Welcome to the wednesday, december 15, twenty twenty one regular board meeting. Organizational cerritos college.
remind me again, please.
that's where president james jose, birkey present board, vice president shin liu marisa,
avalos trustee zurich lewis, present trustee, mariana, pacheco present, trustee, marisa,
perez, isacson, trustee, sandra, salazar, present, student, trustee, ninel, sutherland
present and president superintendent here.
give us a roll call. Can I get trustee?
you. Sorry. I remember your names.
all right. Let's see. Thank you. It's our hand, our flag ready to begin.
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.
thank you. I appreciate the call and the pledge of allegiance.
there was an agenda organization tonight. You have one statement to make clear.
so we discovered that there was a technical issue in regard to this 15 board meeting
agenda, which was which made it not easily accessible to the public until monday morning
to comment, letting us know that the agenda publicly available was not easily accessible.
we will conduct today's organizational meeting as normal, but to err on the side of
caution and to ensure full compliance with ground act. We will jeopardize all of tonight's board agenda action items on the january 12 board
agenda. Does that make sense to the board?
so it was hosted, but it was not available with a feature, yes.
so there was a technical issue in which the agenda was uploaded, but the way that it is
meant to be featured on the website made it so that even though it was literally on the
web, it wasn't easily accessible from our website, which led to a community member
pointed out that it was not easily accessible and so out of which is even a technical
error within our seeing software.
and as a result, we are going to earn the side of caution and actually everything,
everything that we fight on tonight, what we technically ratified under the next 48 in
order to ensure compliance to our board document.
they feature information, so sometimes if you if you upload, but you don't take care, it
takes more clicks to find it. This feature? But it was.
all right. We are compliant. Yes, right. So say you feel more comfortable doing that.
I'm fine with that, but we're fully compliant. Yeah, you're correct that this space is that question is sacred to just put it
back, the action item from the global fund to fight to make sure we're ok because in the
event it was going to be an issue, that would be the solution, right?
so we are going to be fully transparent. Is this close to?
the issue of the side of caution, and I do want to make sure that we're not going to
sit there is a we've been getting everybody the availability of access to it.
and so for whatever reason, I said someone did not get an opportunity to appeal or find it
or do it for purposes. Next councilman, we're going to ratify all of our decisions.
correct. Right?
what is the process? Over again, over and over abundance, having more abundant.
I want to, you know, I just want to make sure that it folks regularly report meetings and
all along our agendas that they are accommodated in.
so we'll begin tonight with some comments from the audience.
the most of any board items, one of three items that usually wants to be organized.
correct, remove your audience.
so the board of trustees welcomes public comments that issues within the jurisdiction of
the college. The public comment request cards must be returned to secretary prior to the
start of the meeting, where the rivals are not permitted to speak in the promise to limit
at five minutes per speaker and 20 minutes per topic.
there's more than one speaker. Um, so we'll begin tonight with reading some public comments and messages.
thank you. So the first public comment is from tom jones. There have been multiple occurrences where the college is not complying with the ground.
institution has not posted the agenda at least 72 hours in advance within the regularly
scheduled meetings. The community needs to properly do the agenda items to be discussed
in the meetings. Act requires that regular meetings be noticed by posting an agenda for
the meeting at least 72 hours in advance. Government code plan for that, or to a regular meetings, are defined only as meetings for
which an agenda is posted at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting.
I have several comments here regarding the same topic, it's regarding cola.
well, first do is I would play the voicemail recordings and then until we hit the 20
minute time limit, I would go ahead and read the written comments that we received as
well. There was one moment while I share the audio.
you know, just to be clear, we have 20 minutes per.
and with the remaining time after the audio, you're going to share with us some written
comments that have been submitted until that 20 minutes is complete. Is that correct? That's correct.
and then and then all the written comments will remain publicly available for for any of
our committee members to report. Right? That's correct. So the public comments that we received regarding cola are already posted and board
talks. I could a the file there and you have copies of all those written products
available. Hi,
cerritos college board. I am a full time faculty member and I'm calling regarding our contract.
I am urging you to offer cola plus for all faculty for our contract.
cola is a cost of living adjustment. It really lets us zero in our pay and it is something that you should provide to all
faculty as it is something the state has given you. Faculty is spending more money on everything.
we're spending more money on gas to get to work. We're spending more money on rent and housing.
we're spending more money on groceries. We're spending more money on supplies that many of us buy for our students and our
classrooms, offering us cola just to compensate us for all these increases in costs.
we make no extra money. Faculty deserve cola. Plus we deserve a cost of living adjustment which has been given to cerritos college by
the state. Plus a merit increase on top of that, to pay off our hard work and our merit
that we have given to students both online and on ground in our teaching hold up plus for
faculty. Thank you.
good evening, board members. My name is julie davis, and I am a full time faculty member in the history department.
since the start of the pandemic, this semester has been by far the most taxing and
stressful for me. Half my week, I teach on campus and half my week I teach remote zoom classes.
it is certainly been nice to see students in person, but it has been complicated too.
this semester I am now required to teach while in a mask, which is not an easy feat,
clean between classes and facilitate alternative instruction for the many students who
have been off campus in my classes due to covid exposure, some for up to two weeks.
in total, I have had 13 students in quarantine in my two campus on campus classes.
this is required me to not only learn how to use and set up the owl camera, but also
carry all of the equipment of three flights of stairs to ensure that these students are
able to successfully continue with their studies. I teach my on campus classes and then rush home to make it in time for zoom office hours
and then zoom committee meetings on my alternate days. I teach on zoom, where I have been required to morph into teacher, troubleshooter and
cerritos college directory agents. If there is anything that this pandemic has taught me, it is that teachers are clearly
the interface of the college, more so than we ever were before.
the classroom is the point of contact now, so board members, I will leave you with this.
if education is the greater good of the state and that shouldn't be up for debate and
teachers serve this greater good, while more and more is put on our plate, then you as
the board must recognize us. Is this something we really need to discuss?
my concluding remark give us a just contract and support college plus.
my name is nicholas matthews, and I teach in the communication studies department.
I'm calling to urge the board to provide a fair contract to the faculty.
frankly, faculty workloads during the pandemic have increased. The extent to which administrators have asked us to innovate inside and outside the
classroom has increased. The time required to meet the growing needs of our students has increased.
so why? In light of inflation that hit 6.8 percent in november is the district's
negotiating position that are pay should effectively decrease.
a fair contract that honors the extraordinary work faculty have done is absolutely in the
best interest of students because faculty working conditions are student learning
conditions. Thank you.
boulevard. First and foremost, thank you for your time and effort. I know it must be challenging to hold such a position as yours.
keeping the district happy and trying to keep the college in a healthy fiscal state while
attempting to keep faculty somewhat happy or at bay.
let me remind you that faculty are not your enemy. We are the ones who keep our students safe, healthy, happy, successful and on track to
the best of our abilities. We make ceos look good. We nurture the students to be successful, which makes freedom looks good.
your tired faculty has been here working hard before during an even post-pandemic.
if that gets here, how do you improve enrollment by taking care of your faculty so that
they continue to keep cerritos on the radar this semester as a new director chair and
also to let you know I was a student at one time and now chair of my department and I
think has a lot to do with the faculty that I incurred, that I dealt with and all the
caring and support and knowledge that they instilled in me as being the director chair,
having to teach my classes. In addition to that, overseeing our clinical rotations outside facilities for salazar
spring schedules, ordering supplies, complete strong workforce. Perkins program review unit planning, following and monitoring covid protocols.
meeting with faculty and staff to oversee a move out of our existing building actually
passed the department architecture meetings, transportation meetings developing to remove
this to ensure our items are securely taken care of.
cte has many items to consider, not just books and desks, which is no undermining or
undertaking of any department of this whole college. This is we are taking care of our departments.
this is our cerritos college. We take pride in our department and the properties of cerritos college.
we have put in many hours in trying to keep up with student contacts.
it's heartening to know not only our division, but all divisions and faculty are working
over and beyond and have been for a long time. Yet we have to invest additional time with our request to the board and what is due to us
financially. It is also embarrassing, especially when I speak to my colleagues in other
colleges who might not have the same situation. It is a constant battle pay increase in cola pay increase and cola pay present and cola
over and over and over. I don't know in the simple words, do the right thing.
reward the faculty, but they deserve releases. What is do does the college claims equity student success core values board.
let's start with the faculty. How about faculty success?
thank you for your time, diane lewis.
hello, board of trustees, my name is pierro bracamontes. I'm a full time faculty member in the communications studies department this semester, I
taught two classes fully in person, which meant that I as fewer students in each of my
classes. However, this did not lessen my workload. If anything, my workload increased.
the first two weeks of the semester, my students and I attempted to create some sort of normalcy to being back in person.
it took several weeks to figure out how to navigate the constant fluctuation in student
attendance due to all of us taking our safety seriously and following the covid
protocols. I didn't think about the extra work then because I was glad we were all taking
our safety so seriously as the semester progressed.
I asked for an owl cam because I quickly realized student attendance would be inconsistent. I began creating alternative assignments for students who could not be in
class. I worked each week to find suitable alternatives for students who couldn't join
our live discussions. We engaged in trial and error to find best practices for our own class.
when it came to our ad hoc setup and the entire time, I wasn't thinking much about how
much extra work I was doing because I was just excited to see students in person again.
now it's the end of the semester. I'm exhausted and as I finished my grading, I find myself frustrated with the college I
was so excited to come back to. I'm frustrated because the district is offering us off schedule payments instead of a
salary increase when we had a $10 million surplus last year.
I'm frustrated because we have some of the largest class sizes in our community college
system. I'm frustrated because the district does not understand how any return to face to
face learning in a pandemic increases our workload. And I am frustrated because here we are yet again at a board meeting having to plead for
what should be part of our fair working conditions, reasonable class sizes, ca2+ and
compensation appropriate for the continued increase in workloads during a pandemic.
please listen to your discipline experts. Listen to your faculty. We need plus reasonable class sizes and compensation appropriate for the continued
increased workload during the pandemic. Thank you. Ok, now I'll read a few of
the written comments that were received. The first one is from mary ellen.
the administration has been asking a great deal from us, the faculty since covid began.
we have sent schedules, have been asked to modify schedules and ask to do it again.
instructors have had have all had to become certified to teach online because that was
originally the only place we were teaching. Then we had to prepare all classes to go through tech review and curriculum to be approved
to teach online in case emergency distance education went away.
additionally, the instructors have been asked to be understanding and compassionate with
our students and what they're going through during this pandemic.
the faculty has done so much and continue to do so much for the students, no matter what
we are going through. Not once have I read or heard about anyone taking into consideration the additional
workload for faculty and what is going on in our own personal lives.
to add insult to injury, the faculty has denied up.
how can you expect the faculty to perform at their best when all they feel is taken, when
all they feel is taken for granted and not appreciated for all of the hard work and
dedication they have been they have given in nearly the last two years.
we are not just doing our job.
we have gone above and beyond what we have been tasked to do. The faculty deserves cole a-plus.
the next comment is from heather kate st. John. This is the first time I've decided to speak out because it seems imperative to do
so. The first thing to address is cola.
the governor has provided the funding for cola and it is shameful and exploitative not to
give it to us. This money that we quote unquote don't have was set aside for this very
purpose. How can we quote unquote not afford it?
one response to this question has been that quote enrollment is down and the money should
be saved just in case end quote. If the concern is low enrollment and why not improve the college instead of quote
punishing end quote the employees? Other colleges offer smaller classes and a 16 week schedule.
if. For us to maintain our increase enrollment, then perhaps addressing faculty and
student needs will help students do not want 18 weeks of classes.
nobody, they want to be one of 60, 80 or one hundred and twenty students in a class.
they do not want burned out faculty, and almost everyone is burned out across the nation,
according to inside higher ed, the chronicle of higher education, faculty focus and
search and psychology today, just to name a few. I understand that the job of the board is to protect and promote the college.
one way to do that is to ensure that faculty, students and staff are satisfied with their
work agreements. There has been no time to rest and recover as the pandemic drags on and faculty has
continued to ritual practices for protocols, teaching techniques, etc.
to help maintain the college or college leaders ready for the consequences of that.
when you have the faculty through paying them cola, reducing the academic calendar to 16
weeks and decreasing class size. Then you are helping the students and thus for protecting and promoting the college.
I hope you will consider these points.
the next comment is from bruce greenberg.
this agreement has a lot of armchair, our legal program director and an instructor.
I want the board to know what faculty have been doing for the last year and a half to
support cerritos college students. When we were fully on campus, student access to faculty was pretty much limited to class
time, office hours and a few other times students catch up on campus.
but because we're online, either via email or zoom, students communicate with us seven
days a week into the night and at times beyond.
speaking for myself, I respond to students either by email or by setting up zoom
meetings, no matter the day and pretty much no matter the time, I reply to students via
email as early as 6:30 a.m. And as late as midnight.
I participated in zoom meetings on sundays and even legal holidays.
why? Because many students often have difficulty learning in a remote format,
necessitating extra time and more one on one instruction.
yes, students need availability, not during banker's hours, but almost five or seven.
I'm making myself accessible when they are. It helps alleviate their stress and increase the chance of success.
further, students are now facing personal non educational matters that present like
challenges. And many of these students turn to their instructors because we make them
feel comfortable. Well, I'm sure the birkey board understands we teach.
I am not certain the board understands that we go the extra mile for our students.
it would seem to me that it's the state of california provides our district with additional funds that are board would acknowledge the constructors for passing on the
cola to its faculty with. Our reservations, delay or excuses.
please acknowledge your faculty and give them a cola adjustment at a minimum.
the next comment is from patricia reidel, r.n..
there, cerritos college board members, another new year ahead of us.
wow, funny. Twenty two and it feels like twenty twenty twenty one last of a lifetime for
all of us who put in tremendous effort both on and off campus hospital rotations,
distance education, becoming online certified as well as working hard for our students.
it is with great respect that I ask you to consider arcola as we are.
this is zurich and we'll continue to strive for excellence in teaching while managing our
home life and our budgets. Its upcoming 2020 two thousand year.
thank you and happy holidays.
the next comment is from michelle.
to the board of trustees pierro michelle mahoney, councilwoman faculty.
as we wrap up yet another unprecedented year, I find it necessary to share with you my
experience as a faculty member at cerritos college.
as a counselor at cerritos, I am working with students in a variety of formats.
face to face on zoom via email, phone and even via text.
I have three work areas and three computers. One in the conference center, one of my office and one at home.
five days a week, I'm helping students complete any number of the following tasks
creating comprehensive plans for transfer taking classes from in-person to online and
vice versa navigating campus. Navigating how to access to services either in person or remotely.
communicating with our faculty, understanding of multiple codes and mandates.
and the list goes on. Additionally, I am teaching a regular session hybrid court where I'm juggling two sets of
students. So attendance for officers, as well as navigating which students may or may not
meet all of the covid protocols for the.
I am designing lessons for students who are in-person, asynchronous and zooming in my
classroom. I love my students, and I'm glad to see many of them in person.
but I am exhausted. The thought of doing this all again next semester is overwhelming and I'm concerned this
is becoming the new normal without campus wide discussion that includes faculty.
I'm grateful for the hybrid compensation that was settled upon with our last hope and
emmylou. But I'm frustrated that this hybrid pay has not been paid regularly as promised
as of today. I have received only one payment that covered august and september, and it
is the end of the semester. As the semester comes to a close, I find myself wanting one thing this holiday season.
they there their contract for faculty. They contract that not only acknowledges the additional work I have done to continue
counseling and teaching during a pandemic. But also a contract that honors the work.
I and other faculty do and will continue to do for the benefit of our cerritos college
students. Board of trustees let dr.
pierro and the administration know that you care for us and that you believe faculty
working conditions, our student learning conditions.
and I'll read this last comment regarding this topic.
it really does. Good evening. As a full time faculty member of cerritos college for over 20 years, I witness how
instrumental faculty are in student lives academically and personally support students
and their success. Especially during this pandemic, faculty of continuing your professional development
opportunities, I've had to learn new technology and modes of delivery.
have created opportunities for scholarly dialog within and across disciplines and have
collected data to ensure that we're meeting the needs of our students so they can thrive.
please recognize and acknowledge the continued hard work of all faculty with a fair
contract and a plus for faculty.
so at this point, I'll move on to the next topic of public comments received.
I received two comments regarding the testing and vaccination requirements submitted
electronically. The first comment is from barbara soda's, I am a retired and now part
time instructor at cerritos college and I teach all the oldest.
I've been given a temporary religious exemption because of my religious beliefs for not
taking the vaccination, which, when I have to fill it up again, will not change when I
sign the religious exemption form. I agree that I did not have to take any testing as long as I do not come to campus, which
I have no reason to do. In the meantime, it appears that this is possibly change and I do not understand how this
can be arbitrarily done. I'm asking that the college changed the mandate that makes online instructors take the
vaccination shots and testing. I'm not a threat to any personnel, faculty or students on campus.
when will these mandates end? How far would board go with these mandates?
I see the next thing being decided for us is that the booster shots need to be taken in
order to keep our jobs. I'm 72 years old and I have been an instructor for 50 years.
30 of those years teaching and department chair at cerritos.
I love teaching and working at cerritos. Please don't penalize me and make me decide between my jobs and beliefs.
thank you for listening and god bless.
the next comment is from cherry for a proposal.
what the district has chosen to jump on the bandwagon of mandates, saying that it is for
the safety of our campus community and quote without a full understanding of the long
term impact of the medical procedures they are requiring, in my opinion, this decision
will have far reaching consequences that even the district does not yet understand
because the district and many of their employees refuse to step outside of the echo
chamber of their peers. We wonder why enrollment is down.
the public is speaking to you. You just don't want to listen.
number two, for instance. It is highly likely that the vaccine mandate is having an impact on student enrollment,
I'd say seven of 10 potential students I have spoken with.
or inquiring about our programs. Also asked if the college is mandating the vaccine.
her students have also made negative comments about the vaccine mandate.
moreover, students have stated that some of their classmates have refused to come to
class on campus because of the testing and vaccination requirement. Therefore impacting her grades and likely the to raise.
number three, it is now widely known that individuals who receive the covid shot and
still contract and spread the virus to others. So why are we the unvaccinated being tested?
because of the testing requirement, there's no privacy. But workers and students who know who has and who has not taken the covid shot, in my
opinion. Two nine zero five policy borders on discrimination against the unvaccinated
based on medical status and religious beliefs and is creating a divide among the campus
community. All of this work out of the campus should be tested, rather than singling out
those who were religious or medical reasons, chose not to be vaccinated against covid 19.
having all the campus. Or none of the campus test would help minimize the hostile work, hostile environment that
several on campus have or are beginning to experience.
furthermore, employees should be trusted to self test at home.
this would be more economical, less time consuming and would minimize the campus divide.
therefore, the call itself does not even have the commitment to ensure the testing
facility they chose for employees is maintaining the responsibilities.
too often, employees do not receive their test results within the 48 to 60 hour window
promised and often not even within seventy two hours.
therefore, they could not be on campus. I also know of at least two instances where the person administrating the test did not
show up. In fact, just this past friday, december 10, the test administrator did not show
and there was no notification. Cerritos college has the ability to send someone over to assist the testing is happening,
yet they can dump the shortening of available private time.
lack of regard for appointments and lack of regard for late test results leave
unvaccinated employees feeling as though college may be intentionally creating a hardship
for unvaccinated employees to complete their weekly on campus testing.
unvaccinated employees are fulfilling their responsibility.
cerritos college is testing procedures dropped as a result, employees ready for work are
missing time on campus because the college values the test results more than they do the
employees present and livelihoods. Cerritos college lack of concern and lack of compassion for their unvaccinated employees
is inhumane, and it needs to stop. Yeah. It's the last time.
all right. Very much here now, us, some live comments from the audience here tonight.
again, we will limit the each speaker to five minutes.
we're working to spend 20 minutes per topic will likely be available for that much unless
there's an objection from the board and we'll proceed.
so when I call your name, according to the card, please enter the organ with an iphone
and korean and share identical comment.
we begin with present zurich.
if there is a third time for us to speak for bringing these kind of stuff together for
discussion. I don't want to be out here freezing right before christmas, but you can help
our economy. But yet here we are. I have from the beginning of our plans and actions from the speech that perfectly
vaccines and other treatments that works for you.
I accept the position I am in what you are doing to a single mom who depends on the
system. Maybe I'll just pretend I have cerritos college a priority.
I have dedicated my time outside the classroom to answer emails, grading papers less
important and reaching out to my students to help them through this difficult time.
I want to take a moment and share a little affection.
I want you to read it in its entirety from my comment as well, so I have it.
he writes. It's a bittersweet moment that is really not the emotional type, but there's
something about this class was special to him. He says, I've never had a professor there about the students as much as you did, and I
feel I'm thankful for that. And the larger lectures I was able to tell from your sentiment that your sentiment for us
was from the heart. Even online, you created a classroom field.
that's the way the material is presented. And the professors like me are hard to find, hard to forget.
isn't that right? We appreciate it. Even though I was referring the same work right there, he says, because of you, we could
all come together. There are differences and problems aside for a bit and this one in
this box, we have no problems with the class and I'm interested at the time of enrollment
to being the same across the. I never thought I would miss a course or a class where I am reminiscing the experiences
we share. I feel absolutely grateful and appreciative to your class for doing my
professor. As I said in the beginning, I never had an instructor, a thoughtful, caring,
passionate and affectionate towards the students. Words can't describe the impact that you believe.
this is why I teach. I actually really care about my students, and I love what I do.
I share this with you because I want you to know that you are losing. I can make a positive difference in the lives of my students, and I have the shoe to let
me back in the classroom. Toby is killing the classroom. I cannot teach you the mask, social distancing and through plexiglass.
viruses and germs will not disappear, and I am ok with that, but I am not ok with this
type of contracts and a corrupt government repeating history and damaging our society in
ways that make it irreversible. Cerritos, what you are doing to me and the other employees who refuse to take four to
participate in a political battle for their health and the students who just want an
education is on the wrong side of history. Revolution will not be told us if those people are standing up in protest or helping
lausd just suspended their mouse programing until the fall. Let the people make up their own minds.
it's time to take a stand against a multi conglomerate corporation that sickening our nation under the guise of profit health.
these are not magic words that, in all, constitutionally protected individual rights.
this was really about your health. You'd be hearing about a new services like vitamins and immunosuppressants like sugar and
processed food. When businesses are close to 11000 walmart to prosper.
this is not about health. It's about control. The approach did not happen all at once.
it is not come easy to take people off the streets. No, it was slower. They first started segregating and giving the population the idea it
was ok to be exclusive, that someone should have rights and privileges while others
should not. This is where society is headed and this is why we are here.
I know that you cannot change the policies and mandates of california that you can't stand to get security and support your students and employees by doing the bare minimum
distances required. Or, dare I say, even oppose these mandates because you are trying to enforce all the
recommendations of the pharmaceutically profit driven criminal. Please wake up before it's too late and do not implement 4:31.
I'm also asking you to clarify whether or not fully online employees for the spring
semester have to test at home. Here we are due to this, that we have personnel from the us military for a minutes that
we are talking tough to come human resources. It's not to say that you have loyal employees that are willing to work in the spring
semester if we have to test to stay home. I know want to start on campus and we want to come back.
the right now I have an 18 year. And I would like to see you next,
how I'll this other.
thank you all for. During the cold weather, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity
to share my views. I'm really still concerned that we're at the same place and I know the consequences right
now that are affecting us individuals. But what's really going to affect the chances?
and board to make a decision to not follow this mandate, what are those consequences?
are you going to lose funding? What can you stand together with other districts?
and this coming from the chancellor's office, it's something that money is all the object
about the whole program. What is keeping us from?
being who we should be as a campus, as a community and had the opportunity to go to
the university of arizona and I walked on from that campus.
don't ask thousands of kids and students and I would just blow away my whole opportunity
to continue my education work on my master's. At home, one class.
that's it. One. And when I'm done with that class at the next class and it's set up to
meet the needs of people, and I'm looking at why aren't there choices to be made that
will help the community to help this college? All it's doing is putting you further and further behind and losing quality individuals,
hoping that somewhere along the line they'll be back or this will all be resolved.
the science isn't coming up the way everyone thought it was going to be.
the scenario, those that have been vaccinated and used to be eight months now, the
science has shown it only lasts for six months, so everybody needs to be tested.
is going to have to be checked most now. The numbers are rising and rising because of individuals that thought they were
vaccinated. Superhuman went with family events and went to places and affected others
because they thought it was a cure. It wasn't. The miscommunication that continues to happen is not benefiting anyone.
and still the same things that the new stuff is coming out. Is it being considered because I'm not sure what platform you're listening to or whose
results and science you're getting it from. But where is it going to lead?
except more hard for the student body until you have less and less students now I ran
into some other students that didn't even hear about the wedding, didn't know about the
minute we covered on campus without the wedding. And when I talked to her over her husband, the pastor of a church, and she says I didn't
know anything. She got on her phone and looked at shin liu. I don't see how they got no emails.
and she's a student coming here now. She goes, well, if that happens, I'm out. I'm not getting the vaccination.
so I just wonder, you know, I'm telling you there's stupid numbers you need to be looking
at and you're trying to avoid it to prove your point. But where is your point going to meet you as as the trustee that are supposed to be for
this community and those marisa? What are the others? Are you communicating with everybody?
how are they going to stay all these pathways? Oh, you're going to have to be choosing other courses, other places, because unless you
lower your enrollment percentage so they could continue to have the class at a smaller
number, or they're not going to be able to have a class. If they're going to be on a wait list and then all of a sudden, you're going to find
individuals hurting for more and more. And it's just choose to go other places.
and that's kind of disappointing. I chose I said last time, I'm not going to follow the mandate.
I'm not going to do an exemption. You're going to lose me and my experience and knowledge.
I already know of other traders at work with foster families. I've already found all the places and I will go those directions, but I've been here for
so long. Live it down and I'm finding it very hard to realize it.
where is that trust? Where is it coming from? After all this time, I felt proud I graduated from here.
I have foster adopted in all. Four of my girls have graduated with bachelor's degrees.
three of them come from here. Others have taken classes just need because it was the community.
but it doesn't matter anymore. I guess it doesn't mean anything. So what is stopping me?
what problem are you facing? Let us know what you're feeling.
maybe we should be somewhere else speaking so that you can make the choices that you
don't want to be. Because it is unfair. These things should not be occurring in this way.
so different parts of the city, different parts of the county, different parts where everyone doing something different.
and it doesn't seem that this is the way it should be. Other than the fact that you are the ones mandated, it's your choices here.
so what happens to you? You lose your position. Are you scared? You don't think other people are scared or worried about how they're
going to pay their house? Are they going to make their mortgage up or do they have health care for their children?
does that matter to you? Do you feel their heart where it meets?
these are the things that everyone has to ponder on, and people are making those choices
because they're standing up. You already got everyone saying you already know who they
are, but all you're doing is discriminating, distributing it to people individually and
as a native american. I've already felt councilman. I already know where I stand and what I would need to do.
but is it? Do you want me to be that person I chose not.
this is individual, I chose to continue my education, I chose to graduate from me.
I chose to go on. And I still try to look at this as a positive test, but not as easy as
I used to think in evolving. And hope, you hear I hope it's not just in your head, but your heart to understand what
are we really trying to prove? How many people are we willing to hurt?
how many families are you willing to break up? How many more people are going to move to a different state?
yes, because they're going to have to find it. I'm going the us, we will find way.
but then now what we have left, I mean, we do have to recreate it.
I mean, you look at the situations that are going on in the high schools. Well, they want to come here.
I tried to encourage one of my nephews who it's not going to.
jose will play football. He's not vaccinated. He's at another community college playing football.
I'm going to say who it is, because I don't know what he had to do to get that done, but not people will look the other way and do certain things to make sure they're able to
continue to open their doors and keep things going and have a smooth transition.
during this time, present will soon be something else, something new, something changing
constantly. But if the students aren't getting the right information and they're not
taking the test and you're not mandating it for every single person, that's
discrimination. Downright. Because they don't have those antibiotics anymore.
I don't know. And there's a lot of different tests out there that you get, that's not
marisa, that's not hurtful, and it's much easier to do much more consistent, but you're
not following up on that. You made the rules that nobody's doing that. How's that sound? How does that work?
thank you, mr. Zurich. Roughly parallel.
oh, good evening, thank you for letting me speak.
I am going to just comment on a couple of things, and let's start off with saying that,
according to the cdc website, even the fully vaccinated can catch and spread the covid 19
virus. Even people with boosters get sick. So when is it going to stop?
is it going to stop after one booster or 10 or never?
you can't mandate people to get a shot every six months if the fully vaccinated are
getting it and spreading it. Why such pressure? At this point, everyone can get it and spread it?
the fully backs are not any special. The this district is creating such a separation and hate on campus.
are people really saying get facts or get asked? This is the type of environment this mandate is creating on campus.
it is dividing everyone and it's creating a hostile environment.
if the vaccinated feel so protected, they shouldn't be worried about anyone else.
you are your mark safe, right? Also, faculty teaching fully online should not be subjected to stress testing.
why does faculty need to test weekly in order to work from the living room or another
state? This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. But then again, this whole thing doesn't make sense.
people have lost their minds. Testing should be should be made available for those testing within the district, took
away days, times and availability to make it. I guess I go swagit test.
I'm sure that's a tactic used to pressure people to get the vaccine.
since the district is mandating this, the ministry should also make testing easily
available and free of charge. In addition, the contests are good for a doctor's office.
why isn't it good for cerritos college? Those tests are accurate enough for a doctor, as they should be allowed for service
employees. And students as well, again, making it harder for people who want to test.
another question I have is why the religious exemption is only good until august.
twenty twenty two other people's religions and beliefs going to change after six months.
they originally were going to be good for at least a year, but now they're liberated
zones. What are the reasons for questioning people's beliefs every semester?
do you really think that they will change every few months? I really find that offensive.
I. I
just wish people can realize that no one is safe and anyone can get the virus to stop
pressuring others to do things against their will, do what feels right for yourself and
your family and leave everyone else alone. You're taking a ride away.
choose what is best for us and our own families. This mandate, this madness really needs to end.
thank you for your time. Thank you.
let's get emails.
ok. Thank you, everyone.
how did we get here? Almost two years ago, we were told three weeks to flatten the curve.
and then we were told, wait a little longer, wait for the curve really goes down better
and then we were told. Stay home, don't teach you everything online.
and now, two years later, when things or most people look like they're getting better,
we're told now you have to do what we tell you. Even if it goes against your bodily.
privacy principles, or you lose your job. How did we get from there to here?
and how did that ever happen in america in twenty twenty one?
that's probably the most important issue that we're facing.
do what we tell you to your body. We're going to make the decision for you or you lose your job.
that's just unimaginable to me. Now we heard speeches from members of the union who desperately want to pull up.
and they talked about how difficult the work is under the pandemic protocols and how this
goal is going to be very important to them. But these people you see out there standing in the cold.
they're here because they might lose their jobs. I personally am not worried about my collar because my job is secure.
I'm worried about their jobs and their personal beliefs and how they feel.
they're being manipulated, cajoled and coerced. Right. I wouldn't say a government because this isn't a government.
the federal government didn't make that happen to us, the state government didn't make that happen to us, if you.
I'm looking at bp, 4:31 and all over the place, I say rendition to physically access.
all right, fine. That's sort of in your purview line. Twenty one. Like twenty three lines, twenty nine lines, thirty two.
but there's three words on line twenty one. Condition of employment.
those don't seem to come from the preamble that says, what is the relevance?
why are we doing this? Those three words are in there. Now you've heard people say today that they said, fine, we got our exemption.
and incidentally, I am grateful for that because there are certain places in the country
that are not. Really honoring religious exemptions, and I'm glad this place is doing that.
but if you get the religious or the medical exemption, that means that the vaccination
requirement has been relegated and that they will agree to test to come on district
property. Nowhere in the bp does it say testing is a requirement of employment.
it says vaccination is and if you're not vaccinated, we don't want you on campus unless
you prove you're okay. Incidentally. I was tested.
I was vaccinated almost a year ago, almost a year ago.
and we're told that if you're vaccinated, then you don't have to test because you're not
a risk factor. But I'm also being told that even though I'm vaccinated, if somebody who
is unvaccinated comes on campus, that's too risky for me.
so does the vaccine work or not? When I got the vaccine, I believed it would work.
I couldn't prove that, and I couldn't prove there wouldn't be side effects.
it was a decision I made carefully. I know about the lady in hungary, but that made all this possible because moderna
couldn't get this to work. They've been working on it for years and they couldn't get it to work. But a research scientist in hungary figured out how to encapsulate the mrna and lipid
nanoparticle, and suddenly it all works. Well, that was the thing that worried me the most, because the fact that it was in the
lipid nanoparticle meant some people were worried it could cause early onset alzheimer's
because it could pass the blood brain barrier. So I had to evaluate all that, and I came to the conclusion just didn't have it going on.
doctors have been writing papers and I said. I think I'm going to trust this, so it should work.
I'm good, right, but I'm told if I'm near an unvaccinated person, I'm in danger.
I think people need to decide for themselves whether they want to contact us for an
american right. You decide for yourself if you want to be vaccinated. If you don't, you're allowed to take that risk.
if you're sick, you're not allowed to come on campus. If there is a pandemic going, you probably should be tested.
if you're worried about that in some manner, I might have. Oh, that makes perfect sense.
but even though I have issues with the mandate, as I've just explained.
all those people out there are happy that they got their religious exemption or their
medical exemption. Well, they're not happy about is told that even though they're not coming on campus, they
need the test to turn on their computer and teach from home. Now, after the last board meeting, we were told that that was mistaken and that if you're
working remotely and you're not coming on campus, you don't have to test.
well, it turns out that's not entirely true, either. So what I'm suggesting is bp 4:31 isn't clear enough on the way that the
administrators will formulate their policies for 80 20 ninel five.
in fact, I didn't even see that requirement in the ap.
so I think bp 4:31 has to be clarified.
my preference would be remove the term condition of employment. If you leave everything else in place, you should be covered just fine, right?
what would actually be sorry? What would actually be different?
but if we to wrap up this party. All right, so so that's it.
it turns out that we are being told by air right now that even though you're not coming
on campus, you have to be vaccinated. So I think this needs this needs to be clarified and the ap needs to be revised.
thank you for your time. Thank you, mr. Norris. Now getting to grow.
no problem.
I just have a couple of things to say, so I can answer your for my 17th year.
I was also sleeping here, so that's very dear to my heart.
and I don't know, the last couple years have been very tough, making all the changes and
everything, and I feel like we all work really hard. So I just want to kind of address when I first found out that I may not be here anymore
in january because of the vaccine mandate.
it was pretty life. I'll take a lot of sleep issues, anxiety issues, depression.
I think we'll probably run through that. And then there was the assumption that I'm grateful for that I got.
but it's just a brief relief. Again, as we said, we know it's limited and the testing is very difficult.
so we're actually dealing with that right now. I work at another campus and I think 22 days and I'm only here on campus on thursday,
which means I have to test on mondays and I work on my other job.
luckily, I've ever moved and I've been able to run over her on my lunch and get them to
extend my lunch for me. So I've been able to do it for like the last month and a half.
so that testing option is going away and I may have to go back to campus, to the other
campus. So now I have to figure out how I'm going to test it there or how to make it
work, and I don't work. Starting last week and the last few days with h.r.
here and also student health services that I've been told that health services is going
to be testing, but they don't seem to know anything about it.
there's no set dates and times, and I first day tested january 3rd.
I was told to call back that week to see what's going on.
so it's just not very helpful and trying to figure out how to keep my thoughts through
the testing. So I'm just hoping that that can get figured out as well, or we're going to
be close to home testing that would help for something else around that, that would help
us. Peter, thanks very much.
and finally, brian, the federal.
so board of trustees.
returning this, brian mckenna, and I want to come here to address the attack going on.
I want to start off with up to see the real me.
that's assuming you said something that was very offensive and said that maybe life is
more important than freedom. The reason why that was to.
and going through respect for the polish. Is because without our freedom, we do not have.
from what I gather you is, say, one thing that's great about this island.
chinese people, actually. We have an errant, terrible nazi organization trying to come out as a rape and murder.
ok, you don't care about. They have threatened people. They have the minority too long, joe, it's ridiculous, and
so on video and then they get on topic.
well, I'm addressing that statement is that statement is how the ccp thinks.
you guys have instituted a ccp like our card system.
with no shame. And the government that you followed, that it has the same system has done
these things. And that is very, very bad.
what's amazing is everyone here is extremely intelligent.
and yet you have done this and you have followed in the footsteps.
now, I understand why he's such an intelligent administration like george w. Bush administration could be so disastrous.
you have really intelligent people do very disastrous things. This all is proof of it.
you have taken away people's freedom.
I'll say this as best I can. Men in male video male giant come.
no prenup, no life. That's why you cannot give it up.
you have you guys are not asking for an increase on tax money.
I don't think you're going to get it. I published that story around people are buying a vast majority are against.
and I'm going to fight for them to vote against it. I want to start getting money, frankly.
I've d staffers who support the cce like system only start getting money.
well, if I have to tax taxpayers signed by a lot of people in the free plan, let's start
the other money. That's what I want to do.
you mean it was always difficult, you take away the career opportunities.
and it doesn't make any sense, I was not somebody going to say, come on, the health care professionals here, they know that.
come on, you and I, when I was living in china, the voters first came out.
we all knew that chinese and us more than once out of town and say, we all need this and
anybody anywhere. Oh, my goodness.
so. On the fight to make sure you don't give up on tax money, well, the solar panel
present presentation coming up on, let's point out that read the powerpoint and it says,
oh, it's going to save u.s. Gas money, that's untrue. Vice president lopez said it will not save money or cost money.
in that powerpoint powerpoint, I stated, things might save money. Well, what gives? Who's not telling you accurate information?
is it going to save us money or use us one way or the other? What's a real bottom line?
she won this board some conservative. He is the only one with some right, but shame on you, present birkey.
shame on you. Showing all of you have voted for this nazi like ccp only mandate.
and I hope that when the history books are written, and I hope he it a society your means
will live on in shame.
there's a lot hispanics on board. And as a hispanic, I want to tell you, that's one thing my grandfather fled the
revolution in 1910. Inflect that you wanted a good life here.
ninel applied for it.
mexicans and mexican americans are not slaves. We do not need medical professionals, chinese, all people in southeast l.a.
county don't know what they're doing, so it's a mandate to push them, push this that seeing onto them.
we're not idiots. We're not slaves.
sad. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Well,
I believe that concludes our comments from the audience, was that right?
all right. Now, move to item one point zero five reports and comments from constituent
groups. We'll begin with faculty senate president dennis hopper.
all right. I hope you guys can hear me.
board present birkey, honorable board members, president superintendent pierro honored
guests and colleagues, I have a few items I would like to go over today.
it's going to go over some widely different things, so be patient with me.
first, I would like to recognize that just recently, dr.
maulana karenga, professor of africana studies at csu obe, visited cerritos college via
zoom at the invitation invitation of the cerritos college curriculum committee to discuss
the development of africana studies at cerritos college.
and this is just five years or so after the visit by dr. Rudi ogunyemi, the godfather of chicano studies, having visited cerritos college and even
making a presentation to the board of trustees regarding the development of chicano
studies and ethnic studies at the community college level.
cerritos college faculty have been working above and beyond.
to create new courses in africana studies, she got on latin studies, women and gender
studies, et cetera, to keep up with the ever increasing inter segmental statewide
requirements related to ethnic studies for graduation at both the high school community
college for transfer and the csu level.
they've also been working really hard, playing a pivotal role in laying the foundation
for those coming mandates related to ethnic studies. And I dare say, with no additional resources for the hard work that they are doing, a
situation that we're going to have to change in the months to come. And I look forward to being a part of that process.
I would also like to note the lives of black feminist author, bell hooks, and of course,
we sent fernandez, volver, volver.
art international cultural icon.
I would also like to recognize the bereavement notice that was sent out today regarding
the father of a cerritos college colleague, and I would just like to take a moment of
silence for that, if you don't mind. Get all the folks who will be lost due to tornadoes that we've had in this country, I'd
like to have my sentence in addition to.
would you mind if we did those? Thank you, trustee.
you know, a couple of other comments today, I sent out a faculty exit survey to get
faculty input related to our experiences this past fall in the classroom and online and
to help prepare the way for return the spring semester. And in just one day, I've already received almost 200 responses to that survey, and the
survey will be open until this sunday night. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a really good response rate to that survey.
and I have to tell you going into it that there are substantial faculty concerns and
questions related to enrollment issues for the spring semester, scheduling issues,
inconsistent policies and procedures related to modes of instruction.
issues related to instructional resources. And more. I will be sharing this information with faculty beginning next week, and I
will, of course, share this with district administrative staff and representatives so
that we can work together coming into the spring to make sure that we can alleviate as
many of these concerns as possible and meet the needs of faculty as we move forward.
and finally, I want to thank dean rachel mason on behalf of the faculty senate for the
years of service as dean of the business and humanities social sciences divisions.
thank you, rachel, for bringing together two divisions and helping us to forge
relationships that will survive long after you are gone and when you're sitting on the
sand with an umbrella in your drink.
and to my colleagues and the csa and ccf cola plus.
thank you. That concludes my remarks, thank you.
give an excellent update, faculty senate president dennis hoffman now will move to the
cerritos college faculty federation president dr. Lemole. Thank you, president birkey and trustee.
thank you to all the faculty who left comments tonight. Thank you for taking the time to do this during finals week.
I am so proud to represent this hardworking and student centered faculty body.
we're finally here at week 18 and of the fall 2020 one semester.
there are many times I'm not sure if I could make it to the finish line, but I'm glad
we're here. As I reflect back on my experience and my interaction with the board, I want
to say thank you. Thank you for listening. As a collective, we may have disagreements, but oftentimes we find and create solutions
together. Collectively, we formed a constituent base covid-19 return to campus task force
12 faculty who are represented in six different work groups.
because of this, we have minimal covid positive cases on campus.
collectively walked the classrooms and student service areas to make sure plexiglass were
probably installed. Chairs and desks are six feet apart and cleaning supplies were provided accounted for.
because of this, faculty and students felt safer to return to the classrooms.
collectively, we made sure ill for air filtration systems with service and individual
units of air purifiers were purchased to make sure folks have the proper air exchange
rates and their buildings. Collectively, we work together to continue to provide health care coverage for all regular
employees and their families. Because of this, all regular employees can keep the same providers and physicians for the
next three years without paying additional premium.
collectively, we work together to ensure faculty are aware of the testing and vaccination
demands. Because of this, almost all regular faculty are currently in compliance with bp.
twenty nine oh five. I believe we can continue to work together and have difficult conversations and find
solutions because as faculty, we do not quit when the fight gets hard.
faculty will continue to show up. Engage with students and meet the needs of our students.
but we cannot do this without your support trustees.
I believe we can work together to ensure college plus for all faculty because a one time
off schedule three percent pay increase is disrespectful to the hard work and the trust
we have built. Faculty deserves a fair contract now.
that concludes my statement. Thank you. Thank you. After all, and now it's on the lewis csa president.
good evening, board of trustees dr pierro avalos are classified family and the rest of
the campus community I'm filling in tonight for csa president orlando lopez, imam najera,
the second vice president and chief job steward for csa chapter 161.
last week we had some holiday events. Two of those were in person on campus.
I want to thank those who were able to attend and our campus administration for approving
us to have those in-person events. It was nice to see those who were in attendance and to meet the new classified members in
person who were hired during our remote work environment.
as we wrap up this year, I want to thank our classified family for their tireless
efforts, their resilience and their flexibility as we all work toward doing our part to
help our students succeed. I wish you all a happy winter break and I look forward to working with you all next year.
thank you. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
and as well as we get have an update from sutherland ninel trustee birkey.
sandra of issues a zoom meeting that she had to leave, and she asked if I could read her comment. Yes, thank you.
she is the president of. That's critical. So the report is as follows the fcc has passed three main pieces of
legislation in fall 2021, including a resolution opposing the usage of audio for
proctoring exams introduced by deputy director, director of equity and diversity andy
parker and approved by the senate on december 1st.
the fcc opposes the usage of pretoria, pretoria by property of cerritos college and will
request professors buying alternate methods for proffering online exams.
and there's propaganda resolution included, it's invasive software makes black students
with disabilities at a higher rate due to movements that are blocked and suspicious and
invasion of privacy. The resolution will be presented to faculty senate in the spring next as student
representation stipend program to recognize the time and commitment of students
participating in shared governance processes and seek senate approved a program to
provide stipends to students serving in representative roles.
the second will be funded by the student representation fee and the guidelines were
developed to ensure student representatives complete their duties in full in order to
receive a stipend. The second opportunity is provided to student government member shared
governance committee members and students who sit on hiring committees.
the last point is student activities fee increase to support l.a. Metro fairless transit initiative on december 7th, asec senate approved a bill to
increase the student activities fee by $9 each term beginning in fall 2022 to the fall.
in spring, student activities fees will be $19 and summer will be 13 hours.
the student activity fee has not been increased in over 30 years, and the increase of the
fee will support implementation of the l.a. Metro fearless initiative program, providing bus passes to students pay their activity
fee. This represents a huge discount on bus passes for students, supports the
transportation needs of students and also supports our go green efforts.
the details of the program implementation are being worked out by dr miller to begin no
later than fall 2020 to sooner if possible. Thank you to the board of trustees for your ongoing support of this initiative.
I think you. Great.
present, actually, so that will move to item two point zero one election of board
officers, president, vice president in charge before we go.
let's take a moment to recognize the trustee view vice president and trustee avalos
birkey for their service for officers during this last year on twenty one is a token of
appreciation. Please accept the cerritos college zurich.
I tested.
well, we will now proceed to the election of more officers.
the election process, outlined in eight to 10, is as follows we begin the process with
four present will call for a motion and second to open nominations followed by vote of
the members or present will recognize the members of the nominations for the office of
the board president. After all, nominations are completed before president will ask if
each nominee accepts the nomination for president will then call for a motion, the second
to close the nominations, followed by a vote of members.
each nominee will be given the opportunity to make a statement to the board regarding the
kind of future president. The presentation of such a statement shall not exceed three minutes.
the order of the statements shall be or the nomination will then be conducted and voting
will begin with the first candidate nominated in that order and is able to earn the votes
of be selected as board present.
so with that, I'll now open nominations for president of the board.
there is no I'd like to nominate vice president dr. Shin liu for the office of president.
thank you, so. You have any other nominations.
I actually would like to keep you as our president. And the reason for that is that we have so much going on with our moms.
they know you are very, very savvy and very well versed in that area.
and so I think that would be important for us as long.
additionally, with poker, I don't feel that we've had an opportunity to go back to being
the. No reason to hold them in your house.
and I'm hoping that this outcome where we have that opportunity so that we really get
immersed and able to be able to participate in of those new graduations.
I would be like you, no offense to my colleague.
that's not meant to be.
with the other nomination.
ok, with that, we will move to motion to close nominations.
who is a close second?
I just want to add that we have to ask each of the candidates who have been nominated if
they accept the nomination. Oh, excuse me. Thank you, dr..
thank you. Thank you. I think.
and divided sutherland. Ok, so now we have a motion and a second vote,
and now I'll offer. Or roughly, if you would like to make a statement regarding your candidature.
I appreciate zurich lewis to me, and I feel like I just needs
to be a good president who would listen to us through these difficult times and then me
and I just want to thank you and thank you for taking.
um, as for my future, I am absolutely delighted this last year to deserve
this award. And it has been a very difficult year to be president of this order for a
whole variety of reasons. But I've taken great pleasure in looking for ways to win the college and the best
position possible, even when there's hard decisions that don't provide the answers.
I would very much like to have the opportunity to participate in normal activities as
a president. That would that would be wonderful.
but that's not the only reason why I would be president, either.
I'd love to continue to navigate college through some very difficult decision making
regarding both arms and the way we work going forward with many of the infrastructure
needs that work as well. But in any case, I'll be delighted to serve any capacity that my colleagues find
appropriate. So given our statements and very good,
you could a call police. Yes, some of this first roll call vote is going to be in support of dr.
lou. As for president. To trustee sutherland.
nick? Trustee avalos.
trustee birkey. No, trustee lewis.
trustee lewis I. Trustee pacheco, trustee perez is upset and trustee salazar.
right. No.
ok, so the motion did not pass, I'll now move to the roll call vote to nominate trustee
birkey at board present trustee sutherland trustee avalos.
trustee birkey I trustee lewis.
trustee lewis. I trustee pacheco I trustee perez as isd trustee salazar I.
and the motion passes.
thank you, all of you. The honor is mine, and I appreciate all of your support and for what it's worth, I feel
like I've got no one coming over.
I'm very much appreciated.
I think there. Now we will conduct the election of board vice president and first
and now I would like to open nominations for vice president of board of trustees.
I'd like to nominate the introduction of the vice president.
oh, I can second that right?
sure. And then any other nominations lewis, you accept the nomination?
thank you. Yeah.
you get the nomination. I you in to close it, I suppose I could.
all right. You have to have a candidate statement.
no, thank you. You want me to get it up to you.
if we get out of it. Yes. So this roll call vote is to nominate dr.
lewis board, vice president, student trustee sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey hi
trustee lewis hi trustee lewis trustee pacheco I trustee perez is absent and trustee
salazar a motion.
congratulations. All right, and now an open nomination for the board of trustees
I've d birkey salazar. We hear that.
all right. Dr. Salazar sandra nomination.
I accept a second.
probably the second. Ok. Um, it all gets ratified in january.
so, yeah, I do have any of the nominations.
I see none. Do we have a motion to close the nominations?
I should close second second if we proceed.
would you like to provide a statement?
no, it's what I'd like to say is thank you for the nomination.
I can say I have experience, I've been, you know, board quick before, so here we have a
real problem. Yes. So this roll call vote is to nominate trustee salazar as board clerk student trustee
sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey I trustee lewis hi trustee lewis hi trustee
pacheco I trustee perez ms. Acid and trustee salazar.
I have. Regulations, team regulations.
in fact, when you continue to have trustee birkey as a present, so I guess that is not a
new president to thank you for your service this past year. So that falls to me.
so I'm not sure what the protocol is. You were supposed to get a token of our new president appreciation, so I see why he
doesn't do that for, I don't know, deposit account.
no, but I feel like we have a board of trustees.
otherwise, we want to thank you for the last year of service.
thank you for answering my phone calls and text.
it is very much appreciated and it makes it easier to to solve issues.
I want to have good communication. Thank you very much. And I did check this ban, so it actually works.
so congratulations. I think. Again, thank you all
as unfounded as it may seem really great.
um, and just as we close this up, I really want to point out that, you know, we've said
this a lot privately. This has been an excellent group of trustee used to work together
on the issues. We usually agree on most things. We often have some little disagreement.
but I honestly believe the tone and the way in which we go about those disagreements
makes it better than even an award would agree on anything.
so. Um, I just feel very, very proud that as difficult as the issues in front of us are
working together to get there, so it doesn't make any pacheco point for them either.
so I'm proud to serve everybody here. Thank you for your leadership as president for another year.
a.c. Lewis. All right, so I guess that we we've got to take a break, reorganize anything.
I still think we need that.
let's let's do a quick little break and get some some water in and review right here and
then we'll get into some issues in this environment.
so now we'll move on to item two point zero two.
it's the revision of the consideration of regular meeting dates for cerritos community
college district board of trustees. Um, so according to education code section seventy two.
there they're there to require every community college or to hold monthly meetings at six
times as may be provided in the rules and regulations adopted by them to start otherwise
do so in the avalos agenda.
there's a list of board meetings that he.
my issue here is one that we did previously, that march 16 and march nine, the committee
for access will be on spring break during the birkey tonight.
that way, if there's any faculty or students that want to join spring break, that would
at the same rate at which we may not can.
um, do you have a motion to accept things that is so important in this motion to?
second. All right.
of everything on a roll call, vote on this.
and that we recall.
I'm happy to report that there has to be little.
ok. So why is that? Because guess folks are not allowed in person here, so it's being televised.
and part of the mandate from the state is that all matters pertaining to board decision
have. Is that that in line with our understanding as well?
we about the exception, bill, so theoretically, we are on campus, but we can do it this
on every issue. We did know what is going on with the bill.
we didn't know about that anyway. So theoretically, we act.
this is not the exception. But we can do. I would advocacy say, for folks who like since we are having technical
issues for that purpose more than anything else? Yeah, no. The final thing just happened.
and over the last. We. And we're going to more women over the the week.
I think susan trustee, sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey trustee lewis trustee
lewis I trustee pacheco trustee perez ms., trustee salazar, I think we go back and.
I don't think very much.
right now, item two point zero three, consideration of election of annual representative
to the l.a. County school trustees slated for 2022 is something that we have a background on
present pierro. So traditionally, we do all day, we fill all the
offices here, and I believe dr. Gupta is the representative.
so the electronics association, am I correct? Yeah. And usually that we select a new representative, but I believe that's a little
convenient for the last couple of years.
I'm happy to continue to have dr. Lewis that she's willing to accept money and we want to find her, I'll try.
I nominated you wrote this book.
and I'm happy to say that. All right. Know of trustee sutherland, trustee, avalos, trustee, birkey, jose, lewis,
trustee, lewis, trustee, pacheco, trustee perez is absent and trustee salazar I a motion
passes. All right.
I don't 2.0 for information, item or policy.
twenty seven, fifteen photographic standards of practice, this poor policy incorporates
the code of ethics. That includes a clearly defined policy for dealing with behavior that
violates its food policy statements to be reviewed during that organizational meeting,
all important for elections. Thank you, present birkey.
so every year there are three organizational meeting and I ask you to click on the link
and make sure that you familiarize with this policy, as it is one obviously a requirement
by its code or to obviously or commission or commitment to or on ethical I've d.
so you might just say, does anybody need an additional minute to review?
seeing ninel is anybody have a question is like present argument that the policy.
hard seeing move on to item.
we don't need to ratify anything, right? Ok. Item three point zero one as usual, presentation recognition of retirees.
we have six retirees or five retirees here to to recognize that.
if you are not trustee birkey, so I would like to.
green or kelly, american sign language instructor on the front, mr.,
to use a little bit of an overview of its service to the
institution. Collaborations with the so we the.
and. Sorry.
thank you very much, dr. Fierro. I'm proud to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of ed kelly.
a distinguished instructor, professor of american sign language.
it's been at the college for a decade in which time he's left an indelible mark upon all
of us. He has built an outstanding american sign language department.
growing it from quite literally nothing to a department whose enrollment has grown in an
era of general enrollment decline.
it is not only had a hand in building the asl program at cerritos, but he's also been an
integral part of building the asl program at cal state long beach.
he continues to teach in their program and he has built a whole set of informal
articulation agreements with them, all of which cindy and I plan to plan to formalize
in honor of ed.
this. This alone makes for an outstanding career.
but ed has not stopped there. He has been for many years a fierce advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing community.
it has been his life's work to make sure that the community is heard and just as
important to make sure the rest of us are listening. Through these efforts, he's had a tremendous impact on the division, the college and me
personally. But with all those accomplishments, I think the most important thing that I
can say about ed tonight and the most important thing that you should know about him.
is that it, he is a very, very kind person and a very, very funny person.
and all the rest of it is gravy. Speaking on behalf of the division and the college, I can say with certainty you will be
sorely missed by us all with your absence. We will be diminished, my friend.
thank you for all your service. And here. Thank you.
thank you, ed. We appreciate your service and you have been a great person since I know
you over the last nearly seven years. I'm glad you are embarking on the next chapter of your life, but also sad to see you go.
so thank you very much for everything ed and I wish you all the best.
thank you. Thank you.
and would you like to share anything?
oh, who me? Oh, ok.
well, I just want to thank cerritos cerritos college for allowing me to teach their.
and I really enjoyed myself at cerritos. You know, I'm, you know, being deaf and working with hearing coworkers, I really enjoyed
my time there at cerritos college and I just wanted to thank all of you for coming into
my life. And and I know that cindy will carry the torch for
our esl program.
yeah. Thank you.
thank you so much. All right,
so next, we have roger adams, senior application analyst, who is also retiring mr.
patrick adonal, our director of information technology, will give us a little bit of overview of the old techniques we have had rob gronkowski.
thank you, dr. Pierro. It's a pleasure to introduce roger adams.
roger began his career at cerritos college as a computer operator, which was back then
which was referred to as computer services as a student adult hourly in nineteen eighty
seven and his full time employment as a swing shift up computer operator in nineteen
eighty eight. He left the college in 1999 to work in a large data center in pacific care.
in 2001, he returned to cerritos college as a programmer. He is currently a senior applications analyst in the information technology department.
rogers role is critical. He provides support and generates all of the college's ms.
reports. And until recently he was doing all of our apportionment 320 reports and many,
many other things are there's just so many different things that that roger does, and I
count on him daily. Roger is someone that cerritos and I have come to truly rely on.
he he possesses a great amount of institutional knowledge.
roger works on many of the most complex regulatory requirements, and he's been doing
remarkably well, and that definitely will be truly missed.
and in his retirement, roger plans to get more involved in his music again, which was his
first love, and that was what he originally planned on doing and working on his house.
really, roger and roger is actually being generous and volunteering some of his time to
help get some documentation and get some just follow through on items for to transition
into the future. So, roger, you will be truly missed. I'll miss some of those lunches that we had.
so thank you and congratulations for such a long career with cerritos college.
thank you, everyone here for your many years of service. I do appreciate everything that you have done for us, for the district, and I really
don't have words to thank you for the commitment that you are making of helping those out
after your retirement to transition the position.
I do remember when we first met, I was shortly after I arrived to campus and I went to
I've d I've d offices and you walked into the office and told me, you know, is there so
thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time of that time to make you feel
welcome and I wish you the best in your retirement.
thank you. Thank you.
any words you'd like to share? All right. You know, my relationship with cerritos college began in 1972.
uh, actually, because I was a music major and that bernard center that you all just tore
down. But I was a music major and then transferred to cal state long beach and got a
bachelor's degree there. And I was trying to make a go of it as a classical guitarist, and I wasn't getting a
steady income. And so I started coming back in the nineteen eighties to get a computer
classes and math classes and seeing which way I wanted to go and I decided on the
computer information systems. And that's that's why I got into that cerritos college as a computer operator.
but I've had a long relationship and I really appreciate having that.
being able to work at cerritos college a really great place to work, and I'm going to
miss everybody. Yes, I'm coming back in a way to advise and try to help with the transition.
but I do have plans to try to do more of the music again and.
kind of expand what I previously had done. So thank you all and really appreciate the working at cerritos college.
thank you, ms., and we really appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you.
all right, thank you. Now all we have is going to be time each administrative assistant
or potentially the office of human resources and a little bit of an overview of the work
they have done over the last couple of decades has cerritos college.
we have dr. Clinton's church vice president of human resources and assistant superintendent. Thank you.
thank you. Don't miss perez cerritos college in january 2003, she was fired as human
resources technician. One was promoted to human resources in september 2006 and later promoted to
administrative assistance to the vice president of human resources.
in august 2013. This is great wealth knowledge in this exact position.
she became the go to person for any procedural or historical question.
furthermore, I have been actively involved with the district administration since 2003,
while she became the administrative assistant to the vice president of human resources.
she officially became our graphics coordinator in 2013.
they're working. Human resources can sometimes be challenging due to the nature of the
issues we deal with on a daily basis. However, during the time doing the work for the district, she always exhibited a helpful
and present demeanor. She supported those who were in need of direction, moving troubled from time provided
timely and reliable benefits information.
she's a problem solver by nature. I enjoy searching for the right answer.
she enjoys reading a nerdy like us, a very inquisitive mind.
I directly supervise them enough for 10 years. She was such a pleasure to work with.
our relationship grew beyond the office environment.
we became good friends. Together, we relied on each other and offered support through research about equal time.
we celebrated success, invented often to keep our sanity.
I will be so not very good. But I look forward to hearing about you, I think you're going to my best wishes to you
for a wonderful on your.
right now, the race without a man.
it's been a pleasure to know you, I've worked here with you. I can say that you probably were the first person that I had significant interaction at
cerritos college. Yeah, I believe so.
in my first interview, you were kind and helpful for me.
what I guess you noticed that I was what I was trying to fill the paperwork.
then apparently I did not complete prior to coming to that interview.
so I do remember telling the board when I got to see them the second time, how impressed
I was with you from that moment on. So you have been always on my favorites.
thank you very much. I appreciate you very much. And I hope you enjoy the next chapter of your life.
it has been a joy getting to know you. Thank you. I'd like to have his comments as well, I know you helped me over the many
years with insurance forms and just questions and always very professional, very
thoughtful and keeping everything confidential, they should be in nature.
just know you will dearly be missed by those of us who have had to come to h.r.
and just wishing you the best as you retire. I think you're too young personally, but I know.
thank you, but thank you so very much for always having such a great attitude and just an
amazing professional etiquette that you've brought me to. Cerritos college we appreciate you.
thank you very much.
did anything you like to add on? Well, I'd like to say thank you to dr.
pierro, the board. Adriana, it's been a pleasure working there.
all the staff in each are just the staff in general on campus.
I've always felt like part of a family since the day I stepped onto campus many moons
ago. I've made a lot of friendships. I'm going to miss everybody and it's been a great time, but I appreciate the opportunity
that I was. I, you know, got to work at the college and work with all of you.
so thank you so much.
thank you.
all right. All right.
so now we have felicia just need cosmetology professor, but the deal is optional being of
technology will give us an overview of the leases in the service to the institution over
the last several years. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to share a bit about felicia smith.
felicia holds a vocational education teaching credential, a cosmetology license, the
cosmetology instructors license and real estate agent license.
she's a graduate of usc, where she received a business degree in finance and management.
felicia is not only an educator, but also an entrepreneur. Felicia is the proud owner of a successful beauty salon, which enables her to provide a
real world and current beauty trends directly to our students.
our passion to see our students succeed in the beauty industry is what drives our day to
day work as an educator. If you ask felicia what she enjoys most about teaching, she'll tell you it's the
satisfaction she feels when a student expresses the appreciation in her, helping them to
be successful in the cosmetology field. She took her students to many events on and off campus to enhance their learning even
after graduation. Students continue to keep in contact with and share their successes because she genuinely
cares. She has received countless thank you notes from students. She began our profession here at cerritos college.
the cosmetology industry is greater because of educators like felicia. She will be sorely missed.
thank you, melissa, for all your service. Thank you for that.
I do to remember meeting you and in the early years, the month of my tenure here because
I thought it was one of the first departments I visit, there have been area that's going
like every two weeks for haircuts and yoga. So it's very good to me.
so thank you very much. I appreciate everything you have done for us, for our students, and I wish you well.
I thought, you know, I really in retirement, well deserved because you have a full resume
and a full set of activities that you have that over the last several several years.
thank you very much again. Thank you very much. I'm really going to miss working with the students, working with my cohorts, and I've had
a wonderful time teaching at cerritos college. I appreciate everything.
thank you, nick. You've been a great dean.
all right, next time next on the delays we have at the walton theater production
coordinator and we'll have dr. Eric return instructional being the primary communication to give us an overview of its
work. This could take a while because that has been with us a long time.
so I still have that many, many, many things for the. So go ahead. You're.
thank you very much, dr. Pierro. It's my pleasure to work with that walton as both a faculty member and dean for the past
22 years, throughout her time at the college and a dedicated her energy and knowledge to
the students of cerritos college contributed to the success of the department division and the college that has served on many shared governance committees and contributed
countless hours to productions and special events that expanded opportunities for students to learn and succeed in the arts.
and I grew up surrounded by educators. She worked at l.a. Unified in the early part of her career and also taught theater
courses while at cerritos. Her service to the district follows an expected path of dedication and compassion for
students as the focus of retirement cerritos college. This work is evident in her support of high standards and theater programing and job
placement for theater students. In 1979, when eddie began her career at the college, the tony award for best play went to
barnard pomeranz for the elephant man and sweeney todd won for best musical.
mother teresa won nobel peace prize. Superman was the number one movie.
gees topped the pop charts. Soviets invaded afghanistan and a group of students seized the u.s.
embassy in tehran. Gas was 86 cents a gallon. Movie tickets were two dollars and fifty one cents in the four decades that followed at a
shared in the many important challenges and changes to daily life with students, staff
and faculty and administrators that included the rise of the internet, cell phones and
social media. One of ed is earliest interest reveals her spirit of adventure and
dedication to preserving traditions and something many of you may or may not know about
her. And I only actually learned about it a couple of years ago is that at a classic car
enthusiasts to garages a 70s era purple corvette in retirement, I hope etta reconnects
with this beautiful car, enjoys time with her family and friends, and finds many new
experiences on the open road ahead of her etta. Cheers to a well-deserved and blissful retirement.
thank you very much, harry. It could not be with us tonight, but I echo those words.
I hope you have a great retirement. You deserve it and I will miss seeing you and the other one when I go to the building.
it always there, and you have been always incredibly polite, accommodating many of our
crazy requests. So thank you for having my.
party. All right, and now you get an upgrade on a new way of life, basically rendezvous
by the family event without the printing press, the vice president of student services,
and she's going to give us a little bit of an overview of the work.
first, laurie christy, match or tiger writer, who is retiring in sandra, marks
institutional sales occupations, and we rate the latter rise in the outgoing dean of
business, education, humanities and social sciences.
good evening, board of trustees. And the audience is going to be here for 10 that I am using my vice president and voice
as I read the acknowledgments for tonight. It is my pleasure to present a heartfelt farewell for lori christina.
lori was part of the cerritos college family since november 5th, 1990.
thirty one years. They're, like every department and division, had the privilege to work with her to
procure grants. Lori acted as relieved writer for grants, but many college programs,
including my falcon project hope teacher track as I still articulation reseller, etc.
through her efforts, the campus prepare millions of dollars in external funding.
it was important to lori that she helped secure grants and opportunities for continued
programing for community college students to transfer to a four year institution.
lori attended gold at west college and cal state university long beach, and I'm sure many
of you are aware. But in case you are not, lori is a musician and a member of the
claremont colleges orchestra. You would often see her carrying in her violin case with birkey campus.
it is my sincere hope that zurich speaking that we all have the opportunity to see her
perform now with roger adams, that she has more free time.
honestly, I love to perform together, but it would be great. Lori was unable to make it today, but she asked if we could read this statement on her
behalf. I would like to say a special thank you to lee evans, with whom I have worked
every day for the past 31 years in the director's office. She made me feel very welcome on my first day on the campus, and her dedication, hard
work and friendship has helped make my time here a great joy.
please join me in wishing lori a happy retirement as she moves on to her next big
adventure. But next is the saturday marks.
it is my honor to share a few congratulatory words for sammy marks.
sandy began her career at cerritos college in january in nineteen ninety five as a
faculty member for the medical assistance program. She came to the college as an experienced registered nurse working in intensive care
units, radiation oncology clinics and ambulatory care services, just to name a few
examples. And her faculty role, she was responsible for writing medical assistant
curriculum, served as a faculty senator, volunteered as the omega alpha club advisor and
board sandra transition to the dean of health occupations position in june 20, 2012, and
served in this capacity through the end of this month. During her tenure as dean, she oversaw multiple construction facilities updates within
her division, the development of the simulation lab, which helped our students maintain
their hours during the pandemic when clinical sites were unavailable, develop technical
standards, essential functions for health occupation programs and served on many
committees. Acting as the acting president and assisting in bringing the national
university to the college for the bachelor of science degree in nursing.
these are just a few of her accomplishments over the years. Please join me in wishing sandy a wonderful retirement.
lastly, seeing rachel mason, it is my honor to express our gratitude and share a few
words about rachel mason. Rachel is a product of the california community college and california state university
system that study business administration. She earned her mba from pepperdine university and was a faculty member at antelope valley
college university of redlands, east los angeles college and the university of phenix.
rachel began her role as dean at cerritos college in 2008 and served in this capacity for
13 years. During her tenure, she presented at the portland leadership academy on managing change,
served as vice president and treasurer of acting, served on many campus life committees
and task forces, and was voted the outstanding manager of the year by faculty.
furthermore, rachael supported job placement by fostering programs such as the mental
health worker program and paralegal program, which provides job placement for students
and career path jobs, and help bring the university of cerritos college for our students
and the paralegal and administration of justice departments. Rachel helped create the division motto make decisions that are on the side of students.
it will be the correct decision. Please join me in congratulating rachel and wishing her well in this new chapter of her
life. Thank you, vice president perez.
and yes, indeed three great great administrators. Lori miller worked with her that employee, but I did work with her by email quite a bit.
got a system with christie. You will remind me of basically everything that I forgot to do on the ground via email in
a very polite way. Have you completed this bringing this to your attention again?
and she was always, always very nice about it and make sure that we submitted and signed
for grants on time. So thank you very much, christy laurie.
we'll miss you. Same with rachel and sandy.
I got to meet the two of them as soon as I got here.
they were working with me and they.
they cut me a break, but we need to understand how this goes, and I make work, and so
when I tell them they have been incredibly old people to work with both of them, I have
nothing but good things to say about them. That is. It's a lot of work that they accomplish over the last several years.
rachel and sandy. And you also leave big legacy on your requirements or positions will be difficult to
fill. And I know your faculty will miss you always.
and so will we. Thank you very much to the two of you.
that's great. Very proud of those people left behind big shoes to fill.
yes. Well, we hope you're all invested in your next endeavors.
certainly, your movements in the world is going to get more time with the internet.
that's great. Go move on to item three point zero two institutional presentation,
recognition of classified employee of the month you went.
advice to sir hugh hugh is not going to be here with us, but
again, I still believe in him as you actually is in or out of retirement.
hugh, sort of critical of the human resources team who was hired in november 2018 as a
human resources state, one assigned to the office of diversity compliance and title nine.
your typical job responsibilities include support for all the title nine mandates,
combination of the district diversity and equity employment opportunity advisory
committee, the full support of the district universal access taskforce website and
technical assistance for the department. Oversight of the restrictive compliance and programmatic assistance.
it was a team player and dedicated to his position, its commitment to the college and the
district was evident when he agreed to serve the district covid 19 coordinator for human
resources. If you tell the details of the positions or not, forget or not flush out
and lower the requirements at the time, yes, you agree to serve in this role without
hesitation. And this temporary assignment, hugh is a consummate professional and work one
on one with employees ensuring that the compliance with the district covid 19 protocols
and assist with contact tracing recently, you agree to assume oversight of the management
employee recruitment process. Additional responsibility required him to learn a new process at the same time that he
was learning his covid 19 responsibilities. But he did so with eagerness to learn.
give the indication and commitment to cerritos college to go above and beyond to meet the
needs of the students and staff is exceptional. We are proud that you are a cerritos college employee and we commend you for your
outstanding service and dedication. Thank you for a job. Well done. Congratulations.
all right. And frequent zero three, I have three points here, three for potential us and
this whole project.
I've d board of trustees, and I thank you for allowing me to provide this presentation to
you. So as you know or may be aware of, cerritos college has tried to entertain solar
project on this campus before and in many occasions it didn't make economic sense to
us. But over the last year, we continue to evaluate that process.
and the reason why we continue to look at solar is because we have a couple of state
guidelines that we must adhere by. And two of those being by twenty twenty five, we need to increase renewable energy
consumption by 25 percent by 2030.
we need to increase that renewable energy by 50 percent.
also, by twenty twenty five, fifty percent of all new buildings and major renovations
will need to meet zero net energy by 2030, one hundred percent of all new buildings and
major renovations will need to meet zero energy.
so we continue to reevaluate solar on our campus for the last year.
I have met with several different solar providers and contractors and looking at
different ways to purchase solar. In the past, we tend to look at supply upfront and make it an upfront investment, but we
needed to take a different look and a different strategy. And I believe the presentation we're.
there you rose along that lines on that, and so I invited two colleagues or one me from
for hour along with kevin, which is from he's from school project for utility rate
reduction, otherwise known as spirit. And so they're here to assist me in this presentation and allow me to kind of kick us off.
thank you for your bye. Am I good to go? You're good to go.
you're good to go, right? So thankful to be here today.
thank you for the opportunity to talk about and bring these exciting solar projects to
bear with you all. My name is nate smith. I represent the solar renewable energy company that has been collaborating with district
staff and philippe to put forth the potential solar and battery storage project.
we'll be discussing briefly tonight. I'm joined by my colleague from spur, the joint powers authority.
they are composed of community college districts and k-8 dish and k-12 districts.
they run big rfp. They ran an rfp statewide competitive rfp for solar and battery storage and 4front power.
the company that I represent was the selected vendor of that process.
cerritos through this joint powers authority called spur that kevin is going to talk to
you about is able to utilize their statewide competitive process as a procurement vehicle
in which in which to pursue the potential solar and battery storage project.
and with that, I will pass the mic off to kevin and let him go into his spiel.
so thank you very much again.
great news, if you wouldn't mind just giving it just because we're getting late in the evening. If we could keep it to about five minutes or so.
that it just really hit the high points, if you don't like.
sure, yeah. If you guys don't mind maybe going to the next slide, I can do a quick overview of spur. So as philippe mentioned, as nate mentioned, my name is kevin flanagan.
I represent an organization called spur. I think in terms of the high level, here we are a buying consortium made up of community
colleges and k-12 districts across the state. We were created by community colleges.
we develop piggyback buying programs to help community colleges reduce utility costs.
we ran a statewide rfp for solar and energy storage. The name of the company that won the rfp, that competitive process was 4front power.
we have a master contract with 4front power, and the college can take advantage of that
master contract to streamline its procurement process, get really great pricing and get
really good contract terms and conditions that reduce risk on the project.
next slide, please. The program, which is the name of the buying program that we have here at spur for for
solar and storage, has been used by over a dozen community colleges across the state, as
well as two dozen or three dozen k-12 school districts, as well as cities and counties.
and even the state of california is using the program to piggyback for solar and energy
storage. So it's a really proven buying program. It's a proven procurement vehicle for public agencies to utilize for the procurement of
solar and energy storage. And so with that, I'll hand it back over to nate.
thank you. A quick, obligatory commercial for foreign power where a nationwide solar and
battery storage developer, the backbone of our business and our strength, is developing
projects with specifically community colleges and the california public sector.
so we're extremely good at working with the department of state architects, also known as
gsa, to get these projects into the ground and energized as soon as possible.
we're backed by a really strong, stable parent company and mitsui. They've been around for 400 years.
they allow us to finance all these projects on balance sheet and really, you know,
mitigate construction delays and and get to project execution as soon as possible.
next slide, please. Next slide, please.
so the method of procurement that philippe alluded to at the beginning of the meeting is
different from using bond dollars. It's called a power purchase agreement or a ppa.
many of you are probably familiar with this method of procurement under the ppa.
there's no upfront cost, no use of bond funds on behalf of the college.
how it works is 4front power. We finance the project. We take advantage of that.
twenty six percent federal investment tax credit that the college would be leaving on the
table if you were to finance this system out of pocket as your non taxpaying entity.
so for foreign power, the company that I represent, we finance the project, we build it,
we operate it and we maintain the system. And then we simply sell the energy that's being produced by the project to the college
for a rate that's lower than what you currently pay. See, that's the bare bones of the ppa.
all of the operations and maintenance are included. It's not another thing for facility staff to worry about, and we also guarantee the
performance. Next slide, please.
this is the preliminary kind of most up to date version of the potential solar project
that we've been discussing with philippe and staff over the last couple of months.
so what we did is we took all of the, you know, we took the college's bill data.
I've conducted site walks. We understand electrically what's going on on site and we believe based on feedback from
philippe, this is a version of a potential solar project.
I'd like to just caveat this and I've and I've labeled the slide as such that, you know,
this is rectangles on the page at this point. This is totally subject to change.
the pricing and savings that I'm about to show you is predicated upon this layout.
so we wanted to let everyone kind of feast your eyes on it for now.
so next slide, please. Battery storage we're also pairing the solar project with battery storage.
battery storage shaves demand spikes from seeing saves you money also performs energy
arbitrage, absorbing more expensive energy during peak pricing. Discharging during off off off peak pricing times.
buy low. Sell high with your energy. Next slide, please. So the estimated solar, solar and battery storage savings is pretty
great, you know, upwards of three percent in year one, and that's based on a solar
project size based on that layout that you just saw of about five megawatts or about four
four point nine thousand kilowatts and then about a two and a half megawatt battery
storage project, offsetting approximately based on your current load, your non-covid
load. So essentially 18 square 18 to school year 19, where you know where students are in
seats and you're consuming energy, as you know, as you would imagine you would, we're
offsetting 60 percent of that energy annually with this potential project.
and then ultimately, across 20 years, we have projected $13 million of potential savings.
the devil's in the details with that, that 20 year savings figure, you can see that we've
assumed and outlined our annual seeing escalation rates down there at two point seven for
energy and five percent for demand, which are very conservative. Next slide, please. The big ticket item that I want you all to leave this this update
with and in your minds is net energy. Metering is changing. Net energy metering is any energy that you produce that you do not consume is sent back to
sea, and it's compensated currently under the existing net energy metering framework,
I.e. Nem 2.0 for essentially the full retail rate. Next slide, please. That is a really that it's a very lucrative program, and
unfortunately, that program is changing the the cpec, which mandates this program and
also see released their brief yesterday. What it's showing is is a very reduced payment for that export a generation which is
driving down project savings. Fortunately, next slide, please, if we're able to submit the college's interconnection
application to see for the solar and storage project, we're able to secure 20 years of
the existing net energy metering framework for the project just by submitting
interconnection applications. And you can see that, per the proposal that was released today.
the savings are essentially flipped upside down cumulatively across 20 years.
if the project goes into the new net energy metering program, which is supposed to change
at the end of january. So what we're trying to do is we're trying to submit this interconnection application as
soon as possible before that change, so we can secure these savings for the college.
and the way that we do that is by the college. Executing a letter of intent with 4front power is a good faith agreement to then come
back to you all to the board and say, hey, look, we've submitted this interconnection
application for foreign power has done that on our behalf. Now here's a fully baked project, and here's a contract that is the intention of our next
steps. Next slide, please. And guys, I dismount and leave you with any questions.
thank you. Did you make. You know, again, I wanted to mention, I think it's important to know that why we're
showing this to you now is because of the opportunity to get under grandfathered under
the existing 2.0 program, because the state the same guy guidelines are not changing one
way or another. We're going to have to increase or renewable energy by twenty five
percent by twenty twenty five and 50 percent by 20 30.
and really, the only way to do that currently on campus is so.
so we're going to have to entertain solar one way or another over over a number of years.
you know, I also mentioned that 50 percent of all new buildings and major renovations by
twenty twenty five must meet net zero energy.
the only way to be able to do that is through solar and rooftop solar isn't enough to be
able to get to net zero energy. So you're looking at a project like this.
it just makes sense, especially if we can get under the current rules that will provide
an opportunity for some cost savings. Obviously, there's still a lot of details to work through, obviously the actual location.
and then also the details of the contract. But submitting the application does not necessarily obligate us into it.
it just makes a good faith commitment to four or five to continue the negotiation through
a contract, which then the board would have the opportunity to take a look at and approve
before moving forward. So be happy to take any additional questions and get on board with this may have yes,
trustee lewis. Yeah, we are required by the state to have a certain goal of zero percent
emissions by a certain time. What are the consequences of not meeting those goals?
it's great question. Trustee lewis. I don't don't know that offhand the guidelines doesn't necessarily go into the
consequences of that, but your guess is as good as mine of what the state could do.
potentially, it could potentially limit us from submitting for capital outlay dollars.
that could be something that they they may do. Again, I'm just talking out loud here.
I don't have any answers to that, but those are some things that we can look into.
we have not publish the what if we don't think of confie what would happen?
they just have published their guidelines on what community colleges must meet.
and I'm curious what other districts are looking at, how their goals are to try to meet
this statewide goal is zero percent by.
by 2030, it seems pretty it seems like a pretty tall task.
and so if of these districts are not anywhere near that goal, I have to imagine that the
state will have to adjust that goal or possibly even not have any consequences or
exceptions to certain districts that don't need it, because, like a lot of girls on the
stage, tend to be unrealistic at the practical level. So I just want to keep that in mind that we're we're on the ball and we're getting this
done as soon as possible. But the goalposts may move shorter than the think.
so I think we need to make sure that we explore all available options before diving in
headfirst to build roads that maybe don't snow further out into the country.
that's a good point. My comment would be that, you know, in my opinion, we're a little
behind the eight ball in moving toward solar. I think a lot of our colleges have already progressed.
I think may you rattled off roughly. You've done what, 15 districts already with 4front alone.
there's a number of other solar providers out there. You know, most of the cal states have already moved this this route and pushing it
because the cal states are under the same guidelines on that.
and so we're just trying to move quickly on on.and.
and like I said, we've entertained solar a number of different times, but we've been
doing it the old fashioned way by utilizing bond dollars to purchase it and make the
upfront commitment and looking at it from a financial standpoint that just didn't really
make sense. But we look at it from a different, well, obviously what we're proposing here
is no upfront cost from the district pushing the risk over to four five, but
also commitment on our side to actually have it know. These things take a 20 year commitment.
so which means this won't put up a solar. We're committed to have that solar there for 20 years.
and so. So there's some tradeoffs on that. And so so we look at this a number of ways.
like I said, I've been working on this for. Last year, working with different solar providers, we need them, and this has been the
best solution thus far in all of our meetings on that.
so is it correct to say that the corporation tax credit run it from the private sector
allows for this call? Yes. Result?
yeah, I think without that, I think that it that dramatically impacts the financial.
the other question. My only one and it's.
it's probably the most typical board question. I think it's already been answered, but it wasn't explicit in the presentation is this
would result in a 20 year commitment, right? That's correct. And what were what are the.
this is certainly a negotiating point. But what are what are the political consequences for not keeping this whole house in
place for 20 years? So there's that's a great point, and we had a lot of these
discussions in this kind of gets into the details. But real quick, a couple of options that we have actually looked at is.
is the ability to down the road being able to buy out the contract at a later date if we
wanted to take on the ownership of that?
I don't know that the severe consequences if we're able to that. Ok, I'm sure some obligations of cost associated with that for us to back out on that.
but again, the devil's in the details and both are illegal and in four fronts, legal
would have to go through those contract terms to make sure that we're positioned the best
way possible. And we want to make sure wherever we put these solar panels that we can guarantee as much
as we possibly can that that location makes sense.
and so again, it's all about location on that.
what do you see in the diagram that was proposed based on what we went through a method
or facilities master plan? As you recall, in 2019, when we approved the master plan, master plan did call out solar
in those particular areas. So it just made sense, at least starting there as a talking point and then figuring out
does it really makes sense? There's still some conversations we need to have with some of our partners again with our
partners in the card group that I should bring out that locked.
and also, we need to have some conversations with some of the programs that in that birkey might notice that we kind of carved out the motorcycle class because we don't want
to impact any of her or programs that we have on our campus or vigilant in that we don't
want to impact any of our programs as much as we possibly can.
and so we'll be working with all the groups to try to work the best solution as possible.
I appreciate that. I mean, this is just. There's probably a million different experiences with solar, but just doing a lot of
facilities programing on college campuses across the state, and they get to a point where
we're behind the curve when it comes to the.
it's just a number of times there's come back and said, oh, this is actually the ideal
location for this facility we're trying to build. And we have a clear ms.
that still has some of that. So what of things with with the full value of the remainder of the agreement and it's
financially feasible? While I'm sure we can work all this out and really appreciate all the work put into this,
and I'm excited by the opportunity to kind of thread the needle here in terms of the
rates and the tax credit opportunity.
and one of the things that I thought was interesting about this particular project is the
ability to provide battery storage that isn't common in lot of the early solar projects
that it is here. This one, because of battery storage technology, is changing so rapidly
that we're choosing to modify the contract length of the battery storage because there's
probably opportunities to invest in better battery storage that provides additional cost
savings on that. So our initial thoughts is not to go up to no more than a 10 year lease
on the battery storage. Just because of the changing and the technology when it comes to battery storage provides
this ability to reevaluate and either upgrade to better technology during that time.
that would only provide additional cost savings. And that's for sure, because I'm sure, as our colleagues know, solar technology 20 years
ago is nowhere near what it is now, and I'm sure how many years and years around battery
and technology will hopefully enhance present.
all right. Many other items related to this is it.
all right, thank you guys very much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
thank you. All right, item three point zero for redistricting process of the trustee
cerritos. Alison, thank you.
trustee birkey, so, so with most of your comments, last meeting, we met
with our consultant to outline our expectations and submit your citations.
and we have set up on the schedule the adult court with all the different points that
were made as our last meeting. So the first public hearing and discussion, draft maps and the study session that is
scheduled for january 12. And we will meet again for a second public hearing of the draft maps.
and then I will come back on february nine for consideration of both of the revised
sources and that is to start the study session.
and at that point, we have additional discussion, additional information that needs to be
brought to our attention. We have an extra meeting there or additional conversation and the final vote.
and we think the deadline for us to submit the adoption of the march officially to the
government is on february 28. In addition to this, we consulted the or consultants on the possibility of using the
electronic map. And fortunately, the two main companies they have been doing this are not
taking clients at the moment. We are in the waiting list board because of the shortage of personnel, programmers and so
on. They cannot take additional clients. So we are currently developing a website and the website.
we are going to use pbx on downloadable maps with our data so we can allow
the citizens to download the maps to their proposed domains based on the data that we
will be posting to their website, upload them and we will be able to collate that and
provide it to their consultants so that they use that information and point to throw the
maps that they will present to you when we review the data or populations.
ships are not that great, which is not necessarily a surprise for any of you because of
is a highly targeted metropolitan area with not significant migration ships, but ships
with the recent migration. So we have to account for that when we do the maps we have as the consultants to give you
at the very least three models to provide feedback to use them for shin liu, we get it
from our community. It will be available in the website.
we are also engaging in a campaign to let the community know that we are doing this
process and they are aware on how to get involved.
and I hope they obviously all of you participate in this process.
all the hearings, but obviously once we get the data available and so on, evaluating and
making your own. Are suggestions as we as we meet.
and so I have no.
zurich, yes, trustee. So on january 12th, it is proposed that we will have draft maps from redistricting
partners for us to look at and to decide when that will be essentially our first foray
into designing where the lines will be going for this decade.
that's my understanding. Yes. So you'll have some, some drafts that you could provide feedback.
we will open also that for the community to provide live comments if they wish.
but prior to that, the website will be up and running so they can begin to see that the
website is slated to be. And it should be it should be done before we leave for them or break a.
I want to tell you that the week or is already being worked on should be done what we call
the home ground because I think it's part of these discussions.
I think we should see some huge perhaps from all of them, but from that we draw the line.
that's the mission that has been addressed through the statewide assembly senate election
board declaration maps, and they engage in live line drawn as a result of that.
I think we can take a look at something that's quite similar in that process for us to
each engage and our neighbor to say we believe based on public testimony, certainly by
january 19th or february 9th. All of that in reasonable public testimony that we've heard that we can then competently
engage in deciding this neighborhood does not belong with this city or otherwise, because
each and every city is essentially their own community, but they are not equal in the
population, so they are going to have to be great at certain points to make their lives
work. And so we need to have that technology available to us for us to decide how the
lines are going to be done, rather than just taking draft maps and saying, I like this one, I don't like this one in the back.
come back again. The next time we have the ability to engage in live online drawing and deciding, ok,
let's move this over here. Does that work with the population deviations?
does that keep us still within the limits and other things that make it that much more
responsive and available to us as trustee to represent our districts rather than previous
years where we have seeing draft maps or on progression maps?
yeah, I think not to do it. Yeah, the big question on that is even more right in the cycle is that technology that's
actually were able to evolve with it. I know it does take just be our unique district, just like all districts that are looking
at this sort of thing at this moment that we just rent out of the carpet.
is that something that is available? I know you guys have looked into a lot of different technologies and it's very limited.
I've d design the two main providers are not completely compliant, so we are we are
enjoying this, but I'm not talking about like the district are or any of that thing, but
we have redistricting partners that's working with us, correct? They have their own tool to be able to take all of the census data that has been
supplemented with california's prison population to be allocated to the different
addresses last known anyway. So I think that's something that we need to be engaging in.
outside of that, I understand that the challenge that may not come to fruition.
and it's unfortunate that we're taking this up so late in the process when being been
able to be on those waitlists a lot sooner. But we can work with redistricting partners to have their latitude or whatever that they
have to make sure that those lines are being drawn with our instantaneous input on that.
and I think that's what's going to move this process forward.
it's done well for the statewide commission. They've drawn very questionable lines, but it has done very well for making the public
feel as though they were part of the conversation. So I think we should look at that process and make sure that that's part of our meetings
going forward, rather than simply draft maps that are drawn by redistricting process.
but with a will check on that, I cannot promise that that is something that they have
available in the services they provide, but I will definitely speak to them about it.
and if they have it, we'll bring it. And if not, I will provide an update with whatever they can to help you figure something
out. Not to any other.
questions or comments related to this. One more comment I want to make.
so in the interest of being fully transparent.
the way we selected the the consortium was very much an arm's length.
we did not want to have any better contact with the consultants or any type of local
influence with the consultants. So everyone felt comfortable with the process.
so we utilize the the same vetting process through the chancellor's office and the
foundation of the. Council member focus, they do all the screening, they do all the competitive bidding, they
do all the selection and then they connect the interested colleges with the selected
group. So none of us have any involvement in the process. None of us had any local connections in the process or anything like that.
and once they finish the work, then we with all the districts, I believe one of those
names, plus arena, gets connected with the selected group.
so I want to make sure that you know that, and that is also a peace of mind for everyone.
we are making every possible effort to make sure that that's transparent and for process
for all involved. The much appreciated and I think we will debate this as I think that all this commentary
has to do with us trying to make sure that this is as transparent process as possible and
just for clarity. These are going to when we find the u.s. Published draft maps.
and nobody on board is going to see in the work that means it, so I think it's an intense
process. All right, in the seeing that you on to our 13 zero five hour
regular coordination campus safety protocol update.
I know. Thank you.
so we are actively monitoring the omicron variant, or trustee, I understand based on
emails and comments that I have received that there is some concern about the outcome of
that variant. So we are keeping an eye on it right now.
obviously, we are seeing cases in the county increase expected due to the holidays, and I
think we are going to continue to see those increase through the holiday season and
probably during the month of january. So we'll obviously keep an eye on that and monitor.
we're monitoring all the.
recommendations from the l.a. Public health department and the cdc, and in the event the guidelines change
significantly, we are ready to react to what we have.
obviously, the protocols that we have started with were a little more strict than the
protocols, even though the cdc and the local public health department.
so we feel comfortable that we can react accordingly to any changes.
we are hoping that that is not the case, but in the event that that was going to be the
case. We are prepared to react to those changes
today became again mandatory in the state of california.
we have to wear masks indoors. That does not impact us because we have had the mask mandate from day one and we have no
mandate. So we will continue to observe that the mandate for right now is steady based,
but based on.
is that I have a year from officials, it seems that it's likely to last until the end of
january, which will mark the keep going and then probably reassess that.
but people are following the implementation of nine zero five.
that's not going without challenges as we observe less ninel. So I want to thank all the colleagues.
they came this evening to provide their public comments and their concerns regarding the
implementation of two eight nine zero five.
that's right. Now we have.
five employees who have not made it either afraid, seven employees who have not immediate
to of vaccination or medical exemption.
so we are hoping that that changes from this point until the time of implementation is
here. I also would like to publicly recognize the leadership committee that includes our
faculty, senate president or csa president and president, mr.
vice president linda lopez. This is a very sad end of the long acting president, mexico in my hands, my committee,
confidential representative and zurich current vice president.
so it is no surprise to me on that myself, but thank you myself.
I would like to thank everyone for this indication of their commitment to continuously
monitoring the information and making sure that we are.
providing information primary and the we are reacting to the comments we're receiving to
ensure that we implement through the best possible way. Of course, we understand that there are some concerns and we are working to resolve some
of those concerns in the room that the ap gave us.
we will continue to do that as we move into the future.
other and that it seems, it seems, that we are getting ready to take a little break in
the next couple of weeks and we'll be back monitoring the only the compliance with 4:31,
but obviously concerns that are connected with enrollment and class cancelations as well.
so many of us will be active during the break looking at some of that data content
questions. More.
appreciate your your helpful in getting us monitoring the whole team working on this
nonstop. It's it was sort of new that we had to additionally take this on and now it's
part of the daily work.
so much easier. Later that day. Now on to our present calendar.
is there a motion to approve our consent so that india can get a
roll-call vote? Yes. Susan trustee sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey hi trustee lewis hi trustee lewis
ninel trustee pacheco hi trustee perez ms. Acid and trustee salazar.
hi. All right.
item five point zero one I'll meet minutes after it was signed by november 22nd,
2021. Do we have a motion to receive in parliament?
what do you think? Again.
seeing trustee sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey trustee lewis trustee lewis
trustee pacheco trustee perez ms. Trustee salazar. I reached out to public discussion and presentation of the initial
proposal of the california school employees association, csa chapter one sixty one to the
cerritos community college district for negotiation of the esea district collective
bargaining agreement for the period of july one, 2021, through june 30.
ten point four a motion to by.
sure to receive a second trustee sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey,
trustee lewis, trustee, lewis, trustee, pacheco, trustee perez is upset and trustee
salazar I ms.. All right. I have one zero three public discussion of ratification of the initial
proposal. Community college district to the california school boards association is one
part of the initiation of this esea district collective bargaining agreement for the period of july one, 2021, through various ten point four a motion lewis.
remove. Seeing trustee sutherland trustee avalos trustee, birkey trustee,
lewis, trustee, lewis, ninel, trustee, pacheco, I've d, trustee, perez ms.
and trustee salazar I a motion perez. We run the item 5.0 for discussion of twenty nine point five for the vaccination and
testing requirement requested by trustee lewis that we agenda a discussion related to
this previously approved item. So I wanted to take this time to agenda items so that we could take one more look at it,
one more consideration of it before it turns into effect for the semester.
since this is our last meeting beforehand and I would implore my trustees to take one of
the three color options on this either. My favorite avalos and not have a vaccine mandate.
second of which postpone it. Similar to how l.a.
unified has postponed their vaccination mandate for vaccines in fear of losing, according
to their analysis, approximately 34000 students that would leave the l.a.
unified school district and go to independent studies or other institutions that do not
have such mandates, which of course, would lead to a significant reduction of the
resources that would come from the state and would be allocated. Why, for instance, birkey as well.
the third is to edit the board policy and subsequently the admission policy to
not have a condition of employment, be that one is vaccinated and such.
many of the concerns that were brought up today by some of our colleagues here on campus
and those who are teaching and other locations have many concerns about vaccination being
a requirement and testing being a requirement despite the religious exemption.
so there have been many other jurisdictions throughout our nation that have.
have not implemented any vaccine mandates, but even some of the most and many others have
said that they've declined to implement even a mask mandate because at this point, with
education being out there and quite literally everyone having had plenty of opportunity
to have gotten vaccinated if they so chose, it's ok.
that's the colorado governor's. It's their own fault that they have not been vaccinated and proved themselves to be a
greater risk. And we do know that vaccinations don't stop the spread of the virus.
and still today we are living with some mutation of the 1918 spanish flu.
so to say that there is a zero profit goal for anyone, I think is just not following the
science. So that said, I would ask my colleagues to respond in any way that they so
choose to do. One of those three options either abolish the postpone it or two headed it concerns is
brought up by my colleagues. So maybe jose.
and this is certainly an important item for everyone because it impacts everyone.
and it's clear that as clearly demonstrated.
if you're tired by the cold in order to in order to make sure that their voices are heard
on this issue, I think we all in agreement that this has been a very difficult, long
season for all of us and all definitely not enjoy the sacrifices that to make in order to
navigate through this time. And it's been very difficult.
so I think we're in that sense. We're definitely all looking at this from a shared experience.
I agree with the other board members I'd like to hear.
we have two medical professionals on our board, which are very important to have. So if.
it's now possible, want to hear from you?
well, I know that for me, somehow I'm doing another vaccination clinic at an elementary
school. It seems like every three weeks I've been doing vaccination clinics and we've
already started the five pierro 11 kids better school district and my have read on that
message out there and I hear from both of those parents that don't want to get their kids
vaccinated because they're afraid. And I also see the kids that they feel this is going to give them a little bit more
freedom because the parents will give them more freedom when they're back in school or
they're in school right now. And then I'm also seeing the fact that we have to do present tracing.
so any time a child, you know, through 12, you have someone that tests positive to see
impact that it's having in the classroom and the impact it's having to the school
district, obviously, because we're having to do the tracing.
so I. You understand and I respect those people that don't want to get vaccinated.
but then you have to reason why I understand there is a religious exemption that you can
apply for. Fear not, because I guess it's the same thing apply for religious exemptions
or even apply for me.
the other one where there's still extensive medical medical exemption.
so and I believe we're doing the same thing that the district is doing.
but I do see both sides and I see how it's impacting this overall community.
and I know that the salazar probably seen comes from a different viewpoint because she
seeing the people who are getting sick. And unfortunately for some of the kids, they are getting sick and the high school and
middle school and there are they are getting hospitalized, unfortunately.
I believe we're seeing that also.
sandra, yeah, I think I can speak from my perspective as as just someone who.
been working kind of on the front lines throughout covid. We're getting urgent care in downey.
our community has really been hit by this virus.
it's decimated some communities. It's been the highest in downey from hospitalization, from testing positive and all of
l.a. County. So we're really close. We're next door to the hub of what covid hotspot has been throughout the pandemic.
things are probably looking a little better. We'll see what the holidays bring. But, you know, we've seen it affect everybody.
it doesn't matter what age, how old or how, how healthy you are, how unhealthy you are.
and we kind of seeing that herd immunity isn't working. So really, this is our only masking and we don't have many options masking and vaccines.
my my kids just got their second vaccine today. I do agree. There's a lot we don't know.
we don't know what we're going to say about this ten years from now, 15 years from now. But in my point of view, I'm more afraid of the virus hurting my children or anybody else
than of the vaccine itself. So I believe in science, and I think the numbers are consistent enough to show that
vaccines work. They're not 100 percent I. I still am following up phone calls with patients who have covid, and we're seeing people
who have who are vaccinated, who have quit. So we're not saying it's 100 percent.
at least we know that you won't die from it like if you're vaccinated, and that's our goal. Our goal is to try to prevent, but if we can't prevent to make sure that there
won't be a bad outcome. So, you know, I don't think we're doing something out of the ordinary.
I think we're dr. Pierro has been very responsible in terms of following the numbers following more than
me. He's been polling the l.a. County numbers daily.
he's been seeing trends. He's been, you know, talking to other college districts.
and I think we've been responsible and we rent the first people first district to
implement the mandate. And we the last, you know, kind of like in the middle, we kind of waited a little
cautious and decided, ok, it's fine, but I just don't see any other alternative.
I wish we had options, but I just feel we don't. From a medical perspective, I just feel that we don't injuries implementing a vaccine
mandate and and if you don't get the exemption, you won't be working there.
so there's not many options. Testing at home, it's that's putting a lot of responsibility to the people who are being
tested themselves at home. And so I'm not too comfortable with that.
but I don't know. I just feel we're being responsible and we're protecting our community who has been very
hard hit and continues to be hard hit. There's been many articles that talk about the latino younger population that the virus
is killing them at higher rates than even african-americans. And there's all these trends.
so considering where hispanic serving institutions and most of our our students, whether
it's themselves or their families, they're they're essential workers and we have to be
responsible for them because we're here to protect our students or campus communities.
so I think I see it as being responsible.
you. Now, the other commentary on this discussion, I don't.
it's one of the things that in talking with public health professionals in my circles,
one of the points was of this that in some senses that vaccine is a bit like a safety
valve, right? When you're driving in your car, you certainly can still get in an accident
and certainly so that, but the likelihood of that or likelihood of severe injury is
reduced. And in that sense, it's not that safety belts are ineffective, but rather that
they are partially effective and increased likelihood of success or decrease the
likelihood of catastrophe. Would you guys say that that is that a fair?
now, yes, I've had actually friends that got vaccinated, and they did have the
breakthrough and they were happy they did because they were never hospitalized.
they felt the minor lewis type of things, but they were happy that they got back
and they ended up not getting any help with that place where they ended up in the
hospital and icu. So I have those people know that have had I'm not saying that they have no there is no
cure. There has been. But I haven't seen those that group properly vaccinated really and other than really bad
at home. Other than that.
so yeah, that's what you were talking about.
so that brings me to kind of two other items that were brought up by our members tonight.
one is related to if it is, we're wired
to still cash regularly and report that testing in the event that that you have a job
that never does require you, especially if you're in california.
dr. Pierro, would you mind verification on that? Yes. So, so for us, these we're using a little bit of the flexibility that is built
on the ap, if you can see it both ways.
in fact, if you get an exception, you test regularly it's on a student employee.
however, there are also a couple of lines there that said if you have in the campus.
so the way that we are trying to use the available flexibility on the ap is to first
assess those employees who were hired.
to work, we want to begin with, so those employees who were hired to work remotely to
begin with will not be required to face to face weekly unless they come to practice.
so if I was hired, let's say, to teach biology from the get go, my assignment has been
online. The vaccination is still a requirement for employment or the exception, and then
it being exempt. I come to campus.
I will have to test negative before entering the facility.
however, since my assignment is fully online, the likelihood of making that post is
small, so I will not have that quickly. But when I come to campus, if I ever do.
most of those assignments happened to be part time faculty, so those assignments will
have to be evaluated every single term based on contractual obligations, right?
so far, particularly things only contracted to do in the period that he or she is
teaching the class. So that will be reevaluated every time because if the next assignment
is on campus, then the individual will be subject to testing if he or she is not
vaccinated, but essentially the next group of individuals.
so we will be assessing under the same room operation that the ap has given us as those
who are on temporary online assignments. Those are a little harder to distinguish because some of them were given exemptions to be
online for reasons or there than what is required by law, and those exemptions are
expiring at the end of this year, and any new exceptions will be outlined based on what
is required by law. So some of these individuals will not qualify to continue to be teaching or working
online because this has been done for everyone across campus who needed an exception.
so we use the flexibility the report allows to use when we first began transitioning
those who have to come to campus, obviously if they don't have an exception or they're
not vaccinated, they will have to pay, according to the policy, those who are eligible
for that additional exemption. We will then evaluate as well, and if they are indeed not expected to be on campus.
we will then apply the same approach of you will not notice until you have to come to
campus. So so what we're doing, it is in phases to ensure that we are capturing the
correct individuals because those exceptions only apply during the time the exemption is
made, meaning that they believe I'm only teaching online temporarily.
for whatever reason, I am not sure we have ninel online from this point on and I am not
fully exempt from testing from this point on. That will be based on the assignment that those individuals give in any given time.
the difference there is those who were hired to do that job from the get go because that
is their expectation of employment. Are there any who were originally hired to do some in-person classes who are expected to
or might even possibly be doing solely remote in the upcoming semester, despite those
temporary assignments that you were mentioning? Yes, yes. So there will be some individuals who traditionally have federal campus.
they may have some fully online assignments for the.
it's all part of the spring semester, so the exception will be made at that time to
determine whether no one will qualify for the olympics, not testing since they will not
be on campus. But the moment that their assignment change.
there will be expected to be on campus, fully comply with the regulation.
so I just want to clarify that everyone, anyone who is expected to be on campus or any
portion of their employment is expected to be vaccinated as a condition of employment or
have any more. I'm sure that is exactly correct. So for instance, if I was if I was not vaccinated and I had an exemption on my first half
of this semester, I was working from home. I will notice that first half, but then I know you have to come back the next second
half, then I will be testing once a week to be able to go to work because this patient is
the. Once your affection is biased or your ultimate assignment expires, you will be
assigned to what your assignment was.
all right. Thank you for the excellent yeah. So it doesn't seem that there's a sense as to my viewpoint, I will leave it on that.
and thank you for everything that.
and. So my trustee lewis that the issue is.
pierro, as a result, the discussion is.
is it satisfied? I stand behind my advocacy since the very beginning, but it's up to the other trustees if
they want to continue the conversation or otherwise get it wrong or abolish.
and. Oh, interesting. But I do have a two pronged question that I would like to address that relates to some
questions that you know before we close this out. That's right.
so the two questions I have are linked to the religious exemption.
and and my my understanding of this subject is that relative to ways in which the
religious exemption is rolled out in other jurisdictions, in the areas, we have a
relatively flexible, intentionally so flexible attitude and requirement or the
religious exemption. So it. Normal, relatively normal dress for people to be able to fulfill the requirements of
exertion, is that is that accurate? Yes, that is exactly it.
so what we did would be an exceptional procedure that was not overly complicated.
it was very straightforward with the meeting on benchmarks we have approved last
february. We say over 99 percent of so submissions, the few that have now been approved.
as those they simply say, I don't like the mandate. I'm not going to do with that.
that's not necessarily being, you know, really a healthy religious exemption.
other than that, we have made the impact very low to ensure that we accommodate those
individuals who feel strongly about not getting the vaccine for whatever reason.
maybe that is.
I didn't see it this way, but there's no requirement to say mr.
particular faith or anything of that nature. It's really just an explanation, do you believe?
correct. And they or sincerely held beliefs here in germany, but we're not.
we're not asking for and or information is relatively basic because this is
basically the the as I said before, about 90 percent, 99 percent of them have been the
right. Correct. Yeah. As being have mentioned, there are places that have very, very high standards for
those. It makes it very easy to deny. We're not going around and we intentionally selected the rules that we have for that
reason. There is accommodating as possible and does not require anybody to explicitly.
but any other belief on the table. That's correct. Ok.
then the other piece of that same question is the length of the exemption.
what is the rationale for the exemption to and in august?
certainly, it's a fair point. They're usually sincerely held beliefs. So. Any kind of regular basis.
that being said, I assume that has something more if we are to have an exploration as a
little bit more to do with running the system correctly. Is that what is the whole story?
us vice president for research development that.
so crazy of.
yes. Yeah. So finish your thought because of the current changes that are happening in
the state of the federal level, so we didn't know who caused the change.
so it doesn't mean that it will not be extended after this craziness of the summer, but
it might be just an extension after that. But at this moment, we didn't know what to expect because things are changing over time.
so that's why we have. But it doesn't mean that we won't continue.
but we just needed to know what's going to happen at the state of the federal level.
and does it in your estimation, would we automatically give you anybody who's already
filed for that or are they going to refile or how?
so there are no changes at the state or federal level, salazar, but it's just an
administration I know because I agree with the person want someone who's I think it would
apply what we just wanted to know what.
we do know that something may happen, of course, at the state level.
I was hoping you would say that you have confirmation that it will be over in august and.
we will have to do anything about any of this anymore. Oh, sorry, I can say that.
all right, thank you for that explanation.
salazar. They just wanted to also just kind of highlight some points on the vaccine
because I feel, especially with the comments that are being made, sometimes they're inaccurate, sometimes they're on point, but sometimes they aren't accurate.
but the purpose of the vaccine is to prevent serious illness or death.
the vaccine is not 100 percent. Immunity does decrease over time, and we're figuring out how long that is.
you can still transmit covid even if you have the vaccine. But the goal is for you to live.
and I think I just wanted to kind of put that all together because I think it's helpful
because we're not saying it's the cure. But if you read the history of the measles smallpox, you were kind of reheating kind of
history a little bit. And this is a little different.
but but it's kind of think that process, but I just wanted to bring up those points.
so we're not saying that just because we have the vaccine, you're never going to get covid. Chances are less, and if you do, it'll be very mild.
I follow still a lot of covid patients who are at home who have had the vaccine, a lot of
them actually delayed testing because they think, oh, I think I have allergies. I think I have a cold.
it's not covid, it's not that bad. I feel ok. And then they're like, you know what? It's not going away.
let me get tested. And then they're positive. So I hear it over and over again where they kind of feel that I should have got tested
earlier. But because they feel so good, they're thinking, oh, I thought it was allergies. So but that's the goal.
that's good news that you have very mild symptoms. You're going to live, you're not going to be in the hospital in a system that can can't
take any more. It's already kind of at capacity, its capacity for months, a lot of
months. So I just want to be there. I appreciate that coming from you.
and one more comment than these may.
I appreciate your first question about the.
the requirements of the exemption, unless you said it was done purposely to ensure that
we were in sandra motivating if we could, given the process that was being implemented.
I appreciate the time that all of you took to come here and voice your concerns and
opinions. I appreciate the time the meeting took to inform all of theirs, and I have one
ask if I may if you're if you do not want to vaccinate.
I understand I have a different view with respect to you, but please do.
file extension. We want to continue to work with our feet, we open that door to ensure we were as
accommodating as possible under the current circumstances.
we are continuing to listen and to operate within the leeway there was built on the
procedure and the administrative policy, and we will do that as we as we move forward.
but we need that additional is there because like many of us, we don't want to get to the
end of january and not see some of our colleagues that we have been seeing for years come
to work. So so if we can roll the all of the handful of our colleagues are.
and to me, that exceptions, I will ask you to please do so so we can cross, examine and
work together in a situation that I know we have all of these agreements.
but I think we are all making a little bit of progress to compromise and make the best out
of a situation that is not pleasant for all of us students and their religious
exemptions. Yes, they have. They do, I guess.
is that widely available on the portal?
yes. So I'll let bill press the other way about that and brag about all the outreach they
have that. Very briefly, we have had a team meeting to work on the exemptions for
students medical as well as religious. So today we've got about 120 religious exemptions being abusive and folks are having a
hard time finding that at all. Part of the team has done an amazing job of tracking the number of students who have
registered for classes either hybrid or in-person classes and contacting them.
and so we have a team calling them actually every single student to let them know how to
upload what they need to do and if they do not or express a desire to not provide
vaccination. They're being told about the exemption process. And then also about other classes that they might be able to see if they choose not to
receive the vaccination or get the exemption. So right now, they're preparing that perfectly.
there is about a 99 percent approval rating. We've had about 120.
folks don't seem to have a hard time fill out performance all online and we respond in a
really quick fashion. So the team is working hard and tracking every single student who's ready shirt that has
expressed an interest to be on campus and doing a great job that that to do.
we try and or trying really hard to give credit to dr. In manila and her team, as well as elizabeth relief for all their hard work and that so
for you to do an amazing job as well. Thank you so much.
be here. And with that, I'll encourage everyone to continue to get tested.
I'm fully vaccinated and I still get tested and is my nose still work on the house?
but but it's it's a good idea because as you pointed out earlier, you can feel very well.
so abundance of caution all of us.
um, and with that, we'll close this item.
so the minister of I've d 6.0, one word workaholism, new chapter two policies twenty
three oh five, twenty three fifteen twenty three point.
it is recommended that the board of trustees review and approve it.
policies as presented in a discussion on this.
france back in.
this didn't happen before, so I was going to say that the stress of the job know that I'm
getting all right.
you don't really have as much work as you do that yourself.
so we have to always is going three zero five seven three, 15, 23, 20 and it's
essentially the policies that we use board or annual reorganization because sessions on
emergency meetings based on the latest legal legal updates.
they are not changes to the procedure. So I do recommend taking them as a group if you have to use the influence of each one
individually. I'll be happy to answer them, but they have to have no changes based on
the. Um, foreign policy and based on the.
uh, latest legal review.
I know that we have a discussion or two when the vote on this.
through all these items. Move to a group. Second.
level student trustee sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey, trustee, lewis, trustee,
lewis, trustee, pacheco, trustee perez is absent and trustee salazar I a motion
jose. Are at this point zero to
acknowledgment of receipt of the initial proposal from the school employees association
chapter 161 to the cerritos community college district, the period july one twenty five
point one june 30, 2014 for.
can we have any discussion on this and.
with that, all of this in a motion to approve.
so. Yes.
or move to acknowledge there's not real emotion to acknowledge, is that right?
or seeing trustee sutherland trustee avalos ms.
trustee birkey trustee lewis trustee lewis, pacheco I trustee perez is absent and trustee
salazar I a motion.
right at this point, there are three adopt the initial proposal.
the cerritos community college district to the california school boards association
chapter 161 for the period of july one, 2021, through july thirty five point four.
we have emotions without. Would. The second.
jim trustee, sutherland trustee avalos trustee birkey trustee lewis specialist, trustee
pacheco, trustee, perez absent and trustee salazar a motion passes.
all right. Yeah, with that by some miracle or potentially news reports and comments just
before 11:00. Yeah. So we make it 30 seconds.
you look at each version. All right. So I can't see someone.
would you like to take this off within our report?
religious. Just. The trustee pacheco, again, happy
holidays to everyone, and I want to thank dr. Pierro for the installation of the anchor, and they're doing what they're doing,
which is great. So yeah, maybe he has a little credit mr.
that. I just I just want to wish everyone.
and hopefully, you'll stay safe and stay healthy, and I wish you much help in this
upcoming year as you hit 2020.
and to just remind your team of all the folks who lost their lives with this last year
and had connections to other states. Very tragic them.
but it's during these times that you realize how fortunate you are to be alive and to
have resources available to you to make this country that you want to see happen again,
to stay healthy, just wishing everyone lots of help. This is probably the most important if you can have is your health.
without that, nothing else can happen. So seeing.
this is not the happy, heavy policy.
hear it now, just a big thank you for everyone at cerritos college who for navigating a.
thank you. Thank you to everyone who work is stuff we do have our differences, but I think
this is time to recognize the good work that has been done and celebrate.
we will have time to work out our differences on our return.
but right now, I want to thank you. I also want to thank the board of trustees for your support or your commitment for your
cerritos. I think that has twenty one seven challenges and you have been very steady on
what you have recommended. How you have challenges to come up with solutions.
and it's very much appreciated because it has produced good results.
otherwise, I don't think we will have achieved.
last but not least, grateful to be with all of you, including all of you and canada.
it has been difficult, but I will not change this thing for any other team to go through
this difficult time. So thanks again.
dr. Salazar. Happy holidays.
that is all. All right.
see, lewis. So I attended the marisa chamber speaker series.
they had senator bob corker, who represents much of the cerritos college congressional
record cerritos college district.
and I would like to invite him on campus to give a tour of our area to see how much
further we partner with him in the coming years. I was part of rotary club islamorada as for girls, for his shopping spree at marshall,
that we do every year and every problem that we have every year, that we have more
volunteers than there are kids because we have 50 people in the fire department, police,
local pta and so on and so on. There's really never enough kids to do that or we able to have a great time with each and
every one of those kids to get them both that they truly need, especially if as cold the
winter as we are currently experiencing, which the no dangerous holiday next year as
well, and also ninel marisa flights honoring the outgoing board president mary morris and
the new president tonight where we have merry christmas, happy holidays and happy new
year eve, trustee lewis. I'll be brief as well.
I just wanted to highlight on tuesday, december 21st, the longest night of the year, and
nationally it's serve a homeless memorial service for all of those that we've lost this
year, especially with covid, among other issues.
it's also often the coldest night of the year, so it makes for a very poignant
opportunity to to observe those. Presently, there's a ceremony going on in bellflower at christian church, and that's
sponsored by the gateway cities.
so feel free to do anything.
and and the other item I would say is thank you all for all your hard work this year and
and having all of it to realize.
and I'd also like before we get to give you that, I'd like to adjourn this open session
for this meeting. We have two requested moments of silence first for the victims of the
tornado in the southeastern united states march.
thank you. The second most tonight's opening session in memory of a winner.
thank you. And that concludes tonight's open session. We'll have to react.