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

Board meeting has been pushed back to 4:30. 30. Good evening every Okay to the April April 29, 2026 um board meeting. I will call to order close session a regularly scheduled um close session um The board is about to go into close session. But before we do, we are here to listen to any public comment on close session items. Individuals wishing to speak on close session items listed. If you are here in the auditorium and you haven't done so already, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card which you can find on 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 nine. The time allotted for each speaker is 2 minutes. The total time allotted is 1 hour. Speaking should be transferred from one person to another. There is also no substitution of speakers. We alternate between Zoom comment and inperson comment. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruption or intimidation.

Please listen attentively to each of each speaker's comment and respect their time as if it were your own. Be open to another point of view if one is offered. Due to the brown neck, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda. Do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. The items listed on the closed agenda items for tonight are we are removing item one public employee performance evaluation. We are moving conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation conference with legal counsel existing litigation public employee appointment um conference with liberal negotiators and we will adjourn close session and reconvene to opening session after. Is there any public comment?

There is no public comment. Thank you. So, we are now um a journey at 4:36 and we'll be back to open session at 6:30.

Good evening and welcome to the open session for April 29th. 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting of the West Krakosta Unified School District. I am calling open session to order that Elizabeth

710. Thank you for that comment. I'm calling to order at 710. To to access translation and Zoom, please click the globe icon at the bottom of the screen. If you are here at Dejon and need a headset for translation, you may pick one up in the back corner of the auditorium. Um, let's see. In a few minutes, we will begin public comment agenda item. Members of the public are invited to speak on the board on any matter that is 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'd like to make public comment, please fill out and submit a WCCUSD public comment card. You can find them at the table in the entry 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 your comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in the order received and we call on speakers one at a time, alternating between public comment here in Dejon and one on Zoom. Public comment generally lasts for 1 hour. The time allowed to each speaker is 2 minutes. In the meantime, we are moving on to the rest of our opening procedures and we will now move on to item B2, pledge of allegiance. That is Mr. Whitten.

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. Um, we'll now move on to item B3, land and labor and body acknowledgement.

All righty. We recognize that we are presently on the lands of the Chuchenho, Mekma, Karkin, and Aloney peoples and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. I acknowledge that the burden of environmental exploitation and systemic injustice falls upon the labor of black and brown bodies in the buildings of this country and its institutions. I remember that black and brown people were born and died working this land against their will for generations. I also acknowledge the continued contribution of the labor of survivors over the centuries of today of all immigrant labor, including voluntary, involuntary, trafficked, forced, and undocumented peoples in the building of what we refer to as the United States.

We'll now move on to the West Contracasta Unified School District Board anti-racism statement. The West Contracasta School Bo District Board of Education is committed to the work of anti-racism, the conscious and active effort to identify, challenge, and correct racial inequities in the systems and its institutions with in our school and communities. Racism, explicit or implicit, stands in direct conflict to the fundamental principles of WCCUSD education. To carry WCCUSD education into the future, we recognize that we must continually renew and reflect on the roots of racism and develop new ideas to meet the times. Unjust ideas and policies and the racial inequity they produce have shaped us, our schools, and our society. We strive to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as board members. We challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growth and learning, to deepen our listening and examination of racism and oppression, and to develop a strong understanding of how our personal experiences and feelings fit into a larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of our school board individually and collectively is responsible for creating and nurturing an anti-racist learning environment where each student, staff member, and community partner is a respected and valued member of the WCCUSD community. We are uniquely positioned and it is our responsibility to identify and dismantle racist ideas and inequitable policies in ourselves and across the district. Therefore, we commit to supporting anti-racist policies, programs, and practices for our children's education and well-being while building strong and inclusive school communities. We commit to holding each board member accountable towards these goals and moving the work of anti-racism forward. We also commit to holding West Contraosta school

district, staff, students, and community to living these standards of anti-racism in our schools. Board approved March 20th, 2024. So now we'll move on to item five. Roll call. Superintendent, would you please do roll call? Uh, student trustee Hung is absent today. Trustee Student Trusty Whitten here. Trusty Reckler, good evening. Present. Trustee Smith Folds. Good evening everyone present. Trustee Hernandez.

Good evening present. Cler Gonzalez Hoy. Good evening. President and board president Inyana.

Good evening everyone and welcome to the board of education meeting tonight. We'll now move on to item six, reports ratification of closed session. Superintendent, is there anything to report out? Yes, there are items to report this evening. Um, on agenda item A24, the board voted to approve the appointment of Rachel Chang as Sulpha director. The vote was as follows. Moved by Reckler, second by Smith Folds. And Jana, yes. Reckler, yes. Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Smith Folds, yes. Hernandez, no. The board voted to approve the appointment of Elizabeth Sanders as assistant superintendent of communications and community engagement. The vote was as follows. Moved by Gonzalez Hoy. Seconded by Smith Foss. Inana, no. Reckler, yes. Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Smith Folds, yes. Hernandez, no. The board voted to approve the appointment of Jeff Carter as interimm associate superintendent of business services. The vote was as follows. As followed as follows, sorry. Moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Hernandez. Andana, yes. Reckler, yes. Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Smith folds, abstain. Hernandez, yes. The board voted to approve the appointment of William Olms as principal of Lake Elementary School. The vote was as follows. Moved by Smith Folds, seconded by Reckler. Inana, yes. Reckler, yes. Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Smith Folds, yes. Hernandez, yes. The board voted to approve the appointment of Erica Aean as principal of Madera Elementary School. The vote was as follows. Moved by Reckler. Second by Gonzalez Hoy. Andana, yes. Reckler, yes.

Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Smith folds, yes. Hernandez, yes. That concludes my report out. Thank you, Superintendent. Um, we'll now move on to item seven, WCCCUSD public comment. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Country Unified School District, but not on tonight's agenda. Public comment will last approximately 1 hour. The time allowed to each speaker is 2 minutes. Should additional speakers remain at the conclusion of 1 hour. Public comment may be extended. The time allowed per speaker after the first hour is generally one minute. Individuals wishing to speak, please 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 the item on the agenda. If you are calling in by phone, press star 9. Speaking time should not be transferred from one person to another. There is no substitution of speakers. Speakers could also make public comment again for each discussion and action item on the agenda after staff presentation. The public will have 10 minutes per item, one minute per speaker. The same protocols recited above apply. The public com the public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed in a civil matter without interruption of intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time at the podium as if we were your own. Be open to different points of view if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. Is there any public comment?

Yes. Our first public comment for tonight is Immani Andere. Please come to the podium.

Wait, why am I first?

Hi, my name is Immani. I'm a freshman at Kennedy High School and recently there's been a lot regarding our school district's decisions. The schedule change from an eighth period schedule to a sixth period schedule is going to make a big difference in our school and is going to limit the amount of opportunities that the students have when it comes to electives. I had plans on experiencing other electives such as film and literature, leadership, and welding. And it's not fair that I won't be able to because of this. Kennedy is already going through a huge disruption because of the construction. So getting rid of muchneeded programs is making it not an enjoyable experience for the students. Not to mention the programs are essential for our education and future like Spanish for Spanish speakers, CTE and leadership. And also think about the student the teachers that this is affecting their livelihood is at stake and they won't be able to continue what they love to do which is teaching at Kennedy. For the millionth time, ethnic studies is essential to our curriculum and important to many others. We learned a lot in this class. It'll be really nice to keep it. Um um I feel like you guys are trying to make the school a little worse on purpose by not giving us the resources that we need to fix it. Most kids, including myself, want to have a good high school experience with positive memories instead of having to fight for what we should have in the first place. I know you guys are hearing us, but you're not truly listening because we won't be advocating over and over again for this. Please take our advice. Thank you. There's a blue Hyundai Accent vehicle license plate AGI Z070 parked across the street. is blocking another car and it will be towed.

Our next public comment is Misha Harris Gash. Please unmute yourself. All right. Good evening all. So, I had an experience last week that led me to this question. How do we treat each other on any given day? The we I'm referring to tonight includes students and adults of WCCUSD. So, last week I was a substitute for one of my uh colleagues. Once I checked the students in at the door cuz I always have the roll so that way kids don't think they can come into my class and hide out, not in Miss Gash's room. So, I gave the students my dos and my don'ts. They can work on academics or participate in logic and strategy aka logic and strategy are board games because you do have to use logic and strategy when you play board games. I have music playing at a low level. A student, a Latino male, asked me, "Are you Pentecostal?" Now, I have to admit, I kind of assume, not that I kind of, I do assume that most Latino people aren't Catholic, but whoa, this young man is Pentecostal. So, I had never been asked that question before, so I said, "No, I grew up Baptist." He then shared that he plays drums at his uh church and shared a video of him playing. I asked him if he was self-taught. Yes. I asked him if he read music. No. He shared that he wants to play music at a bigger level and he knows that he has to learn how to read music. At the end of the class, this young man extended his hand to me. We shook hands and he said, "Thank you, Miss Gash." This young man and I had never met. He wasn't a familiar face. I'll state my question again. How do we treat each other on any given day? Students are more than their ID numbers. Adults in this district are

more than their ID numbers. I'm going to share this quote with you from Kofi Anan, a Gahhanian diplomat and the seventh secretary general of the United Nations. He said, "We may have different languages, religions, and color skin, but we all belong to one human race." Once again, how do we treat each other? Our next public comment is Kim Chamberlain. Good evening, Kimberly Chamberlain and IFD local 21 SSA chapter president. I hope we're all enjoying this AV equipment this evening, listening, enjoying our time together. Richmond High won't they won't have a theater manager starting July 1. They'll have to put in requests for a very active school site to get any type of services off of two people, two AV technicians who support an entire district and program throughout the entire year. So that's wonderful. all the overtime that will have to be put in, all the tireless days working sick, hoping that we can get qualified people cuz I can pretty much guarantee that as of July 1, the AV person that we normally count on is going to go into overload trying to keep up with all the requests.

Panol Valley, Elserto and Dansza will have their theater managers. Richmond High's theater manager will be moved over to Penol Valley. Penol Valley who works sick and works whenever they possibly can to make sure that students are taken care of. And by the way, they don't get OT. They're not in that subject area for a pay scale. so they don't get OT. Remember, we weren't supposed to touch students in programs that affect our students. Obviously, they are. Thank you.

Next public comment. Sky Nelson, please unmute yourself. Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes. Thank you. Hi board. This is Sky Nelson, parent and teacher at Elserto High School. Want to give a quick update on our community research into special education contracting. Uh working with community members from West Contraosta and also Oakland Unified. We've documented a statewide pattern to this where large contracting agencies are aggressively recruiting special ed workers. This is nationwide, but it reduces the pool of of a available workers for districts like us to hire. And districts like us feel forced to rely on contractors to hire the very same local workers at a higher cost. And as we've been talked about before, staffing becomes less less stable. Now, it's important to document that some uh only some of these agencies are backed by private equity, and those those are the ones not connected to our local districts. But they've expanded rapidly over the past 5 years. Workforce is growing four to 5x like 400%. Uh hiring lots of workers locally. But I want to be very specific. Mo most nonpublic agencies have a good track record with our district and our communities and even the ones that are we're addressing. The workers themselves are important parts of our community who serve our students well. It's a financial system that commodifies our students needs and extracts resources for investors who have no stake in our communities that we're trying to address. So what we've done is identified a bill called AB223 sponsored by Assembly Member Josh Loenthal addressing similar issues to this in California prisons and we met with Loenthal staff and proposed an amendment to their bill to include education. So there's real momentum and we're we're feeling excited about it. It may not happen this year. We're hoping it might. there's a possibility, but certainly next year it's is a good chance. So, um, we're trying to give districts a fair chance to hire and retain staff by being more transparent. It's not just a local issue, and we can do this. Please call

Logan's office, Buffy Wixs, uh, Jesse Eric Green, and support our schools. Thank you. Next public comment is Elias Abalos. Elias Abalos. Melanie Hernandez.

Good afternoon. My name is Melanie Hernandez and I'm a student at Kennedy High School. I had always wondered what it took for me to get here. What sacrifices my parents and the people before them made. And I know I'm not the only one continuously wondering. Ethnic studies has a place in my heart from now to forever. I've only ever learned about Anglo-American history. About Christopher Columbus, the brave explorer. Andrew Jackson, a tough leader. Fraro the conqueror. all romanticized as daring adventurers. But what about the strife and sufferings that came along with it? A majority of people were never given the chance to learn truths like these. If I and others are willing to teach a handful of adults of this generation factual truths that were hidden under a happy ending, why not offer a chance for students to learn about diverse histories, cultures, and contributions about theirs and other communities that honor the voices of those often silenced or forgotten? Why withdraw the opportunity that can help this generation of students to have a stronger perception of cultural awareness, a firm sense of identity, and a deeper understanding of their world and the one before them? Why limit the knowledge of one who yearns to know the strength and perseverance of the generations that paved the way through injustice acts? All these unfamiliarities can be prevented if ethnic studies is kept secure under the wing at Kennedy High School. Thank you.

Next public comment is Grace. Please unmute yourself. Good evening uh board superintendent. Vista K12 virtual academy is not a fringe program. It is a direct response to a real and growing demand. One that this district is failing to meet. Families are not checked out. They are seek walking out and taking ADA funding with them. According to Rand, the number of districts running virtual schools has grown ninefold since 2020. This is not a pandemic blip. This is a permanent shift in what families expect from public education. Vista can capture that demand, but only if this board acts. First, the market is real. The families choosing alternative schools are not disengaged. There are doctors, professors, and professionals making deliberate choices. Dr. Favita Lobo, a Stanford clinical professor and emergency serum physician, publicly chose an AI power school for her own child. When a physician who lives by evidence and outcomes walks away from traditional schooling, that is a signal worth taking seriously. Second, the traditional model is losing ground. Large class sizes, staff turnover, and seat time rules are driving families out. Right sizing schools will push even more to look elsewhere. Vista offers a clear alternative. Students advance by demonstrating mastery, not by sitting still. Third, this is a financial fight. Every student Vista retains is a real funding preserve. Without action, the pattern is predictable. Fewer students, smaller budgets to larger classes, more departures. That cycle is already running. Fourth, the problem is not Fista's quality. It is Fista's visibility. Families do not know it

exists. That is a marketing failure and it is fixable. Targeted outreach and real institutional support could make Vista a flagship, not a footnote. The data backed this up. October 22nd board meeting shows Vista it's outpacing district average. The choice is plain. Compete for students or keep losing them. Thank you. Next public comment is Tommy Numpresser. Tommy Gian Maldonado. Uh hello school board. My name is Jan Maldon. I'm a junior at Kennedy High School. Uh first of all, I would like to thank the board members and cabinet who showed up to our spring carnival, which I did extend a invitation to. So, thank you to Trustee uh Smith Folds as well as Superintendent Cotton and Mr. Booker as well for showing up. Um, thank you all for showing up. Um, now I would like to speak on the reason you were invited, right? You were invited to look inside what, uh, Kennedy offers, right? And of course, uh, ethnic studies of course was a big focal point that we highlighted at the event, but it still seems we're not getting any word on if we're keeping ethnic studies for the following year. If we're not, we would like a yes or no, and we would obviously prefer a yes. Um, right. You've had conversation about about what um declining enrollment looks like, right? A lot of us saw the graph you were all shown last week at the previous board meeting about declining enrollment at the at the state level, right? And of course, that's hitting the district. Uh, but but it's hitting

Kennedy hard as well. So, I would like for the board to consider um terminating external contracts and instead using that money and putting it into struggling programs who need that funding, who need that money, these programs, especially to schools and marginalized community, right? A lot of us here are black and brown who are taking these courses and learning about our own history. Of course, as many of my the students who also go to Kennedy, we've all seen that, right? Uh it's been brought up. Are you ready? Yeah, students are not doing that very well. I can tell you that as a student, that's money that should be allocated to ethnic studies, to Spanish speakers, to journalism, to ITA, to construction, to welding, all these programs that are facing major cuts from the board. So, please reconsider that instead of re having to rebrand Kennedy, let's rebrand the district that funds its programs, that funds its students. Thank you. Next public comment is Jean Kinner. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening board. My kids were playing during their um indoor playtime today, rolling around on the floor and having a good time. And I was watching them, seeing how they interact. And then I noticed how absolutely dirty our floors are. And I remember thinking, "Oh, I cannot wait until they get stripped and waxed next year." Then I remembered, "Oh, wait. They didn't get stripped and waxed this year, and they probably won't this for this school year, and they probably won't over the summer again because our janitor was told there's no money for stripper. Just take that buffer and scratch up the surface of the old dirty wax and put new wax on top so it'll be shiny." I really, really, really hope you reconsider that. Especially for preschool, TK, kindergarteners, 1, two, and three. We all spend significant times on the floor, teachers included sometimes with our morning meetings with, you know, small group instruction, whole group instruction. We really need our floors to be clean. I understand at high school maybe they probably aren't on the floor, but us the littles, they need clean floors. They need to be stripped. They need to be waxed. Also, whatever cleaner is being used, it's just it's not cutting it. I would like to extend out and invite to every board member to come come to Verie, take a peek at our floors from the front office into the classrooms. Come see what they look like. Something's just not going on. I've been here for over a decade and the cleaners used to clean the floors, but now they don't. We used to have stripper and got new wax floors. No, we don't. I'm not quite sure what's going on. Thank you.

Next further comments and na ree um Monada.

Hello, my name is Annie Monada. I'm a senior at Genative Kennedy High School. Um, once again speaking for the classes that are going to be cut. Uh, the student government and I have been talking a lot about low enrollment and we have reached out to these board members uh, Konatin Elaine and uh, I forgot how to pronounce her name but they just keep telling us that we just need more enrollment to keep these classes. But without these classes, we aren't able to get the enrollment and the interest from younger students. Also, the student government would like to formally invite Cheryl Katen to the a meeting on the 11th of May to continue to speak about this. I think ethnic studies is important because it exposes you to different cultures. Without them, I would be lost when it comes to applying to colleges. I know when I get to UC Davis, I will be surrounded by a lot more white people and a lot more people from different cultures. Without this class, I wouldn't be able to understand the background of on every who will be surrounding me since we come from a predominantly Hispanic and black community which has been historically been discriminated against. Thank you. Next public comment is Nick Cresensi. Please unmute yourself. Good evening board and staff members. I would like to talk to you about the

presentation that you received on enrollment last meeting. Was unable to get there for the actual meeting but I reviewed it and I want to make an observation. West Contraosta Unified is still operating like it's a 1980s school district. We are no longer a 1980 school district. We're in the 2000s, way into the 2000s. The district needs to start operating under those guides. Every school needs to have information to recruit. You need to start acting like charter schools. Charter schools badmouth our schools and sell how great theirs are. They're no better and often worse than our public schools. But we do not do a good job of demonstrating how great our public schools are. And some of the things that just need to be done are one pagers. This is the stuff that our school offers. Whether it is an an after-school enrichment programs, afterchool care that is that is uh available for parents, these sorts of things. If parent if you make it easy for parents to figure it out, they will more likely go to your schools. They don't do it because it's more work. The charter schools are doing that. They make it very clear and very easy. And that's what people need in their busy lives. Another observation coming from the board too is we need to get honest. Miss Trustee Smith Fos said it, I don't want to see schools closed, but if we can't get our enrollment up to like the average statewide of 80%, that is the reality. Schools are going to close.

There's a school that gets keeps getting talked about that was slated to be closed 20 years ago when I was in high school. Next public comment is Jackie Arendo.

Okay.

Good afternoon. Uh my name is Jackie Aendano. I'm a fifth year ethnic studies teacher at Kennedy and I'm a WCCUSD alumni uh since elementary school all the way to high school. Uh today I'm here to leave some action items on the table for you. First um our school community has spoken and Mr. Veh will be presenting our ethnic studies petition to preserve 9th grade ethnic studies. and I'll let him do the talking in terms of the amount of support we've received from families, our community members, and mostly our students who want to keep ethnic studies at Kennedy High School. Two, I urge you to add Kennedy High to your agenda. We have been coming for the past three months backtoback school board meetings expressing our concerns, our current conditions, and the fundamental needs that need to be addressed. At the end of the last school board meeting, you all started to discuss or some of you all started to discuss solutions for ethnic studies. And I'm happy that those solutions are being proposed, but you all need to vote on allocating funds to protect and defend ethnic studies and the other programs that we need at Kennedy. We are over asking for a 2.4 FTE and that is for all our programs. For ethnic studies, it is 1.0 0 FTE that we need allocated to defend it and keep it. Three, we need your support in holding our school admin accountable to allocate the 1.0 that FTE that has been sitting on. We still have five positions that are part-time on our campus for Kennedy. It is already May this Friday. The school year is already going to come to an end and it is just irresponsible to be waiting on 1.0 no FTE that could be allocated to make teachers full-time at Kennedy. Our students deserve more. The second round of transfers is already here. If you all do not allocate this 1.0 at our school, we're going to lose more teachers and

this will lead to more instability. Please work with us and add us to your agenda. Thank you. Next public comment is Ashlin Abbott. Please unmute yourself. Hello. Are you able to hear me?

Yes. I would like you to acknowledge and sit with how uncomfortable it is that you are showing these children that when they come and speak and participate, that the system will keep working, that the system will shut people of color down, and whether it's white people or not, the machine will march forward. This is your opportunity to listen to celebrate to understand the power that they are holding. Give up a little bit. Exhale. Allow these eagles to soar. They want to go to college. They want to fly. They want to come back to school two years from now and tell us about how amazing they're doing because they had classes that pushed them. classes like journalism, classes like ethnic studies, classes like Spanish for Spanish speakers. You don't understand that what you're telling them is that Donald Trump is right, that these nasty white people were right, that my great grandpas were right, THAT WE SHOULD SHUT PEOPLE DOWN. YOU DISGUST me when you keep looking into these babies's eyes and saying nothing. Thank you for coming, everybody. Thank you. BUT HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP AND NOT PUT US ON the agenda? THAT IS DISGUSTING. HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP and not show up here? We need your help. IT IS DIRE. WE HAVE SO much to offer. We have so many teachers that are building programs that are helping these children want to learn English, want to take flight, and start being risky by believing in themselves. and instead you say, "Go ahead, TURN ON TIK TOK. SHUT DOWN. Turn off." Because it doesn't matter. I'd like you to remember why you're there. You're there to tell them, "Wake up. You're loved. You're worthy.

This is your chance, Leslie. Have a beautiful night, everybody. And I can't wait for you to see what it looks like." Next public comment, Miss Patricia Blanco. Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Patricia Blanco, a Spanish teacher in Kennedy High. I'm here again to ask for your support to keep um ethnic students leadership, journalism and in our institution. Our our students deserve to have to to h sorry our students deserve to have classes to motivate them to grow academically and to make them feel proud of their culture and their skill for lives. I also want to mention how important and successful is our Spanish for Spanish speaker program. Our population needed. They deserve to know more about their identity and to develop their new linguistic skills at becoming bilingual. I always hear that the district cares for the community, but your actions speaks louder than those words. We don't see your support. We need you. Kennedy needs you. I urge you to protect your experienced staff stability and support. Don't take away these programs from Kennedy. We need our we need our our colleagues there. Mr. Aendano, Mr. Hernandez, Miss Werta, Mr. Nagihara, Mr. Porter, Miss Periscaro, all of them are excellent professional like other teachers in Kennedy. We work hard. We care for our students and we need your support to give them what they deserve. Dignity, good classes and people who care for them because we contact with our students. We know them. We build relationship with them to make them better. Thank you.

Next public comment is Christian Vigil. Please unmute yourself.

WCUSD community. Um, first of all, thank you uh, Miss Evan Daniel for for that uh, for introducing our petition here today. Uh, my name is Kristen Beil and I am a social teacher at Kennedy High and also served as his department chair. Uh we wanted to once again inform you that John Kennedy High School is eliminating the ethnic studies course for the 202627 school year. After six years of developing the ethnic studies curriculum, cuts to full-time teachers are threatening the end of this program. The social studies department at Kennedy petitions to maintain the ethnic studies program by guaranteeing a full-time ethnic studies teacher for the 2627 school year to add ethnic studies as a course for the 26 2027 school year and for the district to commit to it 2021 91920 resolution to promote ethnic studies courses across the schools. This petition also stands in solidarity with other programs impacted by these cuts and layoffs, including Spanish speakers, CT programs, leadership, and journalism. So far, 435 people have signed this petition. More than 30% of signes were community members, parents, guardians, elders, professors, and leaders, all who agree on the importance of maintaining ethnic studies. We invite the WCUSD community to join our struggle to defend any impacting programs in Kennedy and around the district. Some reasons why Kennedy uh ethnic studies Kennedy is important. Ethnic studies course allows students to be prepared to succeed in a college environment. California was the first state to make ethnic studies a high school graduation requirements assembly bill 101. According to a study by the Stanford Graduate School of Education, a ninth grade ethnic studies class increases students overall engagement in school probability of graduating and likelihood of enrolling in college. It equips students to navigate diverse communities and spaces and allow students of color to learn about their heritage and history. Please support Kennedy. Please support our programs. Much gracias.

Next public comment is Mity Perez Carroll. Hello, my name is Mati Periscaro. I'm a second generation WCCUSD alum, an advocate for students for 15 years, a ninth year CTE teacher at Kennedy. Um, I want to speak a little bit to ethnic studies. In February of 2020, the majority of this board approved a resolution to instill and defend ethnic studies at the district level. The next month, there was a detailed presentation titled, "Building the future for ethnic studies." So, where is it? Fast forward to today. How can you defend cutting ethnic studies to the school that needs it the most? Our students deserve better than what you are proposing. The students in all student congress are debating debating our anti-racist statement. There's a huge reason for that. They're not seeing you uphold the values you claim to promote. Instead of passing feel-good resolutions, y'all need to ensure that our students are seeing the benefit of the policies that are put in place. If you're not about to serve our students properly, know that you are replaceable. As a reminder for the physical solvency dilemma, cut consultants, take a pay cut, fix the truency issue, work with your staff instead of against us.

Next public comment is Jeffrey Bean. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening. Jeffrey Bean here. I teach grades four and five at Shannon Elementary in Penol. In the 2022 23 school year, our school Shannon Elementary piloted the I Ready program along with several other uh district elementary schools as a replacement for district assessments instead of using STAR reading. I observe that tomorrow's agenda for the contract committee includes the uh about $600,000 about half a million dollars for I Ready for Kirk Lim Associates and I can't come to that meeting because I will be working then. So I wanted to talk to you now. Uh specifically I'm concerned about the excessive amount of testing that is done for elementary students particularly for fifth graders. Um, in the spring for fifth grade, we have we have the uh California science test, the California PE test, the CASP um reading test along with the math test, which each is actually two tests. That's four tests total. So, combined total of six tests. Then you add in the California healthy kids survey, television survey, and then on top of that, we got to do the I Ready, which is two tests, which are designed to take about 45 minutes each, but in reality take hours and hours and hours. The students who are do really well, it tests them in perpetuity until they cannot answer questions anymore. It takes hours for them to do it. It's not fair. It's wrong. It approaches on educational abuse, and it's been years. I've tried for years to get somebody at district to listen. But every time I reach out to someone in the district, they meet with me or talk to me. Then few months later, they're gone, no longer working for the district. It is time for things to change. You can save money. There are much more effective ways to assess students. You

don't need to do these hourly hours and hours of testing in order to find out how students what students know. Thanks. Bye-bye. Next public comment is Christina Werta. My name is Christina Werta, teacher, Kennedy High School. Hello again. I want to share some dates with you all because I think people don't know how to use calendars. So, back in February, the board decided to ask that the cabinet and district staff check in about Spanish or Spanish speakers at Kennedy. It has nothing has happened. It's going to be May on Friday and nothing has happened. I've sent countless emails. They are ignored. Then I was discussing with the other ILT leads on our campus and we're talking about the fact that on March 9th, Miss McGee tells us that we got an additional point4 FTE. Amazing. Then she emails us again on March 12th and tells us that we got an extra 6 FTE. It is now April 29th and that FTE has not been assigned to anybody. Like Miss Aventano said, several teachers are still uncertain about what their future is going to be at Kennedy and in this district. It is unacceptable to keep people waiting just because. But speaking of waiting, the IoT leads because you know we care about our school. That's why we signed up to be an IoT lead. We sent an email to our site admin, Mr. DeLeon. Mr. Orosco. Mr. Orosco. This is about you. Thank you. Um asking that they meet with us because they're all kind of pointing fingers at

each other and nobody will tell us what's going on. Mr. Odosco did reply and said he could meet one of the days that we suggested. Miss McGee said no, she could not meet and did not supply any other dates. Uh Mr. DeLeon must not have checked his email that day because we have gotten no reply. But I'm pretty sure we emailed them five times asking for the same thing. You need to take a look at Kennedy. It is not working. Next public comment is Riley. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening. My name is Ronnie and I'm a fourth grader student at Vista K12 Virtual Academy. As I were toward the end of the school year, I wanted to share my perspective on why my teacher, Miss Anna, is a masterful educator. In our class, Miss Anna leaves with a steady presents that creates a high engagement environment. Because she is a clear leader, we never lose time to behavior management. This has allowed us to focus on deep learning. It has resulted in a level of maturity and respect in our class that I don't often see in other groups outside of business. Miss Anna also has a rare ability to tailor our work. When I use tools like I Ready or New Zealand, they don't feel like digital worksheets. Instead, she uses them to challenge me and provide precision support where we need help. She has also provided direct support in writing and educating during our one-on-one sessions. This has led to a major boost in my skills and my confidence when we whether we are working on kitchen science experiments. Our gold rush booklets or the gallon man math project, she makes learning hands-on. More important, Miss Anna cares about the whole child. Earlier this year, we read Fish in a Tree to learn about empathy. When I was personally struggling with a big challenge, Miss Anna took the initive to read and discuss the book, Who Moved My Cheese with Me. That kind of proactive mentorship is what defines a master teacher. Because of Miss Anna, I am more confident than ever as a rising fifth grader. Thank you for having such a high qual educator on your team.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next public comment is Kumi Yanagihara. Good evening. My name is Kumi Anihara. I'm a fifth year science teacher at Kennedy. Uh since personal anecdotes don't really seem to be hitting, I thought I would read the resolution uh that uh Vhil and Perez referred to uh number 901920 affirming support of AB 2016. Whereas in fall of 2018, Elserto Kennedy and Richmond high schools offered its students a new semester course in ethnic studies. And whereas students from a variety and mixture of ethnic and racial backgrounds make up approximately 89% of the student population in WCC and approximately 54% of the students have a home language other than English. And whereas West Contraosta Unified School District has a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. And whereas research indicates the ethnic studies curriculum in high schools has demonstrated an increase in GPA across disciplines, high school graduation rates, collegegoing rates, and a sense of belonging. And whereas studies show that ethnic studies curriculum helps to narrow the achievement gap and the opportunity gap for students of color as well as benefits white students. And whereas ethnic studies enhances equity in the school curriculum. And whereas California Education Code section 51204.5 prescribes the inclusion of legacies of ethnic and cultural groups who have contributed to the history, economic, political, and social development of California in the United States with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society. And whereas California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the nation with 77% identified as students of color. Now therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District affirms support of the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum draft. Be it further resolved that West Contraosta Unified School District affirm support for the ethnic studies model curriculum maintaining its framing and language of the discipline with additional scaffolding as necessary

to be inclusive and supportive of multiple users. Remember when in 2020 all these companies had all these DEI stuff and then are rolling it back now? That's what you guys are doing. Next public comment is Christine Hatcher. Please unmute yourself.

Good evening, President Inala, board members and superintendent Cotton. My name is Christine Gan Hatcher and I'm the president of the West Contracasta Administrators Association known as WCCCA here in West Contracasta Unified School District. WCCA would like to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate an important achievement for Kennedy High School. Kennedy has been awarded a six-year Wasque accreditation retroactively to 2024. This recognition is especially meaningful given that when Principal Ben McGee began her tenure at Kennedy, the school's Wasque status was probationary. Over the course of her leadership and in partnership with the administrative team, teachers, staff, students, and families, the school has engaged in focus, sustained work to strengthen instructional practices, improve systems, and build a positive and supportive learning environment. Anyone who has engaged in a WASK process knows that this level of accreditation is a result of a rigorous and demanding cycle of self-study, reflection, and continuous improvement. The Kennedy team has demonstrated a clear commitment to student achievement and schoolwide growth. And the six-year accreditation reflects not only meeting expectations, but a significant shift in trajectory. We want to commend Principal McGee and the administrative team for their leadership and dedication in guiding this work and to recognize the entire Kennedy community for their collective effort. I'm sure that you all join me in extending our congratulations to Kennedy High School on this well-earned recognition. Thank you. Our next public comment is Jesus Galindo.

Good evening, Superintendent Cotton, distinguished board members. Good to see you. My name is Jesus Alfredo Galindo and I have the immense privilege of being a part of AIM High, a free summer program based here in WCCUSD. We have two programs, one here at Levania Dean and one at Koramatsu. I'm also a proud former education uh Lincoln Elementary teacher where I taught for nine years and I'm here for one reason and one reason only and that is to make sure that our community knows about our free summer program. AIM High Enrichment started two years ago. We started at Montavan Elementary and now we have two sites. We served over 1,000 kiddos and we are excited about serving roughly 250 students this upcoming summer. and I brought some flyers. I hope that you shared them widely. I also brought our impact report and I just want to share some of the things that we're really proud of. When we surveyed our students, 100% of them said that they felt better prepared for middle school, that they felt that AIM High was going to make sure that they felt more confident about their middle school and high school journey. 98% almost 99% of our students fel said that they made a new friend at AIM High. And then for those who care about middle school, connectedness and belonging is really important. And the research clearly shows that when students feel like they belong, when they have healthy relationships with their peers, they're more likely to show up to school and be successful. We were just recently studied by the Gardner Center at Stanford and Stanford found that the kids that attended AIM High chronic absenteeism went down by 20%. are uh in our recent uh AIM high graduate survey of our 19,000 graduates of the 76 76% that responded 98% have enrolled um in our inracted graduate from college or have graduated to college. And the last thing I want to

say is assembly bill 176 is if students show up to expanded programs the district can actually collect some of the funding of the student miss school. Our next public comment is iPhone. Please unmute yourself. Please unmute yourself. Crystal Vanagan, please unmute yourself. Good evening, community. Um, my name is Crystal Banigan and I've been um, my kids and I have been in this district for about 10 years and um, I still have three kids in this district. In fact, I have a graduating senior from Kennedy this year, and it it just breaks my heart every single time I come to these board meetings, and I see all these phenomenal educators from Kennedy and these incredible students from Kennedy coming up here and um you know, pouring their heart out to you. Like, these are the folks that that make this stuff happen. These are the folks that are on the ground in the trenches, first line of defense for our students, right? And um it's just criminal what this district is doing. And I think that

each one of you know that. Uh and it's sickening that you're not really seeming to want to do too much about it. Um, you know, it it's not lost on me that this is not an easy job. It's not lost on these kids that it's not an easy job. But when you sit there and ignore folks because you have the ability to, you know, people take notice of that. People take notice when you leave the room before they talk or when you look down at your paper the whole time that they're talking. People notice that, Jamaa. But that's all right because a lot of stuff is happening and I just want the students at Kennedy to know that they are loved, they are heard by their community, and we support you guys and I hope the board does too one day. Um, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Good night.

Next public comment is Mary Annium. Marie Annam. Thank you to the sped team that helped correct Lydia's IEP. It took seven IEP meetings. That was a ton of time, energy, phone calls, emails, and meetings. My message to the other sped parents out there is to not give up. Yes, it's a lot of work, but our sped special needs children need their services and our supports, and we are here to look out for our kids. Both my kids have benefited from early intervention at Cameron and are doing really good. Thank you. There's another concern with my preschool students bus driver. She was a sub that day, but thank goodness the teachers were there to see what was going on. They look out for the students. GPS and cameras are very much needed on the sped buses. In each incident, there's different perspectives about what actually happened. And unfortunately, the little three-year-old preschoolers are not able to tell us what they have witnessed, what they saw, what went on the bus rides. We need cameras and GPS. Now, I know it's been put in the cars. The same safety measures need to go on the buses. I don't know how many in our leadership here have children, a child who rides the bus with a speech delay. You worry, you want to make sure they are protected. Please look into it. Thank you to the facilities and security teams for our safety plan. It's very important. Thank you to maintenance who

came out to help beautify the school. There's a lot of activity going on right now. STE's temp campus is our home away from home and together we're working on its upkeeps. Thank you also for the shade nutrition services. Thank you. I went out there. The kids were under the shade and thank you for your comment. Next public comment. iPhone, please unmute yourself. Please unmute yourself. Next public comment is Francisco Cortis. Good evening, President Nñana, Trustees, Superintendent Cotton, and community. I want to start with uh what's happening at Kennedy High School and frankly what it really represents across the district. UTR stands in full support of the Kennedy community and their advocacy for ethnic studies in the programs that they value. The decision to eliminate a standalone ethnic studies course and instead embed it in a world history course is not just a scheduling change. It is dilution. It strips ethnic studies of its purpose, its rigor, and its identity. Ethnic studies was never meant to be an add-on, a side note, or something sprinkled in

when it's convenient. It's a discipline rooted in critical analysis, in lived experience, in truthtelling about systems of power and resistance. What's being proposed is the academic equivalent of replacing a fullrich meal with a watered down substitute and calling it the same thing. Our students deserve the real thing. Also, I want to acknowledge the work happening right now at the contract review committee. We are grateful uh for board leadership that is beginning to take seriously the need to end this district's over reliance on contractors and consultants. For too long, we've outsourced critical services while undervaluing the very people who build relationships with our students every single day. If we're serious about student success, then we must be serious about investing in the people who make our schools run. our educators, our classified staff, our service providers, not temporary contracts, not revolving doors, but increased stability. And that leads me to the larger issue, which is strategy. Right now, there is no clear, coherent, publicly articulated vision for where this district is headed. No roadmap, no through line that connects decisions like course cuts, staffing instability, and budget priorities back to student success. UTR is demanding accountability and increased transparency. Our community, our community deserves to know what's the plan. Our last public comment is Ellen King. Good evening, Superintendent Cotton and trustees. My name is Helen Kong and I'm a sixth grade teacher at Harding

Elementary in Elserto. I'm here to speak about two issues. First, uh what is happening in at Kennedy High School is absolutely unacceptable. Our district's you know tagline is one west contraosta but different treatment and resources and programs at different schools definitely is not one west of contra west contraosta and to completely inequitable at a school where the majority of students are bipox students to not have an ethnic studies program is absolutely unconscionable In addition, the principal withholding FTE and causing so much turmoil and instability in staffing, it's it's just not right for students who deserve so much more and it almost seems purposeful. Speaking of instability, I am also here to speak with you about special education. I am here again to advocate for special education and to ask you to please have greater oversight, to demand accountability from Superintendent Cotton and the cabinet about what is happening in special education. There is no plan. There is no plan. and students, our most vulnerable students who need routines and stability the most are just going to be dumped willy-nilly in different programs that do not fit their needs. So, I you know, I I just don't even know what else to say. Um, we're a district where we're, you know, so many teachers are struggling so hard to improve student outcomes, but reducing special education services will.

Well, I think that concludes our public comment. Um, thank you to everyone who gave public comment tonight as well. Uh, moving on to agenda review and adoption. Does the board have anything that they would like to adjust on the agenda? Trustee regular, I have a qu I have a question, please. Anywhere on this agenda, is there an item about the Richmond pool? Does anybody know?

No. Okay. Thank you. That's it. That's all I had. So seeing no nothing different uh we will proceed with the agenda as published. So now we'll move on to approval of minutes for April 15, 2026. Do we have a motion to approve? President, I'll move that we approve the minutes from uh April 15th. Reckler will second. Moved by Trustee Gonzalez Hoy. Second by Reckler. Um Trustee Whitten. Yes.

Trusty Reckler. Yes. Trusty Smith FS. Smith FS. Yes. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Yes. Trusty Hernandez. Yes. Trusty Anyana say yes. U we'll now move on to President. I have a point of order.

Okay. I don't typically talk back to public comment, but if I'm not on this dis, I'm in the restroom. And that's a whole lot of information that nobody deserves to know. That's one. Second, if I'm looking down, I'm taking notes. Third, if I'm looking down, I'm listening because sometimes that's how I do it. If anyone has something to say about the way that I conduct myself on this DAS, I ask them to continue to speak it out loud because I will continue to talk back to it and let you know why I do what I do. But I do not like at all for my character to be questioned in any form because I give more to this district and to this board than many people before me. So I just want to let that be known and I want to know that I take this job seriously and I never take it for granted. I am complete.

All right. Well, thank you for that. I don't know where that came from, but it came from a comment that was made through our public comment about me not being on the dis when some when audience is talking when we have public comment and it came from me looking down when I'm uh when we are having public comment. So I wanted to give clarity and understanding about why you may see what you see from me on this diet. complete

and I think that goes to you know speaking for the I don't want to speak for the rest of our trustees but I think that you know sometimes we are having side conversations for a little bit more information or we are just asking clarified questions but I think that going back and forth even clarifying I think you know it's we shouldn't have to go there and I think our stance speaks for itself so you shouldn't have to get on the board and clarify any of those comments. Um, I'll move on to agenda item 10, resolution number 252668, school lunch hero day. Um, May 1st, 2026. Um, and that is presented by Mr. Jeff Carter or is that

Good evening Rochelle. Good evening. Yes. Um, good evening board, superintendent, staff, and community. I will take this one. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District expresses its deep appreciation to these valuable employees and commends their good work on behalf of children. Do we have a motion to approve?

I'll go ahead and move resolution 2526-68 school and chirro day May 1st 2026. Do we have a second? I'll second. So motion has been moved to approve resolution number 252668 um by trusty regular seconded by um trusty Whitten um and we'll go to the roll call Whitten yes trusty regular yes

trustees vote is off and I um trustee is absent um trustee

yes and trustee Yes. So, we'll now move on to item 11, resolution 2526-70, National Public School volunteer week. And that is once again um Miss Forest. Thank you. Now therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education and WCCCUSD Superintendent recognize and commend volunteers and join the nation in celebrating National Public School Volunteer Week, April 20th through 24th, 2026. Okay, we're having a little fight over who's going to move it. I'll go ahead and move resolution 2526-70, National Public School Volunteer Week 2026. And I just want to say that our volunteers add so much to our district and to our schools and from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

I second. We have a motion. Um, it's been moved by Trusty Regler, second by Trusty Arnaldes. Um, with Trusty Winn absent, Trusty Reckler. Reckler, yes. Smith folds absent. Gonzalez Hoy absent. Um, Trusty Hernandez, yes.

And Trusty Anyana is a yes. Um, resolution moved. Um, moving on to resolution number 2526-71, National Student Leadership Week 2026. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education does hereby adopt this resolution to to designate the week of April 20th through 24th, 2026 National Student Leadership Week. And be it be it further resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education recognizes and encourages our student leaders to continue to advocate for student voice and leadership in education throughout the WCCCUSD system. I move that we approve resolution number 2526-71 National Student Leadership Week 2026.

Regular will second. Motion by Ernandez, second by Trusty Regler. Trusty regular. I mean Trusty Winn absent Trusty Regler. Reckler. Yes. And I just like to say that they're the best part of being on the school board. Their comments are fantastic and I'm glad we have schoolboard members and we have this opportunity for them. So even though you're not here, thank you. Trusty Smith's absent. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy absent. Trusty Arnald. Yes.

And Trusty Anyana is a yes. And I want to echo what um Trustee Regler said, you know, being here and having our student leadership up here is great. Seeing um leadership, I think, come to the board um week after week is also great. So, I applaud all our student leaders across the district. U moving now on to resolution 2526-78. Um, hold on. 2526 72 a Arab American Heritage Month 2026. Now therefore be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board joins the ArabAmerican Foundation in celebrating April as 2026 National ArabAmerican Heritage Month in recognition of the many contributions ArabAmericans have made to our society. I'll go ahead and move resolution 2526-72, ArabAmerican Heritage Month 2026.

I second. U moved by Regular, second by Ernaldes. Um, Trustee Wen absent. Trusty Regler. Reckler. Yes. Trusty Smith Folz absent. Trustee Gonzalez Hoy absent. Trustee yes.

And trustee Anyana Z. Now move on to resolution number 2526-73 Dolores Werta Day for 2026. Now therefore be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education does hereby adopt this resolution to honor Dolores Werta, a national civil rights and labor leader. and be it further resolved, the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education directs the superintendent and all district staff to support lessons and activities that teach about the life and struggles of Dolores Werta and to conduct celebrations honoring her life as a powerful force for social justice and empowerment for all. I move that we approve resolution number 2526-73 Dolores Huertas day

2026 I second so we have it moved by trustee seconded by trusty Whitten trusty Whitten yes trusty regular regular yes trusty space absent um trusty Gonzalez Hoy absent trusty Hernandez yes

and trustee Dana Zas. We'll now move on to resolution number 2526-74, Adult Educational Week 2026. Now therefore, be it resolved that the governing board of the West Contraosta Unified School District does hereby proclaim the week of April 5th, 2026 through April 11th, 2026, Adult Education Week. salutes the administration, teachers, and students of the West Contraosta Adult School and honors their efforts and accomplishments.

I move that we approve resolution number 2526-74, Adult Education Week. I second. Moved by Ernandez, seconded by Trusty Whitten. Trusty Whitten. Yes. Trusty Regler. Regular. Yes. Trusty Smith folds. Smith folds. Yes. Um Trusty Gonzalez Hoy absent. Trustee Arnald. Yes.

And Trusty. Yes. Moving on to resolution number 2526-75, National Poetry Month for 2026. Now therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education and WCCCUSD Superintendent proclaim April April 1 through April 30 as National Poetry Month. Be it further resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education encourages activities to recognize and celebrate the cultural riches our community has to offer and to recognize the important role poetry plays in creating and sustaining this great nation with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs. I move resolution number 2526-75 National Poetry Mile.

I second. Moved by Aana, seconded by Whitten. Um, Trusty Whitten. Yes. Trusty Regler. Reckler. Yes. Trusty Smith FS. Smith FS. Yes. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy absent. Trusty Hernandez. Yes.

And trustee Ayana Z. Yes. Moving on to resolution number 2526-76 in support of the renewal of California Proposition 55 education funding. Now therefore be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education affirms its strong support for the renewal of Proposition 55 as a critical funding mechanism for California's K through2 public schools and community colleges. And be it further resolved that the board of education encourages the community, stakeholders, and voters within the West Contraosta Unified School District to support efforts to renew Proposition 55 in the November 2026 general election to ensure continued investment in public education. And be it further resolved that the superintendent or designate is directed to share this resolution with a with local municipalities, education partners, and community organizations to build awareness and support for sustaining educational funding. And be it further resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District stands in partnership with educators, families, students, and community members in advocating for the continued investment in public education to meet the needs of current and future generations. I move that we approve resolution number 2526-76 in support of the renewal of the California Proposition 55 education funding. I second

motion moved by second by Gonzalez Hoy. Trusty Whitten. Yes. Let's do vote. Um Trusty Regler, are we voting and doing comments at the same time? Yeah, you can do comments or vote. Do you mind?

So everybody who's out there, if you see somebody at Bard or on the street who is asking you to sign to get this on the ballot, please sign. this is our this is the way California schools are funded and it's super important that this gets on the ballot and we get a chance at passing it. If it doesn't get on the ballot or it doesn't pass, it's going to be really interesting. Um I don't I don't really know what's going to happen, but it would be better if it did. So, if you're out there and you see it, please sign and if it makes the um the ballot, please vote in favor. Thank you. Oh, and I'm a yes. Trusty Smith folds. Smith folds. Yes.

Trustee Gonzalez Hoy. Yes. I just had a quick comment as well. I wanted to thank you Trusty Reckler Utr for sending us this resolution uh as an update. They did get enough signatures. So it made it this last week. Uh they got 1.3 million signatures. So we are going to see it on the November ballot. So now we have to organize to pass it. Uh for us it could be a loss of I think Mr. Carter, look at me if I'm right. I think $32 million a year that we could lose. Um so, um yes, let's just go with that for now. I'll correct myself at the next meeting. Uh but that could be a huge hit for 20.

20. Ah man. Okay. Well, that's probably less of an impact, but still 20 is 20. Uh so anyone out there, please make sure once we get a number and we started the campaign that we all supported. Um thank you so much. Trusty. Oh, did you Trusty Hernandez? Yes. And Trusty Anyana is a yes. Um, now moving on to our cons item C consent items. Does any board member wish wish to pull any items for the consent for discussion later in the evening? Uh, trusty regular.

Yes, I'd like to pull C13 school calendars 27 28 28 29. Can you say that again?

Uh, consent item C13, the school calendars 13. Okay. Okay. So, we'll approve consent items with the removal of a C13 um for later in the evening. Uh we'll now move on to item D, superintendent communication. Good evening everyone. Uh excited to share um some of the goings on that is happening in West Contraosta Unified School District. Next slide please. I do want to lift up that we had a amazing um administrators of the year celebration through AXA and RASA last Thursday night. Um it was a Contraosta County event. Contracasta um well actually Contraosta County and some of Alama County uh event. We were there to celebrate. Over 20 of our administrators were acknowledged um for the hard work that they're doing. We will continue to celebrate them. Look forward to bringing them out uh in a later board meeting to celebrate and recognize the great work that our staff is doing. I don't know if you could see all those pictures, but those were some happy folks, including um our very own

Lari Wong Roberts, our our chief technology officer. Excellent job. In addition, just want to give the community an update on and and the board an update on our middle school redesign. So, we have been actively and our our teams at our sites have been actively working um towards ensuring that students have a smooth and thoughtful transition. uh we are looking at and always thinking about student safety, academic engagement and a strong sense of community across the campus both campuses as they uh merge together. So with Betty Reed Saskin and Penol Middle communities um they are temporarily referring to themselves as Betty Reed at Penol Middle. However, that is not a formal or final naming of that school. We'll talk a little bit about school naming in a bit. The K through8 feeder of school assignments for 2026. Steuart and Montalvin families will be going to Betty Reed at Penol Middle. Birdie and uh Perry's families will be going to Helms and Meav Vista families going to Cormatsu. Families who do prefer a different placement may submit their preference via the 2627 enrollment form. Transition activities for students will include campus visits, a May 13th peer connection day, a June 16th summer bridge, and orientation days on August 11th and 12th. Looking forward to those opportunities for students to get acclimated to their new schools. Staff will participate in joint planning and visioning sessions to build a unified school culture. The school name will be dedic uh decided by the community in partnership with the family of Betty

Reed Saskkin. Students will have an opportunity to learn about Betty Reed Saskin's legacy through that process. A design team is being formed to help reimagine the new campus and interested community members should contact the principles. Thank you. Next slide. In addition to that, again, just wanting to lift up the middle school redesign process is actively underway. We have a crossf functional team. They've met on April 26, most recently, to begin shaping and and engaging student centered middle school experience for the upcoming year. Uh the team will continue building on this work. Their next se session is on April 30th. just excited for the the camaraderie, for the focus, and for putting our students first through this process. I am just proud to be working um with both the administrators and the staff at both sites, Betty Reid and Penol Middle, as they do the thoughtful work in bringing those campuses together. Next slide, please. I did want to take a moment just to pause and just remember what our board policy says around renaming. So our renaming process will be happening soon both for Betty Reed Saskkin and Caesar Chavez. Um policy 7310 is the naming of a facility. This is what the board has adopted as the naming and nomination process. A few things just to pull and pull out and point. uh the nomination process. The board encourages nominations from the community and the board subcommittee will be appointed uh to review nominations and make recommendations for the board's final considerations. I will say that we just

recently went through a few years ago went through the process of renaming Betty Reed Saskin and so we have a very robust and very community centered uh renaming process and just appreciate um the board's leadership and guidance through this process as well. Next slide please. We are preparing for our state of our schools breakfast. Uh that will be held on Thursday, May 7th at 8:00 a.m. here at Dejon. Um we are looking forward to um performances by students along with uh presentations by students as well. I wanted this to be a very student centered and focused event. Um we will be well it will be I think a a wonderful opportunity for the community to again get to know what's happening here in West Contraosta this year. Next slide. In addition to that I do want to lift up our DLI and newcomer workg group. So they're um they are going to be meeting monthly. Their next meeting is on Thursday at 4 o'clock um Thursday, April 30th. Please um make time to join as as you have an interest in our DLI as well as our newcomer groups. Um, in addition, Wisconsin Unified School District presented at the California Newcomer Conference on April 20th and 21st where um, our ELMA department staff presented on successful newcomer models and participated in sessions focused on student support and parent leadership. The district is currently looking for elementary school administrators and teacher participants to join the newcomer working group. Their meeting will begin on June 2nd. Um we are combining some of those conversations

with um our DLI group as well as our newcomer group under the consultation and guidance of the California Department of Education, their multilingual services uh division. Um and look forward to continuing to work with them. They will be joining those conversations. Uh, additionally, the first annual Latinx graduation will be held on May 30th at 4 from 4 to 6 at the hopefully Richmond Auditorium. Um, and a flyer and poster will be available. Um, and we need folks to RSVP for that event. Next slide. I also want to lift up our anti-racism roadmap workg group. Um the purpose of this group is to develop a clear and consistent district response to incidents involving slurs and racialized harm in West Contraosta. There is no space or room for that and we need to continue to address that. I am very proud to say that we have a uh working group that is has come together to look at this problem. Um but we are looking at this problem from lots of different angles which is really interesting and exciting. Um we have our um our students our all student congress is digging deeper into what is happening. They are drawing their own data um and have conducted a survey that has gotten at least 700 responses this year and will be presenting at uh the Y plan presentation on Friday uh this Friday from 9 to 12:30 uh at UC Berkeley. So really excited about that Y plan project, but there's a host of other projects from across the district um that will be presenting as well. We expect at least 100 students at this

event on Friday. I invite in invite the board to come on out if you're available. Um again at UC Berkeley 2121 Berkeley Way at the uh school of education. Oh, the anti-racism roadmap workg group will be meeting. They just met on April 22nd. I believe they're meeting again on the 30th. Next slide. I also want to just lift up our listening session report summary. We've had lots of listening sessions this year. This is actually going back to um earlier in the year when we started with can we talk. It's interesting to be able to look at where we started this year and what folks were looking for and where we are moving as we move towards the end of the year where we have what we've addressed already so far this year. Um but I encourage folks to take a look at the uh can we talk listening session report summary. Wanted to share that with the board. And then now to spotlight our schools. I do want to lift up Collins Elementary School. They hosted their uh family math night, a great evening for learning as well as uh Shannon Elementary that hosted their steam night uh very recently. I was invited. I wasn't able to get to that event, but it it was amazing. Um going on to Pol uh their school band uh their school band classes at Music in the Park. Congratulations to Penol Middle. They earned a fourth place and an excellent rating um in multiple categories. Excellent job. Next slide.

And and tonight's event is special because we're recognizing parents and students and educators and staff and community members who just do an amazing job um supporting our students.

I am honored to receive this award. I pour passion and dedication into my work every day and I truly love what I do. I love helping out little kids grow, learn, and feel valued. Every small progress matters. Every smile matters. And it is just such an honor and a blessing to be able to work with children that are just so transparent and just so loving. Uh the work has been a true gift in my life and I am honored to be a part of a community that works to make a difference. It's really been the greatest privilege uh of my life to work with these people to learn from them. The you make a difference award just reminds us that the greatest impact happens through true partnership between home and school. And that's what this is. This is a demonstration of that. It's a privilege to be a part of work that helps children build strong foundations for the future. Thank you for valuing and supporting the important work we do in Lyft. Thank you so much. Thank you for that. I just wanted to share just a clip from the You Make a Difference Awards uh that were held back in March, but we hadn't lifted those up. That was an amazing night. An opportunity for community, for families, and for staff to nominate um staff members who are making a difference in the lives of our special education students. Next, you already did next

slide. Let's get there. Let me catch up. Uh Panol Valley High School held their annual district-wide Special Olympics on April 24th. Uh we were able to stop in for just a moment and it was a beautiful event. I love the fact that these events are being held across our district um and allowing all of our students to have an opportunity to thrive, to win, to play, and have a great time while they're learning. Next slide. Um, also our West County special education annual community resource transition fair was held on April 25th um at transition uh high uh transition high school. Just very proud of the work um that all of our staff is doing to lift up our students, our families, and our community partners. Next slide. And yet again, Elserto High Jazz Ensemble wins California Jazz Championship for the third year in a row. So, excellent. We can give them a hand clap, please. Excellent job, Elserto High. Um, the program swept. It was a sweep. Um, but the jazz workshop um earned top apprentice band as well as a jazz quintet. Took first place in the combo finals. We're so proud of the the work that this band um this music program has for our students. So, what's coming next? We have our Madera Elementary's art fair and sixth grade farmers market that's happening this week. Uh those folks who are interested, definitely come on out and take a look. And uh some good goodies as well. Next slide. We have a number of events happening at Elserto High School. Um May 15th and

16th, the uh body language dance concert will be happening at 700 p.m. Please get a ticket. Um that was actually one of the things I used to do when I was in high school. I was always in the dance comp uh the the dance concerts with Miss Burgess. Um we also have Elserto High School's theater presenting Treasure Island which is a play uh May 7th and 8th and May 9th uh 2:00 and 7:00 and that is the same thing. Next slide please. Almost there guys. Almost there. Uh just want to lift up and remind folks graduation schedules. Graduation is coming uh May 20. Well, I'm not going to read this list. Make sure that you're there. Make sure you have a ticket to attend, though. Um, we also want to lift up our black graduation happening on May 28th from 6 to 8 at Dansza High School. And next slide, we have again, as I mentioned earlier, our first annual district-wide Latinx graduation happening on May 30th at 400 p.m. at the Richmond Auditorium. Looking forward to um this inaugural event. Also looking forward to our reclassification ceremony that's happening on May 20th from 6:00 to 7:30. There's lots going on across our district right now in celebration of our students and their accomplishments. Next slide. Along with that, we also have our African-American and African Diaspora students of honor awards. Elementary students will be celebrated on May 4th um and secondary students on May 5th. Please RSVP. Uh that is required for your attendance. Next slide please. We also please spread the word and uh West Contraosta Hiring Expo will be

happening on May 30th. It is our fast track to fall 2026. Um this will be happening at 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. here at Dejon Middle School. So we encourage folks to come on out. Let a friend know, let family know that there are there's always work available in West Contraosta. We are looking for the best and the brightest. So, please come out and join us. Also, I do want to lift up just for the moment that we also have a new signing bonus that if you are a West Contraosta graduate, um there is a Oh, Dr. agreement.

I want to say 5,000 say I was going to say it but I didn't want to say it wrong. A $5,000 signing bonus for those folks who are interested in coming back to teach in West Contraosta if they were a graduate from West Contraosta. Really looking forward to folks taking advantage of that work. And then also don't worry about what you're reading. Just read. Take time and read. encourage um students to read books, graphic novels, magazines, newspapers, um you know, maybe not on their phone, but just read. Pick up a book and read. And then finally, get involved as well. There are many ways for you to be involved in West Contraosta Unified School District, and we look forward to seeing you at one of these many ways at many, many events. Thank you very much. That completes my report. Are there any questions? I see trusty regular.

Thank you. Um, thank you for the report. Um, where is the DLI workg group? Is it a physical meeting or is it a zoom meeting? It will be a hybrid meeting. It will be held. Let me ask um Mr. Rosco, can you come to the mic, please? Thank you, sir. Isel Larosco who is our director for our ELMA department um is coming to the mic to give us the specifics and details. He is leading this workg group.

Good afternoon. Uh it will be available hybrid version over zoom and also at central offices in room 126. If you're coming to central office, please RSVP so we can assure that there's enough seating for folks. Thank you. Can I get a link? Can I get the Zoom link? Yes, absolutely. That's all I have here.

Trusty Smith FS. So, I have a couple of questions. Um, they're comments that I'm going to phrase as a question just so I can say them. one. Um, I know that you're Aren't you excited about the Special Olympics that also happened on April 23rd, which was our secondary group. I'm so excited about all of those things. Thank you for lifting that up. Um, again, just wanted to that was also at Panol Valley High School, but we've had events across the district. I just want to lift up our water department um our assisted technology department that is hosting and planning and conducting these events in celebration of our students. So, thank you. Yes, I am very excited.

My second question is Thank you. My second question is, aren't you excited that Hercules High School will be hosting its student summit on April the 30th where it's hearing from all of its students that are um that make up the majority of the school? They're having three different summits that all students can come and be a part of. I am extraordinarily excited about that and I'm looking forward to attending that. Let me ask Trusty Whitten, do you have anything to add or do you share the same excitement? I do share the same excitement, but it was a uh a hard time planning it. But um you plan the event? Not by myself, of course, but yes. Excellent.

Um just for some more clarification, um 8:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. is the AsianPacific Islander group. 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. is the African-American group. And then 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 is our Hispanic and Latinx group. Thank you for sharing that information. And my my final question is and again all students are invited to come to any summit that they want to come to. They have the option to come to their own affinity group or come to any theirs plus other affinities groups to hear. Um my other question is approximately how many Latinx senior graduates do we have in the district?

I believe the the response was 914 is what we are anticipating. So, we have 914 uh Latinx or Hispanic students who are seniors this year who are slated to graduate that have identified themselves as Latinx in Power School. Yes. Thank you so much. And then, Mr. Carter, how I'm sorry, through the superintendent, how much is because we didn't budget for this. So, how much are we planning to use for this graduation this year? You can go ahead and answer that question. Uh we're budgeting about 15 to 20,000 once we get the final expenditures. And is space based on RSVPs or is the space already locked down?

Do we have So if we get all 900 students plus 900 plus students plus their families, we're going to need a larger space, right? If we have less RSVPs, is there an option to have a smaller space or are you still going to retain the same space? Uh we have the venue uh identified and it's not costing us any money. What's the venue? It will be at the Richmond Auditorium. They're gifting that to us. I have not Have we heard a final I have not heard a final decision about that. It's going to be put on the next agenda and they will be voting on it. The Richmond City Council will need to vote on it. Thank you very much, Trusty. That's going to be on their next city their next city council meeting agenda. Correct.

Thank so next Tuesday. Next two weeks after that two weeks had one yesterday. Right. I am complete. Thank you. Do we have any further questions? I have a question. So um and it's in regards to the who is on the anti-racism working group that you brought up. It is not committed to my memory at this moment, but we had a small group of folks that came together and were looking for to add additional parents and administrators and teachers uh and students to the conversation.

So, is this on the addition to the anti-racism committee that we had? I'm not sure of which committee you're referring to. So, we did have a anti-racism committee board committee in previous years.

In previous years, I think I'm not sure the makeup of that committee. I'm sorry. I I don't know if it's the same group or if the same folks have joined. So are we then are we putting out dates for this or is this just something that came together? How is it now being allocated? We are putting out dates. I believe that we had administrators that joined this last group um and we are trying to get more folks to join the conversation.

Okay. And I'm only asking because I am the um anti-racism leaison for that committee and I hadn't heard anything about the anti-racism roadmap or any of the work being done with that committee coming back as a committee. So, I hadn't I was not aware of that committee and the work that that committee was doing within my um within my superintendent's goals. We talked about the establishment of a working group. So, it was not a board committee, but you are welcome to join and attend.

That was my question. Trusty Gonzalez. Thank you. I just want to clarify. I don't think we ever had a committee. It was always I think a working group. Um I think that you were just pointed to the working group. Uh but there was not an actual committee that the board had. Yeah. Trusty Smith folds.

There was an anti-racist subcommittee that Trusty Reckler asked for at a time when she was president towards the end of her tenure. So, there was a anti-racist board group. I forgot what it was called. I forgot the acronym, but there was one prior to that. There was a anti-racist uh anti-racist committee that you and I were on with Dr. Rogers Art, if you recall that when Dr. Rogers Art was on it, that was not a formal subcommittee by the board, but it was a a working group of sorts that we had. I don't know if that had any clarity or not, but that's what we had before. I'm completing

I I just appreciate the fact that this district is has been committed over the years, one in creating the anti-racism and anti-slirt policies as well as our immigration policy and our non-discrimination policies. The work that we've gone that the board has gone into to ensure that our students remain safe, that our students are well taken care of, and that our students um experience belonging and dignity in school. um is commendable and I appreciate the ongoing work of that committee that got us to a policy through a policy and now really focusing on operationalizing that work. So thank you.

We did appoint liaison to put a year on that work and you know listen in and understand the work. So in January I think yeah when we did our our retreat we did appoint theos to that working group. Any other questions? That concludes my report.

Well, thank you, superintendent, for your presentation. Um, we'll now move on to action items. The approval of third amendment contract for former superintendent Kenneth C. Hurst. Can I ask uh Jeff Carter, can you address that item?

Yeah. Uh so tonight we're presenting an amendment to the contract for Dr. Hurst's 2022 agreement for approval. Uh while Stirs was reviewing the language of the contract, they identified a discrepancy with the stated salary and the written calculation of that salary in the contract uh regarding uh step increases and retrop payment. Uh the amendment tonight has been reviewed by legal and stirs to confirm that this will close out the review with stirs. Uh this amendment does not have any financial impact. Uh this is just aligning the language in the contract with the intended salary uh that was paid out to Dr. Hurst. Uh do we have any public comment on this item? Our first public comment is iPhone. Please unmute yourself. Please unmute yourself. on the What

is English? Next public comment is Salon Harrison. Please unmute yourself.

I has a comment about something else. I meant to lower my hand be. I just want to say about something else that that's not right. what they did with the black kids graduation and moved it to this uh what's that school and that other kids is having a graduation. That ain't right. But but that ain't about the superintendent. So y'all go on I know that but I next public comment is Anna Oriana. Please unmute yourself. And now Ariana, please unmute yourself. Okay. it.

Next public comment is Jean Kinner. Please unmute yourself. Good evening board. I'm listening to this and I'm just wondering with this adjustment to the verbiage, was the superintendent overpaid? Were they underpaid? or was it just they were paid correctly but they're tidying up language. It's really hard to follow this as people who don't speak legal contract. Thank you.

That concludes public comment. Okay. Trusty Gonzalez. Thank you, President. I now move that we approve the third amendment for the contract of the former superintendent Kenneth Seurst. Reckler will second. Okay. Uh comment moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Trusty Regular. Do we have any board comments? Trusty regular.

Can we just have Jeff Jeff clarify one more time that this is not an overpayment or an underpayment? this has already been paid and can and he can describe exactly what's going on. This it's it's clarifying word salad. So yeah, uh Dr. Hirs was not overpaid. Uh the second amendment stated the correct final salary that he was paid. Uh it just misstates the procedure for calculating that salary. So, the language itself did not equal the stated salary amount and he was paid the stated salary amount. We're just adjusting the language to match the salary.

Thank you. And with that, I'll vote yes. Okay. Any further comments from the board? Seeing none, um we'll move on to the vote. Trusty Whitten. Yes. Trusty regular. Yes. Trusty Smith votes. Smith votes. Yes. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. Yes. Trusty Hernandez. Yes. Trusty Anyana say yes. So now we'll move on to discussion items and reports. Um we have two items. Annual bond program portfolio report. Um you have a presentation on this item?

Uh yes. Um tonight we have KN&N here. Blake Beam will be presenting the annual bond program portfolio report. Hi, good evening everybody. Can you hear me? Okay. Okay. I see some heads nodding. I'm sorry for the delay. There was uh I had to join as a panelist. Um yeah, as as uh Mr. Carter just said, um uh it's a pleasure to join uh the board once again. Uh Blake Beam with KN&N public finance. uh been working with the district um since 2009. Uh part of this annual bond report um is something that KN&N prepares in conjunction with district staff just to ensure that we're providing uh both the board and community uh with a comprehensive um update with regards to the district's bond program including uh outstanding debt, future bond issuance plans, and potential refunding opportunities. Um on the first page here, um we just summarized the district's history of voter approved bond measures. Um going back to the late 90s, uh the voters within the district have approved uh sever seven separate bond measures. Um uh for a total um authorization amount

of 2.205 billion. Um, these are dollars that are dedicated for capital facility improvement projects throughout the district. Uh, they're not general fund dollars or operational dollars. These are specific to improving the district's facilities. And over the course of this time, the district has done um some amazing work uh leveraging uh most of these bonds um which means drawing down the voter-approved authorization usually in increments uh of bond series and and utilizing those dollars for priority projects. Um you can see in the table below uh just going from left to right the respective measure uh that was approved in what year the amount that voters authorized the voter approval rate the amount that was issued from the authorized amount and then the remaining authorization. Uh you'll see most of which have zero there are very close to it. The only two that have remaining bond authorization is the most recent measure 2020 measure R. And then also there's a portion from the 2005 measure J that is remaining. That measure has been tax rate constrained meaning that the district uh has had limitations in its ability to access that remaining authorization amount. And so really at this point the 2020 measure R is the active measure that's being utilized for current uh facility improvements. Uh also uh going to the next column of the amount that has been issued from each respective measure, it lists the amount of principle outstanding each year uh through the collection of property tax dollars. Um those monies are utilized to pay down uh the bonds um that were sold. And so there's uh

significantly less outstanding than what has been sold over time. And then the last column lists the respective repayment final repayment date for each measure. You can see that the the oldest 1998 measure E uh has already dropped off and is no longer being repaid. uh we are approaching uh the final repayment dates for the 2000 2002 and so on and so forth as it relates to um the dates for the the more recent measures. On the next slide, uh we look at the combined or cumulative projected tax rates um that taxpayers will see on their property tax bills. Uh the current year's tax rate uh for all measures combined is $253.80 per $100,000 of assessed value. Um assessed value is the is the value in which the the county levies a tax. It's not the market value of your home. It's it's the value uh of your home that was originally purchased as the county has escalated it over time. Usually the assessed value is significantly less uh than uh the market value certainly for those homes that have been owned for some time and have not been exposed to uh the growth in in value escalation over that period. Uh you can see that the the overall rates are expected to r remain fairly steady in about that 250 to 260 plus million dollar range through 20334 at which time uh the 2002 measure drops off uh as well as the 2000 measure M. So the tax rates correspondingly will drop pretty notably after that um down to about 160

uh per 100,000 and then we'll continue to decline um you know as further bond uh debt service is paid off for the older measures. on the next slide. Um just wanted to give the board and community uh a focused update uh as it relates to measure R. Um of the 575 million that was authorized back in uh March of 2020, uh the district has sold 325 million um uh you utilizing that money for um current and ongoing projects. Uh there is 250 million of authorization remaining. Uh the current plan um uh that uh is anticipated is the final issuance will be in fiscal year 2027. So some sometime in the next 12 to say 15 months uh from now uh we're anticipating the final measure R bonds to be sold um which will continue to be focused primarily on uh the high school renovation um modernization projects. Um the tax rate that voters approved for that for the single measure was $60 per 100,000. So, of the $253 and change, uh that is on the property tax bills, um nearly $60 of that is is focused just for the 2020 measure R repayment. Um and that is the the maximum. Um in the bar graph there at the bottom you can see um based on the bonds that have been sold where the tax rate is in those bar in those bars and then where the remaining capacity is for that final series. So KN&N will work closely with district staff um as we go

out to issue that final series of measure R bonds structuring uh the repayment to stay within that $60 tax rate that voters approved. Um the one point I did want to mention um is that the bond sale for measure R as it's being sold is a little bit further out than what was originally planned. And so in the absence of um that sale happening, the tax rate for measure R would drop pretty notably in this next year. So, as this summer the county is calculating their tax rates for the upcoming tax role, there would be a notable drop for measure R. Historically, what we've done, KN&N has worked closely with the board and district staff to help to stabilize tax rates and not create this volatility that oftentimes creates confusion and questions. And so we'll be asking the board to consider that process yet again um at its next meeting, I believe May 13th. Um that will come in the form of a very short tax levy resolution, which will request that the county include the anticipated debt service for this final series on the upcoming tax role. K&N uh will model out and calculate what we believe the estimated debt service and debt repayment to be. And then the c we would be requesting the county to include that estimate on the tax role, keeping the tax rate steady and giving us a source of funds to start repaying that loan immediately after the sale happens in in 2027. So that's more of a heads up um uh looking ahead towards that next meeting. Um and I think that concludes the summary from measure R. So I think we

can move to the next slide. Another thing um I I I typically touch on in these annual bond reports because it is an important component of the district's program is the district's statutory bonding capacity limit. Um in the simplest way, it can be considered somewhat of a of a credit card limit, if you will. Um for unified districts in California, um you have a statutory limit of 2 and a.5% of your then current assessed value. um due to the I would say robust um program that the district has uh and and just by sheer amount of facility improvements that the district has focused on uh over the last 25 plus years um that 2.5% has created a significant limitation and as a result in order to keep the program fluid and access the dollars that voters approved to um to improve project uh facilities. We asked the state board of education to wave the statutory debt limit. And so we are currently working under a waiver of that statutory limit that was approved back in January of 21 that increases the 2.5% limit to 4.05%. When we request the state board to approve a waiver, we have to give them a time frame for which we want the waiver to to to be in um taking place. So in this case, it goes out to June 30th of 2028 or end of fiscal 28. Uh we believe that this time frame will allow us to um conclude at least the issuance portion of the measure R program and allow the district to move forward with immediate priority

projects. We do believe that the time frame of the waiver will expire by the time measure J comes becomes um a more pressing part of the conversation. And so we would plan to look ahead to renewing a waiver for not only measure J, the 2005 measure with approximately 77 million of remaining uh bond funds, uh but also for any future measure that the district may consider. That would also require a separate waiver. Um and so uh right now uh there's nothing to do immediately on this topic uh but more so as an update. Um the waiver in place gives us ample room to access the remainder of measure R. Uh concluding that program um and then we'll look ahead for what what comes next down the road in terms of future bonding capacity waiverss. Um on the next slide just as a district credit rating update uh the district does secure ratings each time it goes to market. It utilizes the three most I would consider prominent rating agencies uh utilized by California schools uh in uh Moody's standard and pores and Fitch. Uh the district's current ratings are A1 from Moody's and A+ by uh from both S&P and Fitch. Uh the tables below highlight kind of the rating history over time. um you know the district has um been at these levels uh for the last you know uh couple years with regard to emoodis and S&P uh and for Fitch even longer than that. Um, I will say that uh these rating agencies, whether or not we're issuing new bonds, they'll periodically conduct a surveillance process to ensure that the ratings continue to accurately

reflect um uh the backdrop of the district and most importantly for uh investors of the district's bonds. Um there were two recent rating surveillance processes uh both by Moody's and Fitch. um district staff did a wonderful job providing uh just a tremendous amount of information as it relates to um the current state of district operations um local economy so on and so forth. Um there was not any change to the rating as a result of the rating surveillance process processes that just recently took place. However, both respective rating agencies did um adjust the outlook of the district's rating from stable to negative. What that outlook uh adjustment means is that sometime in the next 6 to 18 months, they will be continuing to closely monitor um the uh operations of the district uh in particular district financials um to see uh whether or not there is an alignment um with the budget and expenditures. Um if not, there could be future rating action uh that could potentially adjust the ratings downward. There were a couple key points that were mentioned um in the respective rating reports that were released including um uh they'll be focused on um the district sustaining the ability to maintain available general fund balances above 10% with structural balanced operations absent one-time funds. Secondly, a trend of stable and growing enrollment. And thirdly, material reduction in leverage and fixed costs approaching um

approximately 200% of uh general fund revenues. Those were um comments specifically pulled from the report. Uh the main takeaway would be um what has been a draw on general fund reserves over the last couple years. And um uh so we can expand on that. There may be questions on that, but I'll leave it at that for right now. Um next, I'd like to shift attention um of the presentation uh to the district's uh uh board policy. Uh it's refunding and restructuring policy 7213.3. Um this was adopted back in April of 2013 and really provides the guiding principles for which uh not only KN&N uh but the collective financing team including district staff how we approach monitoring the district's debt portfolio for potential refinancing opportunities. Uh some of the key guidelines uh are listed below on this slide. I'll mention I think the most notable which is present value savings from each refunding uh generating 4% with regard to savings as it relates to bonds refunded. Uh also wanting to see at least the district achieve $1 million of present value savings and approximately $100,000 of annual savings. Most of the district's refunding efforts over the years have exceeded that in some cases by a large margin. But those are the guiding principles for which we regularly monitor the district's debt and try to bring savings to taxpayers when there's windows of opportunity. On the next slide, it highlights the long history that this district has had in taking a proactive approach as a fiscal steward of taxpayer dollars and refunding outstanding debt

when there's an opportunity to meet the policy guidelines or surpass them. over nearly 13 different refunding uh transactions, the district has saved taxpayers over $155 million of interest cost. Refunding is similar to refinancing our home mortgage. Uh although we're not extending the debt, it's simply a matter of lowering the outstanding interest rate or interest cost of the district's general obligation bonds and reducing it down to um a lower rate that can be achieved in the current market. On the next slide, we're taking these guiding principles and we're taking this long history of refunding efforts and um we're providing an update as it relates to bonds that could potentially be refinanced in the current market. Uh last year there were a number of different series listed in the top bullet um that we we hand selected, if you will, certain bond maturities that provided the most economic value and met the the district's refunding policy guidelines. There were a lot more bonds left off the table from that refunding than on due to the economics. Um so of the bonds that were not refinanced last year uh there's approximately 177.4 million of bonds that are elig that are remain eligible for refunding in the current year. There continues to be market circumstances that provide for a majority of those bonds to not meet policy guidelines. However, there's approximately 40 to 60 million based on current market rates that are eligible to be refinanced and do meet the guidelines. Should the district take action to move forward with a refunding in 2026, our current estimate is that it would save

taxpayers over $3.1 million in interest cost over the repayment of those bonds or from a present value standpoint uh over $1.8 8 million. So, in addition to the item that I that I mentioned previously regarding the tax levy resolution, I would anticipate at a future meeting, probably not the May 13th, but um in the not too distant future, uh a proposal um for the board's consideration to yet again refinance some of the outstanding bonds, saving taxpayer dollars. and uh KN&N will work closely with district staff to put that proposal together and get it on a future agenda for your consideration. And then really the the last slide and I know this is towards the um kind of later end of the evening so I appreciate everyone kind of uh bearing with me through uh a bond conversation. Um so just kind of to to summarize uh or looking ahead uh with respect to 2020 measure R um there's nothing immediate uh in the in the horizon. However, uh over over the course of the next year, by the end of next fiscal year, we do anticipate that final series of measure RB bonds uh to be sold for the remaining 250 million uh allowing the district to proceed and conclude uh the ongoing high school renovation projects. Uh additionally, um I just mentioned uh there is a 2026 refunding um opportunity. a proposal will be put forth at a future agenda over the next month or two. Uh and then with respect to 2005 measure J. Uh again, there is uh over $77 million of bonds that have been authorized by voters. They do not expire, but 2005 Measure J has not been

on the forefront of the district's bond program for quite some time. Those bonds are expected to be sold as traditional current interest bonds, meaning you're paying the principle off and interest each year. Um, the most traditional bond tool that California schools use, um, that that mechanism would not be available for measure J until approximately 2034 when the tax rate drops down. Um there is uh an avenue to for consideration should the district want to accelerate that time frame in utilizing bonds that would not pay principal and interest. It would have deferred uh payments uh but we could accelerate the accessibility of the measure J bonds. Due to the deferred payments, the interest accumulates on itself and does end up costing more money, which is why we haven't to date chosen to go down that path. But I would I would feel remiss if I didn't at least mention the availability of those dollars under a certain scenario. So, unless we hear otherwise, we're not anticipating 2005 Measure J to be presented to the board at any time in the near future. Um, but just wanted to touch on that as we conclude tonight's bond uh program update. Uh, with that, I'll open the floor to any questions or comments.

So, now moving forward, do we have any questions from the board? U Trusty Reckler,

thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Nice to see you again. Um, you answered all my questions and you worked them into the presentation. So, I really appreciate that. Would you be able to clarify on uh measure J if it was advanced, what would the cost be to the district or taxpayer? Yeah, we so we ran a hypothetical scenario of of what it would look like um and a comparison really to the traditional current interest bond repayment format even though it's not available. We did we did look at that and so of the 77.59 million of principal that would be issued the actual repayment under the traditional approach would be approximately 92.2 2 million of total repayment given that there's an interest cost for the loan. That equates to a overall repayment ratio of about 1.19 to1. And so then we would compare that to the scenario if the district wanted to accelerate and utilizing the deferred payment tool or capital appreciation bond option. Under that scenario, the 77.59 million would have a total repayment of 1.27.7 million. So we're talking about an additional 35 million respectively um for a total repayment of 1.65 to1. So, you know, that gives you hopefully a good kind of perspective and and point of reference for the additional cost associated with one financing tool versus the other.

Okay. Thank you. So, in other words, very expensive. Uh, that's all the that's all the questions. I do have a couple of comments when everybody else is done. Do we have any additional board questions? Okay. Seeing none. Do we have public comment on this item? Yes, we have one public comment. Marie, can you please unmute yourself? Oh, hello. Can you hear me? Yes.

Oh, okay. Yes. Uh, thank you for this report. Um, I know me. I I don't understand all these numbers and stuff, but I believe the district has some kind of bond committee and I just want to ask our leadership like what um kind of training is offered to that bond committee to make sure they know how to use these funds appropriately when they are deciding to use them for various projects. Um yeah, just to make sure this the funds are used appropriately and on time so we don't lose any money. Thank you.

Next public comment is Don Gosny. Thank you. You know, it's always great to hear from KN&N about our bond funds. KN&N has been a valued CBOC partner for 16 years and we can rely on their expertise to guide us as we manage the funds to repair or replace our crumbling facilities. With 28 years of experience with our bond program, I have fought to have the board, the CVOC, and KN&N sit down where we might have a discussion to learn more about the bond funds, but with an emphasis on 20 2005 Measure J funds so we can all get a better feel for our options. As CBOC chair, I fought back in 2024 to bring this up at a joint meeting, but was shot down by the board president and superintendent. I tried again for the joint meeting in March of 2025, but was shot down again. I even tried for the scheduled joint meeting last fall. In all cases, we were promised that there would be a KN&N reboard presentation, but there was always a reason why this could not happen. The benefit of this being on the joint meeting agenda was that there would be could then be a discussion. The CBOC could ask questions and actually get responses. With this presentations, we have but 60 seconds to make our comments and ask questions, but the board policy That concludes public comment.

Thank you to everyone who gave public comment on this item. Um, do we have any board comments? Um, Trusty Regular.

Thank you. I have a couple of comments. First, I'll address the public comment. Um the CBOC does not uh use these funds. It's the district that uses these funds and the CBOC is a backwardslooking group that looks at how the district used the funds and yes uh the group is independent but there is training there are training books and manuals and they are actually responsible for their own training with district help. So just to clarify that a couple of things in the presentation that are important for the board. the waiverss that he talked about, that bonding capacity waiver and stabilizing the tax rate. Those are two important markers that the board will have to look at. And then uh once again, that negative rating. So he did mention a few ways to um ameliate that. And so it would be sustained ability to maintain available general fund balance above 10% with structurally balanced operations absent onetime funds trends of stable or growing enrollment and material reduction in leverage and fixed costs approaching 200% of revenues. I don't know how to calculate that but that person probably does. So um but there are some ways to ameliate that that negative rating. Um and then the other thing, measure J obviously very expensive to accelerate um uh that that bond and then uh looking forward to refunding uh hopefully market conditions pickup. Thank you. That's all I have. Okay, seeing no additional board comments, we'll now close out that item and move on to student achievement update.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh Katherine Aostto Brasquez, please lead us in this uh item.

Absolutely. Thank you. Good evening, President Anyana, Clerk Gonzalez Hoy, Superintendent Cotton, members of the board and community. Tonight, our teaching and learning team is going to be providing an update on our student achievement by sharing our latest results. One second um of our available latest local metrics. So, one second while our staff comes up. And we get the duck up. All right. So, here we go. Next slide, please. So, first we're going to begin by reviewing I Ready, um, which is going to provide our reading and math performance data for our students in 3rd through 12th grade. and then Mc-class Stibbles and Lectura, which is going to give us critical early literacy data for our youngest learners in grades K through 2. And tonight, we're going to touch on the progress that we've made in strengthening our district-wide use of data, increasing alignment to instructional strategies, and what our next steps are in response to that data. Next slide. And so tonight we wanted to flip the script a bit and really begin by front-loading what you're going to see in the data. The data is going to highlight both progress and critical challenges particularly in the area of

early literacy where we're seeing an increase in students K through 2 grades who need intensive support in the middle of the year data. Um, particularly when we're thinking about these literacy skills, we're talking about skills in phonics, phenemic awareness, and reading fluency. And for us, this is critical because we know that students who do not develop a strong reading foundation by the end of second grade are going to be significantly more likely to face long-term academic barriers. And so for us, this data signals a need for our district to strengthen both core instruction and our intervention systems right now. And so in response, we're going to focus on three immediate actions. First, we're going to center tier one instruction. So for us, this means that our students need explicit daily systematic phonics instruction that's aligned to the science of reading. It's critical that we set clear expectations that this foundational skills practice needs to be consistently implemented across all our K through second grade classrooms. And given our current limitations of the current district-wide adopted literacy curriculum, we know that we need to leverage supplemental resources like for example SIPs to strengthen that foundational reading instruction and also build the capacity of our teachers through professional development. And later you'll hear about how we're doing that with our reading teacher leaders to be able to better meet our student needs. Second, we also need to intensify the support for our students who are at risk by increasing small groupoup intervention time and ensuring that that instruction is directly aligned to the students skill gaps. And third, we are needing to act on data more responsively

by regrouping students based on this midyear performance data and increasing our progress monitoring cycles to adjust instruction more rapidly. And so ultimately with our early literacy data for us, it's really clear here what the focus needs to be. It's an urgent need to equip our teachers districtwide with a stronger instructional tools and resources where our current tier 1 curriculum is falling short. We know that increasing expectations around the use of evidence-based literacy instruction along with correspondent state guidance that and support that we know is on the horizon from the California Department of Ed. And we also recognize that we need to proactively position our district to be able to meet this moment. Next slide. So, as we shift into the data for grades 3 to 12, um, I Ready is going to give us an important view of a broader student achievement trend that we see both in reading and math. The data is a bit more encouraging here where we see an increase of students that are performing in the green and we're seeing movement of our students who were previously performing three or more grade levels below with students who are now progressing into the 2-year below category. At the same time, the data also makes it clear that gaps are not yet closing at the pace that we need it to. And so again, this is consistent. This means for us that tier one core instruction is making some positive impact, but we have to continue to strengthen that for all our students, especially those that have the greatest needs by making sure that they have access to grade level rigorous instruction. And so our focus here again is consistent strengthening tier 1 instruction through daily access to grade level tasks, accelerating support

of our students who are performing two grade levels below, and using data to responsibly allow for rapid instructional adjustments. And so to help us dig into the data a bit more, I'm going to pass it off to our ELMA director, um, director Esau Rosco, who's going to start us off by taking a look at I Ready, reading, and math. Next slide.

Thank you very much, Katherine. Hello, esteemed school board members. It's honor to present today specific for grades 3 to 12. with the local I Ready assessments for reading and math. The overall placement data shows a healthy upward trend in reducing the number of students most at risk. However, nearly half of the population, 45% still require tier 2 and tier three support to reach grade level standards. As mentioned, overall we had had proficiency gains. Students at or above level, this is the green uh tier, increased from 25% in the fall to 36 in the winter. This is an overall 11% increase. Additionally, the percent of students in the three or more grade levels below, this is the red tier, decreased from 28 to 20%. Showing significant movement out of the highest risk category. However, despite progress, 33% of students remain two or more grade levels below, requiring continued intensive scaffolds and intervention. Next slide, please. Specifically in grades two to six, the data shows most at risk students in the red tier are moving into the yellow tier. Grade three specifically saw the largest jump in proficiency, moving from 33% in the fall to 44% in the winter.

That's a 16 point gain into the green. Additionally, the red tier reduced across all grades, grades two through six, and we specifically saw grade six with a most dramatic drop of the red tier from 44 down to 36%. Furthermore, furthermore, in the upper elementary in grades four, five, and six, we saw significant increase in the mid and above grade level. This is the shaded green portion, suggesting that core instruction is successfully pushing high performers to exceed standards. Next slide. The overall placement data in grades 7 through 12, now we're going in middle and high school, also shows an overall positive thinning of the red tier. High school proficiency jumps, grades nine and 10 showed the strongest gains in total proficiency. Grade 9 moved 27 to 37%. And grade 10 moved from 23 to 34% in the green tier. While proficiency improved, grade 11 still has the highest percentage of students in the red tier at 53%. Next slide, please. This slide focuses on the relative placement and growth by race.

While growth rates are relatively consistent across all races, mostly in the 70 to 80% range, the starting proficiency levels vastly vastly differ. The Asian and the two or more races groups have the highest percentages of students at or above grade level. All other groups, including black and Latino, are performing lower than the district average of 36%. This creates a significant disparity by group in three or more grades levels in three or more grades below grade level. Next slide, please. Shifting the gears a little bit into math. The overall math proficiency increased from 18 to 31% between fall and winter. The most significant progress was a 13% reduction in students categorized as the three or more grade levels below. The data shows a positive shift out of the atrisisk category. Students in green in the green tier nearly doubled. The highest risk group, the shaded red, dropped from 36 to 28%. Showing that intensive interventions are moving students toward grade level standards. However, the data also demonstrates the district still faces significant challenges with 42% performing two or more years below their current grade level.

Next slide. Looking specifically at grades two to six, the math overall trend is one of consistent upward migration where students are successfully moving out of the highest risk category into the mid yellow tier group. There is a significant district-wide decline in students performing three or more grade levels below from the red tier. The percentage of students at or above grade level in the green tiers has nearly doubled since the fall, typically jumping from the mid- teens to the low30s. And looking at grades 7 and 12, pardon me. Uh, next slide. Thank you. There is a significant decrease in the highest group three grade levels below across all grades. Grade 11 saw the largest shift, dropping from 62 down to 51%. In middle school, grade seven specifically, proficiency doubles from 22 to 42, showing strong progress in foundational middle school math standards. In high school, grade nine showed the most grace of growth and proficiency into the green tears, jumping from 27 in the fall to 45 in the winter. That's an 18 point increase. The overall trend in math is showing slightly faster growth in proficiency compared to reading, though the percentage of students severely behind remains higher in math. Next slide.

The following slide digs deeper into relative placement and growth for students by race. Growth is happening at a similar pace for everyone across the board. The math trend is similar to the reading trend. Another similar trend is that there's a stark disparity between students in three or more grade levels below category. The two highest performing groups are Asian and two or more races. And the lower tier groups are black, Latino, and Native American and Native Hawaiian. All groups performing nearly at 50% in the red tier. We have accomplished and grown a lot this year with an 11% increase and 13% increase in reading and in math. However, gaps continue. The district's next steps have been mentioned and reviewed at the beginning of this presentation. This concludes the review for grades 3 to 12. We will move on to reviewing grades K2. I will now like to welcome Director Sanji Bell to present student achievement for grades K2. Thank you, Director Orosco. Um, good evening. I'm Sanji Bell, director of curriculum and instruction. Um, and as was announced to present specifically on our Dibbles MClass screener. Director Sadri Bale, could I cut you off for a minute?

Certainly. I think we're going to have to extend the meeting. Uh, so do I have a motion? President, I'll move that we extend until 10:20.

I'll second. So, we have a motion to extend to 10:20 by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Trusty Reckler. Uh, Trusty Whitten.

Yes. Trusty Reckler. Reckler. Yes. Smith folds. Smith folds. Yes. Gonzalez Hoy. Yes. Trusty Hernandez. Yes.

Trusty. Yes. Okay. You may continue now. I'll make it as fast as possible. Um, so our M-Class Dibbles uh data or our MClass Dibble screener uses six different measures to determine how our students are fairing in terms of their reading skills. Um, and these measures are administered during an assessment I'm going to say screener as opposed to assessment to depend on each of our students grade levels. So in the state of California, we assess kinder through second grade in these particular areas. Um, and each student is assessed. We've had our beginning of the year and our middle of the year and our end of the year assessment is underway and it comes up with a composite score and the composite score measures the following letter naming fluency phmic segmentation fluency which is similar to decoding nonsense word fluency reading word reading fluency oral reading fluency um and maze which is basically uh comprehension and it moves throughout the continuum with comprehension being exclusively for second grade. So the measures that we're looking for for each of our students progress as each grade level progresses. So looking at our data comparing our beginning of the year and middle of the year um our kindergarten is our greatest concern um for a number of different reasons. Um, we all know that kindergarten come to us under a normal under a number of different circumstances. We have kinders that metriculate through our preschool. We have kinders that are enrolled in our TK programs. We have kinders that are at

home with parents or grandparents. Um, it is a it is the entryway for how we are assessing what students need to be able to be successful in reading. So we sort of anticipate that this is going to be a little bumpy initially because teachers are having to be forensic scientists around um the needs of our students in terms of acquiring their reading skills. Um so at the beginning of the year our students are are assessed in two areas which would be the letter naming fluency and phmic segmentation fluency. Um, and these are pretty standard. Um, but this is also a heavy lift for our firsttime readers. Um, what we noticed is that, and you'll see in the data, it shifts. Um, our numbers seem to increase in the red section, which I'll go over a little bit later. Um, and there's an increase or a spike in students in the well below category. And this is because by the middle of the year we add one more measure which is the nonsense fluency excuse me nonsense word fluency measure. So we are really ramping up what the expectation around what we have for kindergarten in terms of making sure that we expose them to all the different aspects of acquiring reading um at a very early stage. So, if you're looking at our data, you'll see that our first beginning of the year assessment um our kindergarteners were around 43% um in the well below category. And then in terms of how students were performing at grade level or above, we're almost in the same place with about um 21

to 26% in those areas that are blue and green. and blue and green would represent blue would represent those students that are above and green would represent those ones that are at grade level. Um for first grade uh the performance in terms of our data looks largely stable. Um the percentage of students performing well below held at about 44% um while students scoring above increase slightly by two. Um and we want to see this upward slope. students are are our our first grade students are older. They've acquired a few more skills. So, we would expect to see a bit of an increase. Is this the increase that we would like? Of course, we would like to see our scores higher, but we're moving in the right direction. And then with second grade, um this is probably our most positive trend or our strongest trend. students are performing that are performing well below um decreased from 40% to 36% while students performing at or above increased to 51%. So this demonstrates one that this is second grade they've acquired even more skills their confidence level is growing um and that um they have sustained some literacy instruction over time. We've had some time to impress upon them the expectations around reading and so it represents the evidence of what we can do across grade levels if this is our focus. Also for second grade this is like the entryway to reading comprehension. Um next slide. So here I just wanted to go back because I started off I jumped right in talking about colors and um proficiency levels.

Uh the red represent students who are well below benchmark. Um and these ones according to Amplify which provides the MClass data um these students have a 20% chance of not achieving at the 20th percentile for intensive support. Um yellow um students have min minimal risk and our blue and green are above benchmark which means they have negligible risk and that those students are the ones that we expect to continue to maintain um this level of proficiency with the support of the instructional practices. Um, this slide also outlines specifically, and I think this is very important, even though at first glance as you're looking at the colors, um, we are we do have a substantial amount of students in the red. Um, but I think what is important about the screener is that it removes the veil. So we have had a long run of talking about our students in terms of their ability to read or the reading ability um how we're addressing this. This again with the six measures that is provided through Dibble's MC class gives the teachers a more forensic look at what students actually know how to do know what to do, excuse me, and they can be more prescriptive about what we need to do in terms of reading instruction. So we're not we're no longer having to instruct with a broad brush. We can be very intentional around what it is that we expect um to happen instructionally. Um next slide.

Um this slide. Let's see. Do I put on my glasses or do I look here? Um so this again has to do with how our students fared in terms of the six different measures. The first slide represented this first half. Um, these represent reading fluency, uh, or excuse me, word reading, um, reading accuracy, um, and I think it's important to point out the difference. Um, according to Amplify, word reading um measures a student's ability to accurately decode and read individual words by applying phonics and foundational skills. While reading accuracy measures how correctly a student reads reads connected to text passages with minimal errors, showing how well those decoding skills transfer into fluent meaningful reading. Fluency helps with comprehension because if you can read smoothly, it gives you a better opportunity to comprehend. These areas are also strong the our strongest um and our reading comprehension is synonymous with our historical data around um the emphasis on tier one instruction. We know the strong tier one instruction um connects directly with reading comprehension. Uh next slide. So from there we transition from our MC class um dibbles 8 to our lectura uh beginning of the year and middle of the year uh assessments and um just a little background our MClass lectura data which is amplify Spanish version of early literacy screening is used in our dual

language in our biiteracy programs to assess foundational skills. um in reading and identify students um needing support and guidance for datainformed instruction. In short, it is MClass. Uh it's like the counterpart. Um it could be used to measure growth in both English and Spanish or support if a student is has literacy support need or or an English support need. For grade 1, it demonstrates the largest tier of red performing well below. And at the same time for second grade it demonstrates the smallest group of red um with only 23 uh% of our students performing at that level. So how we administer it is that we administered the dibbles 8 to all of our K through2 students and in terms of the teacher training they were alerted to not have our students struggle. So, if you have a baby who's standing next to you at the computer taking the assessment, sometimes they have teeth, sometimes they do not. It's late. I was making a joke, but we don't want to stress them out. We want them to feel comfortable about what they're doing. So, if they uh are starting to have some struggles, then the teacher knows if this is a Spanish- speaking student that they could um immediately flip or transfer over to Lectura and um get relatively the same information without um adding trauma or um uh having a student present lower because they are um bilingual. Um next slide.

So within these specific reading skills and the overall trends that there are that there were for um beginning of the year and middle of the year. So looking at this slide, 69 students perform 69% of our students performing at or above in funological awareness letter s sound letters deemed the least growth and small performing groups at are at or above at 48%. Um, and so these are similar. They're the same actually as what um the English version of Dibbles 8 presents to our students. Um, this is the Spanish version. Um, next slide. And so here um we also have a continuation of the measures just like we have for the dibbles 8 that our Spanish speaking students um demonstrated um within these specific reading skills over the overall trend is that there's growth from the beginning of the year to midyear. Um also in most criteria students are performing at grade level or higher in Spanish. So some of our students did performed better in their native language as opposed to um how what I outlined earlier about um our data collection between Dibbles 8 and Lectura. um decoding is the largest um with a 45% uh indicator in red. And some of the

factors that we looked at if we're drilling down in the data um around students who are bilingual and decoding is that um of course we need to bolster our explicit phonics instruction in Spanish. Um, sometimes there's a little bit of confusion when you transfer from English to Spanish, which is expected. Um, there's a difference in the ph um, funological awareness um, in terms of foundations. Um, and sometimes it can boil down to limited familiarity with the pacing or the assessment tool, which is something that could be said, especially for our kindergarteners and our first- timers. um with both LCOA and Dibbles 8. Um so lastly, we just want to go back and really highlight in addition to this data one slide forward or next slide. Yes. Um going back to once we adopted Dibbles 8, we made some promises and some agreements around what we plan to accomplish. Um so in terms of our accomplishments um we have trained approximately 200 kinder first and second teachers on how to administer the assessment or the screener. Um we provided data analysis training um to accompany the administration of the assessment. Um and this was provided to teachers and site leaders. Um our parents, we have held parent workshops. Parents also receive the same information around how to support um their students and understanding the screener um so that they are able to have more informed conversations with teachers. Um another thing that we're

excited about is that we launched the teacher the reading teacher lead partnership. Um this is where um the majority of our schools uh elementary schools have elected a reading teacher lead. It's considered a leadership position and we partnered again with the county office of education around supporting them in strategies for data analysis. Um we had consultancies um protocols around how to lead in be the instructional lead on campus. Um they've learned in their grade level teams how to take the lead around um discussions and indicting those places where maybe principles are unable to do the same type of work. Um and we've had about four sessions with them that have been very productive. Um hopefully this is something that we will carry on for next year. Um and um one of the biggest lifts is that we were able to send out the assessment results to our parents through parent square. Um I want to clap it up for our little department. Um this was a huge undertaking so that parents were able to see um directly the results of the screener. um partnered with the parent workshop so they could have informed conversations. Um so what the data suggests I believe um uh Katherine reviewed at the beginning that we do know that um we have intensive students um those students who are performing in the red um and the midyear is signaling what we need to be doing next. Um, one thing that we've been lifting and

supporting site leaders with is implementation of the literacy skills block. I always miss something out in that, but it is um it's from the California Department of Education. Our superintendent introduced it um in our first um when she entered into our district. Um and it's a wonderful group of strategies. And what is what makes it wonderful is that it is not reinventing the wheel. These are strategies that most of our teachers have employed at some particular time, but it outlines specifically per grade level how to address literacy instruction. It talks about each grade level. Um, it it ascribes a time frame for how long you should be instructing and it gives very informed information around things like our foundational skills block, um, how to address comprehension and vocabulary. Um, I said I was going to,

they're like, cut it off.

Thank you so much. So, as we close, we just want to name that improving student outcomes is work done in partnership with our families. So, like director Bell said, strong early foundations matter. And so, we want to make sure that our students are enrolled in preschool TK to be ready for kindergarten. We want to encourage healthy habits like sleep, food. We want you to stay informed around your students assessment results and partner with your teacher if your child needs support. And we don't want you to forget that it is CASP testing season. So, please encourage perseverance, confidence, and resilience within our students. So thank you so much for your attention and we want to name that there's an extensive appendex with school level data of all measures presented today. Thank you.

Thank you Katherine. Thank you Sanji and Isul. Thank you. Um Trusty Gonzalez. Thank you president. Um we have five minutes left and I know we pulled one item from consent which is the calendars. Uh, and I know that um I believe they have to be approved looking at Kim. So, I suggest this is going to be weird, but I suggest that we finish the item here. I know we wouldn't be able to take public comment or or us ask questions or make a public comment, but that we that way we can move to the calendars before we end the meeting in four minutes.

Yeah, I'm happy to I'm happy to go with that first. Hopefully maybe next meeting we could have a little time to talk about this to schedule. Okay. On the calendars, let me find my notes. On the I get I get a feeling the answers to my questions are going to be no because it sounds like you're on deadline. But on the 2728 calendar, the April break is uh April 3 to 7. I'm wondering if you could move it to the 410 to 4:14 and the reason is that Passover is 4:10 and 411. We are very used to operating on our own calendar but if you could push that it you know uh people could um um you know it would pair up with a break nicely. And the other one is on the 2829 calendar. you have a high school back to school night on 9:21 which is the second night of Rashashana. Again, it's not awesome to do that. I mean, we can live with it, but um you know, wondering if that could uh be rescheduled. And those are my comments on the calendar.

Thank you. I don't have a uh I don't have concern about what's proposed. I just think that the calendars are negotiated with all of our unions. So if we want to propose a change, it has to go back to all the unions to review um before then it comes back. So I would suggest that then unfortunately we table this item so that the request goes back to the unions to see if it can be modified and then it comes back on the 13th. Uh but I do see Miss Chamberlain with her hand up as well. I don't know if she needs to comment on that as well. President Trusty Smith Holtz.

I think that if I think that if we're going to send it back to the unions, we also need to send it back with an understanding of let's take a look at other holidays around Ramadan. Let's take a look at holidays around Chinese New Year. Let's take a look at holidays that go step outside the the Judeo-Christian way that we set our calendar. So if we're going to go back and have a discussion around Rashashana and other uh religious holidays or other holidays in general, let's open it up to have that discussion about the multitude of holidays that we and celebrations that we have across the district because of our diversity. I am complete. And another thing is that I think that if this wasn't at the last minute, like if there was some breathing time, like the board is expected to improve it, but if there was some breathing time, we could raise all these issues and then talk about it. So for the future, just you know, some better planning.

So do we have public comment on this item? Do we do public comment? President, I don't think you can take public comment because it's 9:20 uh 9:19. Okay. So then we'll just go Chamberlain. It's 10:19. You said nine. Sorry, it's late. Okay. So then let's go straight to the vote or are we tableing? No, you said her recommendations would be for next year or for future calendars, right? Trusty regular.

Well, no. I didn't know that we're on a huge deadline to get this done. I mean, if we had some time, I would consider that you go back and look at everything, but it doesn't look like there's time. Could we ask Miss Chamberlain if there if we are in a deadline as of tonight?

Yes, we are on a deadline. If the county wants this information um to move forward, we've missed deadlines previously and had the opportunity to have them set our calendar, which is not preferable for our district. Um, so we don't want to miss the deadlines that are requested. We can always go back and look at calendars afterwards. Um, as we have as a board, you have chosen to do so. Um, after they've been set just so that the county can have these deadlines, but we do have to meet that we are fulfilling the 180day require.

Mr. Chamberlain, sorry to interrupt you. I just uh It's time to I think that's a good suggestion. Why don't we move the calendars and then we send we send the ask to the unions to review and if there's changes they can come back to ask for that change. Is that okay trusty record? That's fine. Okay. So I move that we approved uh C11. Let's see. Second it sorry C13. Okay. I'll second it and we'll go to the vote on Trusty W. Um, just a quick question since we are overtime. How does this look like?

It's still 20 1021. We can't do anything. Well, now that it's been called out, we can't do anything. It's one of those rules that if as long as it's not called out, then we can move forward. But it's been called out. So, unfortunately, you have to end the meeting. We are adjourning this meeting at 10:21.