at school which is always amazing to see. Next slide. Okay. Um, going on to a little bit more um, strike related. They'll get a little bit more strike related and workplace related as we go on because that was one of the big things that impacted students this last semester. Um, we asked we asked about uh workplace environments and not necessarily that but also having to leave because of either pay or other outside factors um that have been affecting teachers. It's out of sight what you hear. It's all over the place because there's some students who uh who've had the same teacher year and year and they stay with that teacher and there's some students who have had trouble with long-term subs and it's all over the place. So, we were curious to ask about this and uh frankly looking at our graph, it's kind of inconclusive because like the feedback that we get at our sites, it's

really all over the place and it kind of depends on your scheduling and on where you are. So, I do think that in the future in district level surveys, it could help to look into how um moving teachers around affects students and maybe ask them a little bit more about that in the future. Next slide, please. Okay, Brooke, do you want to take this one? So, this one I really wanted to put in, which is getting involved in extracurriculars because I know especially at my school, it's really hard to get involved with extracurriculars. So we really we wanted to see how students feel about getting involved in extracurriculars and most did strongly agree that they feel like they can get involved but I still think there is work to do that we can do to include more people in extracurriculars as putting up flyers clubs everything and I think it's just really great to see the student student input that is directly affecting them. Next slide. And then on that same topic, after school activities, accessibility. So this is more like debate, um, sports and all that category. This went really high and we think that's amazing because we think the flyers and the promotion for after school activities like this are going really well. So we think to see this visually is a great understanding of how this is something that our district is doing very well currently. Next slide.

Okay. Um this one was a question that I was really excited about. Um district funds are really all over the place. They're extremely complex and as a student it's difficult to know where the funding for your supplies and your money because it's to support you is coming from and how that gets to you. And so we were curious about how exactly um students were interacting with the information on these funds. I was pleasantly surprised by uh just how many students are leaning towards agree because me personally even in this position I still struggle with understanding district level funds because it's so complex and so the fact that we as a district have been able to at the very least get this much of our student body um adequately informed on how district funds work or just at the very least confident about district funding is extremely wonderful. Um, I do think that it's noticeable that that's not our majority, but also we need we need to take the win because district funds are complex and it's nice to see that students are learning about them. Next slide, please. Okay. Um, so back to the strike. During the strike, there was a lot of feedback or at least um on our sites that we heard about students not necessarily understanding and not knowing why they got a uh 4-day break in the middle of the week. Um and so we wanted to ask about how confident we felt about why our teachers went on

strike. And this is extremely subjective. It's it h it completely depends on who you are and what perspective you've seen. But to be confident about knowing why your teachers went on strike is something that's valuable. And so we made it very clear in our question that there was absolutely no wrong answer. Um there was a also a long answer question to this. And so we wanted to know what students thought why our teachers went on strike and if they understood why. And I was extremely surprised and extremely happy about this response. We we both were because of just how many students felt like they understood and felt like this was part of their education experience. Um during the strike, many students felt separated uh from what was going on. And it's nice to see that we've circled back and that we've put together that link again. Next slide, please. Okay. Um, so climate change, it it'll come around and come back and depends on what class that you're in. Um, so we were curious about climate change education, which is something that's really crucial, especially right now when we get lots of almost scary statistics thrown at us. We were very curious about how this comes back to what you're learning in school. We know that that you'll learn lots of different current events around the world, but current events don't necessarily encompass science current events, which is also something in of itself. Our response was kind of inconclusive. However, I do it is noticeable that our

our agreeing side is a little bit smaller, not statistically significant, but a little bit smaller than um our side that does disagree with how um how they um about the confidence of learning about um global climate change. Um so uh we think that it would be helpful and um important to address just general global climate change in the future maybe a little bit as we go into district surveys or also just in education and integration in the future. We'll be looking to do more of that with ASC as we go on too. Okay, next slide please. Um do you want to take this one? So, I thought this one was very important to put on here, which is district decisions and students. Um, this is very big, especially in the past month. I know um I think sometimes students can be overlooked in the district, which is crazy because it's a school district, but um I felt like I didn't make this in mind. So, I really wanted to see what my peers thought. And I thought that the evidence and conclusions were pretty well. Um, we can definitely do more, but I also think that just keep doing what we're doing here is a great example of how we can keep students in mind. Um, next slide. This one is also super important to me because I have um friends and people I know that rely solely on district provided meals. So um this is I feel satisfied with district provided meals and most a majority said that they were but also some of them didn't. Um I think it's very important that we do have wellrounded district provided meals because this some student it's awful but it might be the truth that this might be their only

meal of the day. So obviously that's a tough subject to get around but also I think that is something we might want to look further on in the future. Next slide.

All right. back to um really current events. We have had a lot of dis district information put out on ice raids and how schools would um interact with any kind of instance and so okay while we've seen a lot of work and acknowledgement on the district is still doing it um Sorry. Um, now I testing. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, so while we've seen a lot of acknowledgement and a lot of work on the staff side of things, we were curious how this trickled down to the students. Um yeah yeah yeah. Okay. Testing. Um yeah. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Um, and so I I know from my personal experience, we've done different ice trainings for students directly through clubs that that are facilitated outside programs. However, depending on your teacher and depending on your classroom, information about immigrations and enforcement, it can get unclear. And so what we what mattered to us was to know just how broad or

necessarily how how many students were being informed about the severity of these things and about what their teachers would do to support them and what support systems did exist in the instance of an ice raid during the school day. Um, we found that students felt supported and that for the most part students while not necessarily being informed by their teachers, they felt like their school was a safe enough place to be supported by their educators in the instance of an ICE raid, which is a wonderful thing to see, especially in this time of in this political state of the world right now. So that was a good thing that we were very happy about. Next slide please. Okay. Um we were curious about stress. Um especially in the competitive college ops scope. Uh we mostly surveyed high school students. stress is almost inevitable um and can get extremely severe and noticeable as you get higher into education. So, we were curious about how school caused stress because most of the time you get stressed out because all sorts of things as well as school. And so we did notice that most of our students and most of our peers are stressed out by school directly. However, I think there's a lot of value in you know maybe a future survey looking into the extracurriculars and other things that these students are involved in because that can be one of the main factors to causing stress in school. Next slide please.

All right. take that.

So, this one was about class size and how class size has impacted people's learning. Um, I know personally for me, class size has been the make or break factor with education. So, I was really curious to see how students from my school and students from Sasha's school felt about this and majority did say that class size does impact their learning. So, I think we should keep in mind while making decisions that although sometimes it's inevitable to have big class sizes that if we can having small class sizes can really benefit students and the overall outcome of their learning in the end. Next slide please. So, for our conclusion, we just wanted to say um our time as trustees has been such an amazing experience. We've learned so much in advocacy and the district level. We even spoke at the Department of Education in November um about the importance of special education and we've also learned management skills, how to voice our opinion even when it gets hard as we've noticed last week. And we've connected with our student congress peers in a way that we've never been able to. And this will help us run meetings for all student congress in the future and in workshop meetings. And just one last note, um because this experience elevated our leadership and our voice so much, we were able to compile, um specifically through this survey, but just through our term in general, a lot of feedback and a lot of outside support from others of our peers who have wonderful, extremely valuable ideas that we could be using in the future and look to continue to use in the future, especially with our work for ASC, but any work that we continue to do in the future. that rooted from this experience whether so we're extremely excited to take the knowledge that we've learned from this experience but also the feedback that we've gotten from our peers and continue to make change within our district.

Thank you for that presentation. Do we have any comments from our board? Um, Gonzalez Hoy,

thank you. I have a question. I have a few, but because of time, I'm just going to ask one. Uh, thank you for that wonderful report. Um, for the specific question about uh whether or not students would feel supported if I came to their school and I want to thank you for asking that question. Um I was happy to see a lot majority of students would feel supported, right? Uh but the 27 students that reported that they didn't they wouldn't feel supported. I was wondering if you knew anything from the data or from your conversation with students as of why they responded that way just so that we can ensure to um fix some of those issues that they've presented. I think that one of the biggest not noticeable things in that question specifically was the demographic that we got that answered this survey. Um it was a very small sample size because you can only go so far to encourage students to do a survey. And when I noticed people filling out the survey or or conversing about the survey, I I noticed that the individuals who said they felt supported said they felt supported because they did not fear ICE inherently and they had no reason to fear ICE, which is debatable in the scope of things. But I I think that that's a question that needs to be researched even more because our sample size just doesn't do it justice, especially when we look at the demographics that we we didn't we didn't ask about students about their demographics. However, I do believe that if we had, we would have seen a relationship with our demographic breakdown in comparison to how safe

students felt in in the instance of ice rates. Thank you so much for that. Just even your response again why I'm so impressed by you both uh and the you know how far you go with your analysis. Uh I appreciate that and sprint and con maybe that can also be one of the things that we should take on is asking specifically students um that question in a future survey that we can do to redefine to refine our procedures. So, thank you so much to you both and to support that.

Great. That's helpful. Thank you. Do we have any further questions from the board? Okay. Any comments?

Well, thank you very much. Um, we'll be moving on to our action items and item E1, the public hearing to accept public comment and approve receipt of initial bargaining proposals from West Contra Costa Administrators Association and West Contraosta Unified School District. This is a public hearing on the sunshining of the initial bargaining proposals for West Contra Costa Administrator Association and the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Tonight, the board will conduct a public hearing on the initial proposals from the WCCAA and the West Contra Costa Unified School District person to the sunshining requirements of California government code section 3547. During the public hearing, the focus will be on gathering of input from the public, including district teachers, employees, and parents, regarding the initial bargaining proposals being presented. The purpose of this meeting is to inform the public on the topic of negotiations between WCCA and the district. Tonight's item will proceed as follows. First, I will open the public hearing. Dr. Sylvia Greenwood, a acting associate superintendent of human resources, will make a presentation to the board regarding the initial proposals from WCCCA and the school district. Third, upon the conclusion of the presentation, the board president will make public comment on this item. The total time allowed for public comment is 10 minutes and each participant will have one minute at the conclusion of public comment. Board members may ask clarifying questions of district staff. Then the public hearing

will be closed. At this time I am opening the hearing on the initial proposals of the West Contraosta Administrators Association and the West Contraosta Unified School District. and I invite Dr. Sylvia Greenwood to make a presentation. Good evening. WCCA and West Contraosta Unified School District Administrators Association uh contract expires June 30th, 2026. The parties are presenting their initial bargaining proposal at the public board meeting as required under the education employment relations act as a part of the sunshining process. These proposal are separate from any current discussions regarding program conditions orus and public comment should be limited solely to these items sunshine. Once the agreement is reached, it will undergo an AB1200 review by the county of education before the board ratification. WCCA will be opening articles uh 2.1 recognition. Article 3.1 salary appendix A salary schedules article 82.3 child care child bonding leave article 12.1 benefits. The district shall be opening up article 15, evaluation, appendix B, administrative evaluation timeline, appendix C, administrative evaluation standards guideline, appendix D, A, educational leadership observation tool, an appendix E, improvement assistant plan. We look forward to negotiating with WCCAA.

We will be doing a We look forward to doing um I'm sorry I lost my place. We look forward to negotiating with them at this time. Thank you. Now we are going to public comment. One minute per person with a total time of 10 minutes. We will alternate between an in-person public comment and then one on Zoom. Do we have any public comments on this item? We have no public comment.

Board, are there any questions? With no further questions, the public hearing is hereby closed. I will now accept a motion to approve receipt of initial bargaining proposals from West Contra Costa Administrators Association and West Contra Costa Unified School District. President Yan, I move that we accept the initial bargaining proposals from the West Country Costa Administrator Association and the West Country Costa Unified School District.

Rickler will second. Okay, we have a motion moved by Gonzalez Hoy, seconded by Trusty Regler. Um, going on to the vote. Um, Trusty Miles, yes. Trusty Han, yes. Trusty Reckler, Reckler, yes. Trusty Smith folds. Smith FS. Trusty Gonzalez. Hoy, yes. Trusty, yes. And trustana is a yes. Are there any further board comments? Trusty Wler,

I do have one small point of order, which is the hearing opened at 9:17 and closed at 9:20. We will now move on to item F one fiscal sol fiscal solveny equity impact report.

Thank you. But I just want to um frame this conversation and I I think there was we're prepared for this conversation. Some of our staff will be online and some will be in person. Um this is coming from uh board direction that we received on January 9th. Uh as we were discussing and talking through fiscal solveny um the recommendations from staff, what would the impact be? Um can you go to the next slide, please? What would it be on um and how would our redesigning impact low-income students, African-American students, English learners, students experiencing homelessness, and students in foster care? So that was the the lens from which we were working. Um we pulled together a team of almost 30 folks of a district across the district to really look deeply into and look at our data um to really understand how some of these decisions will impact. So similar to what was being requested um during our public comment this evening. I will pass it now to staff to go ahead with the presentation. Thank you, Superintendent Cotton. Um, so I just want to acknowledge what Superintendent Cotton just named that we are in a really difficult moment and the concepts that we're going to review tonight are not abstract. They affect students, they affect families, they affect staff, and we recognize the real stress and uncertainty that comes with these very needed reductions. So, our focus tonight is on being transparent about how these redesign ideas are going to impact students, especially those who already face the greatest barriers. And

we're very intentional about looking at the impacts of, like Superintendent Cotton said, the most vulnerable students that you see listed above. And so, tonight's presentation is going to be at a very high level overview. It's not the work of a single individual. It speaks to the collaboration that's happened across our extended cabinet, including executive directors and department directors who came together to closely examine the impacts and the tradeoffs of the ideas we're putting forward tonight. And I also do want to mention that we have provided an equity impact report which is attached to the board agenda and that provides a bit deeper data and detailed behind the work that we're going to present tonight. Next slide. So to ensure fiscal stability, the district has to tighten spending in the 4,000s, which is materials and supplies, and the 5,000s, which is discretionary contracts. Next slide. And so at the site level, this represents about a 33% reduction in allocations for materials and supplies from the general fund and from alcap funds. And at the department level, this means a 10% reduction. Next slide. So for most schools, these funds are used to purchase classroom materials and supplies. These often come from vendors like Amazon or AAA office supplies. And it's really important and I have to name that this does not include custodial supplies. Those will remain intact and those are purchased through a separate budget. What it does include though for the IT department is a reduction that has a significant impact to the replacement of classroom Chromebooks.

In terms of impact, this sh changes how we allocate Chromebooks at the elementary level. It essentially takes us from the onetoone home devices in elementary schools to having Chromebooks remaining at the site rather than going home with students. And so it doesn't mean an end of access. Currently, every elementary student has access to a hundred a Chromebook 100% of the time during the school day. Under this proposal, the devices would be redistributed into the classroom sets rather than individually assigned. And I also just want to name that in the instructional context, we just did a survey of elementary teachers and they reported that Chromebooks are only used from 1 to 25% of the instructional time. Thank you. for elementary. And this data was used to inform impact and opportunity as we made these considerations. And from an equity perspective, this creates an opportunity to write Chromebook inventory in elementary schools. And it allows us to prioritize devices for middle and high school students who we know rely on this for their curricular access and could promote small groupoup instruction in the lower elementary classrooms and intentional reduction of screen time during instruction for our youngest students. And so while the reductions are difficult, this helps us to balance that fiscal reality with the instructional priorities, equity, and student well-being in elementary. And now I'd love to turn it over to our SLA director, Dr. Guthrie Fleshman, who's going to walk us through the proposed reductions in the 5000s.

Thank you. U Thank you, board. Um and superintendent. Um next slide, please.

Um one of the contracts that we are looking to uh reduce is our transportation contract within special education. when when students uh program of need is not offered at their school of residence, we offer them uh placement in another school site that's out of their school of residence. And often times that means that we then need to provide transportation to that school site. Um while there are some longerterm conversations that we can have about program and inclusivity and and ensuring that we have um expanded opportunities at student schools of residence, we are looking for some immediate opportunities to reduce transportation. Um and we are one way that we can do that is to identify some of our standalone self-contained classes. Um, when I say standalone, I mean like a 4 to six program that isn't fed at the same school by a TK1 and a 23 program. So, it's uh based on need, based on various factors. We may have created a classroom that's just a 4 to 6, which means that those students were elsewhere from TK through three. They're at this school for 4 to 6 and then they'll they'll go on to middle school. um many of our schools have a TK through six continuity of a specific program. There are some schools that don't have that continuity. So those are the classes that we are looking at because each of those classes has bus routes associated with them. If we can consolidate those standalone programs to a school where there's already a bus route, we can reduce the need for extra bus routes. Um, and we know that each one of those bus routes costs us approximately 70 to $80,000 per school year. So, we can save money by having those programs consolidated at school sites um when they otherwise were going to be moving at the end of TK1 or at the

end of 2, three or four to six anyway. So, so there's a there is a nonzero impact on those students. I'm not going to pretend that there's no impact because if it's a four to six program and I've been there for fourth and fifth grade, I may now have to move for sixth grade. That can't be ignored, right? Um from a long-term perspective, um there's not a significant equity impact because the program itself uh does not change, right? So there will be a cycling through of some part of those students. an incoming fourth grader won't know the difference because they were going to change schools anyway, right? So, a a subsection of those students will have to change schools. And that's a real thing. It's a conversation we'll have to have with families. It is something that we've done before. I actually experienced it as a principal. I inherited programs from another school and we we started around this time of the year and we were able to talk through those processes. I was able to meet with parents as the principal of those incoming families. I was able to meet with those teachers that were coming to my school site and we're very intentional so that the equity concerns that do exist can be mitigated by intentional planning and communication throughout the springtime. Um so that's that's the immediate uh savings that's possible within our transportation budget and again there are long longerterm conversations to be had as well um within the paraprofessional um category. Um we've had many many conversations. Everyone in this room is very familiar with um the contracted paraprofessional um scenario that in which we find oursel. Um an opportunity here uh is to identify those classes and there are classes and this is not um just coming from from me as the SUPA director. This is an issue that's been brought up by by both the uh members of the teamsters

union as well as members of of the teachers union. um that there are some classes in our district that simply have more adults than are needed for the number of students that are in those classes and even to a point where it could be a detriment to the students having too many adults. Um and so we are looking at those classes to identify contracted paraprofessional positions that could be reduced. um we could serve the students not only adequately but probably in in many cases not probably definitely in many cases um better serve those students because we give them the opportunity to develop more independence um and less overcrowding of classrooms uh with um adults that that are beyond what is necessary to serve the needs of those students. Um so we will be reviewing the classrooms that are that have these really high numbers of adults um to reduce some of those contracted pair of professionals. Um all the other benefits of reducing those contracts have been talked about at Nauseium. So I won't go into that at the moment right now. Um, but that's an opportunity I think actually to from an equity standpoint, this actually benefits our program uh because it it off will afford students more opportunity to develop their independence um in those classrooms. So those are the immediate contract opportunities that we see and I will pass it on um to the next slide and I'd like to welcome to the podium director Sanji Bell to speak to elementary right sizing.

Thank you. Um, good evening, uh, Superintendent Cotton, our board president, and Jana, board members in our community. My name is Sanji Bell, and I'm director of curriculum and instruction, and I'm here to discuss uh, elementary right sizing. Um, in order for us to ensure physical stability and operational efficiency, the district must rightsize staffing to match the significant decline in student enrollment. Next slide. Enrollment trends and the needs for alignment. Over the past year, district enrollment has declined by approximately 450 students and is projected to continue declining in the upcoming school year. As we plan for staffing adjustments, our top priority is equity. We are seeking a deeper dive into school with schools with higher concentrations of African-American English learners, special education and foster students. So far, Downer, Grant, and PIE are some of the schools that fit this criteria, and targeted funding sources have been leveraged to support and align programs during this transition. Next slide. Because FTE is determined by site level enrollment, staffing must be aligned to current student counts for the upcoming 2627 school year. Our goal is to ensure every site receives the appropriate FTE allocations based on enrollment while maintaining equity balance and fiscal responsibility across the district. For elementary, this would mean that kinder through third grade would remain at 22 students and fourth through six would remain at 30. Next slide.

Impact on classroom structures and specialized programs. Enrollment shifts and staffing right sizing will impact classroom configurations and specialized programs. We anticipate an increase in combination classes at the elementary level. The district currently has 39 combination classes taught primarily by veteran teachers who receive contractual salary differential. Schools will also collaborate by combining resources to support FTE and sustain align programs across sites. Thank you very much. And now I welcome up Jessica Petrilli, director of college and career to speak about elementary band.

Hello board. I'm Superintendent Cotton. Thank you for having me. I'm going to present about our elementary music program. This program is currently in every single one of our elementary schools serving 1,727 students in grades 4 through six. It is an opt-in model where students choose if they want to participate and the enrollment in the program reflects the diversity of our district with student demographics being proportional to the district of our demog of our district. [clears throat] And although every site has students in the program um participating, every school still varies in the amount of students in the program, some being larger and some being smaller. Currently, the central funding for the majority of the positions that provide the music program is expiring and tonight we're proposing to shift away from continuing with central funding for this reason. And we'd like to support sites with using Prop 28 funds, prep teacher funds, and other creative solutions to continue the elementary music program if they wish to continue it. Thank you. Next slide, please. Uh, and good evening. I will be sharing the secondary right sizing proposals. Um, I think there is a theme between our recommendations this evening that we want to do everything we can.

We can't hear you. You can you hear me now? Yeah. You got to speak into the mic.

Um, I think there is a theme this evening that we would like to do everything we can to ensure highquality programs. Um and we need to acknowledge the reality um that we have less students to fill seats than we had previously. And so you can see that in secondary schools we have experienced a decline each year. Uh shockingly between last year and this school year almost 500 students. we are projected to lose 200 more students next year and that our rate of staffing has not reduced at the rate that we have lost students. Think about this as you have if you have class sizes of 35 you have roughly a teacher to every 32 kids. Um the staffing that is represented here uh has been higher than that. Next slide. So when we think about our secondary course offerings, we have not dictated a cut. What we have stated is that we have to staff to the ratio of students that are enrolling in our schools and we know that our secondary students are filling out choice sheets as we speak. We've asked sites to move this up. We do know trends in courses that run small. We know that our AP classes, any course that's third in a sequence, ROC and some of our CTE courses, usually the um third courses in the sequence tend to be smaller. And anytime we're running a smaller class, then there is a cost associated because it isn't full. Um and so we will work with our school sites to make sure that they have thoughtful decisions about what they can

and can't offer. We are also trying to really be innovative. Um we can rotate courses that are offered in sequence. Our students do four-year planning. And so if we say this year we offer AP chemistry and the next AP bio, students can plan out four years in advance and have access to rigorous highquality courses without us offering multiple classes of 15 students. Um we are exploring allowing students to access courses across our school sites such as our ninth period welding class this year. uh so that students have access. We are looking at using title funds for class size reduction to classes that we believe we should run at at a small size because of the value. Um and we have rewritten CTE grants to maximize uh the classroom positions. I do also want to assure the board um that in looking at these reductions we will be able to meet the match for our CTE grants. Um that is something that has been taken into consideration. So uh I will give it back to Catherine. So, now we're going to turn into um discussing equitydriven staffing decisions focused on our support staff within our schools. So, we're proposing that these decisions be grounded using an equity lens with an intentional focus on schools that serve higher number of unduplicated students. And that includes students from low-income households, English learners, and foster youth. Next slide. This matters because because staffing

decisions directly shape students daily experience at schools. Staffing is one of the strongest levers that we have to ensure that students with the greatest needs receive the greatest support. In practice, this means directing staffing and support towards our higher need schools to protect strong instruction to create safe campuses and to ensure student engagement and attendance is strong. And these decisions reflect enrollment trends, fiscal realities with an intentional effort to prioritize stability and minimize disruption where possible. And so the big takeaway is that even with limited resources, we're trying to be deliberate about using uh what we have where it's actually needed most. Next slide. So this slide shows a snapshot of the proposed staffing matrix to allocate support staff at schools based on both enrollment and student need using an equity lens that recognizes that schools serving a higher percentage of unduplicated count students require additional support. The matrix includes information on the FTE allocations, the contractual requirements, and the funding sources, and provides clarity and consistency on how staffing decisions are applied across schools. So, for example, you see two highlighted rows. At an elementary level, we're proposing that schools with more than 600 students and over 90% unduplicated people count are allocated an allocation of a vice principal. This reflects the increased leadership and support that a larger higher need campus needs. Similarly, a bit lower down the slide, you can see the allocation of Typus clerk one positions at elementary

schools. All schools receive a baseline allocation really reflecting that importance of that attendance work that's necessary at every single school while the schools with higher enrollment receive additional time. The full matrix is available with all of the allocation details in the equity impact report for reference for the other positions. And now I invite uh executive director Jose DeLeon and director Leashante Smith to speak about the middle and K8 schools. Next slide. Good evening Superintendent Khan President and school board. As Katherine stated, my name is Lante Smith and I'm the director of school climate and my office also oversees enrollment and transfers in our district. and I'm going to speak to you today about uh merging our or bringing back our seventh and eighth grade students to comprehensive middle school campuses. Next slide. So, as it was already stated, we really have to focus on equitable outcomes for our most vulnerable student groups. And so the data that I looked at and referenced was I really wanted to see how our African-American students, our English language learners or long-term English language learners or students with disabilities, families in transition, and foster youth. Really wanted to see how they were doing in our K to8 settings. So if you look at the equity port, there's a lot of data there, but when you control for just seventh and eighth grade students in the K to8 setting, what I found is that there wasn't any statistically meaningful academic

advantages that outweigh our comprehensive middle school data for these subgroups. In addition, I do not believe that the differences outweighed the significant cost of reduced access to vital services that are available in middle school campuses that are not available across our K8 campuses. What I mean by that is that middle schools are better equipped to have comprehensive attendance teams to support students in getting to school. All of our middle schools currently have social, emotional, and mental health support providers full-time. They have consistent intervention team processes. They have grade level ELD placement and increased monitoring. And they have access to advisory, electives, school counselors, full-time, and schedule flexibility, which are not seen in all of our K8s. I also think that it is a time to think about if our seventh and eighth grade students were to return to their resident schools, what that can do to the ethnic diversity of some of our middle schools, which are not ethnically ethnically diverse at this time. and really thinking about how we can build out robust programs for students at the middle school campuses and really think through how we can start to help students with that purpose and that identity setting that really happens at this adolescence age and we would be better able to support at the middle school level. I also wanted to note that the four K8 schools were originally designed and put so that we can retain

our sixth to 7th grade cohort and the retention of sixth to 7th grade has not improved since the establishment of the most recent K8 schools. One more thing on this slide is that the research shows that when K8 schools outperform, it's often because they are successfully implementing a middlegrade promising practices. So they have teameing advisory uh access to different schedules and electives and specialized supports and our K8s across the district are not doing this in a consistent way. Next slide. We have a point of order. Uh we're 10 minutes away from 10:00. I think we're going to have to put a motion on the table to extend the meeting tonight. Um get a motion for the board to extend. We have still items that we need. We have E2, F2, E3, E4, and F3. Looking at the items that currently exist. Um, board president, there's really only one that we could uh pause on possibly to um the board policy. Second read we could table for our next meeting. Um, it's also possible to table our recruitment plan discussion to our next meeting. Our fiscal solveny conversation needs to be had this this evening. Our ELOP uh plan, we are hoping for board approval tonight that is on a timeline as well as our bond program item.

So, so item E3,

if we were to hold on item F2, which is a discussion item, as well as item E4, which are the board policies for president, then I'll move that we extend end until 11:30. Um, and we remove items uh E4 and F2 or table. I apologize. So, do I have a second? I'll second. We wait.

Smith folds. Smith folds. No. Trusty Gonzalez. Yes. Trusty Hernandez. Yes.

Trusty Anyana is a yes. uh with trusty regular absent. So we will move um till 11:30. You may continue. Thank you. This slide here shows our seventh and eighth grade program enrollment in each of our KA schools. And what you'll notice here is that we've had declines in our schools since the 2021 20 to 2021 school year. Uh with the exception of two schools. We know in the last year all of our schools have declined. So with the declining enrollment in our K8 schools, we know that that is not equally distributed and that is why the programming looks different at every K8 school. The lower enrollment does directly impact the academic rigor that students have access to as well as the electives and enrichment. And I will mention that in middle school, students have access to CTE programming for that college and career technical pathway. And in our K8 schools, they do not. Students remaining in shrinking K8 grades, they do face reduced opportunities for that extra programming. And we know that without some structural change, the K8 model does exacerbate inequity rather than mitigate it. Next slide. And I'll turn it over to Mr. Deleó.

To say good evening or good night uh to school board president Aanes, uh, Superintendent Cotton, and school board members. So, one thing that I want to talk about a little bit is my experience in middle school. Uh, I had the pleasure to open Helms Middle School uh back in 2010 and be the principal there for uh over two years with 1,100 students. With that number of students, we were able to do a couple of things. We were able to echo what the high school was doing. So, we had middle schoolmies because we had enough students, enough teachers to um mirror that process at Richmond High. So, a more robust middle school really leads to more opportunities to the for the students. Now, moving forward, um we have some data for you. Right now if in the current alignment of of students and projections for next year, Helms Middle School is projected at 512, Hercules Middle of 597, Kuramatsu at 732 and Saskkins at 279 and Penol Middle at 324. So the suggestion is looking at a merger of Betty Reed Soskins and Penol Middle. Some of the reasons for this is to create this robust program at all the middle schools. Also one of our schools that is growing is the West County Mandarin School. There are projected at 5777 students in a KA model and we project for them to continue growing. So

therefore, making a transition for Bereosins and Penol Middle School to be combined at the Penol Middle School campus will meet the needs of the students and moving the West County Mandarin School to the Saskus campus will let them grow because it is one of our only schools that takes in students from outside the districts and draws them to our district. So additionally once again visual [clears throat] arts will be able to grow languages in middle school will be able to grow technology and CTE courses and with a larger student body in the supports that can be had at the middle schools with a projected uh wellness center social emotional support at the long run will prepare students better for the high school experience. Thank you very much. That concludes our presentation.

Well, thank you for that presentation. Um, do we have any board questions? Um, Gonzalez, Hoy,

thank you. I just wanted to ask clarification. Um, I know that this item is tied to um the fiscal solveny plan. So my questions are kind of tied to both. So do you want all questions on the second item or do you prefer like equity detailed questions specifically just for I don't know how to frame that but I think if you have any clarifying questions for what was presented now you should ask those clarifying questions but we will have time and opportunity for a deeper discussion following the fiscal solveny plan. We wanted them back to back because they are very very closely connected. So anything just to clarify any further questions? Uh regular thank you and if these don't fit this time block just tell me and I'll move them to the other presentation. Uh so thank you for the presentation. So first uh elementary students so they're not getting homework on a computer at all.

I'll take that question. um it differs per grade level. And so what we have found is that some of our upper grade teachers do provide homework on the Chromebooks that get taken home while some of our lower grade teachers um do not rely on the Chromebooks. And so this proposal would not allow students to take Chromebooks home. They would leave them at school. And so that utilizing the Chromebook would limit that. And so would the district get rid of homework or switch to a non computer-based format?

So if that was the case, the district would propose using a different format.

Okay. Thank you. Next, um on on this discussion about secondary schools and what's offered and APS and this whole course sequencing. So, a couple of years ago, we received a presentation here at the board about this exact topic of right-sizing classes, and it was called a seatbased model. Did that ever happen? It did, and actually it led to a great collaboration between myself and Jeff. Um, and it's a model he's used for the projections. Um, I think Jeff may want to jump in here. What's happened? um we did narrow FTE at that time, but for example, in this school year, um when the the decline in enrollment was still greater than anticipated, there still is a discrepancy. Um we also have offered LCAP funds to augment programs um that we are passionate about but are running very small and if we can't offer those funds at this time then we have to look at either moving them to another funding source or saying that these programs are no longer meeting the needs of our students and we need to go a different direction. I would also just add um uh we are using that modeled for enrollment and staffing. Um in addition to that staffing they also get additional FTE based on certain factors CTE uh site funded positions that all that additional FTE lowers the class size. uh with this with this right sizing of the district, we are looking to uh shrink the base allocation so that the

additional FTE still puts us at our contractual class size limits.

Okay, thank you. Finally, so the proposal is to eliminate school community outreach workers and I think some of that or all of that um job and the duties are going to switch to community schools, community school managers. Um is there the same language capability? I'm under this impression that our scows are mostly bilingual in spa English Spanish. Does that capability exist for uh the community schools manager? And then community schools managers are grant funded correct. So if that money doesn't come forward, what happens then from the state? I think our community school directors are a real asset to our schools. Um I would not state that all of the job duties for MSCOW could automatically transfer to a community school director. um as they are largely not exclusively contracted staff. Um many are bilingual but not all and their function on campus is a little bit different than a scowl.

And so then how what's the plan for that for those job duties to transfer? I can speak to that. Um we obviously recognize the importance of the position and there's a reason why we've had them at our school sites. And so at this time um those responsibilities would fall on administration um and office staff and teachers to support with um community engagement. Okay. Thank you. I asked three and a half. I'm going to hold. Thank you.

Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Thank you. Uh I'll ask some questions now and some for the next one. Um my first question is around the secondary right sizing. Um, for the last couple years, we have had this conversation around whether or not reducing periods actually loses access for students for specifically students who are English language learners. Um, because they have to take EL classes um, which then leads to them not having access to as many A3G requirement. uh I totally fumbled that A throughG classes available right for them over time. So by looking at the reduction, have you guys looked at the data comparing the schools that have uh more than six periods and the schools that do have six periods and what that does to the uh trajectory of a student and whether or not this would hurt student English language learners.

Yes. So I think we have discussed this and one of the challenges is that when you look at the schools that do and don't have alternative bell schedules, they're also demographically different. So it's not an applesto apples comparison. Um the truth is we know that if you reduce a period there is an impact on student access. And so we do need to work around that. That's undeniable. Um, so I know one of the principles who has a school with um un seven periods right now is looking at uh the grant funding available through site funds in combination with some of the grant funds provided through the college and career department um to see if they will be able to put together because when you say class size reduction that opens up grants that it's allowable for funding. Um, right now the two schools that haveUS for class size reduction through extra periods are Kennedy and Richmond. We can support both school sites in looking at if that is a possibility for both. Elserto also offers beyond a sixth period day, but their particular bell schedule does not include class size reduction. So if another school wanted to think that model could work for them, they could explore that model. And I think there are pros and cons with every single Bell schedule. Um, and as I think you know as well as anyone, teachers get very passionate about the schedule that they've been on.

Thank you for that. So, how has Elsero and Deansa, for example, both schools that had uh seven or eight period schedules and now don't how have they been impacted since the switch? I know it's only been a few months, right? So, we don't maybe we don't know, but I was just curious.

Yeah, we can look at the end of year data for Dansza at the end of the year. Um, actually the semester ended, so I could pull a credit report and look at um, this year's students credit attainment towards graduation verse last year. Um, as soon as the transcripts roll, I can get that information. A couple years ago when we had this conversation, um, we did say that that we thought it would push kids like 10% further away. And so I think we mitigate that at this point through um summer school and through continued exploration of grant funding um to support the students. I think we're in this position where we understand the value of the schedules. I'm not here to deny that. I also understand the value of local control for our district. Um, and I'm really invested in finding a meeting of the minds between the two.

Thank you. Uh, my next question is about the band teachers and their equity report specifically says that principles will be able to leverage Prop 28 funds uh, in order to continue to fund them. But uh in previous in a previous conversation in my agenda review, I thought I understood that we were going to automatically transfer those people or not trans rehire them under Prop 28. So this language makes it seem like it would be a choice of the school. Um, so I was wondering if you could clarify that uh because and and with that if it is the site choice because it's their site funds um aren't they using it for something already? So then they would have to choose whether their their current thing is better or worse than a music teacher.

Uh yes. Uh, Prop 28 is a site funded allocation uh, and site decisions based on their SPSA of how they would use those funds and what they would use them on. Um, they would have to make a choice and a decision. There is a lot of funding coming into Prop 28 that is not getting used and they have three years rolling to spend those carryover dollars. Um so there is some flexibility in in this upcoming year for those principles to combine their carryover with their next year allocation as well as uh the the prior year. I might add also that many school sites also pair their Prop 28 and their prep teacher allocation to be able to make whole FTEES. And so they might be able to explore that opportunity to be able to actually maximize and provide um band andor music to the whole school.

Thank you. And have you guys had the discussion with the middle schools? I brought this up the other day as well about the impact if we don't have elementary music teachers, the impact they'll have to the program for the middle school and high schools.

Definitely know that there is um there is passion among you know our high school music teachers particularly about the pipeline. One gap that this actually fills is that in our K8 schools, the seventh and eighth graders do not have access to music. Um, so if the board should choose to go along with the middle school proposals, that creates larger middle schools where we can create more robust programs and in a perfect world have one teacher to those middle school sites where right now some of those teachers are split. Um, and so we can fill some of the holes that way. There also currently are elementaryaries with 90 kids participating and some have seven. Um, so just having elementary music right now doesn't ensure the pipeline in all areas.

But your question was, have we communicated with our middle schools? Can our middle schools accommodate? Are they prepared for? Yes, we have had those conversations with our middle school administrators. They are aware of the the possibility of these shifts and I think are looking really looking forward to growth in their programs. An increase of students in those programs does allow for increased electives for students at the middle school. So running a middle school with 300 students versus a middle school with 600 students has a huge impact on staffing and in turn offerings for our students. So I think it is a it's definitely a win for our middle schools in terms of being able to build out and grow those programs. Thank you. Um and my last question for now is about the merger of Betty Reid and Penel Middle. Um, I understand this the kind of the where the savings would come from, but I was I was um I'm a little confused still about the positives. I was wondering if um uh Super Con or Mr. Deleó or obviously um anyone could talk about like the positives of transferring. My understanding is potentially more electives and more resources, but I'm still a little bit confused on that.

If I can ask, I I was really impressed um with the conversations that I've had with Mr. Deleó as well as Miss Smith about our middle school mergers. If I can ask you both to come up and and possibly speak to what the mergers would look like and what that impact may be on our students. I didn't say as they're coming up to the microphone I didn't share when we and I I believe Katherine did when we looked at this we looked at what is the rationale like why are we doing this what would be the impact positive or negative and then what are the opportunities for growth what are the opportunities for increased enrollment what are the opportunities for uh positive experiences for our students and so that's the lens that we were looking at this and approach this work they're looking at their data right now so I'll just keep going know if you guys can speak to the middle school merger piece. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. And you specifically asked about the Mandarin merger with Saskin, the merger of the Middle uh Penol Middle and Betty Reed Saskin. How does that benefit our students?

Yeah. So when we look at enrollment, just pure enrollment numbers, our Mandarin program is our school with the highest demand for enrollment. So by putting Mandarin at another campus, what we can also do is open up space and open up space for not only students within our district, but students outside of West Contraosta. every year we are not able to accommodate any student from out of our district to attend the Mandarin program just because we don't have this space. So it would open up space and then putting Saskin with Penol Middle. One of the things that we talked about is putting the two schools together would actually give both students a more robust support system, including um community school support, access to an increased amount of electives and classes and courses, which we already talked about. The current enrollment numbers for Saskin is around 279 students. And so if we put Panol and Saskin together, we are really building out a robust middle school program that can hold 760 students. And so the two together again would give way more access to programs that are not available at SAS Skin right now and or at Panel. Did you want to add something D? So, one of the things that I've seen at the middle schools is that they can build up their music programs because they have more slots in their in their school day to to be able to pick more electives also with 760 students that would be the uh penol middle students uh the Saskan students and also Steuart students in Montalen all together. Therefore, you're

also creating a more ethnically diverse community there, which helps a lot for our students to be able to learn from each other and work together. So, more students equals more teachers, more opportunities. So, imagine a full day of band, a full day of world language, sport,

sports, and a full day of PE. not just the the the slides they get in in the K8s um afterchool sports and additionally um you can look at the other arts right uh uh especially uh yeah music but also choir and or uh uh regular art. Thank you. Do we have any more questions? Miss Fols.

So my question is to my board colleagues. What's the alternative? I would like the board to the board colleagues to put forth an alternative. We knew that there was no plan B or C. This was it. So what's the alternative? I'm complete. Oh, I'm not complete. I had a kid that took band since fourth grade. It took her to eighth grade to stop squeaking on that clarinet. It makes a difference when you start in fourth grade and you then go to having a awardwinning performance at Hercules Middle School in 11th grade. That takes time. With the orchestra, with the band, it all takes time. So when we have these discussions about impact, it's not the year that we're in. It's not the next year. It's five years down the line. It's six years down the line. Will you have the same El Certo band? Will you have the same award-winning Richmond High School band? Well, you have the same award-winning Hercules band that gets all of them that get invited to perform in San Francisco and they get invited to perform at the Warriors game and all of that because these kids start working at a young age. And I think that there's a huge bonus to experience and exposure. But I go back to my original question to my board colleagues. What's the alternative? We knew I'm complete. Trusty regular.

I have two other things if I may. The first one is what happens to the Saskin name? So those are all things that we need to discuss. So the Saskin name does not go away. the Oscan name. It it is a a point of pride um for our our school community, particularly those students who are currently at Betty Reed Scoskin, but for across our district, that name does not go away. We are planning to have conversations as we are moving forward around redesigning middle schools. And so with that, there's a lot of of questions that we still need to address, but we will do that in community. we will have those discussions and those conversations and do what's right for our students and our our families. That's our goal. So that's one example of the community conversations that will be had. Okay. Thank you. And then if we could come back to band again, Prop 28 funds. So there um it's not a straight funding formula. You can't plant, you have to supplement. So, I'm under the impression that you're not able to take staff that you had and switch them over to that funding source. You can hire new staff with that funding source, but you can't take that teacher, put it in that funding stream.

Uh, yeah. So, Prop 28, um, we're in a unique situation this year because the arts and music block grant is expiring on June 30th. With those dollars expiring with the arts and music or with the music band teachers on that funding, with this reduction in force would allow us to rehire them back on Prop 28 funds, should the site choose, without a supplanting issue. Prop 28 also has different supplanting rules than than most other grants. Uh Prop 28 supplanting is as a district as a whole. You're spending more on arts and music than you did in the prior year. It's not at a sightby-sight basis level of supplanting of rehiring one teacher versus another. It's a district-wide spending more than you did on arts music than the year prior. So with this expiring dollars, we get to count it as an exception to our spending in the prior year. Uh if if arts and music uh programs are on it and then Prop 28 next year, the calculation for supplanting is is a different formula.

Okay. So again, just so that I understand it, they're now on the arts and music block grant and that entitles the move over to Prop 28. Is that correct? Because it's expiring and if you reduce and force those positions. Yes. Any more questions? Okay. I have a question. Um what happens to the students from the merge for penol and suskin through the feeder program? So what would be the continuence on to high school?

Yes, they would continue to their uh feeder high school. So our Betty Reed Saskin students would continue on to Dansza and our penol middle school students would still continue on to their penol valley high school. So that wouldn't be affected and the same would be true for our K8 students. And have we explored the impact going from the one-on-one Chromebooks to now back to paper when we are looking at also reductions to the sites on some of the allocations that they're receiving to be able to facilitate some of those things especially moving forward.

Thank you for that question. um it's not a total elimination of the Chromebooks on campus. It's not having a onetoone device allocation checked out per students. So at the elementary level, particularly in the lower grades, we're proposing that there be class sets that be shared amongst the class. Um, Li wishes that she could be here to answer the question, but it's really something that would be designed with our educators really taking into account the fact that we are trying to reduce screen time for our youngest learners because we know that they need more active collaboration and so they would still have access to that resource. We know that technology is incredibly important. However, we would really work with a small set or a smaller set of devices in each classroom that they would not be assigned onetoone. We would really prioritize those for our older students in the elementary and then middle and high school for onetoone because their curriculum is accessible through the Chromebook. Just to add to that, if if your question is what's the cost of that? I think that the cost of we we've spent I think to refresh this year almost $2 million for uh a refresh on devices just to replace broken devices. I think that it would be a lot less. It would be a savings if we are switching to paper and pencil. So reams of paper um the copy copy contracts already exist but adding those that expense it's not a shift of I don't think it would be an increase for our dollars.

Okay. Thank you. Um now we'll move on to public comment. Is there any public comment on this item? Yes. Our first public comment is Sky Nelson. Hi there. Can you hear me?

Thank you. So, I have a fiscal question, technical question. Um, finding the articles about Santa Rosa and also Paharo Valley where I talked to Trusty Gabriel Medina. Um, they are in a very similar situation to us and they have listed problems with unexpected um, sped expenses or surprise expenses. And I looked at the 5,000. So this question is about the 5,000s that were reported on earlier and that includes services and other operating expenditures and if we look at I have my question is about the budgeting in in 2024 fiscal year we budgeted $84 million for for this category but we spent 113 million so we're 29 million over and if you look at that number 29 million it really corresponds almost directly to the top seven vendors uh Proare Stepping Stone spectrum that have to do I think mostly with special ed. So um is it possible that these these budgets are getting swept under the rug because the next year we budgeted 83 million again and 29 million was sort of ignored but I may be misreading the process. Are we missing these expenses yeartoear? Next public comment is Jean Kinster. Please unmute yourself.

Hey, good evening. So, I'm wondering what about our upgrades? They literally do everything online. Williams came through. They don't have books. There are no books. It's all online. So, where is the money coming from to buy them the books now? Is it sites have to cough that up somehow? Is district paying for that? If we suddenly have to buy books for these classes, how are we saving money? I don't know. Just wondering how that's going to work because it's all been online digital so far. Next next public comment is Allison Huey. Please unmute yourself. Hi, good evening. Thank you. Um, so I just wanted to reiterate that LCAP funded positions are leverage investments that directly support equity, engagement, and student outcomes. The majority of those have historically been strategically splitfunded to take advantage of this funding revenue opportunity. A notable example being the district management level coordinator of science and engineering who would have otherwise been cut had I not saved it in 2019 when that position originally came on the chopping block. Again, I implore the board to view LCAP funded CTE staffing not as discretionary expenses but as leveraged investments. Cutting them undermines both our fiscal strategy and our equity commitments. And I urge the board to continue to to offer the full fiscal and

instructional impact before or to consider the full fiscal and instructional impact before making these decisions. That concludes public comment.

Thank you for public comment. Do we have any um comments from the board? Okay. Then we'll move on to item E2, the fiscal solveny plan for 2025 through 2027. if your item. No, go ahead and uh is the item up. We'll continue into this item. I don't want to I don't want to do a big intro. Jeff, take it away.

All right. Good evening, board uh superintendent and community. My name is Jeff Carter, uh acting associate superintendent of business services, and tonight I'm going to present the fiscal solveny plan. Uh next slide. Uh the objective for tonight is have the board of education accept and adopt the fiscal solveny plan for 2526, 2627 and 2728 considering our budget and future outlook. Uh next slide. Looking at the budget reality, uh West Contraosta has a significant structural deficit. Uh fund 17 reserves are estimated to be exhausted next year in 2627. Declining enrollment and average daily attendance have led to decreased in revenue. Uh cost of business has been increasing for materials and supplies uh year-over-year. The approved tenative agreement has added additional expenditures to what the adopted budget and first interim estimated at the beginning of the year. Uh lower cost of living adjustments from the state. And due to a high number of vacancies, uh, many positions such as speech therapists, psychologists, aids, and pair professionals have been contracted out at increased rates. So this is kind of a look at some of the key components to how we are in this position uh and and what the budget reality is. Next slide. Looking at the revenue factors uh at the adopted budget for 2526 26 27 27 28 you can see what our cost of living adjustment percentages uh were going to be from the state at 2.3% 3.02% and 3.42% uh at at the time of adopted budget and first interim. Uh from the January 2026 governor's budget proposal uh they've updated or revised those figures to decreasing 2627 to 2.41% 41% and 2728 to 3.06% colas. Uh that would equate to about a 2 million and $3 million loss in

revenue uh just based on the cola decreasing at our current enrollment projections. Uh in the bottom table you can see our 88 percentages, our average daily attendance for months 1 through 5 in the last uh two prior years and current year. Uh you'll notice in months 1, 2, and three, we're about average at the 94 to 92% uh range. But then looking at month four, and five, you can see a significant decrease to our average daily attendance at 79% and 66.91% compared to the prior two years. And that's that's due to the work stoppage. uh the the loss of ADA uh based on the new formula going forward for the state on a three-year average is significantly significantly going to impact our uh funded average daily attendance for the next couple years if if we don't see an increase uh in the remainder of the year. Uh we could see a loss of about $2 to $3 million in revenue just based on a new three-year average. Next slide. Uh this is our West Contracasta Unified School District's enrollment trends over the years. You can see the blue bars are our enrollment going down. And you can see the purple line is our funded ADA, average daily attendance. That's based on that three-year average formula. And the red dotted line is our actual average daily attendance in each of these school years. Uh the gap between the purple line and the red line signifies uh the funded average daily attendance that is higher than our current average daily attendance with the decrease in ADA from the prior slide. Uh the gap between the purple and the red line will actually shrink and decrease decrease over the next couple years. So that's where you're seeing that loss in revenue. Next slide. Uh this slide is actually provided from the school services of California. They did a a look at uh special education cost per student uh student with

disabilities and you can see uh over the last uh over 10 years uh an increase in cost per student with students with disabilities and uh we're seeing that in in our district as well. So part of the increase to our special education uh contribution is due to the cost per student going up. And then next slide. Uh another look at a statewide enrollment uh with students with disabilities. So you can see statewide the yellow bar is total enrollment is decreasing statewide over the last 14 years as well as the blue bars are increasing which are students with disabilities uh increasing over that same time span. So you see the green line is representing the percentage of students with disabilities towards total enrollment in school districts. Uh and you'll see that that's increasing from about 11 to 12% all the way up to 15% in 2024. And our district sees a similar trend. We're actually around 16% student with disabilities as a percentage of total enrollment. Uh so both of those are contributing factors to our increased uh special ed contribution. Next slide. Uh here's a budget update looking at our first interim operating deficit. So without reliance on fund 17 at first interim we had a $13.9 million deficit. Uh next year in year two 24.5 million and year 31.4 million ongoing operating deficit. When you add in the cost of the tenative agreement uh that is increasing the operating deficit to $127.2 million over 3 years. This fiscal solveny plan is how we're planning to address uh those dollars over the next couple years. So you can see in year one in the bottom table uh we're going to exhaust fund 17 reserves over the next two years borrowing from OPED or other

postemployment benefits in fund 71 for our retirees healthcare uh by about 13 million a year and then staffing and program reductions to identify in the tune of 3.1 million 42.4 million and 14.2 2 million over the next 3 years. Uh the equity impact kind of highlighted where some of those cuts would come from. Uh and I'll go into a little more detail on the next couple slides. So next slide. Uh this is our fund 17 and fund 71 usage over the next three years. So you can see starting in 2526, we're going to have an estimated $28.5 million in fund 17. In this year, the current year, we would plan on using 23.5 million of those dollars uh to uh balance out the structural deficit and the increased cost of the tenative agreements. And then in the following year, uh we would use another 5 million which would exhaust the funds to $0 and we would have no more reliance in 2728 on fund 17. Uh in the bottom half here, fund 71, uh you can see that that is a starting balance of 61.8 8 million and over the 3 years of using 13 million a year, we would end 2728 with uh only $22.8 million left in fund 71. Um the way fund 71 works is we have contractual obligations to uh active retirees and current employees to fund their health care based on their um contractual obligations of what they are eligible for for healthcare retirey benefits. Um, we have based on our last act aerial report, we have about $284 million that we have to pay out to retirey healthcare over the over the lifespan of those employees. We have about 2,200 active retirees in the plan right now and about 1,800 employees that will be future eligible once they retire

for those retirey healthcarees. So about 4,000 employees will have to be paid out about $284 million over their lifetime. Uh we currently have 61.8 million towards that goal. So towards 284 million we can fund 61.8 of that and then we fund about 15 to 16 million per year out of the general fund uh to that fund as well. So, by tapping into this fund 71, we are causing us to ongoingly pay uh a contribution to fund 71 for much longer while those 4,000 employees are eligible for healthcare benefits. Um, next slide. The fiscal solveny plan. Next slide. Oh, there we go. The fiscal solveny plan for 2526. This is the current year of how we would achieve those 39.6 $6 million is a look at uh fund 17 reserves borrowing from fund 71 shifting allowable expenditures from unrestricted to restricted dollars by about $1.6 million to grants that are expiring freezing vacant positions to the tune of about $1.4 million and restricting conference approvals for about $100,000. Uh these combined would get us to a balanced budget in 2526 while we're relying on reserves. Next slide. Uh for 2627, the category reductions that you saw in the equity impact are reductions to the four and 5,000s for materials and supplies and contracts uh to site departments and LCAP allocations as well as uh reducing busing routes and IT device replacements. Uh we are looking at right sizing elementary and secondary staffing to their contract ratios and narrowing offerings of elective courses based on student interest and current enrollment. uh classified reductions in elementary and secondary uh to redistribute the

workload of work experience clerks, typist clerks, custodial details, school community outreach workers and other classified staff based on uh the the condensing of schools, K8s and middle school mergers. uh re reconsidering those K8 models. We we discussed those moving the seventh and eighth grade kids to middle school uh to uh reduce the staffing at K8s to the elementary staffing matrix. Uh the middle school merger uh merging Betty Reed Saskin and Penol Middle to combine enrollment and align staffing and then re relocating West County Mander into a single site model uh to save some dollars as well. Uh and finally, some program reductions of about $2 million to shift centrally funded grad tutors and elementary band to restricted funding uh through reduction in forces on expiring dollars and bringing them back on other restricted dollars. Uh next slide. This would include approximately 10% FTE or full-time equivalent reductions per bargaining unit uh districtwide. Uh you can see by bargaining unit about the dollar amount in savings a 10% reduction would equate to for 2627. Next slide. Uh a fiscal solveny plan for 2627. Uh this is the breakdown of where those $60.4 million would come from. Uh this would exhaust fund 17 reserves in 2627 borrow from fund 71 shift allowable expenses to the restricted resources and then the reductions that we saw on the pre prior slide for the 4,000s 5000s uh reducing FTE based on the staffing matrix and then uh reductions to bargaining units by about 10%. So you can see the FTE levels, the dollar amount savings and how we would achieve $60.4 million. On the right side here, you can see that uh on the certificated

side, we have about 26 non-reelects for next year, about 50 teacher vacancies already, 73 average retirements per year, and over a 100 average resignations per year. Uh so the goal would be to close these vacant positions due to attrition while we rightsize the district uh to not need a reduction in force for majority of those certificated positions that would be right sized. Uh this would still need some hiring based on specific credential openings at the secondary level. And then for classified reducing the number of vacant positions that are contracted out as well as restructuring staffing uh districtwide. Next slide. For the fiscal solveny plan in 2728, these are some conceptual ideas we have of achieving the 27.2 million. It would come from continuing to align staffing to enrollment with declining enrollment, borrowing from fund 71 for a third year, reducing uh other programs throughout the district, and we would revisit this plan a year from now uh based on what our budget looks like at first interim in 2627. Next slide. uh ways of decreasing the deficit. Uh we are looking at all options for attendance recovery to increase our average daily attendance, which would generate more revenue and help our three-year average. Uh we're continuing to pursue new or additional grant funding, decreasing operating expenditures and contributions at every opportunity, utilizing restricted funding in additional areas, maximizing new state programs to increase revenue, and uh renewed partial tax rate and allowability. what the feasibility is around that we're looking at putting on the ballot in 2026. Next slide. Uh this is for the governor's January budget proposal outlook. Um so we're going to highlight some of the key areas that he discussed earlier this month. Uh projecting more

revenues uh than the state's enacted budget, which is a great great news. Higher revenue uh includes extra dollars to school districts uh statewide. The way they are proposing to roll out those increased uh dollars is in restricted funding mostly. Uh you'll see here community schools they're they're uh discussing about a billion dollars of ongoing statewide funding. Uh there's not a formula or calculation for a district level of how much of that 1 billion we would see. Um but we we're keeping our eye on it and especially at the May revision. Uh learning recovery would possibly see about $3.6 $6 million in one-time dollars to our district. Uh special education, possibly about $1.5 million ongoing to West Contraosta. Professional development, possibly 11.7 million onetime dollars to West Contraosta under his current proposal. Uh kitchen modernization about hund00 million in one-time statewide funding. Uh there's uh uh new language to come of how to apply for those dollars. And same with career and technical education, about 100 million one-time dollars statewide. Uh we will apply for as much of that as we are eligible for. Uh we're looking for the trailer bill language in the coming months to see how we could uh how we could apply for that. Um so those are some of the areas where uh increased restricted funding is coming from. Uh he's also looking to decrease the future cost of living adjustments which we talked on a prior slide. holding back some additional settleup funds for the unpredictability of state revenues due to uh capital gains and taxes. Um so there is there is hope or room for maybe additional revenue based on where the state ends up and where the legislation goes with that. Uh and then a projected deficit in 2728 and 2829. So they are seeing increased revenues this year but they're projecting a economic downturn over the following two years. So,

they're looking to give us one-time dollars to spend over the next three years uh for that upcoming uh outlook. Next slide. Additional revenue steps. Uh in the event that more revenue is actually realized from the state level, uh once it's legislated and adopted, the next steps would be uh to address some of these other issues. So, uh we would still need a plan to replace the drawn down funds from fund 71 retirement healthcare. We would want to build a set amount back up for fund 17 reserves for economic downturns and future negotiations. You you really don't want to be operating a school district zero reserves. Uh partial tax ballot measure expenses. It is expensive to put a ballot measure on uh the election. We're looking to fund that. Uh holding a balance to offset the 2728 reductions if possible depending on where we are a year from now. if things are looking better, if we got more revenue than anticipated, potentially uh reducing the reductions in 2728 in this plan. And then our ultimate goal is to balance the budget for a positive three-year certification. If we if we get additional revenue, we fund all of these things and we rightsize the ship, we're looking for a positive certification in our three-year budget plan. Uh so those are some of the additional revenue steps uh outlined in this plan. And then uh next slide. Again, our objective today is for the board of education to accept and adopt our fiscal solveny plan for 2526, 2627, and 2728.

And that concludes the presentation. Well, thank you for your presentation. Um, does the board have any questions? Um, Trusty Regler, let Trusty Hernandez go first. Trusty Hernandez. and we'll move down to three questions and then we'll do a second round.

That's fine. I only have one question and maybe a followup. um with the specific uh sped cost, what specific sped costs are increasing fast and which of those are in within the district control besides I know it's transportation you guys said it in your other plan and then 50 paraprofessional maybe a contracting pair of professional is that still accurate or is there other costs that are around spend Um well there those are two that we can make an immediate impact on the two that we lifted up

earlier. Um we know that contracted staff uh drives up the budget. We also know that um uh students attending nonpublic schools um and as uh as one of the slides on this presentation showed really statewide the cost per pupil in special education has gone up. So we are within those trends. Um the pair of professionals is one area that we're putting a lot of attention on. Um the goal right now is to to identify those 50 positions. Uh we can continue to look for more at that point. Um again focusing on our contracted pair of professionals that are that are um in our classrooms right now. Um transportation is the other one that is really large um that has grown um a lot over recent years. And so, um, looking to, um, have programs that are defensible at more, um, neighborhood schools so students are able to attend their school of residence decreases the need for transportation. Um, so the more that we have a need to move students out of their school of residence again drives that up. So those are those are really the largest growth factors. Um, from our perspective, Jeff, if there's anything else um that that you would lift up, feel free.

Uh, just if you wanted to touch further on what the what is the increasing cost per student. So, is it the the level of diagnosis or which which students are more expensive?

Thank you. Um, we have seen since since coming back from COVID um an increase in just the overall general need of students. um lots more behaviors which uh cause in the need for um behavioral staff, you know, more need for RBTs. Um we also statewide are seeing an increase in requests for things like EES, outside assessments, things like uh sorry um uh independent educational evaluation as an IE, outside assessments, things like that. So there's there are a lot of different factors that are driving these things up. Um big part of our goal within the department is looking at programs and building up um the programs within uh the district. Um one thing that was mentioned earlier tonight was CEC. Um no intention of closing CEC programs at this point. In fact, we're looking to see where can we um expand our CEC program because we know that's one of our strongest programs in keeping students in the district and avoiding non-public school placements. Um so, uh looking to expand those those offerings um both at the elementary and the secondary levels uh again to keep students in our system and in in the district. Um it is a very difficult program to staff. Um and so that's one of the things that we're working on is really trying to recruit and identify uh those teachers that want to teach those C sorry counseling enriched classroom. Um uh it's a little late at night so I'm I'm falling on acronyms so I apologize. Um CC is our counseling enriched uh classroom uh program that we um definitely are looking to find opportunities to expand and to find qualified staff that can run those programs. In a follow-up question, do we have a

plan for moving from contractors to permanent staff? Is there a timeline or a plan in place? I'm not saying now, maybe I know it takes some time, but have we thought about that? Because, you know, contracting out is, you know, sometimes more expensive. So, do we have something do you have something in place or are you thinking about it? So, um there are several factors that that we um predict will will help in this in this area. Um obviously with the with the new um bargaining agreements um and the increased compensation, we're anticipating some of the some folks um will be more inclined uh to uh come over to the district. Um we also know that as what we've seen in the past is when we have been able to reduce some of those uh contracted positions um we have seen a jump in applications uh for pair of professionals um when we when we have done those things um I think that the we have always encouraged and we we much would rather have folks that are part of our uh our bargaining units um working in our classrooms, there's greater stability and all of those benefits. And so, um, I think though I don't have a I can't tell you like by this date we will be at this number. Um, right now what I can say is that we do see some of these factors that we anticipate um will continue to encourage more folks to apply uh to be district employees um and bargaining unit members.

Thank you. No more questions. Trusty Trusty Regler, thank you. If I can ask something I forgot on the last round. I'm hearing from Stuart that they think that their DI program is being discontinued. Is their DI program being discontinued at Stuart? No, that is not a program that we discussed.

Okay, thank you. Next is uh in this program reductions of $2 million, is is it only banned in grad tutors or are there other things in there for program reductions? Uh there are other program reductions that were mentioned in the uh equity impact report. Um, this could look like virtual academy, ROC, uh, IBA, AAP. If you want to expand on that, Katherine, you don't have to. I got

And let me clarify though, there there's not in the this fiscal solveny plan an elimination of VISTA, and that's what I think people are are kind of fixated on. It is looking at as that model is intended to be a fourth through 12th grade model. So it's eliminating the K through three portions handful of students that are there that we are then staffing for but it's there's not a plan to eliminate Vista

Thank you Gonzalez. Thank you. Um my first question um have we did we meet with our labor groups and the sites affected for the KA reduction and the merger?

We have met with our labor groups and Dr. Greenwood can probably speak more to that. Both Dr. Greenwood as well as Jeff Carter have met with our groups. Um our labor groups also attended our community engagement where we talked kind of higher level. We did not get into the specifics of sites um or the specifics um publicly of the the positions that may be going away um or shifting over. That hasn't happened. But I am aware that um both our HR as well as our fiscal services team have had conversations with our unions. So, we've had like higher level conversations and maybe budget conversations, but not about the reductions of uh potential unit members. Is that what I'm hearing you say?

We actually have we've shared the um are you able to pull up um rows of the fiscal solveny not the plan but the other attachment to that document? I'll just say while there may have been some shifts with positions a couple positions here or there that has been shared with um our labor partners as well.

So they have the list of possible cuts of people already. So you you have the list of they don't we have not shared the specific list. So we don't have the riff list that's going to be coming to the board on February 25th. So this list just to clarify Dr. Greenwood and and Jeff this list this information has been talked about with our unions or labor partners. Is that correct? Except one labor group. We still haven't a scheduled meeting because of conflicts. We've had the high level meeting but not the the specific specifics.

Thank you. I believe that's teamsters. I'm sorry I'm confused. I heard in public comment from lab from one labor group but they have not had discussions. I just heard from Dr. agreeing whether they have not seen certain documents but you're saying we have met with them to discuss the budget and we've discussed uh the higher the like highle plan that we saw today let me ask Dr. Can you talk through what has been shared and which groups you have had what types of conversations with please?

I've met with WCCIA, SSA and UTR and so they we've talked about the budget the physical solvery budget level meetings. So we have not talked about spec positions and we've talked about reductions of 10% but we have not got into specific conversations at this point and like I said we scheduled a meeting with teamsters um because of scheduling issues. Thank you. Thank you. Those were my three questions. Do we have any more questions? Smith folds.

So I just want to ask again to my board colleagues because I don't think I gave enough weight time as a teacher. We give wait time for processing. Again to my board colleagues through the president I would like to ask what are the alternatives? What is a secondary motion that can be put on the floor that allows us to meet the financial obligations that were promised? I [snorts] am complete. I have a question. Um, so have we talked about communication when it when it comes to our site leaders about how they should be communicating to their specific communities, especially around our K8 schools? because I think we heard a lot of comments here tonight and I've gotten a lot of emails um during the week of hey I didn't know hey I barely found out like I don't know what's next and I think we heard that over and over tonight and like I said it's been a constant thread when it comes to the emails so have we had those conversations with leadership about this is how you should be communicating not just meeting with leadership and saying this is an idea but actually how to communicate that to the to their school communities. Have we had those conversations? We've had those conversations with our principles. They are aware of what is coming. Um the decision that the board made last Wednesday has been we've had this is the fifth working day where we've been able to engage in those conversations. We prepared our fiscal solveny plan. We've prepared a presentation for the board. We are calendaring and scheduling time next week to meet with and have a a

conversation or begin conversations around middle school redesign. So yes, those things are on the calendar um at this point, but again the decision was made se seven six days ago. Could you explain a little bit more about what you meant by um the plan is to increase attendance is by um attendance recovery. What does that mean? Uh yeah. So uh new this year we can recover up to 10 days of absences per student whereas prior years it was up to four days of absence. Uh we're exploring options for Saturday school for attendance recovery um uh independent study uh independent study and uh a few other avenues to recover attendance. And I'll let Katherine talk about that a little more.

Um, so we are going to be doing attendance recovery through the afterchool program. So we've identified five of our elementary schools that will be ready to start in the next couple weeks. Um and so by providing both enrichment and tutoring in afterchool by a certificated teacher we will be able to uh recoup funds for those students. So that's one avenue. I know there are multiple avenues but that is one avenue that we will be ready to launch very soon. And then I will just add that we did actually implement this last summer with our summer school programs that were both district summer school programs and ELOP programs. And so we have an infrastructure in place for how that's happened. We plan to continue it. And like Jeff said, we're also really trying to maximize um independent studies uh because we know that we have a lot more flexibility in order to be able to do that. Now,

and then if I can just add, uh, we're looking at using restricted dollars where allowable for attendance recovery to convert that into unrestricted revenue for the ADA, for the average daily attendance LCFF dollars. So, we're looking to use restricted dollars to pay for attendance recovery.

Okay. And my next question is, how many other districts do you know of that have fund 17s? Um, I don't have a specific number. I know there are at least five in our area that do. Um, but I I don't have a a quantitative number. Can I ask that the question that you just asked for president? What would we want to know? Help me understand that question, please. just more around the directive to replenish fund 17 as well as the other funds. So it's just how many other districts have fund 17?

Okay. So not everybody has to have a fund 17 to have reserves. You can keep your reserves in fundo one. Um fund 17 is a specific place to move your reserves into so that the board has to take action on using those dollars and moving them back to fund one to use them specifically. Uh other districts can keep additional reserves above the 3% required reserve in their fund 1 fund balance and you can either assign them or commit them to something. Um so you don't have to have a fund 17 to have additional reserves. Uh you can keep them in fund one.

Thank you. Um is there any further questions from the board? Seeing none, can we go to public comment? Our first public comment is Don Cosny. Now, I'm sure you're all familiar with that old adage about how the devil is in the details. This plan may be great example of this. Okay, we're flat busted broke. We've given away the store. We've promised money we may not have. So, we have before us a fiscal solveny plan that will take steps to to beat away bankruptcy. But the devil is in the details. We have before us an an 18page slide deck, but for the most part, the public, the parents, the students, and the media have all been kept in the dark about the details until they show up at 11:00 at night. Okay? Go to Oakland, go to San Francisco, and you'll see that these people actually become violent when the district has suggested some of the things included in this proposal, especially the closing of a school. When we when we I'm sorry, [sighs and gasps] can we read my own writing? This is the notification. When was the notification to the community to the media? As a journalist that owns an online newspaper, I didn't hear about this until about two hours ago. If the district wants to rebuild trust, this ain't the way. Next public comment is Sky Nelson. Please unmute yourself.

Hello. Can you hear me? Yes.

So to the question of is there an alternative? The reason I care so much about this is I I do think we have an alternative that actually addresses many many districts problems at once and can solve a lot of these issues together. that is to work collectively. Start step one is to separate legal compliance from cash flow. So address the fact that we're gonna get certified um negative or or qualified. Get a a waiver on that for a period of cycle that's renewable so that we don't have to face the county's uh consequences of takeover. Then we can address the fiscal gap and the governor's budget shows a way to do that. Specifically, if you look at the NPA, NPS money on public schools and agencies, that money could be covered by the state with the funds set up with $2.8 billion in current funds that is ongoing for all districts. How nice would it be not to have to cover those NPA NPS funds that we don't even provide services for? That's my proposal. Next public comment is Kimberly Huey.

Hi, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and thank you for all of your work on this. It's my third year as a math teacher at Betty Reed Saskin and I have a son at Michelle Obama Elementary. I'm a vested parent and a teacher. I fulfilled my dream of being a public school teacher when I started working at Betty Reid Saskin. So, I'm heartbroken that Betty Reid may emerge and that we may lose our school as we know it. I know that broken hearts don't balance a budget and I'm glad that I was here to the positives of the merger. Um, but I'm not satisfied by them. I do worry about the loss of students elsewhere as others tonight have already said. I appreciate that a few board members have asked for alternatives. A number of community members have asked for alternatives and I really think that this is actually my first board meeting I've ever attended and it seems like we're all in the room for the same reason and it seems like we could come up with a solution where more people feel like they've been heard. Thank you.

Next public comment is Kenitra. Please unmute yourself. Hi, can you can you hear me? My name is Kenra Mitchell. I'm the community school director at Betty Reed Saskin. I also too am wondering have you thought of another plan? Was 6 through 8 model considered as an alternate plan of merging Betty Reed Saskin and Panol Middle which seems to be more of a benefit for West County Mandarin than it is for Saskin or even Panol. Um, you guys talk about attendance recovery, but when you think about merging, the community of Betty Rig Saskian has transportation issues as is. So, how are those students going to get to Penol Middle and any feeder elementary around going to get to Penol Middle? We can't afford to get them there. AC Transit doesn't go there. So I think you guys need to reconsider the things that you are proposing in this plan and think about all the work that we at Betty Reed Saskkin have put in to build the community that we have which makes us who we are which I don't think is going to transfer to another building. So consider that and talk to us first. Thank you. Next public comment is Mariana Cavalin. Adrien Loftess. Good evening. My name is Adrien Loftess. I'm a teacher at Betty Reed Saskin Middle School. Respectfully, the impact report shared with regards to the merger of Saskin Impol didn't touch on how this would negatively impact the Saskin community, the real students who love coming to our school. I heard you say this would allow for better programming for visual and performing arts, which we already have for a sports program, which we already have. Um, I don't know what to say other than that it's a wonderful school, and I resent the claim that

merging with another school would allow us to serve students better than we currently are. The joy, the community and connection at Saskin is palpable. It's the teachers, the counseling staff, the admin, the special ed department, the office staff, the students. It's all of us every day showing up to make this a space where children are happy to come to school. I understand the fiscal reality of our district, but $900,000 is just 0.7% of 127 million deficit. I urge you to consider other options that don't permanently alter Betty Reedin Middle School. Our next public comment is Sarah Taka Talcott. Please unmute yourself. Sarah Ta, please unmute yourself. Francis Gortiz, please unmute yourself. Hello again, board. I want to be absolutely clear and clear up any misconceptions that happen. I meet and Mark meets with HR every single week at 2:00 on Thursdays. We invite business services, special ed, any other folks who would um be beneficial in solving HR issues. Uh we asked for a meeting with the budget when Dr. When Superintendent Cotton asked to meet with us. Uh we joined that meeting. Superintendent Cotton, you came in 15 minutes late to a 30-minute meeting and you suggested that we meet again the following week. We set up that meeting for over two hours. You did not come to that meeting. We did

talk about certain budget issues, but none of the things that are being presented today or none of the things that were included just last night at 6:00 p.m. uh for the community to uh digest were never discussed in any of those discussions. So, I want to make sure that everyone here understands that. Thank you.

Next public comment is Mark Mitchell. Thank you. So, to be clear, we did have a meeting with Dr. Greenwood and with Jeff Carter, and it was very productive, and we talked about budget assumptions and revenue assumptions and the the costing out of the um the three-year uh multi-year projections that the district had produced um and publicized. and we had questions about that and we got those questions answered and it was a great meeting. We did not get into the fiscal reduction plan and the closing of a school and the the K8s that wasn't something that we were discussing or that we were really aware of with this specificity. So I appreciate uh Katherine Aosta and the cabinet members that presented tonight. It was a great, you know, uh, uh, series of presentations and, um, I think this is a beginning, um, where we can all start discussing these ideas together. This shouldn't be the end of the discussion with 24 hours notice of closing a school named after a local heroine who just passed away. These things need to be thought out and discussed in community, and we need to come to uh, uh, conclusions and solutions. Next public comment is Malleti. Please unmute yourself. I just want to ask the board when you have to face the community, are you going to be able to tell them with your whole chest that they had 28 hours, I think a little less to see that um you guys want to merge schools, you want to take away K through 8 or the seventh and eth program. If you are serious about wanting to build trust with the community, you need

to build trust. You cannot be sliding things in under the rail hoping that no one shows up. Even with short notice, we showed up because we care and we are watching. So, I want you to think tonight, is it really that important that it happened tonight? Or can people still give you feedback until February 11th? And can we build a plan? Because I'm horrified to hear we'll begin discussions with our middle schools about what they'll look like after the board has voted. Next public comment is Christina Kz. Please unmute yourself. Thank you. It is hard for me to believe that the tactics here aren't a strategy. If not, it is just negligence. asking for the community to understand your methods of trust while in the background trying to undermine the culture that has been cultivated for years by staff at community members partnerships on campus is astounding. I recommend you to really consider not only tableabling this but surveying all of your community before you think of this. I say this because I truly believe that if you act on this without serving obeying your community and direct directly asking them if these mergers happen, will they leave? You actually may lose more money than you will save. This will cause families to leave this district. They do not want to be big guinea pigs in your projects and their vulnerability is not your pawn. Next public comment is Aaron Kalentine. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening again board. Uh [clears throat] thank you so much for your amazing questions. Um, I am here because I have been 12 years um in a small school that is amazing and it is small and I appreciate the idea that we can be reassured that some of our program will will survive while the rest of it may be restructured out of existence when it has a 97% rating of my teacher cares about me and my future. And I also think that less than two days is not enough for our middle schools and our small schools and our K8 schools to give the kind of input that they need to give for a decision like this to be made. Um I understand that deadlines loom, but that deadline is not today. And please, please, for all of the students who are deeply rooted in their community, for all of the reasons you heard, for SA and for all of the IAS that we still need, please delay this vote. Thank you.

That concludes public comment.

Thank you for Thank you to everyone who called in on public comment. Do we have any remaining um comments from the board? Okay. Do we have a motion on the table on this item? President, I'll make a motion. President, I move that we approve the fiscal solveny plan for the 2526 school year only for now and use the funds specified in the presentation. Furthermore, I move that we table all other proposals for the February 11th meeting to get further feedback, but also direct staff to bring us a plan for revenue enhancement strategies for the outy years. Lastly, that staff meets with the various groups affected such as our labor groups, the K schools, Betty Reed, Saskin, Pen Penel Middle School, and the Mandarin School to gather further feedback and to have robust discussions about the solutions and possible cuts. I'll second.

So, we have a motion on the table. Um motion by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Trustee Hernandez. Um Smith holds. A motion.

Because we had a second, we are able to have debate. Correct. So I have a question. What does that do to not only the timeline, but what are the other alternatives to I guess I'm asking the through the president the same question that I've asked. This would be the fourth time. What are the board's alternatives to have a motion on the floor that covers the financial obligations that were promised? That's the question to the board. The board is asking the the district to go back and make a plan. But this is their plan. Their plan is what has been put before us starting January 9th. And since even before January 9th, this is the plan. So I'm curious about what the expectation of the board is to go back and have the district do to come up with another plan when they don't have one. This is it. So what is the board's plan for creating if if not if not merging or if not doing what we see in front of us, what's the board's plan? What's the board's plan to create that gap in revenue that comes when you don't do what was presented at the community meetings? If you don't do what was presented January 9th, if you don't do what was presented tonight, what's the board's alternative plan to create that revenue source? And then if you're sending the district back through the president, this is my question. If you're sending the district back to the the table to find alternative ways, my question then to the district is, do you have an alternative way or is this it? Because this is what you presented starting

before January 9th, but definitely from January 9th on, I'm complete. Trustee Gonzalez.

Thank you, uh, President Jana. Yeah, I mean I think that the public should know we have had as a board a little bit more time right through various discussions to look at some of these ideas. Um but the public has not had time right the public has not had time to review to look we heard from one of our labor partners that has been for a long time here that in prior times we have come together to figure out solutions. We might not find solutions and we might end up in the same place, but we need to do that. We can't do that in a silo. Um, when we had a $50 million deficit in one year, Kim Chamberlain knows this and Mr. Deleó, we went together in a room, we all got really upset and then we started figuring out solutions together. And that's of the work that has not been done. Now, I want to be clear. I think staff has done really probably really probably amazing work behind the scenes together, right, to figure out like, okay, what is it that we can do and can't do. And I feel really bad for staff to having to come up with that on their own. And I think that they did the right thing by coming up with something first. But now we got to go to our labor partners. They might have better or bigger ideas. We might have to go to our community and think bigger. That's the part that's missing. Now, we are in a crunch timeline to make sure that everything comes forward and the county doesn't intervene, but we can do that. We don't need to rush today to do that. We have two weeks, might not be very long, but we can go and sit in a room together with different groups, hear them out. We owe that respect to them. Um, and they might have better ideas, including revenue enhancement ideas. And that's what I'm asking for. If you look at Oakland, they had to cut $100 million this year, and they're a bit of a mess, but they've come up with some revenue enhancement ideas to take away some of their cuts. They still have

to make a lot of cuts, but for them, they've come up with with goals and set of ideals and values that they could believe is more important than cutting things. And they've said, "We're going to come up with a goal to increase our attendance next year by 2% and that's going to equal this much." We might not do that, but we are still missing those pieces. And part of it is that we have not had a chance because of time. So this gives staff that time. We should not close ourselves because we might be upset or we might be against each other or just where we are. We're all upset. We shouldn't have to do this. the state and the national government have created this mess for us and and we have to figure out how to uplift the district together. What I don't want to do is make a decision and we can't say to the public everyone had a chance to give their voice and their feedback and solutions. I want to give that space for folks and I think most of us do including the superintendent and that's what we did those two nights but you know with 100 people how far did that go right I think we can all agree that was just simply not enough nor did it allow for a back and forth conversation right to come up with ideas thank you president

do we have any trusty regular Superintendent Cotton, can you answer the question on timeline if it doesn't happen tonight and it happens February 11th? what was presented tonight in terms of the um in terms of the kind of equity analysis and in terms of the fiscal solveny plan. Those numbers I don't think are going to drastically change and that's what we're asking the board to take action on tonight. uh those reductions in staffing are not going to necessarily change how we get there. This is again our our best thinking around what we can do to address this deficit 127.2 million deficit over the next three years. The board is being asked to agree to a plan that gets us there in terms of reduction in force. Programs are having to be redesigned, re-imagined, realigned to ensure that we're able to get to that point. Um, as you can see in what was presented, the bulk of what would change is around right sizing and getting to um staffing levels that are legally

mandated and uh aligned with our contractual language. Those things are not going to change. And so in terms of timeline, if the board came back on February 11th and were prepared to take action, we'll be fine. But we do need to take action. Um, moving forward, we will have to by law make a decision around reductions in force on February 25th. Again, the bulk of the the shifts and the changes are not necessarily coming from um solely from programs, but we're going to have to make reductions in force to meet $127.2 million deficit. So in summary, if the vote if it comes back again on February 11th, there's no major timeline hurdle that happens is missed is throws 50 wrenches in the pro in the process forward. I'm not sure in terms of a redesign that we are looking at. I'm not sure if between now and February 11th we will have completed a redesign for our middle

school models. I don't think that's realistic. I think that is the work of January to June of of redesigning our middle school plans, reallocating and looking at what we're doing around special education, it's not going to get solved in two weeks. And if that's the expectation of the board, I don't think it's a realistic expectation. It does allow a time to meet with the community and talk about impact. Uh, it does allow for that. I'm just curious. I'm I'm looking over to my acting uh associate super superintendent of business services. Um, I would just add that it's going to really condense the time table to be able to get the the list of reductions through HR, through seniority, bumping rights, and everything uploaded before the 25th board meeting agenda item is due. So going from the 11th and then 2 days later the 13th uploading the documents for the board agenda if you're not counting ski week uh you've then got a really condensed time timeline for HR to put a list of reductions to present on the 25th

trusty Gonzalez.

Thank you. Um, yeah, I just want to clarify. I want to give time for staff to go to community and listen to them, right? And to talk to them. Are you going to redesign? Probably not, right? But I think they deserve that. We deserve to do that. We should do that. I think that HR should be doing that work at the same time behind the scenes. Nothing stops you guys from doing that as you're having those conversations. when we've done this in the past, that's happening at the same time because those conversations need to happen with labor simultaneously. So, I'm having a hard time with that because I know it happens. I see it in every district as they're going through issues. They're still talking to labor about possible rifts, right? Those lists can be created and should be created um while meeting with families from ready read while meeting with families from Penol Middle. um while talking to you know educators and principles at the K8. Um I just I don't understand the push back you're giving me about the motion because I'm also already in the motion as saying we should approve the 2526. Right. So, I'm showing commitment, but the cuts that are happening next year, which is the big cuts for programming and for people, we I I'll be honest, we haven't done the work with the community or with labor and we always do it, right? So, we have to do it in my opinion. So, I don't know. I'm having a hard time with the push back. Um, I see it as push back. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know. I'm having a hard time with that. It's not push back. It is in my mind it's separating out what

we're doing around our programs in order to get to the place of what we need to reduce. The board is going to vote on the reductions. We can continue to work on the programs and we're going to have to beyond February 11th, February 25th or March 15th. The program work is the work that we'll be doing ongoing. The commitment to making the reductions is going to have to happen sooner so we can have the conversation or be open up and begin the conversation, but it's I I'm worried that it's not going to get to the place of closure in the next two weeks or the next month or the next six weeks. I just want to make sure that we're being realistic about the expectations.

At point of order, we are at 11:30. So, legally, we have to adjourn because it's 11:30. Um, we have to vote in this moment if we want this to move forward. Call the vote, President. Um, Trusty Regler, no. Trusty Smith Walls. Smith Falls, no. Trusty Hernandez, yes. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Trusty, a yes.

Vote those. And then we're tableabling, I guess, to future meetings. Um, E3 F3. and I am adjourning this meeting at 11:31 p.m. Our next regularly scheduled board meeting will be on February 11th. Good night everyone.