[0:01] (phone beeps)
[0:33] Good evening and welcome
[0:34] to the Board of Education
[0:36] meeting number five
[0:37] on September 8th, 2026.
[0:39] May I please have roll
[0:40] call and call to order?
[0:42] Mr. C.
[0:44] Here.
[0:45] Ms. Parid.
[0:46] Here.
[0:47] Mr. Kukorian.
[0:48] Here.
[0:49] Dr. Jenkins.
[0:49] Here.
[0:50] And Ms. Cross.
[0:52] I am here.
[0:53] And thank you, Mrs. Shitaka.
[0:56] I'd like to mention
[0:56] for everyone here today
[0:57] that for personal reasons,
[0:59] Dr. Darnika Watson is attending this
[1:02] meeting remotely today.
[1:04] Dr. Watson, can you hear us?
[1:06] I can hear you, can you hear me?
[1:08] We can hear you.
[1:10] And we're glad to have you here.
[1:13] And thank you for
[1:14] allowing me this opportunity.
[1:16] Absolutely, okay.
[1:18] Also, before we begin tonight,
[1:20] I wanna take a moment to acknowledge
[1:22] the hateful flyers recently distributed
[1:24] in one of our schools
[1:26] and the impact that they've had on
[1:27] members of our community.
[1:29] To those who have been hurt by this,
[1:31] please know that you are
[1:32] seeing, you are valued,
[1:34] and you are an important part
[1:36] of the diversity, strength, and beauty
[1:38] and the spirit of Glendale Unified.
[1:41] There is absolutely no place for hate
[1:42] or discrimination in our schools.
[1:45] Our campuses should be
[1:45] places where every student,
[1:47] every employee, and
[1:48] family is treated with dignity,
[1:50] feels safe, and knows that they belong.
[1:52] We will continue to
[1:53] stand together against hate
[1:55] while celebrating the
[1:56] cultures, the people,
[1:57] the languages, and the traditions
[1:58] that make Glendale Unified
[2:00] such a special place to be.
[2:03] That is who we are and
[2:05] who we will continue to be.
[2:07] I think that's an
[2:07] important message, thank you.
[2:09] And as we move into the next part,
[2:12] I would like to call Theodore Cooper up
[2:14] for the Pledge of Allegiance.
[2:17] Please join us.
[2:37] We're gonna pause you one second
[2:38] because we're just gonna make sure the
[2:39] mic is all plugged in
[2:41] because we want to hear you.
[2:44] All right, you can go
[2:44] ahead and start again.
[2:46] Good evening, Superintendent Dr. Watson
[2:48] and members of our
[2:49] GOSD Board of Education.
[2:51] My name is Theodore Cooper
[2:52] and I'm a sixth grader at Glen Oaks.
[2:54] Please rise, put your
[2:56] hand over your heart,
[2:57] and remove any hats for
[2:58] the Pledge of Allegiance.
[3:03] Begin.
[3:04] I pledge allegiance to the flag
[3:07] of the United States of America
[3:09] and to the republic for which it stands,
[3:12] one nation, under God, indivisible,
[3:16] with liberty and justice for all.
[3:24] This is my seventh year at Glen Oaks
[3:26] and my family's 10th year at Glen Oaks.
[3:28] I have a brother who is a freshman
[3:30] at Crescent Valley High School.
[3:32] I started Glen Oaks in kindergarten
[3:34] during the pandemic,
[3:35] which means I spent that year on Zoom.
[3:37] And even though it wasn't a normal start
[3:39] to elementary school,
[3:40] I still learned and
[3:41] made a lot of friends.
[3:42] Going to Glen Oaks in
[3:43] person was even better.
[3:44] We have assemblies, science fair,
[3:47] art week, kindness
[3:48] projects, music and dance classes,
[3:50] a wellness room, field
[3:52] trips, and a full library.
[3:54] Since becoming an upper grader,
[3:56] I have participated in student council,
[3:58] the math team, and the
[3:59] school play each year.
[4:02] Our school also has robotics, orchestra,
[4:07] the talent show, stage crew,
[4:09] and lots of other afterschool programs.
[4:12] No matter what someone's interests are,
[4:14] there's something for them.
[4:16] I've had so much fun thanks to the
[4:18] amazing opportunities,
[4:20] experiences, and people at our school.
[4:23] Being involved has
[4:24] helped me to grow as a person
[4:25] and as a leader.
[4:28] But best of all, we have the best
[4:30] teachers who care about us
[4:32] and work hard to bring
[4:33] out the best in each of us.
[4:34] And I am especially
[4:35] happy to have Mr. Hommeau
[4:37] and Ms. Sondgard this
[4:38] year for sixth grade.
[4:39] We also have the best principals
[4:41] who work for what's right for our school.
[4:43] Mr. Dumundo was my first principal
[4:46] and Ms. Arroy is my principal now
[4:47] and works so hard for us.
[4:50] Thank you for your time
[4:51] and for giving me the chance
[4:53] to share some of the
[4:54] things that make Glen Oaks
[4:55] such a great school to be at.
[4:58] Lastly, I'd like to invite you all
[5:01] to our Glen Oaks PTA Fall Howdy Night
[5:03] on Friday, September
[5:05] 25th from five to 8 p.m.
[5:08] It's a great chance to come together,
[5:10] have some fun, and
[5:11] celebrate our Glen Oaks community.
[5:13] I hope to see you all there.
[5:15] (audience applauding)
[5:19] Theodore, thank you.
[5:20] What a great job you just did.
[5:22] That was really wonderful.
[5:23] I see a future student
[5:24] board member in your future.
[5:27] The Glendale Unified School
[5:28] District Board of Education
[5:29] extends its congratulations to you
[5:31] for being selected to
[5:33] represent Glen Oaks Elementary School
[5:35] in leading the Pledge of Allegiance
[5:36] at tonight's Board of Education meeting.
[5:38] The board thanks you for
[5:39] your dedication and commitment
[5:41] and extends its best wishes to you
[5:43] and all of your endeavors.
[5:44] Would you like to
[5:44] come up and take a photo?
[5:45] Sure.
[7:03] To accommodate the requirement of
[7:06] Government Code Section 5495.2
[7:10] in accordance with the
[7:10] Brown Act, revisions,
[7:12] the agenda for the meeting
[7:13] was posted on the bulletin board
[7:15] in the administration center
[7:17] and the Glendale Unified
[7:18] School District website
[7:19] 72 hours before this meeting.
[7:22] May I move for
[7:23] approval of the agenda order?
[7:25] I'll move. Second.
[7:29] Thank you.
[7:30] All right, moving on, we now have reports
[7:33] from our
[7:34] organizational partners and I'm ex--
[7:37] I was just not looking, sorry.
[7:39] Roll call.
[7:40] Oh, can I have roll call, please?
[7:43] Mr. C? Yes.
[7:44] Ms. Farid? Yes.
[7:45] Mr. Kukorian? Yes.
[7:47] Dr. Dinkean? Yes.
[7:49] Ms. Cross? Yes.
[7:51] Thank you. Thank you.
[7:54] And I'm excited to welcome up Glendale
[7:56] Teachers Association.
[8:00] Hello.
[8:03] Okay, on behalf of
[8:04] more than 1,300 educators
[8:07] of the Glendale Unified School District,
[8:09] I appreciate this opportunity
[8:11] to deliver this labor report
[8:13] to update the Board of
[8:14] Education and the GUSD community
[8:16] about issues that are on the
[8:18] minds of classroom teachers,
[8:20] nurses, counselors, service providers,
[8:23] and that have impacts
[8:24] on the students we serve.
[8:27] My name is Sarah Morrison.
[8:28] Since 2004, I have been a
[8:30] devoted math teacher in GUSD
[8:33] and a proud member of the Glendale
[8:34] Teachers Association
[8:36] for which I now serve
[8:38] as an elected member
[8:39] of the Board of Directors
[8:40] and as a CTA State Council representative
[8:44] and appointed chair of
[8:45] the GTA's bargaining team.
[8:47] In addition to all that,
[8:50] like 75% of teachers in
[8:52] California, I am a woman.
[8:55] And like so many women,
[8:57] there was a time, for me,
[8:59] it was in 2012 when I was pregnant.
[9:03] And like so many pregnant
[9:04] teachers, during that time,
[9:06] my doctor ordered that I
[9:07] take pregnancy disability leave,
[9:09] which for me was an
[9:11] unpaid leave of absence.
[9:14] And up until this year,
[9:16] pregnancy disability leave
[9:18] was unpaid for almost
[9:19] all pregnant employees
[9:21] of California public
[9:22] schools, including GUSD.
[9:25] So I am so excited to
[9:27] use this labor report
[9:29] to celebrate a change in legislation
[9:31] that educators have been
[9:33] fighting for for decades.
[9:35] Pregnancy disability leave is now paid.
[9:38] This is because
[9:40] starting in January, 2027,
[9:43] California public school
[9:44] districts are now required,
[9:46] by law, to provide certificated and
[9:49] classified employees
[9:50] up to 14 weeks of leave with full pay
[9:54] when an employee's doctor recommends
[9:56] that they take a leave
[9:57] due to pregnancy-related
[9:58] health issues, including
[9:59] childbirth, miscarriage,
[10:02] termination of pregnancy, or recovery
[10:04] from these conditions.
[10:06] So California educators are celebrating
[10:09] because our state
[10:12] finally did the right thing.
[10:14] And in GUSD, we have even
[10:17] more reasons to celebrate
[10:18] because our district is
[10:20] acting without haste or hesitation
[10:23] and has already begun full implementation
[10:26] of paid pregnancy disability leave
[10:29] at the start of this
[10:30] 26-27 contractual year.
[10:32] Way to go, GUSD, for
[10:34] being the pioneer once again
[10:36] and supporting your female
[10:37] employees and their families
[10:39] to the full extent you can.
[10:42] The members of the
[10:43] Glendale Teachers Association
[10:45] are proud of our state, we
[10:46] are proud of our district,
[10:47] and we are proud of our statewide union,
[10:50] the California Teachers Association,
[10:52] who fought for decades for this to happen
[10:55] and co-sponsored the
[10:56] bill that was ultimately
[10:58] ratified into law.
[10:59] So I wanna share a little
[11:00] bit about this background
[11:02] so we can all appreciate the magnitude
[11:04] of this moment in time.
[11:06] First of all, up until this year,
[11:08] when a teacher needed to
[11:09] take a medical leave of absence
[11:11] due to pregnancy or childbirth,
[11:13] the only way to receive a full paycheck
[11:15] would be to exhaust
[11:17] their available sick days.
[11:19] We receive 10 per year.
[11:21] More often than not, the need for leave
[11:24] would be longer than the accrued leave.
[11:26] So at that point,
[11:27] teachers would have a difficult
[11:29] and potentially dangerous choice to make,
[11:31] weighing the need to
[11:32] recover from childbirth
[11:34] with the need for a full paycheck.
[11:36] Not only were there
[11:38] short-term impacts to returning
[11:40] to work before a full recovery,
[11:42] there are also long-term
[11:44] impacts related to retirement.
[11:47] Using up sick time with each pregnancy
[11:49] results in substantially
[11:51] fewer sick days at retirement
[11:55] that can be converted
[11:56] into service credits,
[11:58] which forces women of retirement age
[12:00] to choose between working longer
[12:03] or earning less in retirement.
[12:05] And on average, female
[12:07] educators receive almost $100,000
[12:11] less in retirement than
[12:12] their male colleagues.
[12:14] Babies are expensive, but the system
[12:17] should not have been
[12:18] designed such that the expense
[12:20] falls more on women than on men.
[12:22] Pregnancy should not come with a penalty.
[12:26] But this has finally changed.
[12:27] Our SUSE school system will never again
[12:30] force women to choose
[12:31] between what their doctor
[12:32] deems best for their bodies
[12:34] and returning to work early
[12:36] so they can meet the
[12:36] financial needs of their families.
[12:38] Last year, CTA ran a
[12:40] campaign asking educators
[12:42] to share stories about
[12:44] the hardships they faced,
[12:46] and over 8,000 educators
[12:48] shared their personal stories
[12:50] on a petition urging
[12:51] legislators to vote yes on this bill.
[12:54] Women shared stories
[12:55] about having to return
[12:56] to the classroom wearing adult diapers
[12:58] due to postpartum bleeding.
[13:00] Or after using all their sick days,
[13:03] returning to work only to catch the flu
[13:05] and not have any sick days left.
[13:07] This wasn't just harmful to the educator.
[13:09] It was harmful to the
[13:10] students in their classrooms.
[13:12] But those days are over,
[13:13] and I have the pleasure
[13:14] of delivering an optimistic labor report
[13:17] about the power that
[13:18] collective bargaining
[13:19] and organized labor has toward
[13:22] affecting change at the state level.
[13:25] This is especially relevant now.
[13:27] As we shift our focus
[13:29] towards Proposition 3
[13:30] on this November's ballot,
[13:32] this is another CTA-sponsored action,
[13:35] and if passed, we'll
[13:37] ensure that state funding
[13:39] amounting to
[13:39] approximately 15% of GUSD's budget,
[13:44] which is about $55
[13:45] million, will not expire.
[13:48] Educators know the value
[13:50] of fully-funded schools,
[13:52] and so we are standing
[13:53] together to encourage voters
[13:55] to vote yes on Prop 3.
[13:57] As a matter of fact,
[13:59] GUSD, GTA, CSEA Chapter 3,
[14:03] and GSMA are all standing
[14:05] together in support of Prop 3
[14:08] as evidenced by Resolution Number 15
[14:10] on today's board agenda.
[14:12] We are happy to partner with
[14:13] our local education partners
[14:15] and GUSD to support Prop
[14:17] 3, and we ask our community
[14:19] to do the same by
[14:20] voting yes this November.
[14:22] For now, we thank you
[14:24] for standing with educators
[14:25] to implement long-overdue
[14:27] paid pregnancy disability leave.
[14:29] We look forward to
[14:30] memorializing this legislation
[14:32] in our contract and moving
[14:34] forward in a more equitable
[14:36] and egalitarian manner.
[14:39] Thank you.
[14:40] (audience applauds)
[14:46] Thank you.
[14:48] And we will now move on to
[14:50] communications from the public.
[14:51] (audience member speaks faintly)
[14:56] Addressing the Board of Education.
[14:59] When you're in person, an individual or
[15:00] group representative
[15:01] may address the Board of
[15:02] Education on any agenda item,
[15:05] no one noticed that, or
[15:06] subject within its jurisdiction.
[15:09] Instructions for public
[15:10] communication are included below.
[15:13] The board will limit the total time
[15:15] for public comment to 60 minutes.
[15:19] No more than three minutes may be
[15:20] allotted to each speaker,
[15:21] and no more than 21
[15:22] minutes per each subject,
[15:24] except by unanimous consent
[15:26] of the Board of Education.
[15:27] A speaker's time, a lot
[15:29] of time cannot be deferred
[15:30] to another speaker, and
[15:32] board members may question
[15:33] the speaker, but there will
[15:34] be no debate or deliberation.
[15:37] And if it's online, an individual or
[15:39] group representative
[15:40] may submit a written
[15:41] public comment via email
[15:43] through the following
[15:44] process by creating an email
[15:46] to publiccommentatgusc.net.
[15:49] In the subject line, type
[15:51] pre-submitted written comment,
[15:53] public comment, and
[15:54] then you can push send.
[15:59] The Board of Education, the public
[16:01] comment must be designated
[16:05] specifically to an upcoming
[16:06] Board of Education meeting,
[16:08] and please specify the meeting date,
[16:10] and in compliance
[16:10] with board by-law, 9323,
[16:13] comments will be
[16:14] limited to 450 words or less.
[16:16] Any words in excess of this
[16:18] limit will not be included
[16:19] in the public record.
[16:20] Thank you, and do we have
[16:22] any more public comment cards,
[16:23] Ms. Ishitsuka?
[16:25] No, we don't.
[16:26] Okay.
[16:28] We will start public comment off tonight
[16:31] with Emma Husapian, and if
[16:35] I said your last name wrong,
[16:36] please help me say it
[16:38] correctly when you come up.
[16:39] Emma Husapian, and will you
[16:41] please come to the podium?
[16:49] Good evening, GSD board members.
[16:52] It is my pleasure to
[16:52] speak with you all tonight.
[16:55] My name is Emma Husapian,
[16:56] and I'm a senior at
[16:57] Crescent Valley High School.
[16:58] Last year, I took AP
[17:00] research and completed research
[17:01] on a topic that not many
[17:02] people acknowledge often.
[17:04] I'm a left-handed writer,
[17:05] and have always found trouble
[17:06] writing on classroom desks.
[17:08] To be truthful, they are
[17:09] uncomfortable and unaccommodating
[17:11] to the bodies of left-handed writers.
[17:13] Most of the classroom
[17:14] desks that I have come across
[17:15] so far within GSD include these,
[17:18] which are built to fit
[17:19] right-dominant students only.
[17:21] This is because the population of
[17:23] left-handed students
[17:24] is such a minority, but we still matter.
[17:26] My research examined
[17:28] whether ambidextrous desks
[17:29] improve the experience of left-handed
[17:31] high school students
[17:32] compared with the
[17:33] standard right-handed desks
[17:34] that are common in classrooms today.
[17:36] I conducted an experiment with seven
[17:38] left-handed students
[17:39] at my high school.
[17:40] Each student
[17:41] completed three writing trials
[17:42] on an ambidextrous desk,
[17:43] and three writing trials
[17:44] on a standard right-handed desk.
[17:46] I measured writing
[17:47] speed, writing accuracy,
[17:49] handwriting legibility,
[17:50] and physical discomfort.
[17:52] The results were
[17:53] especially significant in two areas.
[17:55] First, handwriting legibility was
[17:57] significantly better
[17:58] on the ambidextrous
[17:59] desks in all three trials.
[18:02] Second, and even more importantly,
[18:04] students experienced
[18:05] greater physical discomfort
[18:06] on the standard right-handed desks.
[18:08] Students reported
[18:09] having to excessively contort
[18:11] their bodies when using these desks.
[18:13] The students I interviewed
[18:14] described this firsthand.
[18:16] One student explained that she had to
[18:18] twist her lower back
[18:19] and shift her arm towards the right side
[18:21] because the desk was
[18:21] smaller on the left side.
[18:23] Another said she had to move
[18:24] her entire body to the right
[18:26] and felt as though she was leaning
[18:27] to the student next to her
[18:28] just to have enough writing space.
[18:31] Previous research I reviewed also found
[18:33] increased muscle activation and
[18:34] musculoskeletal discomfort
[18:36] among left-handed students using desks
[18:39] designed for right-handed users.
[18:41] These desks take a
[18:42] serious toll on our bodies.
[18:44] My goal is not to get rid
[18:45] of all the existing desks
[18:46] in classrooms, but to
[18:48] just recognize that students
[18:49] should not have to
[18:50] physically adjust their bodies
[18:51] just to fit the
[18:52] furniture in their classrooms.
[18:54] So I'm kindly asking GUSD
[18:56] to take a practical step
[18:58] toward making our
[18:58] classrooms more inclusive.
[19:00] I believe that all classrooms should
[19:02] gradually transition
[19:03] toward ambidextrous
[19:04] desks which can accommodate
[19:06] both left and right-handed students.
[19:09] Most of the science classes at my school
[19:11] are filled with tables
[19:13] like these that fit two people
[19:15] which are the most
[19:16] comfortable option for everyone.
[19:18] At the very least, every GUSD classroom
[19:21] should have accessible
[19:22] left-handed desk options.
[19:24] I think having a few
[19:25] left-handed desks in each classroom
[19:27] would easily solve
[19:27] the issue of discomfort
[19:29] in left-handed students and
[19:30] would be the most feasible
[19:31] and convenient option.
[19:33] I would love for my fellow lefties and I
[19:35] to see more
[19:36] non-discriminatory classroom furniture
[19:38] across GUSD in the near future.
[19:40] Thank you so much for listening
[19:42] and I hope you take my
[19:43] recommendations into consideration.
[19:46] (audience applauding)
[19:52] The next speaker will be Ray Shelton.
[20:05] You often speak of hate, Cross,
[20:08] but the truth is you are
[20:11] one of the largest purveyors
[20:13] of heart of hate in the city of Glendale.
[20:18] You clearly hate science.
[20:20] Which says there are
[20:21] two and only two genders
[20:23] and that you cannot change gender.
[20:26] You clearly hate grammar
[20:30] and the proper use of pronouns.
[20:36] You also, you and your former colleague,
[20:40] Ingrid, also clearly hate history.
[20:45] Your former
[20:45] colleague, Ingrid, made a error
[20:49] stating that the United States imprisoned
[20:54] Japanese Americans in concentration camps
[20:56] and I remarked on this the last time
[20:59] and I wanted to bring
[21:00] two books to share with you
[21:04] just to show you the sort of propaganda
[21:08] you and Ingrid rely on.
[21:10] Here's a book titled A
[21:11] Child in a Prison Camp
[21:14] written by Takasima.
[21:21] This has to do with the
[21:22] fact that in December of 1941,
[21:25] 22,000 people of Japanese origin
[21:28] were living on Canada's west coast
[21:30] and were required to move away from
[21:32] Canada's west coast.
[21:34] In fact, all the
[21:34] countries and the Americas
[21:36] moved their Japanese populations away
[21:38] from the west coast.
[21:40] On page 46, in her own words, she writes,
[21:44] David, that's her
[21:44] brother, and many other young men
[21:46] in camps in Ontario and
[21:48] other parts of Eastern Canada
[21:49] were allowed to move out of the camps.
[21:51] They were not prisons and they were not
[21:52] concentration camps.
[21:55] And she comments that David sends us
[21:57] a nice presence from
[21:58] Toronto, her brother.
[22:02] There's another book I
[22:02] picked up called Enemy Child,
[22:06] a story of Norman
[22:07] Mineta, a boy imprisoned
[22:09] in a Japanese American internment camp.
[22:11] Now there were internment
[22:12] camps, but those were prisons.
[22:14] Relocation centers were not prisons.
[22:17] And on page one, it
[22:18] actually gives the correct name
[22:20] for the Heart Mountain
[22:21] War Relocation Center.
[22:24] And again, on page 129, he says,
[22:27] Papa was able to teach at
[22:29] the University of Chicago.
[22:30] It was a salaried
[22:31] position and a prestigious one.
[22:33] So they also left, in
[22:35] fact, approximately over 4,000
[22:40] young people went to college.
[22:41] So it is true that some
[22:45] Japanese Americans suffered,
[22:46] but the fault does not
[22:48] lie with the United States.
[22:49] It lies with Imperial
[22:50] Japan that attacked America,
[22:52] attacked Korea, attacked
[22:53] China, attacked the Philippines.
[22:56] Any suffering they experienced
[22:57] was because of Imperial Japan.
[23:02] So I hope that if you have
[23:04] these books in your libraries,
[23:06] you'll take them out because
[23:08] it's clearly you hate America.
[23:10] Thank you.
[23:17] Okay, our next speaker
[23:18] will be Hovinesse Brameon.
[23:21] And again, if I said
[23:22] your last name wrong,
[23:22] please feel free to correct me.
[23:24] I don't mind learning.
[23:33] Thank you, Hovinesse.
[23:37] Hi, thank you.
[23:38] Hi, everyone.
[23:39] My name is Hovinesse Brameon.
[23:41] I am a researcher at a big tech company.
[23:44] I'm also a former instructor at UCLA
[23:46] where I did my PhD studies.
[23:49] But I'm here today
[23:50] speaking to you as a father
[23:51] of a kindergartner at
[23:52] Edison Elementary School.
[23:54] I think it's important to
[23:55] mention my employment in tech,
[23:57] not because I'm
[23:58] representing the views of industry
[24:00] or my employer, because I'm not,
[24:02] but rather because I wanna note
[24:04] I'm not anti-technology
[24:06] in some general sense.
[24:08] I am, however, against
[24:10] the unnecessary suboptimal
[24:12] or harmful use of screen-based technology
[24:14] to replace instruction and supervision
[24:17] traditionally entrusted
[24:18] in our children's teachers.
[24:21] EdTech promises of enhanced learning
[24:23] have been generally oversold.
[24:25] This is known.
[24:26] We are seeing today the negative impacts
[24:28] of over-reliance on
[24:29] screen-based instruction,
[24:30] especially in younger students.
[24:33] Meta-analyses across nearly 90 studies
[24:36] have found consistent association
[24:38] between screen exposure
[24:40] at ages younger than 12
[24:42] with an increased incidence of
[24:43] disruptive behavior problems,
[24:45] including aggression,
[24:47] impulsivity, rule-breaking,
[24:49] and hostility against
[24:50] authority figures and peers.
[24:52] Similarly, there is a
[24:53] robust association with anxiety,
[24:56] depression, and social isolation.
[24:59] These findings are
[25:00] robust to statistical controls
[25:03] and consistent with
[25:04] randomization-based causal studies
[25:06] showing increased risk of childhood ADHD.
[25:10] I am a social scientist.
[25:11] I'm familiar with the
[25:13] way that these studies work
[25:14] and the robust association
[25:16] found here across studies.
[25:18] My ask of the board today is
[25:21] to support strong guidelines
[25:23] for the limited use of such
[25:24] tech in our public schools,
[25:26] especially for younger students.
[25:28] Doing so would align the
[25:30] best interests of students,
[25:32] parents, and very
[25:33] importantly, the teachers of GUSD.
[25:36] Many of us already do
[25:37] what we can at home.
[25:39] We trust our schools to also look out
[25:41] for the best interests of our kids.
[25:44] Please follow the evidence,
[25:45] set a strong policy
[25:46] that sets a very high bar
[25:48] for when our children's
[25:49] instruction is supplemented
[25:51] by these screen-based technologies.
[25:53] Thank you.
[25:54] (audience applauds)
[25:59] Our next speaker will be Lindsay Zwicker,
[26:03] and that is Lindsay Zwicker.
[26:11] Good evening.
[26:12] My name is Lindsay Zwicker,
[26:14] and I am a Glendale
[26:15] resident and a Franklin parent.
[26:18] I'm speaking tonight to advocate for
[26:20] stricter regulations
[26:21] on classroom technology rooted firmly
[26:24] in parents' fundamental
[26:25] rights to make decisions
[26:27] for our children's care.
[26:29] Schools Beyond Screens of Glendale
[26:31] has developed core policies
[26:33] that we hope to see incorporated
[26:34] into district policy.
[26:37] The US and California
[26:39] constitutions recognize
[26:40] that parents have a
[26:41] fundamental interest in the care,
[26:43] custody, and control of our children.
[26:47] Compulsory ed tech
[26:48] pushes past this boundary,
[26:50] forcing families into an unfair catch-22.
[26:53] We must either surrender our children's
[26:56] developmental health
[26:57] and personal data to
[26:58] corporate algorithms,
[27:00] or forfeit their constitutional rights
[27:02] to a public education.
[27:05] Compulsory ed tech
[27:06] impacts parental rights
[27:07] to protect our children in three ways.
[27:10] First, health.
[27:12] Research shows that digital devices
[27:14] compromise deep comprehension,
[27:16] fracture attention spans,
[27:18] and stifle social emotional development.
[27:21] Excessive screen use also has
[27:23] physiological impacts
[27:25] such as eye strain and poor posture.
[27:28] Second, safety.
[27:30] Educational software
[27:31] introduces gamified dopamine loops
[27:34] and behavioral tracking
[27:35] that parents cannot regulate.
[27:38] Third, privacy.
[27:41] Compulsory ed tech subjects our children
[27:44] while data harvesting.
[27:46] Even with statutory
[27:47] protections like COPPA and FERPA,
[27:50] data leaks are always a risk,
[27:52] and parents should
[27:53] have the absolute right
[27:54] to safeguard our children
[27:55] from a permanent digital footprint.
[27:58] Furthermore, compulsory
[28:00] ed tech is an equity issue.
[28:02] While affluent families
[28:03] are increasingly sending
[28:05] their children to
[28:05] private schools with low-tech
[28:07] and human-centered curricula,
[28:09] public school and low-income students
[28:11] are flooded with
[28:12] technology and their proven harms.
[28:14] True equity means
[28:16] prioritizing high-quality,
[28:18] face-to-face instruction.
[28:20] Digital literacy should
[28:21] be a standalone subject,
[28:23] not the delivery
[28:24] infrastructure for core classes.
[28:27] We can teach our students
[28:28] to navigate the digital world
[28:30] without forcing them
[28:31] to absorb math, reading,
[28:33] and history lessons through a screen.
[28:36] Therefore, we urge this board
[28:38] to help us protect our
[28:39] children's well-being
[28:40] by adopting three core mandates.
[28:43] First, enact screen time
[28:44] limits that exceed LAUSD,
[28:46] including a device ban
[28:48] for TK through third grade.
[28:50] Two, establish a true device opt-out.
[28:53] Provide a seamless path
[28:54] to choose paper textbooks
[28:56] and physical materials.
[28:58] And three, implement a
[28:59] student AI moratorium.
[29:01] Ban generative AI
[29:02] tools on district devices
[29:04] aligning GUSD with
[29:05] protections adopted by LAUSD
[29:07] and New York City Public Schools.
[29:09] Please help us parents protect
[29:11] our children's health and safety.
[29:12] (audience applauds)
[29:18] Our next speaker will be Zora.
[29:22] Zohora.
[29:24] Freed.
[29:26] And again, always love
[29:28] learning new names, so.
[29:40] Good evening.
[29:41] My name is Zohora, or Zoe Freed,
[29:44] and I have been a proud
[29:45] Glendale resident for four years.
[29:47] Last month, my
[29:48] daughter started kindergarten
[29:49] at Edison Elementary, and next year,
[29:51] my son will join her there for TK.
[29:54] In our short time at Edison,
[29:55] I have been so impressed by
[29:57] the education she is receiving
[29:58] and the wonderful community there.
[30:00] I'm here tonight to share my concerns
[30:02] about the increasing use
[30:03] of technology for ed tech,
[30:06] especially individual device usage
[30:08] and AI in the
[30:09] classroom and for assessments.
[30:11] I'm asking that device use be aligned
[30:14] with current child
[30:14] development research on screen time,
[30:16] which includes no device
[30:18] use in the younger grades,
[30:19] TK to three, and time
[30:21] limits for older students.
[30:22] I'm also very
[30:23] concerned about the use of AI,
[30:25] and most recently was
[30:26] very concerned to see
[30:27] that a mirror would be
[30:28] used for reading screening
[30:30] for kindergarten through
[30:31] second grade students at Edison,
[30:33] and I know that's district-wide.
[30:35] A mirror records student voices,
[30:37] and I'm very worried
[30:38] about where recordings
[30:39] of our youngest children will go
[30:41] and what they will be used
[30:42] for, as others have referenced.
[30:45] We all know data is not safe.
[30:47] There have been huge data breaks at
[30:49] hospitals, companies,
[30:51] government organizations frequently.
[30:54] I ask that this board
[30:55] recommend disabling student access
[30:57] to any generative AI
[30:58] tools, apps, websites,
[31:00] and software on all
[31:01] school-issued devices.
[31:03] I believe, like New York City did
[31:05] for elementary middle
[31:06] schoolers last week,
[31:07] Glendale should
[31:08] implement an AI moratorium
[31:10] until more is learned
[31:11] about the safety and legality
[31:13] of AI tools like a mirror.
[31:15] I'm concerned that AI will also start
[31:17] to replace human interaction,
[31:18] which especially for
[31:19] our youngest children
[31:21] would have serious negative consequences.
[31:24] I was a high school teacher myself,
[31:25] a proud social studies teacher
[31:27] and union member for many years,
[31:29] and I can appreciate the
[31:31] challenges for teachers
[31:32] in learning and
[31:33] incorporating new technologies
[31:34] into lessons plans and
[31:35] then having to change that.
[31:38] It's incredibly frustrating and
[31:39] incredibly time-consuming,
[31:41] but I do believe that
[31:42] these changes are vital,
[31:43] and I look forward to
[31:44] supporting this board
[31:45] in making thoughtful changes
[31:47] that will protect
[31:48] Glendale Unified students
[31:49] and ensure Glendale schools stay as
[31:51] incredible as they are.
[31:53] Thank you.
[31:53] (audience applauds)
[32:00] Our next speaker is Jonathan Matz.
[32:05] Jonathan Matz.
[32:08] Good evening.
[32:09] As the white shirt may
[32:11] have indicated to all of you,
[32:12] I'm here similarly to
[32:14] speak like my friends,
[32:15] Lindsay and Zahara
[32:17] about edtech in our schools.
[32:20] And in addition to
[32:21] supporting schools beyond screens,
[32:25] core data points,
[32:26] which Lindsay talked about,
[32:27] I also wanted to just give
[32:28] some anecdotal discussions
[32:31] about how already this
[32:32] is impacting our daughter.
[32:34] So our daughter Lila is
[32:36] currently in first grade
[32:37] at Benjamin Franklin.
[32:39] She started last year in kindergarten.
[32:41] And last year towards
[32:43] the end of the year,
[32:44] she came home with what
[32:45] initially to us felt like
[32:46] some funny anecdotes,
[32:48] repeating some taglines from video ads
[32:52] that she had seen in her classroom before
[32:55] that her teacher kind of
[32:57] very hastily moved to skip
[33:00] right before the video that
[33:03] they were supposed to watch
[33:05] came on.
[33:05] And at first we thought
[33:06] this was relatively funny
[33:08] until we realized that
[33:09] essentially our daughter
[33:10] was spending her time
[33:12] in school memorizing ads,
[33:14] in this case for car detailers.
[33:16] We have friends whose
[33:19] children were exposed
[33:21] to considerably more graphic ads
[33:24] before seeing the content
[33:27] that had been prepared for them
[33:29] for their classroom.
[33:30] We're very concerned about
[33:33] their exposure to such content.
[33:38] And beyond that, we're
[33:41] also deeply concerned
[33:43] about our daughter's
[33:45] privacy, as has mentioned before.
[33:48] Amira offers no
[33:49] protection for our children's use
[33:52] of for our children's personal data.
[33:54] And the current lawsuit actually,
[33:55] as they've been indicated
[33:56] that their work is being used
[33:58] to train further development of programs
[34:03] by these large ad tech companies
[34:04] with no compensation or notification
[34:07] that they're
[34:08] literally their eye movements
[34:09] and their touches on
[34:11] screens are being used
[34:12] to further fine tune educational products
[34:16] by companies like iReady.
[34:19] These programs have not been shown
[34:21] to drastically improve
[34:23] any cognitive abilities
[34:25] or scores in math or reading.
[34:30] And we strongly encourage the GUSD
[34:34] to adopt strict content guidelines,
[34:39] and particularly for the youngest members
[34:41] of our student body, but
[34:42] really for all students
[34:43] and to arrest this
[34:47] move towards replacement
[34:49] of in-person instruction
[34:53] with educational tools.
[34:54] Thank you.
[34:57] (audience applauding)
[35:01] We will now have Ben Shiffrin.
[35:14] Hi, good evening, superintendent,
[35:18] sorry, I should start again.
[35:19] Good evening,
[35:19] superintendent and board members.
[35:22] My name's Ben Shiffrin.
[35:23] I have two kids in the district.
[35:25] We started in Keppel and
[35:27] then we moved up to Monte Vista,
[35:28] but I grew up in Ithaca, New York,
[35:32] where my dad was on
[35:33] the board of education.
[35:34] And I hated it.
[35:36] The phone would ring off
[35:38] the hook during dinner,
[35:40] answering machine plane
[35:41] call after call of parents,
[35:42] complaining, I would
[35:43] watch board meetings.
[35:45] And the tone of the speech was always
[35:46] kind of Gettysburg
[35:47] address, but the content was,
[35:50] I want more stuff for my kid.
[35:54] Oh, sorry, okay.
[35:56] My kids would benefit
[35:59] from a tech adjustment,
[36:01] but that's not why I'm speaking.
[36:02] At Monte Vista, the
[36:04] teachers have been pretty flexible,
[36:05] letting my kids read a book
[36:07] instead of doing eye-ready.
[36:08] At home, we have so many little policies
[36:10] to keep screens out of our house.
[36:11] I'm proud that my
[36:12] kids enjoy Legos, books,
[36:14] and complaining that I'm a horrible dad
[36:16] because they can't get Minecraft.
[36:18] But that takes a lot of work.
[36:20] For many Glendale
[36:21] families, the idea of negotiating
[36:22] accommodations with
[36:23] teachers feels impossible.
[36:25] And I know the whole
[36:26] arrangement is not really
[36:27] that much fun for teachers either.
[36:29] When I watch these board meetings,
[36:31] I see the same theme over and over.
[36:33] How do we help our students who are
[36:34] struggling the most?
[36:36] And what concerns me is the answer.
[36:38] We have this new tech
[36:39] solution and just you wait.
[36:42] Right now, that solution is Amira,
[36:44] the AI reading
[36:45] screener, which is also a tutor.
[36:47] GUSD students completed
[36:48] 53,326 tutor stories last year.
[36:53] And I know my kids didn't learn to read
[36:56] talking to a screen.
[36:57] I talked to a Franklin
[36:58] parents whose kid had intervention
[37:00] she wasn't talking to a screen.
[37:02] When the district asked for renewal,
[37:04] they called out,
[37:05] quote, intervention teachers
[37:07] at the disproportionality
[37:08] focus schools, end quote.
[37:10] So maybe at schools like
[37:11] Montevista or Franklin,
[37:13] our kids get a teacher.
[37:14] And at the
[37:15] disproportionality focus schools,
[37:17] sometimes they get a robot.
[37:19] And if equity comes up tonight,
[37:20] I hope that's what we're talking about.
[37:23] So Amira, AI ready,
[37:25] any of these programs,
[37:26] fill in the blank offers
[37:27] this very seductive premise.
[37:29] Standards aligned instruction.
[37:31] And maybe you can hire fewer aides,
[37:34] intervention teachers, maybe class sizes,
[37:36] nudge up just a little.
[37:37] And tonight you'll talk about Link It.
[37:39] And I don't know, maybe
[37:40] that's a great program,
[37:42] or maybe it's the same
[37:43] performance measurements
[37:44] you already have.
[37:45] And it costs as much as
[37:46] one teacher every year.
[37:49] Is an article of
[37:50] faith for me that AI ready
[37:51] is no better at assessing a
[37:52] kid than a trained teacher.
[37:53] And there is no way Amira teaches reading
[37:57] better than an intervention specialist.
[37:59] And tonight I'm asking for real
[38:01] protections for our kids,
[38:02] protections that
[38:03] exceed what we see in LAUSD.
[38:05] And I hope when we set the tech balance
[38:07] in this district right, we can surge
[38:09] trained classroom and
[38:11] intervention teachers
[38:12] to the students who truly need it
[38:13] and close equity gaps in this district.
[38:16] Thank you very much.
[38:20] (audience applauding)
[38:24] Our next speaker will be Malika.
[38:27] (audience applauding)
[38:30] And Malika, I don't know your last name,
[38:32] but if you are here, Malika.
[38:36] Thank you.
[38:39] Oh, we spoke earlier.
[38:40] We did.
[38:40] Hi, good evening.
[38:41] My name is Malika and this
[38:42] is my nine week old Luna.
[38:45] I'm here tonight
[38:46] because I'm concerned about
[38:47] the growing role of technology in our
[38:48] children's classrooms
[38:50] and I'm making the board to
[38:51] think about that trajectory.
[38:53] We hear a lot about technology being the
[38:55] future of education.
[38:56] But before we ask whether it's affordable
[38:58] or whether it's efficient,
[38:59] we have to ask one more basic question.
[39:01] Is it good for kids?
[39:03] The research on child
[39:04] development is clear.
[39:05] Children learn best
[39:06] through direct human interaction
[39:07] with teachers, with each other,
[39:09] and through hands-on experience.
[39:11] Every hour spent on a
[39:12] screen is an hour not spent
[39:13] building the cognitive
[39:14] and social emotional skills
[39:16] that come from real
[39:16] engagement with the world
[39:18] and with other people.
[39:19] Sustained attention,
[39:20] face-to-face communication,
[39:22] reading social cues,
[39:23] working through conflict
[39:24] with a peer instead of a device.
[39:26] Those aren't soft skills.
[39:27] They're the foundation that
[39:28] everything else is built on.
[39:30] This isn't an argument about budgets.
[39:31] Even if tech were free,
[39:32] if this board received
[39:33] a windfall tomorrow, earmarked entirely
[39:35] for classroom technology,
[39:37] our concern wouldn't change.
[39:39] Because the problem
[39:39] was never the price tag.
[39:40] The problem is what
[39:41] excessive screen time does
[39:42] to a developing child,
[39:43] regardless of who is paying for it.
[39:46] We're already seeing the
[39:46] consequences elsewhere.
[39:48] Districts that went all in on screens
[39:49] are now seeing academic
[39:51] performance suffer not improve.
[39:52] Attention spans
[39:53] shrinking, kids more isolated
[39:55] from each other, not less.
[39:56] That's not a
[39:56] hypothetical that's happening now
[39:58] in classrooms that made the same bet
[39:59] we're being asked to make here.
[40:02] I'm not anti-technology in any way.
[40:04] I'm not asking you to throw on every
[40:06] laptop in the building.
[40:07] I'm asking the board to hold the line
[40:08] on a simple principle.
[40:10] Technology should be used as a tool
[40:11] teachers reach for occasionally,
[40:13] not the default way our
[40:14] kids seem to be learning.
[40:16] Every decision about
[40:17] tech in the classrooms
[40:17] should start with a question,
[40:18] is this good for a developing child,
[40:20] not is this efficient, or is this what
[40:22] everyone else is doing?
[40:23] Our kids only get one
[40:24] childhood and one shot
[40:25] at building these foundational skills
[40:27] and I'm asking you to protect that.
[40:29] Thank you so much.
[40:30] (audience applauds)
[40:37] All right, our next
[40:37] speaker will be Violet.
[40:42] Sakhar?
[40:43] Sakray.
[40:46] Thank you.
[40:49] Hi, members of the board.
[40:52] I just want to thank you for
[40:54] listening to us parents today
[40:55] about our concerns about
[40:56] the use of tech in classrooms.
[40:58] My name is Violet.
[41:01] My name is Violet Sakray.
[41:03] I'm a mom to a GSD
[41:04] students and resident of Glendale.
[41:07] First, I want to thank
[41:08] GSD for continuing to invest
[41:10] in our students and
[41:11] want to thank our teachers
[41:12] for their adaptability
[41:13] and bringing some tech
[41:13] into the classroom, which is not easy.
[41:16] I work in tech and in art
[41:18] and I'm not against tech.
[41:19] I am just concerned about
[41:20] an uptick in the use of tech
[41:22] in classrooms since
[41:23] COVID and the over-reliance
[41:25] that some teachers have had
[41:26] on its use in their classrooms.
[41:28] Especially, I am
[41:29] concerned for K to third,
[41:31] but will not deny that
[41:31] I wish for less reliance
[41:33] in middle school and high school as well.
[41:35] My son is in total
[41:36] middle school, eighth grade
[41:37] and he went to Franklin
[41:39] and I have an upcoming kinder as well.
[41:41] I have experienced
[41:41] Franklin pre-during and post-code
[41:43] as well as middle school and GSD.
[41:45] I've seen the results over the years
[41:47] with little, medium and overuse of tech.
[41:49] All varying amounts of
[41:50] tech use in different grades
[41:52] with different teachers.
[41:53] The years where my son learned the most
[41:55] and grasped the most information,
[41:56] I would consider long-lasting knowledge
[41:58] and not just scores for
[42:00] scores or to pass tests,
[42:01] was at the highest during years
[42:03] where his class used less tech
[42:05] and mostly for research and
[42:06] support to support education.
[42:09] And where most students did
[42:11] their writing by hand on paper,
[42:12] especially essays and then
[42:14] math, as well as note-taking.
[42:16] Some concerns I also
[42:17] have is for many teachers,
[42:19] this is also a
[42:20] secondhand job to police tech.
[42:22] One example in total is
[42:24] that despite the AI blockers,
[42:26] they still have access to chat GBT
[42:27] and the teachers have to
[42:28] ask the kids not to use it.
[42:31] Furthermore, some
[42:32] interesting new data about tech
[42:33] in schools reveals test
[42:35] scores across subjects
[42:36] in countries all across
[42:37] the world are going down
[42:38] in correlation with the
[42:39] uptake of tech use in classrooms
[42:41] since COVID in the past 10 years.
[42:43] Writing by hand versus typing in class
[42:46] shows that the act of writing by hand
[42:48] and the process of slowing things down
[42:50] in fact deepens the learning
[42:51] in students across subjects.
[42:53] And the 3D learning that happens
[42:55] when students read and
[42:56] write on paper matters.
[42:58] When we read on screens,
[42:59] we all start skimming
[43:00] very soon into reading.
[43:01] But when we write and read on paper,
[43:03] this leads to long-term learning and
[43:05] grasping of knowledge.
[43:06] When kids rely too much on tech,
[43:08] this also reduces
[43:09] their chances to build grit
[43:10] because they lose
[43:11] micro-obstacles throughout the day.
[43:13] And offloading to-dos
[43:14] and processes of tech
[43:15] not only like lessens their ability
[43:18] to store cognitive load.
[43:21] Anyway, finally, I
[43:23] just wanna thank you all
[43:24] for listening to us tonight
[43:26] and would love for you
[43:26] to consider these concerns
[43:28] and to create more
[43:28] clear and strict guidelines
[43:30] about how tech is used
[43:31] in our classrooms in GSD
[43:33] that will help support teachers by
[43:34] lessening their load
[43:35] and to protect students from
[43:36] over-reliance of tech
[43:38] in school and in their lives
[43:40] because we know that the
[43:41] tech that's used in school
[43:42] is a gateway for how
[43:43] much they use at home
[43:44] and in their lives in the future.
[43:46] So thank you so much
[43:47] for considering this.
[43:49] (audience applauds)
[43:53] And our final speaker tonight will be
[43:55] Benjamin Greenfield.
[43:58] And I see him coming up, thank you.
[44:06] Hello, my name is Benjamin Greenfield.
[44:08] I am a Glendale resident
[44:10] and the father of two kids
[44:12] at Edison Elementary School.
[44:14] I've spent the bulk of my career
[44:16] working in and around technology,
[44:19] including as a software engineer.
[44:20] I have made a living from tech
[44:22] and yet I'm speaking to you tonight
[44:25] because in my
[44:26] experience as a GOSD parent,
[44:28] the time that my kids
[44:29] have spent with computers
[44:31] and technology has
[44:32] often been more detrimental
[44:33] than constructive.
[44:35] In my experience, it
[44:36] hasn't taught them any skills,
[44:38] technical or otherwise.
[44:39] As a first grader, my
[44:41] child was given homework
[44:42] where she was asked to
[44:43] interact for hours a week
[44:45] with programs that were
[44:46] not appropriate to her level,
[44:47] that were glitchy and frankly,
[44:49] where the instruction
[44:50] quality was really subpar.
[44:53] When my wife or I walked
[44:54] her through math problems
[44:55] or read books with her,
[44:56] we would see her grow before our eyes.
[44:58] We'd feel connected to her.
[45:00] We'd feel involved as parents.
[45:02] But when she completed
[45:03] these computer exercises,
[45:04] she learned nothing.
[45:05] She connected with nobody
[45:06] and she was bored out of her mind.
[45:08] So my ask is this,
[45:10] please don't let our young children
[45:11] be taught by a computer program.
[45:13] It's not helping them.
[45:14] And for older grades,
[45:15] I haven't personally gotten
[45:16] there yet with my own kids,
[45:18] but I have worked
[45:19] with so many young adults
[45:20] who have been through
[45:21] tech-related mental health crises
[45:23] or whose brains have been atrophied
[45:25] because they
[45:26] outsourced their thinking to AI.
[45:28] And so my second ask is
[45:30] that we never put any
[45:31] technology in front of students
[45:33] to improve their learning.
[45:35] With all that we know
[45:36] about the positive influences
[45:38] that a good teacher can have
[45:39] and the negative
[45:40] influences that tech can have,
[45:42] we should always err on
[45:43] the side of putting less tech
[45:44] in front of children rather than more.
[45:46] Thank you so much.
[45:48] (audience applauding)
[45:58] And with that, we will
[46:00] go into closed session now
[46:01] and we will not return before 6.30.
[2:50:31] [BLANK_AUDIO]
[2:50:59] Welcome back, Lindale Unified.
[2:51:01] We are back from closed session.
[2:51:03] 6.30 might have turned
[2:51:04] into 7.53, but we are here.
[2:51:06] And we do have two things to
[2:51:09] report out of closed session.
[2:51:11] And do I read the
[2:51:12] entire part right before it?
[2:51:14] Okay, perfect.
[2:51:15] And the board voted to ratify a
[2:51:17] settlement agreement with the plaintiffs.
[2:51:19] The terms of the agreement include a
[2:51:20] release of all claims by plaintiffs and
[2:51:22] a payment of $415,000 to the plaintiffs,
[2:51:25] not to come from the
[2:51:26] district's general fund.
[2:51:28] The vote was as follows.
[2:51:30] Ms. Cross, yes.
[2:51:31] Mr. C, yes.
[2:51:33] Mr. Farid, or Ms. Farid, yes.
[2:51:35] Mr. Korkian, yes.
[2:51:37] Dr. Dingchen, yes.
[2:51:39] And the next one was a
[2:51:40] report out of closed session.
[2:51:44] The board voted to deny the
[2:51:45] government claim dated May 22,
[2:51:48] 2026 and referenced as GHC 0098, 264.
[2:51:54] And the vote was as follows.
[2:51:56] Ms. Cross, yes.
[2:51:58] Mr. C, yes.
[2:52:00] Ms. Farid, yes.
[2:52:01] Mr. Korkian, yes.
[2:52:04] And Dr. Dingchen, yes.
[2:52:08] And with that, we will now move on to our
[2:52:11] informational items.
[2:52:13] And normally we would bounce back and
[2:52:15] forth between myself and Dr. Watson.
[2:52:19] But considering that that
[2:52:20] might be a little bit hard,
[2:52:21] getting everything to flow between the
[2:52:22] two cameras, we don't want
[2:52:23] to make anything too hard.
[2:52:24] So we will kind of just keep going.
[2:52:26] But for the information item and
[2:52:27] educational services,
[2:52:28] we're going to pop over to Kelly King for
[2:52:31] the info item number one.
[2:52:33] Well, if I may.
[2:52:34] Oh, actually.
[2:52:34] I can't.
[2:52:36] (laughs) Oh, she is, okay, perfect.
[2:52:38] Yeah, it's okay.
[2:52:38] I'm able to see you and if it's okay,
[2:52:40] I can jump and give
[2:52:41] context like we've done before.
[2:52:43] And again, sorry about that.
[2:52:45] And I'm sorry, I scared you.
[2:52:46] I do want to say thank you to everyone
[2:52:48] for allowing me this time and space.
[2:52:50] And so, yes, thank you,
[2:52:52] Ms. Cross, President Cross,
[2:52:54] for introducing items
[2:52:55] under educational services,
[2:52:56] where Dr. King will end up
[2:52:58] supporting this division.
[2:52:59] But first that we have to discuss tonight
[2:53:02] is on school safety.
[2:53:03] Student safety and school safety is our
[2:53:05] top priority and it's
[2:53:07] constantly evolving.
[2:53:08] And so tonight's presentation
[2:53:11] encompasses physical safety.
[2:53:13] It also encompasses mental safety.
[2:53:15] Mostly you're here about systems and
[2:53:17] supports tonight in
[2:53:18] terms of the resources
[2:53:19] and things that we do on our campuses and
[2:53:22] in our school communities
[2:53:23] to keep students safe.
[2:53:25] So in tonight's presentation, it'll be
[2:53:26] led by Mr. Yomasecki
[2:53:28] and he's our Director
[2:53:29] of Student Services.
[2:53:30] He'll share information on the various
[2:53:32] resources and protocols,
[2:53:34] which will include the use of technology,
[2:53:36] safe school plans will be
[2:53:37] discussed, safety drills,
[2:53:38] the use of cameras and our partnership
[2:53:41] with local law enforcement,
[2:53:43] as well as discuss behavior data that we
[2:53:46] use throughout our district
[2:53:48] to inform our practice as
[2:53:49] it relates to student safety.
[2:53:51] So Mr. Yomasecki, thank
[2:53:52] you for your presentation,
[2:53:54] your preparation under the
[2:53:55] direction of Dr. Kelly King,
[2:53:57] and for your dedication and commitment to
[2:54:00] this role in the district.
[2:54:01] So with that said, Mr.
[2:54:02] Yomasecki, please present.
[2:54:09] Thank you.
[2:54:10] Good evening, President Cross, board
[2:54:12] members and Dr. Watson.
[2:54:14] This is the yearly
[2:54:15] presentation of school safety.
[2:54:16] Some of the items might be
[2:54:18] similar to previously reported
[2:54:20] but there's some
[2:54:20] updates in various areas.
[2:54:24] The school safety is under the board
[2:54:28] priority number three,
[2:54:29] ensure the health and
[2:54:29] safety of students and employees.
[2:54:32] This is a slide that we've
[2:54:33] seen over and over again.
[2:54:34] This is the, we have to be
[2:54:36] carefully balancing our sites
[2:54:38] to make sure that they're safe
[2:54:39] while also making them a welcome place
[2:54:42] for students and parents.
[2:54:46] The school, in general, the school safety
[2:54:48] measures are on the screen.
[2:54:50] School safety plans, maps,
[2:54:51] which we updated this year
[2:54:53] with the help of the business department,
[2:54:57] assistant superintendent, Mr. Young.
[2:55:00] We do not like to share a
[2:55:01] lot of the details of the maps
[2:55:02] because we like to keep them safe.
[2:55:07] Raptor system, which we talked about,
[2:55:08] cameras on every campus,
[2:55:10] school resource officers,
[2:55:11] security guards, threat
[2:55:12] assessment protocols, drills,
[2:55:15] emergency communication
[2:55:17] protocols using Parent Square,
[2:55:19] the tip line, ALIS
[2:55:20] strategies, PBIS, the surveys
[2:55:24] and city funded crossing
[2:55:25] guards at elementary schools
[2:55:27] and middle schools.
[2:55:27] I will touch on some of
[2:55:28] them with more detail.
[2:55:31] Every year we have to,
[2:55:33] every school has to reevaluate
[2:55:36] their current school safety plan
[2:55:38] and look at what's
[2:55:40] working, what's not working
[2:55:42] and if there are any
[2:55:42] changes that they need to do,
[2:55:44] they will update it and then provide it
[2:55:47] for the following
[2:55:48] school year as an update.
[2:55:50] So currently schools will soon start,
[2:55:52] we start looking at the
[2:55:54] safety plans that they have now
[2:55:56] and by January
[2:55:58] they're supposed to provide
[2:55:59] their updated safety plan for next year.
[2:56:03] Every year that this happens,
[2:56:05] we have to provide the safety plans
[2:56:06] to our school resource officers or deputy
[2:56:10] for them to also take a look at it
[2:56:12] and tell us if anything
[2:56:13] needs to be changed or tweaked.
[2:56:16] So that's kind of the protocol we follow.
[2:56:20] Over the last few years,
[2:56:21] the state of California
[2:56:23] and the CDE has asked to
[2:56:26] include more and more items
[2:56:28] in the school safety plan.
[2:56:31] And I have to say that
[2:56:32] Linda has always been up to date
[2:56:33] with all the plans.
[2:56:35] We get notified in time
[2:56:36] to work on whatever it is
[2:56:38] that we need to work
[2:56:38] on and go through either
[2:56:40] the board approval or
[2:56:42] administrative approval.
[2:56:43] So we have the wildfire emergency plan
[2:56:46] that we were supposed to have in our
[2:56:47] safety plans this year.
[2:56:49] So that's updated.
[2:56:51] We also updated the school
[2:56:53] maps, like I said earlier,
[2:56:55] we have amazing school maps that we use
[2:56:58] for basically emergency reasons.
[2:57:02] And this year there were a
[2:57:03] few things that were added
[2:57:04] on there that weren't there before,
[2:57:06] again, to make sure that in
[2:57:08] case we need to use those maps,
[2:57:09] we have a little bit more information
[2:57:11] on where to find things.
[2:57:13] Also, we, Senate Bill 848 was something
[2:57:18] that we were supposed to add as part
[2:57:20] of our school safety
[2:57:21] plans this year, which we did.
[2:57:23] And I wanna talk a
[2:57:23] little bit more about that.
[2:57:25] So this is something that the state asked
[2:57:28] every school district to
[2:57:29] have in their safety plans.
[2:57:30] It's a comprehensive school safety plan,
[2:57:32] addendum for schools that promote safe
[2:57:35] learning environments
[2:57:35] and addresses the supervision and
[2:57:37] protection of students
[2:57:38] from sexual abuse,
[2:57:39] neglect and misconduct.
[2:57:41] This plan was developed and
[2:57:43] I presented it to the board
[2:57:45] in the June meeting of this
[2:57:46] year and it has been approved.
[2:57:48] So every school has this
[2:57:50] plan in which they have also
[2:57:52] the ability to make it their own by
[2:57:54] adding certain things
[2:57:55] that might be unique for that campus.
[2:57:58] Things that we did
[2:58:00] district-wide for SB 848,
[2:58:02] the annual AB193 training,
[2:58:05] professional boundary training
[2:58:07] for employees, visitor management system,
[2:58:09] which I will talk about a little bit,
[2:58:11] in a little bit more detail later.
[2:58:13] The revised restroom
[2:58:14] and toileting protocols,
[2:58:15] trauma and foreign
[2:58:16] victim response procedures,
[2:58:18] physical environment expectations,
[2:58:20] which we did the safety walks
[2:58:21] on from the district office.
[2:58:25] So all of us picked a
[2:58:26] school or two here and there,
[2:58:28] and we walked around to
[2:58:29] make sure that all the schools
[2:58:31] are up to code when it
[2:58:34] comes to this particular bill.
[2:58:36] And these site visits are gonna continue
[2:58:40] on a more regular basis so that we,
[2:58:43] in case we see things we missed
[2:58:44] or things have been changed back,
[2:58:46] we make sure that we
[2:58:48] tell them to be compliant.
[2:58:55] The RAPNIR technology suit that we have,
[2:58:58] there are three reasons,
[2:59:00] there are three items that we have
[2:59:02] as the visitor manager,
[2:59:05] every site you walk in,
[2:59:06] you have to provide an
[2:59:08] ID or check yourself in.
[2:59:09] And it mainly flags on safe visitors
[2:59:14] who are registered sex offenders.
[2:59:17] And we have had some false positives,
[2:59:19] and we've had one or
[2:59:21] two actual positives,
[2:59:24] and the system alerts the office,
[2:59:26] while the computer in
[2:59:28] front of the person checking in
[2:59:29] glitches, it looks like
[2:59:30] it's not working right,
[2:59:32] and then it sends a
[2:59:33] message to the front office
[2:59:34] who then contact us, me, district office,
[2:59:37] for further clarification or directives.
[2:59:43] We also use RAPNIR for
[2:59:46] emergency management.
[2:59:49] We activate lockdowns and other
[2:59:51] emergencies on campus,
[2:59:52] every person on campus who has the app,
[2:59:55] or they have the option of
[2:59:57] using it on their computer
[2:59:58] if they don't want to
[2:59:59] download the app on their phones
[3:00:00] to notify the entire
[3:00:01] school and put the school
[3:00:03] on a lockdown, and we're
[3:00:04] seeing more and more schools
[3:00:06] using it for their
[3:00:06] drills, just so that it becomes
[3:00:08] a habit of knowing how the app works.
[3:00:11] And every year I've always
[3:00:12] offered myself to go back
[3:00:13] to certain sites and retrain them as
[3:00:15] necessary when needed.
[3:00:18] The app does a lot of amazing things,
[3:00:21] but again, it's all technology based,
[3:00:23] so the schools also
[3:00:24] know that to have their own
[3:00:26] paper and pen plans in place,
[3:00:30] so that in case technology's not working,
[3:00:31] they still can revert back to the way
[3:00:35] that we used to do it.
[3:00:39] One of the things that we
[3:00:41] talk about in emergency response
[3:00:43] is when do we evacuate, for
[3:00:46] what reasons do we evacuate,
[3:00:48] when do we lock down,
[3:00:49] what's the shelter in place,
[3:00:50] and again, the difference is a lockdown
[3:00:53] is when the danger is on campus,
[3:00:54] and we lock down, close all the doors,
[3:00:56] turn off all the lights,
[3:00:57] and take the Alice protocols,
[3:01:00] which is preparing
[3:01:02] yourself for possibly the worst,
[3:01:05] and shelter in place is when
[3:01:08] the school is not in danger,
[3:01:10] but something is happening in the
[3:01:11] perimeter of the campus,
[3:01:13] that either us or the
[3:01:14] school has put the school
[3:01:16] on the shelter in place.
[3:01:18] Again, this is the
[3:01:19] step before you lock down,
[3:01:20] so the classes are operating as normal,
[3:01:24] instruction is
[3:01:25] continuing, but there's no movement
[3:01:27] in and out of the classroom.
[3:01:29] In other words, they're not
[3:01:30] allowed to use the restroom
[3:01:31] to go back and forth
[3:01:32] freely like they would
[3:01:34] if it wasn't a shelter in place,
[3:01:36] that's just because in case
[3:01:39] the issue ends up on campus,
[3:01:42] we can just switch it back to a lockdown
[3:01:44] and proceed with that procedure.
[3:01:47] And the Raptor Emergency Response System
[3:01:52] also has an amazing reunification system
[3:01:54] where we can reunify
[3:01:56] parents with their students,
[3:01:58] knowing exactly who
[3:01:59] we're giving the student to,
[3:02:01] because all that information we have in
[3:02:03] our emergency contacts
[3:02:04] is also in the Raptor, so
[3:02:06] we know who we're talking to.
[3:02:10] Security cameras, all
[3:02:12] our schools have cameras,
[3:02:13] we have about 1100 cameras, however,
[3:02:17] if we add another 1100, I would say
[3:02:19] that would not cover all the blind spots.
[3:02:22] Our elementary schools
[3:02:24] don't have enough cameras,
[3:02:26] our secondary schools
[3:02:28] have enough cameras,
[3:02:29] but we can always need more, use more.
[3:02:32] And I know that business services working
[3:02:34] on securing funding for
[3:02:36] the additional cameras,
[3:02:38] and I know Mr. Young is gonna do
[3:02:41] a much in-depth presentation on this,
[3:02:44] but we have cameras that
[3:02:45] are almost 16 years old,
[3:02:48] their time has run out,
[3:02:50] there's no warranty on them,
[3:02:52] and they need to be replaced.
[3:02:54] As well as our elementary schools,
[3:02:56] some of them have 16 to
[3:02:58] 20 cameras by default,
[3:02:59] because this is how they started,
[3:03:01] and even though we were adding as many
[3:03:03] cameras as we could,
[3:03:05] budget is always an issue.
[3:03:07] You know, cameras are
[3:03:08] expensive, luckily we have
[3:03:10] a couple of people in
[3:03:11] the district who are able
[3:03:12] to install the cameras and
[3:03:14] program them on their own,
[3:03:15] which was a lot of money saving,
[3:03:17] but one person cannot
[3:03:19] literally change about 800 cameras
[3:03:22] that we have to
[3:03:22] change because they're old
[3:03:24] and then add more cameras,
[3:03:25] especially on our elementary campuses.
[3:03:27] And one thing that is
[3:03:28] important to understand
[3:03:29] is that security
[3:03:31] cameras are not necessarily
[3:03:32] to catch people, but it's to
[3:03:34] prevent us from being liable
[3:03:36] for things that we get attacked for.
[3:03:40] There are multiple
[3:03:42] issues that I know personally
[3:03:43] that if we had cameras
[3:03:45] at certain locations,
[3:03:46] we would have, the
[3:03:47] outcome of what happened
[3:03:49] would have been completely different.
[3:03:51] It's important to add more cameras,
[3:03:52] so I urge the board to carefully consider
[3:03:59] the proposal from Mr. Young.
[3:04:04] We have resource officers
[3:04:07] and one resource deputy.
[3:04:08] Resource deputy obviously
[3:04:10] serves the county schools,
[3:04:11] the five of them up in
[3:04:12] the Lockers Center area,
[3:04:14] and we have two SROs from
[3:04:15] the Glendale Police Department.
[3:04:17] One is stationed at Hoover,
[3:04:18] one station's at Glendale High School,
[3:04:21] and each one, even though they support
[3:04:23] each other constantly,
[3:04:24] but each one basically
[3:04:26] deals with the feeder schools
[3:04:28] to those high schools.
[3:04:34] We always collaborate
[3:04:35] with law enforcement
[3:04:36] on various things.
[3:04:37] We recently received a video
[3:04:39] that Glendale Police Department had,
[3:04:42] not a video, but a
[3:04:42] PowerPoint presentation
[3:04:43] that talks about,
[3:04:45] discusses electric bike safety.
[3:04:49] We're in the process of reviewing
[3:04:51] the content of the PowerPoint.
[3:04:54] I personally like it.
[3:04:55] I think it's important for the parents
[3:04:56] to also see the dangers and what happens
[3:04:59] and some of the
[3:05:00] consequences that the parents
[3:05:01] may end up being
[3:05:02] responsible for with the new,
[3:05:05] I think, laws in Glendale.
[3:05:06] I believe that if an e-bike
[3:05:10] student has been pulled over
[3:05:12] the parent has been
[3:05:13] warned once the second time
[3:05:14] the parent will be liable for any damage,
[3:05:18] anything that person has
[3:05:19] done while riding the bike.
[3:05:22] We regularly meet
[3:05:23] with our traffic division
[3:05:24] with Glendale Police Department,
[3:05:25] and once a month there's
[3:05:28] the tri-chamber meeting
[3:05:29] up at the sheriff's station,
[3:05:31] and we talk about traffic
[3:05:32] safety around our schools
[3:05:33] in general and parking,
[3:05:35] and some of the issues
[3:05:39] that are caused by parents
[3:05:41] as they're dropping off
[3:05:42] and picking up their kids.
[3:05:44] Glendale Police
[3:05:45] Department also put together
[3:05:47] a video called Dirty
[3:05:48] Drugs that we have now shared
[3:05:50] with our schools, and it's on YouTube,
[3:05:52] so they're able to show it
[3:05:54] to their students as needed.
[3:05:57] We have security guards.
[3:05:58] We've had security
[3:05:59] guards for a long time.
[3:06:00] Last year was the first year
[3:06:01] that we were able to secure
[3:06:03] one security guard for
[3:06:04] every elementary school,
[3:06:06] so that's 20 additional
[3:06:07] security guards since last year,
[3:06:09] carried over to this year.
[3:06:11] We have a video for
[3:06:12] the dismissal of students
[3:06:13] and after school programs,
[3:06:14] so they're not there from the morning,
[3:06:15] but they start somewhere
[3:06:16] around two o'clock, I think,
[3:06:18] or 10.30 in the morning,
[3:06:20] and they go until dismissal is over.
[3:06:24] But in our middle schools
[3:06:25] we have between two to three,
[3:06:26] depending on the size
[3:06:27] of the middle school,
[3:06:28] and then in our high schools again,
[3:06:30] depending on the size
[3:06:31] we have three, four,
[3:06:33] and most recently in
[3:06:34] Glendale we have five now,
[3:06:36] Glendale High School.
[3:06:39] School drop-off and pickup is a concern.
[3:06:42] Every year we either get complaints
[3:06:44] from our community members,
[3:06:45] neighbors, and or parents.
[3:06:49] My analogy is that when
[3:06:52] a parent is on their way
[3:06:54] to drop off their kid,
[3:06:54] that's the only thing
[3:06:55] they're concerned about,
[3:06:57] and sometimes we have all seen,
[3:06:58] I have seen parents
[3:06:59] make really poor choices
[3:07:01] when they drop off their kids.
[3:07:03] I've seen parents pull
[3:07:04] over on the right side
[3:07:06] of the walk-in gate,
[3:07:07] and the student leaves from
[3:07:08] the back of the driver's side,
[3:07:11] straight into the street
[3:07:11] and crosses the street,
[3:07:13] and other times they park
[3:07:15] in the middle of the street,
[3:07:16] they block driveways,
[3:07:17] and our principals are
[3:07:18] very good at sending messages
[3:07:19] every Sunday night to be
[3:07:21] careful with our neighbors,
[3:07:22] to be courteous with our neighbors,
[3:07:24] but unfortunately it's
[3:07:26] on some of our campuses,
[3:07:28] like for example, the
[3:07:29] Hoover-Kepel toll situation,
[3:07:34] I mean, you have
[3:07:35] about 4,000 plus students
[3:07:37] being dropped off and picked up right
[3:07:39] around the same time.
[3:07:40] It is challenging,
[3:07:41] but it's something that we get
[3:07:45] complaints about all the time.
[3:07:46] We do have crossing guards
[3:07:47] in front of all those
[3:07:48] elementary and middle schools,
[3:07:50] they do the best they can,
[3:07:52] and if we feel that a crossing guard
[3:07:54] is not doing what they're supposed to do,
[3:07:56] we contact the company,
[3:07:58] and we ask them to
[3:07:59] either retrain or switch,
[3:08:01] and the crossing guards
[3:08:02] are paid for by the city,
[3:08:04] not by the district.
[3:08:08] Moving on to school safety data,
[3:08:13] we have different referral types,
[3:08:16] so the majors are like the A1s, A2s,
[3:08:20] like fighting or contraband and or
[3:08:23] bullying, et cetera,
[3:08:25] and the minors would be issues
[3:08:27] that the student was
[3:08:27] disrupting the classroom,
[3:08:30] whatever they did
[3:08:30] that did not necessarily
[3:08:32] result into a suspension.
[3:08:34] If you look at the total numbers
[3:08:35] between last year and this year,
[3:08:37] the total numbers are lower,
[3:08:38] however, you notice that there's an
[3:08:40] increase in the majors,
[3:08:43] and so digging deeper,
[3:08:49] last year, we had 1,033
[3:08:51] from school suspensions,
[3:08:55] and this year, we had 1,195,
[3:08:59] sorry, 2,425, we had 1,033,
[3:09:01] last year, we had 1,195 suspensions.
[3:09:05] You can also see that the
[3:09:06] total number of students
[3:09:08] that were suspended
[3:09:09] was higher than 2,425,
[3:09:12] and this kind of breaks it down into,
[3:09:16] like by grade level, and you can see
[3:09:20] the differences here between the students
[3:09:23] and the suspensions, sorry, this is,
[3:09:26] am I on the wrong slide?
[3:09:28] Yeah, so just wanna talk
[3:09:31] about on this slide a little bit,
[3:09:33] sorry, this one, a little bit more,
[3:09:35] we looked at it in more detail,
[3:09:39] and the areas that we noticed
[3:09:42] that there was an increase in suspensions
[3:09:44] was under Ed code, it's 0.3,
[3:09:49] which is hate violence, participate,
[3:09:52] or attempt to hate violence,
[3:09:54] and force violence onto
[3:09:56] others, which is 48, 982,
[3:09:58] this is an assault on somebody else,
[3:10:01] and the fights themselves,
[3:10:05] this is where the
[3:10:06] biggest percentage of increase
[3:10:08] was last year
[3:10:09] compared to the year before.
[3:10:12] We do the best we can to
[3:10:14] get information from students
[3:10:16] before an incident happens,
[3:10:17] but sometimes if they do happen,
[3:10:19] and Ed code says that
[3:10:21] these types of violations
[3:10:23] of the Ed code are suspendable.
[3:10:25] It doesn't mean it's
[3:10:27] a five day suspension,
[3:10:28] but it just means there's a
[3:10:29] suspension of the student.
[3:10:31] When they return from suspension,
[3:10:33] there's a meeting with the parent,
[3:10:35] and if we're need be, we
[3:10:36] do a restorative meeting
[3:10:38] with whoever was
[3:10:41] involved in the incident,
[3:10:43] and that's what caused the increase
[3:10:46] from last year to the year before.
[3:10:50] And then if we look
[3:10:51] at the sense of safety
[3:10:54] through various surveys,
[3:10:57] students in grades four to five,
[3:10:59] there's a 2% decrease in
[3:11:02] the overall sense of safety.
[3:11:04] In the secondary schools is 1% less,
[3:11:07] employees is increased,
[3:11:09] and parents has decreased a little bit,
[3:11:11] but this is something that
[3:11:12] you see on a yearly basis.
[3:11:14] It sometimes depends
[3:11:15] on where the person went
[3:11:16] and what time the
[3:11:17] person is taking the survey,
[3:11:18] and if it's something that
[3:11:19] did happen very recently,
[3:11:21] they would consider that unsafe.
[3:11:23] You do the same survey months later,
[3:11:25] they may respond otherwise,
[3:11:26] but the numbers
[3:11:27] aren't fluctuating hugely,
[3:11:29] either bad or good.
[3:11:31] They're kind of stable if you look at it
[3:11:32] over the past four
[3:11:33] years of data that we have.
[3:11:37] Any questions?
[3:11:38] (keyboard clicking)
[3:11:46] Thank you so much for the presentation.
[3:11:49] School safety is definitely
[3:11:51] one of our biggest priorities,
[3:11:52] and you talked a lot about the safety
[3:11:58] and the suspensions of
[3:11:59] the students in our schools,
[3:12:02] and to de-escalate any of these issues,
[3:12:06] I've learned that
[3:12:08] there's an equity difference
[3:12:10] between SROs and SRDs training,
[3:12:13] and so the county has a
[3:12:14] more specific lead training,
[3:12:17] like youth de-escalation,
[3:12:18] trauma-informed practices,
[3:12:20] special ed and disability law,
[3:12:22] restorative practices,
[3:12:24] and even 32 hours of
[3:12:26] mental health training
[3:12:26] plus 40 hours of resource
[3:12:28] deputy course assignments,
[3:12:31] but I don't know if
[3:12:31] SROs from the Glendale PD
[3:12:33] have similar trainings.
[3:12:35] Can you speak a little bit more
[3:12:36] about what those trainings look like?
[3:12:40] I can't speak to the trainings,
[3:12:42] because I don't know
[3:12:43] what they do individually
[3:12:44] as a department, but I can
[3:12:46] say that working with them,
[3:12:50] again, I don't know about the trainings,
[3:12:51] but working with the SRD and the SROs,
[3:12:54] I think they do an
[3:12:56] amazing job with our students,
[3:12:58] but not necessarily
[3:13:00] every suspension ends up
[3:13:01] in the hands of an SR or an SRD.
[3:13:03] Right.
[3:13:03] So only if there's a fight,
[3:13:10] or if there's contraband material found,
[3:13:19] and or there's hate violence,
[3:13:23] but other than that, they don't
[3:13:24] necessarily get involved,
[3:13:26] but they do help with, a lot of times,
[3:13:28] they do help with threat assessments,
[3:13:31] and if they themselves can't do it,
[3:13:34] the Glendale Police Department
[3:13:35] has a mental health
[3:13:36] evaluation team that they send over,
[3:13:38] or we call the PMRT
[3:13:39] depending on the situation,
[3:13:42] but for the county
[3:13:43] schools, we always call the PMRT.
[3:13:46] What we can do is we can get information
[3:13:49] about what training our
[3:13:50] Glendale police officers have.
[3:13:53] I think it's also important to note that
[3:13:56] our current school resource officers
[3:13:59] and school resource deputy,
[3:14:01] they're included in
[3:14:02] many of our own training.
[3:14:04] So on threat
[3:14:05] assessments, risk assessments,
[3:14:07] restorative practices, so we want,
[3:14:12] we had a little spill on the dais,
[3:14:17] so if you're seeing
[3:14:18] people going back and forth,
[3:14:19] that's all it is.
[3:14:21] So we will get more information for you
[3:14:24] about the training for
[3:14:26] Glendale Police specifically.
[3:14:28] Our two current school resource officers
[3:14:32] are truly exceptional.
[3:14:33] They've been here multiple years.
[3:14:34] They've been in many
[3:14:35] of our own trainings.
[3:14:37] They know our community
[3:14:38] and they know our process.
[3:14:40] So they're not coming in necessarily
[3:14:43] from a law enforcement perspective.
[3:14:45] They're really coming in
[3:14:46] more for community policing
[3:14:47] and community support perspective.
[3:14:50] So we've been very
[3:14:52] fortunate with the selection
[3:14:54] from Glendale Police as
[3:14:56] well as the deputy assigned
[3:14:58] from CB Sheriffs.
[3:15:00] So again, we are so appreciative
[3:15:04] of all of our law enforcement partners,
[3:15:06] but we have been truly
[3:15:08] fortunate with the ones
[3:15:09] who are assigned as resource officers.
[3:15:12] Okay, thank you.
[3:15:15] All right, thank you.
[3:15:16] And we appreciate that.
[3:15:18] I'm gonna jump actually
[3:15:20] over here now to Mr. C
[3:15:22] then I will go to Mr. Krakorian
[3:15:24] and then we will pop back over.
[3:15:25] So go ahead, Mr. C.
[3:15:27] Great, thank you for the presentation.
[3:15:28] I just have three quick questions.
[3:15:31] The first one is for volunteers,
[3:15:34] I think there's a new
[3:15:34] system this year, right?
[3:15:36] A tier one, tier two background check.
[3:15:38] Just curious on your end
[3:15:39] what the feedback has been
[3:15:42] and what the difference has been like
[3:15:44] from your perspective.
[3:15:46] Unfortunately, I don't have
[3:15:48] anything to do with volunteers.
[3:15:50] They have to get vetted.
[3:15:51] They have to have a background check.
[3:15:53] I believe it's called
[3:15:54] Lifescan to come on campus.
[3:15:57] If you ask me, it's a great
[3:15:59] idea that we're doing this
[3:16:00] because now we know
[3:16:01] exactly who's volunteering
[3:16:02] with our students.
[3:16:04] As far as feedback, I can't tell you
[3:16:08] if that made a difference
[3:16:09] in the number of volunteers
[3:16:10] that used to be able to come in.
[3:16:12] Not because they don't want to volunteer,
[3:16:14] it's because they may not want to go
[3:16:16] through the process.
[3:16:17] Might be time consuming for them.
[3:16:18] I just really have no data on that.
[3:16:21] Great, thank you.
[3:16:22] I'm happy to answer that question.
[3:16:23] Volunteers fall under Human Resources.
[3:16:26] We've had over 1600
[3:16:28] people apply to be volunteers
[3:16:30] since we started this program.
[3:16:32] To put it in context, Human
[3:16:34] Resources had only fingerprinted
[3:16:36] about 400 people over
[3:16:37] the last four years.
[3:16:39] So this is four times
[3:16:40] the number of people
[3:16:41] that are applying to go through this.
[3:16:44] As of today, we have over 500 people
[3:16:46] who have gone through
[3:16:47] all the clearance process
[3:16:48] with another 458 that we're waiting
[3:16:53] to do the mandated reporter training.
[3:16:55] So we have lots of
[3:16:57] people who are moving through.
[3:16:58] We're trying to move
[3:16:59] as quickly as possible.
[3:17:00] Within a couple of
[3:17:01] days of people applying,
[3:17:03] we're trying to get them through.
[3:17:05] Our target time is
[3:17:07] around two weeks at this point
[3:17:08] for us to be able,
[3:17:10] from the time they apply
[3:17:11] to the time they're ready
[3:17:12] to get into a classroom,
[3:17:13] depending on how quickly
[3:17:14] they do the mandated reporter
[3:17:17] to a life scan.
[3:17:19] What we do notice is
[3:17:20] that some of our parents
[3:17:21] are not happy with this.
[3:17:22] They wish that it was easier
[3:17:23] to volunteer in the classroom.
[3:17:26] There are concerns that we are asking
[3:17:27] for a government issued ID to be uploaded
[3:17:30] and doing fingerprints, which makes
[3:17:32] people feel concerned
[3:17:34] about those who may be undocumented
[3:17:35] as far as they're volunteering.
[3:17:37] However, we have gotten even
[3:17:38] handwritten thank you notes
[3:17:40] from people who are very
[3:17:41] happy to see the seriousness
[3:17:43] that we're taking student safety
[3:17:45] and ensuring that
[3:17:46] everyone who is on a campus
[3:17:48] is of high quality as far
[3:17:50] as their criminal background
[3:17:52] and doesn't have any
[3:17:53] known nefarious intent
[3:17:56] with the students.
[3:17:57] So it's a mixed bag at this point.
[3:17:58] I think anytime that you
[3:17:59] do something that's as large
[3:18:01] as this with the change being as it is,
[3:18:03] many people are not
[3:18:04] going to be happy with it.
[3:18:05] And some people are going to be
[3:18:06] incredibly happy with it.
[3:18:07] And that's what we're seeing.
[3:18:08] We are very happy with the parents who
[3:18:10] are pushing forward,
[3:18:11] our school site leaders, PTA leaders
[3:18:14] and the conduits for
[3:18:16] getting the information out.
[3:18:18] And of course our teachers and staff,
[3:18:20] especially our school office staff,
[3:18:22] like our secretaries
[3:18:23] and LVN health clerks
[3:18:25] who are doing the bulk
[3:18:26] of this work with parents.
[3:18:27] So I hope that answers your question.
[3:18:29] Absolutely.
[3:18:30] And I agree with you.
[3:18:31] I've heard friends
[3:18:33] talk about the new system
[3:18:35] and what a process it is.
[3:18:36] And then the question
[3:18:37] I always ask back is,
[3:18:38] well, don't you feel safer?
[3:18:40] And also this is how the
[3:18:41] district is trying to take
[3:18:43] these matters more seriously.
[3:18:45] So thank you for that.
[3:18:47] Just two more questions.
[3:18:48] So you mentioned that the cameras,
[3:18:50] a lot of them needing to be replaced.
[3:18:52] Just curious, does having
[3:18:56] a bond or a bond measure,
[3:18:58] like our cameras, the kind of things
[3:19:00] that bonds can cover?
[3:19:02] I can't speak to what the
[3:19:04] next bond might be or can be,
[3:19:05] but in the previous bond,
[3:19:08] the cameras were a
[3:19:09] part of the bond measure.
[3:19:11] Great, thank you.
[3:19:12] And my last question is
[3:19:13] regarding the percentage,
[3:19:16] the increase in
[3:19:16] percentage of students suspended.
[3:19:18] From what you can tell, is
[3:19:20] the reason for the increase
[3:19:21] more a reflection of increased incidences
[3:19:25] or increased enforcement?
[3:19:27] Thank you.
[3:19:28] It's more of an increased incidence.
[3:19:32] I mean, working on a high school campus
[3:19:34] for the majority of my career,
[3:19:37] if you hear that
[3:19:38] something's going to happen,
[3:19:39] you try to prevent it from happening,
[3:19:41] you find the players, you bring them in,
[3:19:42] you have a conversation.
[3:19:43] But a lot of times, a
[3:19:44] fight can start over nothing.
[3:19:46] And then you have now the
[3:19:49] obligation to investigate,
[3:19:51] make sure you have all the details
[3:19:52] and then hand down suspension.
[3:19:54] So it's just the nature
[3:19:57] of how teenagers can act
[3:19:59] impulsively sometimes.
[3:20:01] I think there is a degree
[3:20:03] of increased enforcement,
[3:20:04] especially at the elementary level,
[3:20:06] for use of hate speech and no tolerance
[3:20:10] for that type of hate
[3:20:12] speech, hate bullying.
[3:20:15] So you will see some
[3:20:17] increases in incidents
[3:20:19] at the elementary,
[3:20:22] because we're drawing
[3:20:23] that very firm line that,
[3:20:26] and that's why we try to
[3:20:27] reach out to the families
[3:20:29] repeatedly that there
[3:20:31] is no place for this.
[3:20:32] We will be reacting
[3:20:33] strongly to this if we hear it.
[3:20:36] And then as soon as
[3:20:38] the student comes back
[3:20:39] to the suspension,
[3:20:40] really working on
[3:20:41] those restorative practices
[3:20:42] so the student
[3:20:43] understands why they were sent home
[3:20:46] to restore both their
[3:20:50] standing in the classrooms,
[3:20:52] their relationship with their peers,
[3:20:54] and really to build that
[3:20:55] empathy and understanding
[3:20:56] for what they did and why it was so
[3:20:59] hurtful and harmful.
[3:21:02] I think the goal that we try to pass on
[3:21:04] to our administrators is that,
[3:21:06] when you're having a meeting with a
[3:21:07] student and their family,
[3:21:08] the student has to leave
[3:21:09] with the understanding that,
[3:21:11] why what they did was wrong,
[3:21:12] what was the alternative
[3:21:13] of solving that problem,
[3:21:15] and hopefully you're
[3:21:17] not going to see a repeat
[3:21:18] of the student doing the same incident,
[3:21:20] getting suspended for it.
[3:21:24] Okay, thank you.
[3:21:25] Mr. Korkian?
[3:21:27] Thank you.
[3:21:28] I will thank you for this presentation.
[3:21:29] Actually, I have several questions.
[3:21:30] One is, safety is
[3:21:31] obviously a critical thing
[3:21:32] for all parents and
[3:21:33] actually teachers too,
[3:21:35] and look at the safety,
[3:21:36] and look at this report
[3:21:37] here, seeing suspensions.
[3:21:39] One thing I've heard along the trail
[3:21:40] is students being entitled in classrooms
[3:21:43] and actually being disrupting classrooms
[3:21:45] to make it difficult for teachers
[3:21:46] to actually teach the class.
[3:21:48] And sometimes teachers are handcuffed
[3:21:50] by actually challenging
[3:21:51] or setting suspensions
[3:21:52] or any expulsions.
[3:21:54] What percentage in here,
[3:21:55] or I'd like to see if
[3:21:56] you don't have it now,
[3:21:57] is see what number of
[3:21:58] suspensions or disciplines
[3:22:00] caused by students creating disruptions
[3:22:02] in the classroom for the teacher
[3:22:04] so he or she could
[3:22:05] effectively do their job.
[3:22:06] And I'm curious about that,
[3:22:07] because I've been hearing it a lot
[3:22:08] from not just in our
[3:22:09] district, other districts,
[3:22:10] from one of the challenges they have
[3:22:12] is sometimes the students
[3:22:13] are forced to feel entitled,
[3:22:15] and the parents are
[3:22:15] actually entitled to them
[3:22:16] to actually conduct
[3:22:19] their will in the classroom
[3:22:20] and make it difficult for
[3:22:21] teachers to do their job.
[3:22:23] So in this area here,
[3:22:24] is there the lineage
[3:22:26] when you say suspensions,
[3:22:27] expulsions, or an area
[3:22:28] where it's broken down
[3:22:29] of what causes, where the causes are,
[3:22:31] and it would be helpful
[3:22:32] seeing some of that too.
[3:22:33] And if I can't have it now
[3:22:34] in the future, having that.
[3:22:36] Absolutely, we can provide the data.
[3:22:39] I hear where you're coming from.
[3:22:42] Yes, sometimes
[3:22:43] students, sometimes parents--
[3:22:45] Yeah, they take
[3:22:47] advantage of the classroom.
[3:22:47] Yes, not entitled.
[3:22:49] If there's any situation in the classroom
[3:22:51] that is classroom disruption,
[3:22:55] defiance of the authority of the teacher,
[3:22:57] unfortunately
[3:22:58] California does not allow us
[3:22:59] to suspend for those reasons.
[3:23:01] Which emboldens the kids to do more,
[3:23:04] and it makes it
[3:23:05] difficult for the teachers
[3:23:06] to do their job and their
[3:23:07] hand cuffed in the classroom,
[3:23:08] because this is just as detrimental as
[3:23:11] bullying or hate crime,
[3:23:12] because this is disrupting class
[3:23:13] and stealing time from only the teachers,
[3:23:15] and they can't do their job,
[3:23:17] because even it affects the principals,
[3:23:19] because don't get extra reported,
[3:23:20] because then you have a parent
[3:23:22] that's defending this
[3:23:24] irresponsible behavior.
[3:23:25] It's a concern of mine in that area.
[3:23:28] And piggybacking on what
[3:23:31] Telly said about the cameras,
[3:23:32] but I'm bringing it
[3:23:33] back in a different context
[3:23:35] about deferred
[3:23:35] maintenance, not just bond measures
[3:23:37] don't solve all of our problems
[3:23:38] financially we have.
[3:23:39] Bond measures is actually the word of it
[3:23:41] is a tax or residence.
[3:23:43] We have funding, we get
[3:23:44] dollars from the state,
[3:23:45] and sometimes we have excess dollars.
[3:23:46] Those dollars could be
[3:23:47] used to upgrade our equipment
[3:23:49] that we have, and it's
[3:23:51] incumbent on us as a district
[3:23:53] to be responsible for
[3:23:54] the dollars we have.
[3:23:55] So when you put that
[3:23:56] request in for our cameras
[3:23:58] to be upgraded or there's a report on it,
[3:24:01] what's the dollar amount with it?
[3:24:02] And as it suggests through bills,
[3:24:04] bill can be doing a
[3:24:05] presentation on the cameras
[3:24:06] where we need this funding,
[3:24:07] and maybe there's extra funds we do have
[3:24:09] that we actually pay
[3:24:10] for this without saying,
[3:24:11] because to be honest, reality,
[3:24:13] even if we were to pass a bond next year,
[3:24:15] we're not getting those dollars for two,
[3:24:16] three years from now
[3:24:17] by the time it even comes.
[3:24:18] So let's get a reality check.
[3:24:20] A bond's not gonna save us
[3:24:21] right now at the present time.
[3:24:22] The present time, the
[3:24:23] current dollars we need
[3:24:24] to get this done now
[3:24:25] to upgrade the cameras,
[3:24:27] we need these dollars now to do it.
[3:24:29] And the point.
[3:24:29] And the point is that
[3:24:31] we keep bringing up this,
[3:24:32] we keep bringing it
[3:24:33] back to a certain thing
[3:24:34] that's gonna solve that problem.
[3:24:37] Dollars now we need now,
[3:24:38] because every year in the
[3:24:39] 20 years I've been here,
[3:24:40] we have deferred maintenance.
[3:24:41] The state gives us money,
[3:24:43] specifically to maintain our facilities,
[3:24:46] maintain our
[3:24:47] specific, our owness is on us.
[3:24:49] We're the stewards of our tax dollars.
[3:24:52] These are dollars,
[3:24:53] we are funded by the state
[3:24:54] of California with the taxes.
[3:24:56] It's not coming from a money tree,
[3:24:57] it's coming from us being
[3:24:58] responsible with these dollars.
[3:24:59] It's a concern of mine that these cameras
[3:25:01] need to be upgraded.
[3:25:03] And to protect our
[3:25:04] teachers, protect our students,
[3:25:06] protect our principals and
[3:25:07] our families and our kids,
[3:25:09] and we're seeing even minor drops
[3:25:11] in confidence in the parents,
[3:25:14] these are our customers, right?
[3:25:15] And if they're not confident us,
[3:25:17] it's gonna impact our
[3:25:18] enrollment and impacts everything.
[3:25:20] So, and the question is really,
[3:25:23] is there a cost, has it been presented,
[3:25:25] and can it be shared with the board,
[3:25:27] and how do we tackle that?
[3:25:28] Yes, the board has already authorized
[3:25:30] the transfer of $6 million
[3:25:32] at the last board meeting
[3:25:33] to support security camera upgrades
[3:25:35] throughout the district.
[3:25:37] At a future board
[3:25:38] meeting, a contract of services
[3:25:41] and camera needs will
[3:25:42] be presented to the board
[3:25:43] for an action item. Perfect.
[3:25:45] $6 million has been set aside
[3:25:47] to support the camera
[3:25:48] upgrade throughout the district.
[3:25:49] So that we'll cover
[3:25:50] the, okay, that's great.
[3:25:53] We'll cover the-- That's great.
[3:25:54] So I just wanna clear the
[3:25:55] terminology with the bond,
[3:25:56] it's not gonna solve that.
[3:25:57] The second thing I wanna talk about
[3:25:58] is October 15th is a critical day.
[3:26:01] We've been talking in California,
[3:26:02] it's been all over the
[3:26:03] news, and the great shakeout.
[3:26:06] An earthquake's gonna eventually hit us.
[3:26:08] And I wanna say for us,
[3:26:09] this is something
[3:26:10] critical that we need to do.
[3:26:11] And in October 15th, the
[3:26:13] whole state of California
[3:26:14] is gonna do a whole
[3:26:15] preparation of the great shakeout.
[3:26:17] And I know we've done
[3:26:17] that before in the past.
[3:26:19] In previous years.
[3:26:20] It's something, safety is a component
[3:26:23] of the earthquake hitting us.
[3:26:24] And we see how the
[3:26:26] school sites are ready.
[3:26:27] You talked about Hoover, Toll and Kepel
[3:26:29] having 4,000 kids be dropped out.
[3:26:31] God forbid something
[3:26:32] happens the afternoon.
[3:26:33] And what we're gonna
[3:26:34] have with communication,
[3:26:35] I remember years ago, we
[3:26:36] had an incident at Rosemont,
[3:26:37] long time ago.
[3:26:38] Remember we had that
[3:26:39] tree and all the students,
[3:26:40] we had them out of the
[3:26:41] classroom, out of the school site.
[3:26:43] And this is about 15
[3:26:44] years ago, we had an incident.
[3:26:45] All the students went on
[3:26:46] their cell phones at one time.
[3:26:48] And what it did was all
[3:26:49] the cell phones went down.
[3:26:52] No one could communicate.
[3:26:53] Cause when you have
[3:26:54] 5,000 kids on the cell phone
[3:26:56] at the same time calling for emergencies,
[3:26:58] the confusion happened with the county
[3:27:00] sending their fire department,
[3:27:01] Glendale sent their fire department,
[3:27:03] and then another fire department,
[3:27:05] communication was all over the place.
[3:27:07] So I think for us, it
[3:27:09] would be good to see
[3:27:10] some type of plan for the great shakeout
[3:27:13] and preparation for a
[3:27:14] major emergency does happen.
[3:27:15] God forbid it does happen.
[3:27:17] And we don't have,
[3:27:18] but an earthquake's
[3:27:19] eventually gonna hit us again,
[3:27:20] unfortunately.
[3:27:21] So for us to be prepped with it,
[3:27:24] I know you're in communication
[3:27:25] with all the county and all that time.
[3:27:27] I'd be curious to see what our plans are
[3:27:30] for the great shakeout.
[3:27:31] And then just in
[3:27:31] general for an earthquake,
[3:27:33] or major things, God forbid it happens,
[3:27:36] but just for our own prep.
[3:27:37] And it's incumbent on us to,
[3:27:40] oh yeah, Bill's gonna say something.
[3:27:42] Yeah, just really quick on that.
[3:27:43] Thank you for calling that out.
[3:27:44] The board last year did
[3:27:46] authorize radio replacements.
[3:27:47] So that is one step that we're taking
[3:27:50] to upgrade also that particular system.
[3:27:53] But that's just one
[3:27:53] element of that preparedness.
[3:27:56] I know each school site has their bin.
[3:27:59] I remember Toll had a bin
[3:28:00] or storage locker outside.
[3:28:02] Right, with supplies even
[3:28:04] for something like this, right?
[3:28:05] They still have that?
[3:28:06] Or is that an emergency?
[3:28:07] Yeah, so every campus
[3:28:08] has an emergency bin
[3:28:09] and it gets updated or things,
[3:28:12] perishables are
[3:28:13] replaced when time is due.
[3:28:16] Because some of them have a
[3:28:17] life of two, three, four years.
[3:28:18] So it's their responsibility
[3:28:20] of every school safety team,
[3:28:23] school site to go in
[3:28:24] and then they let us know
[3:28:27] and the student services then
[3:28:29] purchase the items for them.
[3:28:31] We have been participating
[3:28:32] in the great shakeout drill
[3:28:33] ever since. Ever since, yeah.
[3:28:35] I've been in this district
[3:28:36] and we are
[3:28:37] participating this year as well.
[3:28:39] However, we are given the flexibility
[3:28:42] of if we have
[3:28:43] something that is interfering
[3:28:46] with the actual date that they've picked.
[3:28:48] We do it, we choose another day
[3:28:51] and this year we're doing
[3:28:51] it on the 14th of October.
[3:28:55] But in all the
[3:28:55] schools have been notified.
[3:28:57] They've been notified
[3:28:57] since I believe August
[3:29:00] before even school started.
[3:29:02] And they do the evacuation drill.
[3:29:05] I know you've done this in
[3:29:06] the past too with the PTA,
[3:29:07] the local PTA, the head
[3:29:08] is usually communicate
[3:29:09] with this stuff too
[3:29:10] with the emergency plans
[3:29:12] and with these facilities.
[3:29:14] Because it's important we
[3:29:15] have the mother or father's
[3:29:16] communication with the
[3:29:17] parents in that regard.
[3:29:19] Now I appreciate your support
[3:29:19] and just that was it at this time.
[3:29:21] Thank you, Kat.
[3:29:22] Of course, thank you.
[3:29:24] And we're gonna hop
[3:29:25] over now to Ms. Fried.
[3:29:27] All right, thank you Mr.
[3:29:29] Yumasekian for your presentation.
[3:29:31] I want to apologize for
[3:29:33] unceremoniously spilling my tea
[3:29:35] in the middle of your presentation
[3:29:36] and creating a little
[3:29:37] bit of entertainment
[3:29:38] for everyone in the room.
[3:29:40] But I do appreciate the work
[3:29:42] that went into tonight's presentation.
[3:29:45] I have just a few quick
[3:29:46] questions or comments.
[3:29:49] You mentioned when we
[3:29:50] were talking about SP848
[3:29:53] that you do make a
[3:29:53] point to personally go in,
[3:29:55] offer to train and I
[3:29:58] appreciate the site visits
[3:29:59] to ensure compliance.
[3:30:01] That's a very important piece
[3:30:02] as many of our
[3:30:03] discussions this year have centered
[3:30:06] around the importance
[3:30:07] of always doing better.
[3:30:09] And I know that you take
[3:30:11] the role very seriously
[3:30:13] and I've seen you out and about
[3:30:14] and so I want to thank you for that.
[3:30:16] I also want to just ask a question
[3:30:20] regarding your slide
[3:30:22] on the behavior data.
[3:30:26] Obviously, as you mentioned,
[3:30:27] the uptick in major incidents.
[3:30:31] I do want to ask and
[3:30:35] then the number of fights
[3:30:37] and the violence, what
[3:30:39] percentage would you say
[3:30:41] if you have that information?
[3:30:42] Are repeat offenders?
[3:30:44] I unfortunately don't
[3:30:46] have that information.
[3:30:46] It's easy to get that.
[3:30:49] This was just like an
[3:30:51] umbrella presentation
[3:30:53] of the total numbers.
[3:30:55] And I just want to mention one thing
[3:30:58] that when it says majors,
[3:30:59] you see approximately
[3:31:01] 700 major incidents.
[3:31:05] Just because it's major,
[3:31:06] it doesn't necessarily
[3:31:07] mean there is a suspension.
[3:31:10] Sometimes that particular
[3:31:12] situation can be handled
[3:31:13] through getting the parents
[3:31:15] in, having a conversation.
[3:31:17] It just depends on each situation.
[3:31:19] I just think that
[3:31:21] perhaps if there is overlap,
[3:31:24] if in other words, if it's the repeat
[3:31:27] offender, if you will,
[3:31:29] it's a very different picture
[3:31:32] than if it is that number of students.
[3:31:36] And so if in the future,
[3:31:39] if such a tab could be or an
[3:31:42] asterisk should be included,
[3:31:43] just so we get a sense of
[3:31:44] the number of offenders,
[3:31:46] if you will.
[3:31:48] Generally, in this
[3:31:49] district, it's an unwritten rule,
[3:31:51] but if you get involved into two fights,
[3:31:53] you are involuntarily
[3:31:55] transferred to another school.
[3:31:57] And we do have some students,
[3:31:59] and it's not the
[3:32:00] involuntary transfer is not,
[3:32:02] they see it as a form of punishment.
[3:32:04] We see it as an
[3:32:05] opportunity to start fresh somewhere
[3:32:07] where the same agents
[3:32:10] are the same reasons
[3:32:11] why the students getting
[3:32:12] into a fight are there.
[3:32:14] And for the majority of the part,
[3:32:16] those transfers are successful
[3:32:17] because we see the
[3:32:18] students not wanting to come back
[3:32:19] to their home school.
[3:32:22] But just based on that,
[3:32:26] I don't think the numbers are
[3:32:27] too high of repeat offenders,
[3:32:28] but I can definitely include
[3:32:29] that in the next presentation.
[3:32:30] Thank you.
[3:32:31] We can get that information
[3:32:32] for a future board letter too.
[3:32:34] Thank you.
[3:32:35] And then lastly, because I have you here,
[3:32:38] and you may not be here
[3:32:38] later when I do bring it up
[3:32:40] in my comments, I want to
[3:32:41] thank you and your department,
[3:32:43] Student Support
[3:32:43] Services, for your contributions
[3:32:45] to the wonderful 50-page resource guide
[3:32:48] that came out of the comprehensive manual
[3:32:51] on suicide risk and threat assessment.
[3:32:52] You're credited in that.
[3:32:54] And since I know you won't be here later,
[3:32:56] when I do acknowledge that,
[3:32:57] I want to thank you for your work
[3:32:59] as a partner in that effort.
[3:33:01] So thank you.
[3:33:01] Thank you very much.
[3:33:05] Okay, thank you.
[3:33:06] And I think that wraps up the questions
[3:33:08] that we have for this.
[3:33:09] And I will see if Dr. Niki would like to,
[3:33:11] or Dr. Watson would like to
[3:33:13] move on to the next subject.
[3:33:15] I just want to say
[3:33:16] thank you, Mr. Yomacekian,
[3:33:18] for all your
[3:33:18] contributions and your presentations.
[3:33:20] So yes, I'd like to take
[3:33:21] you to our second item.
[3:33:24] Tonight we have, we'll
[3:33:25] bring forward Dr. Lang-Dee-C.
[3:33:26] He's our Director of Student Intervention
[3:33:28] and Accountability.
[3:33:30] And he'll be speaking on
[3:33:31] the proposed partnership
[3:33:32] for data warehousing
[3:33:33] and analytics with Linkit.
[3:33:37] He wants to bring this
[3:33:39] information to you all,
[3:33:40] share this item, because
[3:33:41] we use multiple systems
[3:33:43] of assessment and to
[3:33:44] monitor our student achievement
[3:33:46] growth and at the state
[3:33:47] and the district level.
[3:33:48] And because we have so
[3:33:50] many levels of assessments
[3:33:51] and multiple platforms for monitoring,
[3:33:54] we want to make sure that
[3:33:55] we provide and access ways
[3:33:57] to make this a lot more streamlined.
[3:34:00] And so Dr. Lang-Dee-C will
[3:34:02] speak to the use of this program
[3:34:05] past and what it can
[3:34:06] mean for implementation
[3:34:08] in our present for improved outcomes.
[3:34:10] So thank you, Dr. Lang-Dee-C,
[3:34:12] for being with us tonight and
[3:34:13] for all the work you're doing.
[3:34:16] I think Dr. Lang-Dee-C is making his way
[3:34:19] up to the board room.
[3:34:21] He's in his office.
[3:34:22] That would make sense,
[3:34:23] as we might've had
[3:34:24] someone at the other door
[3:34:25] right over there, so maybe it was,
[3:34:28] he was trying to get in there.
[3:34:29] So now he's in the room.
[3:34:31] Okay, great, thank you.
[3:34:34] Thank you, Dr. Lang-Dee-C.
[3:34:35] Welcome.
[3:34:36] Thank you.
[3:34:37] President Cross, members
[3:34:38] of the board, Dr. Watson,
[3:34:40] staff, thank you so much for this
[3:34:41] opportunity this evening.
[3:34:44] This info item, I hope
[3:34:45] you've had an opportunity
[3:34:46] to read through it.
[3:34:47] I prepared a very low tech presentation
[3:34:49] for you this evening, so you just get me.
[3:34:52] But my intent this evening,
[3:34:54] because I think
[3:34:54] sometimes information items
[3:34:56] can be misconstrued as a sales pitch.
[3:34:59] This is not a sales pitch.
[3:35:00] The only people I
[3:35:01] work for is Glendale USD.
[3:35:03] And what I wanna share with you tonight
[3:35:05] is my experience of
[3:35:06] being an administrator,
[3:35:08] also a teacher, a student, and now a
[3:35:11] district administrator.
[3:35:12] And the importance of
[3:35:13] using all of the tools
[3:35:15] at our disposal to
[3:35:17] really move schools forward.
[3:35:20] So I hope that will come across
[3:35:21] when I share just some
[3:35:22] thoughts with you tonight.
[3:35:24] I wanna share with you a stat.
[3:35:26] So when we get the
[3:35:28] student data file from ETS,
[3:35:30] the Educational Testing Service,
[3:35:32] that contains all of our
[3:35:33] state testing data for the year,
[3:35:35] the file goes in a
[3:35:37] spreadsheet from column A
[3:35:39] all the way to column NZ.
[3:35:41] If you total that up, that's 390 columns.
[3:35:46] I want you to also think about
[3:35:47] when you take the number
[3:35:48] of rows in that spreadsheet,
[3:35:51] it's 35,014 rows.
[3:35:55] That means that we're talking 13.65
[3:35:58] million cells of data.
[3:36:01] If we are to ask schools to really move
[3:36:03] their schools forward,
[3:36:06] we have to make that data
[3:36:08] presentable and actionable.
[3:36:10] Right now, the state
[3:36:11] releases data in October.
[3:36:14] It used to be November.
[3:36:16] So think about that if you're
[3:36:17] a teacher or a school leader,
[3:36:19] and you're trying to
[3:36:20] move your school forward,
[3:36:21] finding out what
[3:36:22] students need intervention,
[3:36:24] what students have done really well,
[3:36:26] and you wanna learn
[3:36:26] from those experiences,
[3:36:28] that means that you're
[3:36:29] waiting from May, June, July,
[3:36:33] August, September,
[3:36:35] through the middle of October,
[3:36:36] to start taking action.
[3:36:38] The idea of the data
[3:36:39] warehouse is to put all of the data
[3:36:41] sources that we have
[3:36:43] together to make the work actionable
[3:36:46] and timely for our school teams.
[3:36:49] I can tell you that in this role,
[3:36:51] my main priority is to make data literacy
[3:36:56] something that is kind of
[3:36:58] the guiding light in our work.
[3:37:01] If you were to take that
[3:37:02] spreadsheet that I talked about,
[3:37:04] the one with the 13.65 million cells,
[3:37:07] if you were really
[3:37:08] adept as a school leader,
[3:37:10] you would have to take that information,
[3:37:13] work the calculations.
[3:37:15] If you were really, really solid,
[3:37:16] you might create some pivot tables.
[3:37:18] You might be able to pull some
[3:37:19] charts and graphs yourselves.
[3:37:22] But that requires a skill
[3:37:23] set that not everybody has.
[3:37:25] So you're waiting until October.
[3:37:28] I think the idea here is
[3:37:29] that with this kind of system
[3:37:31] that we're looking to put
[3:37:32] into place with partnership
[3:37:34] and link it is really making our data
[3:37:37] something that can be used as a tool.
[3:37:39] For us as a district,
[3:37:40] the priorities for professional
[3:37:42] development this year
[3:37:43] are MTSS, the
[3:37:44] multi-tiered systems of support,
[3:37:46] and also English learners.
[3:37:48] This is something that's
[3:37:49] been hammered home since June,
[3:37:51] and will continue to be
[3:37:52] part of our professional
[3:37:53] development program, not
[3:37:54] only for our principals,
[3:37:55] but for our other school leaders,
[3:37:56] even including our teacher specialists.
[3:37:58] So as we look at using a system that
[3:38:01] takes all of our data
[3:38:02] from disparate sources and
[3:38:04] puts them into one place,
[3:38:06] it's gonna allow our teams
[3:38:07] to be more data literate,
[3:38:08] to be more actionable, to
[3:38:10] really focus on our PD plan.
[3:38:13] And by investing in our staff,
[3:38:15] we hope to build capacity
[3:38:17] so that we can move our schools forward.
[3:38:19] Many of you have mentioned on the dais
[3:38:21] that our results over the past few years
[3:38:24] have remained pretty stagnant.
[3:38:25] Like when we look at
[3:38:26] our state testing results,
[3:38:28] in order to make movement,
[3:38:29] you have to really drill deep.
[3:38:31] And I found that
[3:38:32] working at the school site,
[3:38:33] and my goal now is to really
[3:38:35] scale that up to our 32 sites.
[3:38:38] So as we work on waiting
[3:38:42] for the state test results
[3:38:43] to come in, we have to develop systems
[3:38:46] within our own school
[3:38:48] community to get this information
[3:38:50] in the hands of
[3:38:50] teachers and school leaders
[3:38:52] so that they can start making choices
[3:38:54] about what they will do
[3:38:54] next with their student
[3:38:55] populations to move them forward.
[3:38:58] I'm happy to take any
[3:38:59] questions you have on this topic.
[3:39:02] Thank you so much.
[3:39:03] Does anyone on the
[3:39:04] dais have any questions
[3:39:05] that they would like to ask?
[3:39:07] And if not, I do.
[3:39:10] I do, hi.
[3:39:11] Thank you for that.
[3:39:13] I think Lincoln's great.
[3:39:14] I think that, you
[3:39:15] know, I appreciate the uses
[3:39:18] that we have for it and, you know,
[3:39:19] kind of being able to combine all this
[3:39:21] different information.
[3:39:22] What I'd really love to be
[3:39:23] able to see is Lincoln has
[3:39:25] the ability for us to use
[3:39:29] kind of our own testing,
[3:39:30] and maybe I'd really
[3:39:32] love to explore walking away
[3:39:33] from things like iReady
[3:39:36] towards even in-house,
[3:39:38] even if it's, you know, still,
[3:39:41] it's not about necessarily
[3:39:43] just moving away from tech,
[3:39:44] but moving to a standardized testing
[3:39:46] that we can use for our
[3:39:47] English language learners
[3:39:48] and the
[3:39:48] reclassification, because right now,
[3:39:50] a lot of where we're
[3:39:51] still holding on to iReady
[3:39:52] happens to be within this, like,
[3:39:54] we really do need that
[3:39:56] for reclassification,
[3:39:57] and this is a tool that
[3:39:59] not only will help us with,
[3:40:00] you know, integrating basically all of
[3:40:04] the different testing
[3:40:04] and all of that, but
[3:40:05] being able to perhaps go back
[3:40:06] to where we kind of either
[3:40:07] have our own standardized test
[3:40:09] or, like, creating that,
[3:40:10] and it gives us more flexibility
[3:40:11] with having both digital or paper.
[3:40:14] So I think that that's a really,
[3:40:16] it's got a lot of options for us.
[3:40:17] Yeah, I want to
[3:40:17] mention a couple of comments.
[3:40:19] I remember as a student, benchmarks were
[3:40:21] a huge thing for us.
[3:40:22] I remember our
[3:40:22] teachers leaving us for days
[3:40:26] to go read our work and score it together
[3:40:28] and having really
[3:40:29] professional conversations
[3:40:30] about student work, and
[3:40:32] then coming back to us
[3:40:33] and providing us
[3:40:34] feedback, and also as a teacher,
[3:40:35] I saw that happen with my colleagues.
[3:40:37] So I think what you're saying is the
[3:40:40] direction we want to go
[3:40:41] as we kind of build
[3:40:42] this professional capacity
[3:40:44] with our teachers, being
[3:40:45] able to get data right away
[3:40:47] is very helpful.
[3:40:48] You make a point about
[3:40:50] one of our vendors, iReady.
[3:40:52] It's very easy, I
[3:40:53] think, to use that as a tool
[3:40:55] because the result pops up right away.
[3:40:57] It's very actionable,
[3:40:59] but it also can be
[3:41:00] limited as a teacher, right?
[3:41:01] Because there's so
[3:41:01] many other data sources,
[3:41:03] but in terms of your time and investing
[3:41:04] where you want to go
[3:41:05] and what data source is
[3:41:06] going to be the best for you
[3:41:07] as the teacher, probably
[3:41:09] the one that's most readily
[3:41:10] accessible is right there.
[3:41:11] That login is quick through clever.
[3:41:12] You can get it.
[3:41:14] If this system will
[3:41:15] take all of our sources
[3:41:17] and put it together, that will help us.
[3:41:19] There are so many other vendors
[3:41:20] that are vying for our
[3:41:22] attention that want to do this.
[3:41:25] I think there's an appetite
[3:41:26] out in the education community
[3:41:28] about putting
[3:41:28] information into an actionable way
[3:41:31] with visuals.
[3:41:32] More of us these days
[3:41:34] consume information visually,
[3:41:36] so we want to make
[3:41:36] this doable for our teams,
[3:41:39] but it's also drillable too.
[3:41:41] So if I see a chart, I
[3:41:42] can also drill and see,
[3:41:44] okay, wow, those are the
[3:41:44] kids I really need to work with.
[3:41:46] Earlier today, I was
[3:41:47] on a call with WestEd.
[3:41:49] I'm going to be speaking
[3:41:50] on a webinar with the CDE,
[3:41:52] the Department of Education,
[3:41:53] and the reason why they contacted me is
[3:41:56] that Glendale Unified
[3:41:57] has a high volume of
[3:41:59] interim assessment usage.
[3:42:01] So that's the state test,
[3:42:02] the SBAC, or the CASP test.
[3:42:05] We have been really pushing
[3:42:07] that with all of our school teams
[3:42:08] because it mirrors exactly what the
[3:42:10] summit of assessments
[3:42:11] look like in English language arts,
[3:42:13] mathematics, science,
[3:42:15] and also the LPAC for
[3:42:16] our English learners.
[3:42:17] Because we have such a
[3:42:18] high volume, they asked me,
[3:42:20] they said, well, how
[3:42:20] did you guys get this
[3:42:21] to be such a thing in Glendale?
[3:42:24] And I said, it kind of started as a
[3:42:25] grassroots movement.
[3:42:27] I know what it was like at the site.
[3:42:28] Again, we're scaling
[3:42:29] up across the district.
[3:42:31] So the idea of
[3:42:32] shifting how we assess kids
[3:42:34] may look more like
[3:42:35] that because I have seen
[3:42:37] how the interim
[3:42:37] assessments really mirrored
[3:42:39] that experience of benchmarks.
[3:42:41] I know when I was a
[3:42:42] principal and my school team,
[3:42:44] we would release teachers to
[3:42:46] look at the test questions.
[3:42:47] They would go through, find
[3:42:49] out the ones they wanted to use,
[3:42:50] and those became the benchmark,
[3:42:52] and their inquiry
[3:42:52] cycle was based on that.
[3:42:54] So I think you're right.
[3:42:55] We're in a place where
[3:42:56] we're gonna be able to shift
[3:42:58] once we know the data
[3:42:59] sources we really wanna use.
[3:43:01] And I appreciate that.
[3:43:02] And I wanna be sure that I had,
[3:43:07] with the reclassification
[3:43:08] of English language learners
[3:43:09] that we have kind of
[3:43:11] that going, and so Kelly.
[3:43:12] Yeah, there's another piece
[3:43:13] that's coming with reclassification.
[3:43:14] Do you wanna take that, Dr. King?
[3:43:16] So there's a bill sitting on the
[3:43:19] governor's desk currently.
[3:43:21] It passed both sides of the House and the
[3:43:23] State of California.
[3:43:24] So it's waiting for
[3:43:25] the governor's signature
[3:43:27] to change the reclassification criteria
[3:43:31] to standardize that across the state.
[3:43:34] Right now, the reclassification
[3:43:36] is a pretty complex combination
[3:43:38] of the state LPAC testing
[3:43:40] for our English learners.
[3:43:42] iReady are grades in the classroom,
[3:43:46] the state testing for CASP,
[3:43:49] and each district has the ability
[3:43:52] to fine-tune it their own way.
[3:43:54] So what is on the governor's desk
[3:43:57] is to use the LPAC only,
[3:44:00] so that students who score
[3:44:02] at the highest level of LPAC,
[3:44:03] they get a four, which includes
[3:44:06] listening, speaking,
[3:44:07] reading, and writing,
[3:44:08] that they automatically
[3:44:10] qualify for reclassification.
[3:44:12] So it majorly streamlines the
[3:44:14] reclassification process.
[3:44:16] It gives a very concrete goal
[3:44:18] for our English learners to strive for,
[3:44:23] and it eliminates for
[3:44:26] us that iReady or NWEA,
[3:44:29] that assessment tool
[3:44:31] that we needed to have
[3:44:34] the additional tool that was normative.
[3:44:37] So that will help us
[3:44:39] be able to streamline
[3:44:40] just our assessment loads moving forward.
[3:44:42] So we're anticipating
[3:44:44] that by the end of the month,
[3:44:47] and then we would be moving forward
[3:44:49] with that starting this semester,
[3:44:51] so that students who already have a four
[3:44:54] on their summative from last spring
[3:44:56] would reclassify in time for
[3:44:59] the second semester of school.
[3:45:02] And that advancement also
[3:45:03] presents a conundrum too,
[3:45:05] because if we're looking
[3:45:07] at students who reclassify,
[3:45:08] the question will then be,
[3:45:10] so you have this one test,
[3:45:11] it becomes very high stakes,
[3:45:13] but what other pieces are
[3:45:14] we looking at along the way
[3:45:15] to help support that kid
[3:45:16] to get to that ultimate goal
[3:45:18] of getting the four on the
[3:45:20] LPAC to be able to reclassify?
[3:45:21] So we'll have to, again, be looking
[3:45:23] at all of our assessment systems,
[3:45:25] and what's gonna give us
[3:45:26] the most bang for our buck
[3:45:27] in helping kids get to their goals.
[3:45:30] So we do have more work to do,
[3:45:33] but again, being
[3:45:34] comfortable with ambiguity,
[3:45:35] we have to see what
[3:45:36] happens on next steps.
[3:45:38] No, and some of those
[3:45:39] are definitely outside
[3:45:39] of our hands and all
[3:45:40] of that, so absolutely.
[3:45:42] Do you want to?
[3:45:44] I have two questions.
[3:45:45] So thank you for the presentation.
[3:45:46] I understand that, is this to one,
[3:45:50] to help minimize
[3:45:51] introduction to human error,
[3:45:53] to using Power BI or smart sheets, right?
[3:45:56] And this is to, like you said,
[3:45:58] streamline the numbers
[3:46:00] that we're looking at
[3:46:01] for academic achievement.
[3:46:03] However, I'm just curious to learn more
[3:46:05] about how many third parties
[3:46:07] are we going to be working with
[3:46:08] with this platform and the
[3:46:11] data privacy of students,
[3:46:12] because that's a
[3:46:13] really resounding concern
[3:46:15] that many folks have,
[3:46:16] and I just want to get
[3:46:17] a better understanding of how we're
[3:46:19] protecting student data.
[3:46:20] Sure, I can tell you
[3:46:21] that with the vendors
[3:46:22] that we work with, we
[3:46:24] immediately send out to them
[3:46:26] in our initial contact our
[3:46:28] own GUSD data privacy addendum.
[3:46:31] So before we can move
[3:46:32] forward with anything,
[3:46:33] they have to sign that, and this company,
[3:46:35] within hours of us sending it out,
[3:46:37] they were immediately
[3:46:39] responsive and providing that.
[3:46:40] They have also provided their blanket,
[3:46:43] their piggybackable
[3:46:44] agreement that they've used
[3:46:45] with other districts
[3:46:46] throughout the state,
[3:46:47] so this is not the first district
[3:46:49] they've worked with in California.
[3:46:50] They do work with 700 other districts
[3:46:53] besides those here in California,
[3:46:55] so there is a high degree of confidence
[3:46:58] that I felt working with the company.
[3:47:00] If it makes any difference at all,
[3:47:02] their CFO actually used
[3:47:03] to work here in Glendale.
[3:47:05] He was an employee here
[3:47:06] and has since moved on
[3:47:07] and done other things, so I
[3:47:09] think that's also helpful.
[3:47:10] Knowing who we're
[3:47:11] working with really makes
[3:47:12] a big difference in terms of
[3:47:13] relationships and partnerships.
[3:47:16] It is a one-way system,
[3:47:18] so we send the information
[3:47:20] to the data
[3:47:20] warehousing, they parse it out,
[3:47:23] and they send it back to us.
[3:47:24] Just so you know, too,
[3:47:25] every time we partner
[3:47:26] with any kind of company,
[3:47:28] this is a services agreement
[3:47:31] that we did with them initially.
[3:47:33] We wanted to see what kind of reports
[3:47:35] they would produce for us,
[3:47:35] so this is the second project
[3:47:37] we're working with
[3:47:38] Linkit on, and we ask them,
[3:47:42] even though they never
[3:47:42] set foot on our campuses,
[3:47:44] they don't interact with any human being
[3:47:46] here in Glendale Unified, we told them,
[3:47:49] we said we need your insurance policy,
[3:47:50] and we need a high limit.
[3:47:52] They were able to turn that around
[3:47:54] within less than 24 hours.
[3:47:56] We also came back to them and said,
[3:47:57] we also need your workers comp.
[3:47:59] How do we know that your individuals
[3:48:01] are not gonna fall down
[3:48:02] while they're on the job,
[3:48:03] and then we get
[3:48:03] charged with a bill on that.
[3:48:05] They were immediately responsive.
[3:48:06] So my level of confidence
[3:48:09] in working with this team
[3:48:10] is strong just because their relationship
[3:48:13] has already been built.
[3:48:14] They have offered to
[3:48:15] build everything out for us
[3:48:16] without any kind of signed agreement,
[3:48:17] which I think is really nice.
[3:48:19] They're ready to work with us.
[3:48:20] We've obviously not gone down that road
[3:48:22] because we wanna make sure
[3:48:23] that everyone is on board
[3:48:25] with the purpose of this project is.
[3:48:28] You spoke about capacity.
[3:48:30] There are very few
[3:48:31] people in this building alone
[3:48:33] that can use Power BI
[3:48:34] with any level of confidence.
[3:48:37] So that's a great tool, but I
[3:48:41] spoke about skill set, right?
[3:48:43] Data literacy in
[3:48:44] itself is its own skill set.
[3:48:45] At the school site, I
[3:48:46] could pull my own reports.
[3:48:47] I could prepare my own presentations,
[3:48:49] but we're just not at that place yet
[3:48:51] with all of our team members.
[3:48:53] I think what this allows us to do
[3:48:55] is have a place that's user friendly.
[3:48:57] You noticed in the
[3:48:58] contract that they presented,
[3:48:59] there's a lot of professional development
[3:49:01] that's built in to help
[3:49:02] support our school teams
[3:49:04] really get comfortable with
[3:49:05] looking at numbers and data
[3:49:07] and being able to get
[3:49:09] information about students
[3:49:10] in a quick way so they can
[3:49:11] make truly actionable choices.
[3:49:15] And they don't have to
[3:49:16] wait on the district office
[3:49:18] to provide something.
[3:49:19] They don't have to wait on
[3:49:19] the state to produce a report.
[3:49:21] This would be ready to go
[3:49:23] with their secure login.
[3:49:25] And the way their system works,
[3:49:26] it's all single sign on
[3:49:27] through our own systems
[3:49:28] here in Glendale.
[3:49:29] So if there's no outside source that they
[3:49:31] have to get through,
[3:49:32] it's through our own system.
[3:49:33] So it's authenticated
[3:49:34] through us here in GUSD first.
[3:49:39] Okay.
[3:49:42] Perfect.
[3:49:43] Thank you so much.
[3:49:45] Thank you so much.
[3:49:46] And we are gonna
[3:49:47] bounce back to Dr. Watson.
[3:49:49] If we don't have any
[3:49:50] more questions right here,
[3:49:50] I think we're good.
[3:49:51] Dr. Watson.
[3:49:53] Fantastic.
[3:49:53] Thank you.
[3:49:54] Thank you, Dr. Landisi.
[3:49:56] And the next item that will be presented
[3:49:57] will be by Dr. Ahan Garzadeh.
[3:50:00] He is our senior
[3:50:00] coordinator of visual performing arts.
[3:50:03] Dr. Ahan Garzadeh will
[3:50:04] provide details of this,
[3:50:06] of a report pursuant to education code.
[3:50:09] His report will highlight programs
[3:50:11] supported by the arts
[3:50:12] and music in schools
[3:50:14] around the available funding.
[3:50:16] He'll also discuss expansion of the work
[3:50:18] and its integration
[3:50:19] across other curricular areas.
[3:50:22] And he will also
[3:50:22] introduce you to a discussion
[3:50:24] on five-year strategic
[3:50:25] plans, staffing, lessons,
[3:50:27] and student showcases.
[3:50:28] So Dr. Ahan Garzadeh,
[3:50:30] can you please join us?
[3:50:32] And thank you for taking us
[3:50:33] through this presentation.
[3:50:35] Thank you so much, Dr. Watson.
[3:50:36] Good evening, President
[3:50:37] Cross, esteemed board members,
[3:50:38] members of cabinet, and of course,
[3:50:39] our viewing public at home.
[3:50:41] Thanks for the
[3:50:41] opportunity to come before you
[3:50:43] and present to this
[3:50:44] annual report on the 2526
[3:50:48] arts and music in schools expenditures.
[3:50:50] I'm Dr. Emil Ahan Garzadeh with visual
[3:50:53] and performing arts.
[3:50:54] The report supports several
[3:50:56] of your core board priorities,
[3:50:58] including fostering
[3:50:59] positive learning culture,
[3:51:00] building a thriving workforce,
[3:51:03] and maintaining fiscal responsibility.
[3:51:05] And as Dr. Watson just mentioned,
[3:51:06] this update actually
[3:51:08] fulfills our requirements
[3:51:09] under California Ed Code 8820
[3:51:11] to present an annual report to the board.
[3:51:14] Now, just for the viewing public,
[3:51:16] a quick recap on how Prop 28 works.
[3:51:21] It was a proposition that
[3:51:22] was passed by California voters
[3:51:24] in 2022 to expand VAPA access statewide.
[3:51:28] And that proposition
[3:51:29] created what we refer to now
[3:51:31] as the Arts and Music in School
[3:51:33] Legislation, or AMS.
[3:51:35] The funding, as you can see on the slide,
[3:51:37] is distributed equitably,
[3:51:39] meaning the 70% is
[3:51:40] based on overall enrollment
[3:51:42] and 30% on socioeconomically
[3:51:45] disadvantaged enrollment.
[3:51:47] In addition to that, the
[3:51:48] state's guidelines dictate
[3:51:49] that 80% of allocated
[3:51:51] funds must be for personnel,
[3:51:54] for teachers.
[3:51:55] And 20% can be reserved for
[3:51:57] supplies and external services
[3:51:59] and things like
[3:51:59] professional development, field trips,
[3:52:02] and the such.
[3:52:02] Now, our schools have
[3:52:03] done a remarkable job
[3:52:04] planning these funds out,
[3:52:06] but because life happens and unused
[3:52:09] balances can accumulate,
[3:52:11] the district secured a waiver
[3:52:13] from the California
[3:52:14] Department of Education
[3:52:15] that allows us to waive that 8020 rule,
[3:52:18] allowing us to pivot any
[3:52:20] remaining funds explicitly
[3:52:22] to meet the real-time
[3:52:23] needs of our students
[3:52:24] at our various schools.
[3:52:25] That's all good news.
[3:52:27] Now, the AMS, or Arts and
[3:52:29] Music in School Funding,
[3:52:30] comes with a unique twist.
[3:52:33] Each year's allocation can be spent
[3:52:35] over a three-year rolling window.
[3:52:38] And if you look at our
[3:52:39] active allocations on the screen
[3:52:41] for the past three years,
[3:52:42] you'll see that our overall
[3:52:43] funding trend line is moving up.
[3:52:46] However, as in all
[3:52:47] macro funding formulas,
[3:52:48] when you drill into it,
[3:52:50] you'll see that while 22 of our schools
[3:52:53] saw an increase in funding this year,
[3:52:56] 13 of our sites actually
[3:52:57] saw a decrease in the funding.
[3:53:00] So we do have good news though,
[3:53:02] and that's because thanks
[3:53:03] to our proactive planning
[3:53:04] by our principals and the
[3:53:05] oversight of our school site,
[3:53:07] councils out there,
[3:53:08] this is not going to
[3:53:09] impact our personnel needs,
[3:53:11] that is teachers will still be able
[3:53:13] to work with our students.
[3:53:14] It only means that those 13 sites
[3:53:16] will have to just tighten
[3:53:17] their belt just a little bit
[3:53:18] when it comes to supplies and repairs
[3:53:20] and things of that nature.
[3:53:22] So what did we actually
[3:53:23] build with last year's dollars?
[3:53:27] As usual, it all starts with a plan.
[3:53:29] And you may recall that we overhauled
[3:53:31] our district's five-year visual and
[3:53:33] performing arts plan
[3:53:34] with community input.
[3:53:36] The board approved that roadmap
[3:53:38] and it focuses our work on tighter
[3:53:40] financial infrastructure,
[3:53:42] a robust staff development program,
[3:53:45] and elevated community visibility.
[3:53:48] We also spent some of last year,
[3:53:50] about two or three months of last year,
[3:53:51] and identifying a cost-effective,
[3:53:54] high-quality elementary arts curriculum.
[3:53:57] Two committees unanimously selected
[3:53:59] the AMPED Arts Performing Arts curriculum
[3:54:02] for dance, theater, and music,
[3:54:05] comes before you, in fact, tonight,
[3:54:06] as an action item for adoption.
[3:54:09] What's great about AMPED
[3:54:10] Arts is that it will provide
[3:54:11] all of our elementary school teachers
[3:54:14] with an easy-to-use system to teach
[3:54:16] standard-based performing
[3:54:18] arts skills to their students
[3:54:19] in addition to our amazing
[3:54:21] instrumental music program,
[3:54:23] our VAPA itinerant teacher program.
[3:54:25] We've got some wonderful
[3:54:26] things happening in the arts.
[3:54:28] We also recruited and deployed
[3:54:30] six credentialed VAPA itinerant teachers
[3:54:33] across 12 elementary sites.
[3:54:36] We brought on 66
[3:54:37] classified VAPA assistants
[3:54:40] who provided critical hands-on coaching.
[3:54:42] This was certainly no small task,
[3:54:44] and of course, we're
[3:54:44] grateful for the work
[3:54:45] of our human resources teams
[3:54:47] that had to process all
[3:54:48] of those new employees.
[3:54:50] In addition to that, we
[3:54:52] created a simple new application
[3:54:54] for all elementary teachers to use
[3:54:57] in integrating artistic procedures
[3:54:59] into other subject matter content.
[3:55:02] It was developed alongside
[3:55:04] our 20 arts learning leaders,
[3:55:06] these are 20 teachers representing
[3:55:07] our 20 elementary schools,
[3:55:08] and we're calling it
[3:55:09] VAPA Learning Commons.
[3:55:11] It basically gives
[3:55:12] our teachers ready-made,
[3:55:14] cross-curricular lessons
[3:55:16] that integrate the arts
[3:55:17] right into science
[3:55:18] lessons and math lessons
[3:55:19] and social studies lessons.
[3:55:21] Working very closely
[3:55:22] with many of our departments
[3:55:24] and business services,
[3:55:25] including facilities,
[3:55:26] financial services,
[3:55:28] our ETIS team, of course,
[3:55:30] our contracting and procurement team,
[3:55:32] we undertook a massive
[3:55:33] modernization project
[3:55:35] using last year's funding.
[3:55:37] They actually, we
[3:55:38] actually used the 23-24 funds
[3:55:40] with permission from the California
[3:55:41] Department of Education
[3:55:42] to upgrade 28
[3:55:45] performance and rehearsal spaces
[3:55:47] district-wide that give our students
[3:55:50] some professional
[3:55:51] grade audio work systems
[3:55:53] to work during their
[3:55:54] choral recitals, for example,
[3:55:56] or a new high-powered projection system
[3:55:58] that can be used in some cases
[3:56:00] to create digital backgrounds for
[3:56:02] theatrical productions,
[3:56:03] and also a simplified,
[3:56:05] unified control system
[3:56:07] to standardize the tech
[3:56:09] in performance spaces.
[3:56:10] Now towards the end of last year,
[3:56:12] we secured another waiver
[3:56:14] from the California
[3:56:15] Department of Education.
[3:56:16] This allows us to use
[3:56:17] our remaining 25-26 funds
[3:56:20] more flexibly, so we can bypass that
[3:56:23] 80-20 expenditure rule.
[3:56:25] This particular waiver
[3:56:26] grants us the opportunity
[3:56:28] to modernize our
[3:56:29] rehearsal performance spaces,
[3:56:31] specifically with new lighting systems,
[3:56:33] staging systems like curtains,
[3:56:35] and of course also
[3:56:36] media and video equipment.
[3:56:39] Just a couple more things,
[3:56:40] we expanded our partnerships.
[3:56:42] We are proud to now officially be parting
[3:56:44] with the music
[3:56:45] center, with a noise within.
[3:56:46] We've been working with
[3:56:47] them for quite some time,
[3:56:48] but now we're having
[3:56:50] regular meetings and discussions.
[3:56:51] We're starting out with a noise within,
[3:56:54] many of our students go to a noise within
[3:56:56] to see professional
[3:56:57] theatrical productions,
[3:56:58] and of course the music
[3:56:59] center offers our schools
[3:57:01] a menu of exciting
[3:57:02] cultural arts assemblies
[3:57:04] to engage our students.
[3:57:07] Lots of opportunities for the kids
[3:57:08] to showcase their art as well,
[3:57:10] including the Artistic
[3:57:11] Expressions Showcase,
[3:57:13] where our gifted and
[3:57:14] talented education students
[3:57:15] were able to showcase their 3D sculptures
[3:57:18] at their local schools.
[3:57:19] We also have our ongoing brand library
[3:57:22] and art gallery collaboration.
[3:57:25] This year we did it in neighborhood.
[3:57:27] Ecology was the name of the exhibit.
[3:57:29] I'm excited to see what
[3:57:30] this 26, 27 year we'll bring.
[3:57:32] And lastly, we had our senior showcase
[3:57:35] at the ACE 121 Gallery,
[3:57:36] just kind of corner from the
[3:57:37] administration center.
[3:57:39] I'm most proud of course of our
[3:57:41] Carcena Valley High School in Marcheple,
[3:57:43] because out of the 19 schools statewide
[3:57:47] to receive the prestigious California
[3:57:49] Exemplary Arts Award,
[3:57:51] two of those 19 schools
[3:57:53] were Glendale Unified Schools.
[3:57:54] That's right, CVHS,
[3:57:56] Mark Keppel Elementary School,
[3:57:57] Myel Alma Mater.
[3:57:59] These schools offer some
[3:58:00] of the best VAPA education
[3:58:02] across the Golden State,
[3:58:03] thanks to their of
[3:58:04] course amazing VAPA educators
[3:58:06] and leadership that champions the arts.
[3:58:09] Which brings us back to
[3:58:11] the funds, the numbers.
[3:58:13] Looking at our
[3:58:14] overall allocation in 2526,
[3:58:17] we served over 25,000
[3:58:19] students across 34 sites.
[3:58:21] We hired six full-time itinerant teachers
[3:58:24] and two full-time assistants,
[3:58:27] in addition to 66
[3:58:28] part-time VAPA assistants
[3:58:30] who keep our programs running daily.
[3:58:34] Now furthermore, the
[3:58:35] state intentionally designed
[3:58:37] this three year spending window,
[3:58:39] because as anyone who's trying to hire
[3:58:41] an arts teacher right now knows,
[3:58:43] there's a statewide
[3:58:44] credential teacher shortage.
[3:58:46] And what the three
[3:58:47] years timeline gives us
[3:58:49] is a bit of a runway,
[3:58:50] so that the state can build up a
[3:58:52] sustainable pipeline
[3:58:53] and bring in on more VAPA teachers.
[3:58:56] Now looking ahead, we
[3:58:58] are looking to partner
[3:58:59] with even more organizations,
[3:59:01] including universities and
[3:59:02] colleges as I've mentioned,
[3:59:04] to try to support that
[3:59:05] human resources pipeline,
[3:59:06] get more teachers to come online,
[3:59:09] to teach the arts to our students.
[3:59:11] We're also looking to
[3:59:12] build premiere partnerships
[3:59:13] industry giants like the
[3:59:15] Walt Disney Animation Group
[3:59:17] and of course the Lucas
[3:59:18] Museum of Narrative Art,
[3:59:19] which by the way opens
[3:59:21] up in just a week or so,
[3:59:22] if you haven't got a
[3:59:22] chance to take a look at it,
[3:59:23] I'm very excited about it.
[3:59:25] On the instructional front,
[3:59:27] our expansion will continue this year
[3:59:29] as we systematically review visual
[3:59:32] and media arts curriculum to round out
[3:59:34] the five disciplines for
[3:59:36] our elementary schools.
[3:59:37] And we're also gonna be taking a look
[3:59:38] at curating a flexible menu
[3:59:41] discipline specific course options
[3:59:43] for our secondary schools.
[3:59:45] Our major lift this year
[3:59:46] is gonna be professional development.
[3:59:48] We are very happy to be
[3:59:49] able to invest in our workforce
[3:59:51] through a district wide VAPA
[3:59:52] professional learning series.
[3:59:54] It's gonna be delivered both through
[3:59:56] webinars and seminars
[3:59:58] and it's going to be paired
[3:59:59] with expanded teacher
[4:00:01] collaboration time as well.
[4:00:03] Above all, equity is
[4:00:05] gonna guide our next chapter
[4:00:07] by partnering with our
[4:00:08] special education department
[4:00:10] to build a formal
[4:00:11] adaptive arts education framework
[4:00:13] for neurodiverse learners
[4:00:15] and reinforcing parenting
[4:00:16] community feedback loops.
[4:00:18] The district is ensuring that high
[4:00:20] quality arts education
[4:00:21] remains inclusive, responsive and
[4:00:24] transformative for all,
[4:00:26] including our English learners.
[4:00:29] It's a wonderful way to teach students
[4:00:31] how to embrace English language
[4:00:33] by allowing them to
[4:00:34] play, get up on stage.
[4:00:36] And in fact, that's one of
[4:00:38] the ways I became an actor.
[4:00:40] I was a student here
[4:00:41] at Hoover High School
[4:00:41] and I was cast into
[4:00:43] play as an ESL student.
[4:00:44] And I'm glad to be able to continue
[4:00:46] that tradition moving forward.
[4:00:49] In conclusion, I do wanna just call out,
[4:00:51] I think everybody is
[4:00:52] all aware of this already,
[4:00:53] but the community should know
[4:00:55] that next week is
[4:00:56] National Arts Education Week.
[4:00:58] It's a time for our schools to emphasize
[4:01:00] the importance of VAPA education.
[4:01:02] They're gonna be
[4:01:03] celebrating with student performances
[4:01:04] and showcases and
[4:01:06] activities for our kids.
[4:01:08] It's also a great time
[4:01:09] for parents and families
[4:01:11] to take a special trip
[4:01:12] perhaps to the local museum,
[4:01:14] perhaps the Lucas
[4:01:15] Museum for Narrative Art
[4:01:17] or to see a play at the
[4:01:19] Antaeus Theater Company
[4:01:20] just down the street, Brand and Broadway.
[4:01:23] With that, I'm very happy
[4:01:24] to take on any questions.
[4:01:26] This report incidentally
[4:01:27] is available to the public.
[4:01:29] It's on our website at
[4:01:30] www.gusd.net slash arts.
[4:01:33] And if you have any
[4:01:34] questions, I'm happy to respond.
[4:01:36] Thank you so much for
[4:01:37] that amazing report.
[4:01:39] And thank you for
[4:01:39] highlighting some of the great programs
[4:01:41] and the schools and everything
[4:01:42] that we are accomplishing together.
[4:01:44] And I believe that Ms.
[4:01:46] Fried has a question.
[4:01:48] Hello, Dr. Ahingerza.
[4:01:49] Thank you very much for
[4:01:50] this fantastic presentation.
[4:01:53] Seeing all the amazing
[4:01:54] ways in which you've grown
[4:01:56] our arts programs and
[4:01:57] really helped give shape
[4:01:59] to the vision that so
[4:02:01] many of our staff members
[4:02:03] have had over the years.
[4:02:05] You've just done an amazing job.
[4:02:07] I'm so proud of this report, of the work,
[4:02:11] of the growth that has taken place
[4:02:14] within our VAPA community.
[4:02:17] And I just wanna say you are an
[4:02:20] outstanding advocate
[4:02:21] for the arts, your energy
[4:02:23] and enthusiasm comes through.
[4:02:25] I would like to ask
[4:02:26] that you take some time
[4:02:28] as you are doing site
[4:02:30] visits and coordinating,
[4:02:32] please inform the
[4:02:32] board of some of the events
[4:02:34] that we can come and
[4:02:36] observe this good work,
[4:02:38] whether it's by way of performances
[4:02:40] or just to tour and see some of the work.
[4:02:43] And I am most excited about the work,
[4:02:46] the partnership with special education.
[4:02:48] I know over the years in different hats,
[4:02:51] I've had the opportunity to see,
[4:02:54] the arts are a great equalizer.
[4:02:55] It's a wonderful way to be inclusive.
[4:02:58] And I've seen many of the arts and crafts
[4:03:00] that our students at College View
[4:03:02] and other parts of
[4:03:03] the district have done.
[4:03:05] And so I'm just very excited.
[4:03:06] Please keep me on the very short list.
[4:03:08] I want to see it firsthand
[4:03:10] and I thank you for
[4:03:11] the work you're doing.
[4:03:11] Thank you so much, Ms. Farid.
[4:03:12] I appreciate it.
[4:03:13] Of course, all credit
[4:03:13] goes to our students
[4:03:14] and our amazing teachers.
[4:03:16] But thank you so much for the kind words.
[4:03:18] All right, thank you.
[4:03:19] And Mr. C?
[4:03:21] Yeah, thank you, President Cross.
[4:03:23] And thank you for a
[4:03:23] wonderful presentation.
[4:03:24] Just one quick question
[4:03:25] regarding the AMP arts curriculum.
[4:03:29] And you said that
[4:03:31] regarding the curriculum,
[4:03:32] is that gonna be
[4:03:33] available to classroom teachers
[4:03:34] or is it going to be
[4:03:35] available for the itinerant?
[4:03:37] All classroom teachers.
[4:03:38] And that's the major shift
[4:03:40] that we're not just going
[4:03:41] to be relying on our
[4:03:42] VAP itinerant teachers
[4:03:43] and our instrumental music teachers.
[4:03:45] This curriculum
[4:03:46] allows all of our teachers
[4:03:48] to become performing arts facilitators.
[4:03:50] They don't have to be
[4:03:51] experts in music or dance,
[4:03:53] but the curriculum is
[4:03:54] packaged in such a way
[4:03:55] that it allows for a very, very low lift.
[4:03:57] It lets the teachers work
[4:03:59] with the students directly
[4:04:00] as opposed to having
[4:04:01] to organize curriculum.
[4:04:03] So all the teachers will--
[4:04:04] All elementary school teachers.
[4:04:05] Thank you.
[4:04:08] Okay, do we have any, we have one more.
[4:04:11] We're full of questions today.
[4:04:13] Thank you so much for
[4:04:14] that wonderful presentation.
[4:04:16] Just quickly, I wanted to
[4:04:18] just learn a little bit more of,
[4:04:20] I'm looking at your, the
[4:04:23] VAPA performing arts 2026, 2031.
[4:04:27] And I see beautiful images
[4:04:28] of students working on tech
[4:04:30] and some of those things that are
[4:04:32] incorporated into the arts.
[4:04:34] Can you speak a little
[4:04:35] bit more of the value
[4:04:36] that it does bring into the
[4:04:37] classroom regarding their use
[4:04:39] of organizing in the background
[4:04:41] as they put together
[4:04:42] the performances and yeah.
[4:04:45] I can tell you, I
[4:04:46] started out as an actor,
[4:04:47] as a writer myself,
[4:04:48] and it wasn't until I got
[4:04:50] to Hoover High School
[4:04:50] where I was introduced
[4:04:51] to the technical side of
[4:04:53] the theater that I realized
[4:04:55] how much more is
[4:04:56] involved in expressing an idea,
[4:04:59] especially in a K-12 system.
[4:05:02] But I can tell you that
[4:05:03] a lot of the technology
[4:05:04] that's being used currently is really,
[4:05:09] it's intended to support the actual
[4:05:11] productions themselves.
[4:05:13] It's not about living
[4:05:14] inside of these curricula
[4:05:16] or inside of these programs.
[4:05:18] It's about facilitating
[4:05:19] the student's capacity
[4:05:20] to be able to put on a
[4:05:22] musical or to put on a show.
[4:05:24] There are media arts
[4:05:25] standards in the visual
[4:05:27] and performing arts framework,
[4:05:29] but those are a little
[4:05:30] bit more along the side
[4:05:32] of design thinking.
[4:05:34] They're about making choices much more so
[4:05:36] than they are about
[4:05:37] the technical learning
[4:05:38] of those specific skill sets.
[4:05:39] So the addition of media arts skill sets
[4:05:42] and visual and
[4:05:43] performing arts can really expand
[4:05:45] the audience that our
[4:05:46] students will have an opportunity
[4:05:47] to communicate with in the future.
[4:05:50] There's also a big overlap
[4:05:52] between our career technical programs
[4:05:55] and our visual performing arts.
[4:05:57] So you'll see graphic arts,
[4:05:59] you'll see technology behind the scenes
[4:06:03] for our student productions,
[4:06:07] as well as some of our student newscasts
[4:06:12] and things like that.
[4:06:13] So you'll see technology brought in
[4:06:16] in a lot of different ways.
[4:06:19] I did wanna mention one
[4:06:20] thing to what Mr. Krekorian
[4:06:22] had mentioned earlier about
[4:06:24] leveraging alternative funds
[4:06:27] for facility upgrades.
[4:06:29] The waiver that we received
[4:06:31] on the first year allocation
[4:06:33] really went a long ways
[4:06:35] towards using these funds
[4:06:39] for those upgrades and
[4:06:40] not needing bond money
[4:06:42] or even our maintenance funds for it.
[4:06:46] So it was a very
[4:06:50] opportune way to make sure
[4:06:52] that we are continuing
[4:06:54] to upgrade those spaces
[4:06:56] to make them state of the art,
[4:06:58] as well as leveraging the
[4:07:00] funds that were available.
[4:07:03] The funds that we're
[4:07:04] looking at for last year
[4:07:06] and this year, we are on
[4:07:08] track for meeting the 80-20
[4:07:12] percentages every once in
[4:07:14] a while something happens
[4:07:15] where we don't meet that
[4:07:17] because of different staffing changes.
[4:07:19] But I know that it was
[4:07:20] very important to the board
[4:07:22] and previously that we
[4:07:23] are using those funds
[4:07:25] to hire GUSD employees.
[4:07:27] So the hiring of the itinerant teachers
[4:07:31] and the hiring of GUSD assistance
[4:07:34] either full-time or part-time,
[4:07:37] we really took that to heart
[4:07:38] and thank you to Mr. Hungars today
[4:07:41] and Human Resources to make that happen
[4:07:44] so that we're
[4:07:44] decreasing the contracting out
[4:07:46] of Visual Performing Arts.
[4:07:48] We still have incredible partners
[4:07:50] that we contract out within the 20%,
[4:07:52] but really meeting the goal of that 80%,
[4:07:55] which was the intent of the state money.
[4:08:01] Okay, thank you.
[4:08:02] And yeah, I have
[4:08:03] noticed that in the emails
[4:08:05] that have come around and we've made sure
[4:08:07] to invite our staff to have this
[4:08:10] and make sure our teachers feel involved
[4:08:11] and that there's so
[4:08:12] many opportunities here
[4:08:14] and I appreciate that.
[4:08:15] Thank you so much.
[4:08:15] And we're gonna hop back
[4:08:17] over to Dr. Watson again
[4:08:19] if she is still on that
[4:08:21] screen, which I can't tell.
[4:08:22] Ooh, I think she might be.
[4:08:23] Oh, you can't tell?
[4:08:24] Okay, hello, I am back on the screen
[4:08:27] and President Cross, we'll
[4:08:29] go ahead now and move to,
[4:08:32] I'll thank Dr. Ann Garza again
[4:08:34] and we'll move over to Business Services.
[4:08:36] And so tonight, the first
[4:08:38] thing under Business Services,
[4:08:39] our Assistant
[4:08:40] Superintendent of Business Services,
[4:08:42] Mr. William Young will
[4:08:43] present the summary of revenue
[4:08:45] expenditures for 2025-26,
[4:08:48] on audited actuals and 26-27 budget
[4:08:53] based on some technical corrections.
[4:08:55] And this presentation is
[4:08:56] required by Ed Code 42-100
[4:08:59] and requires a district
[4:09:00] to report all revenues
[4:09:02] and expenditures for
[4:09:03] the preceding fiscal year.
[4:09:05] So he's going, this
[4:09:06] will require the discussion
[4:09:08] of any and all the
[4:09:09] corrections and final tabulations
[4:09:12] that are generally
[4:09:12] done at the end of August,
[4:09:14] even though the
[4:09:14] fiscal year ends June 30th.
[4:09:16] So Mr. Young, thank you,
[4:09:18] you and your fiscal team
[4:09:20] for preparing this
[4:09:21] support and working so hard
[4:09:23] and ensuring that the
[4:09:25] numbers are accurate.
[4:09:26] So I'll turn it over to
[4:09:28] you, Mr. Young, thank you.
[4:09:30] Thank you, Dr. Watson.
[4:09:31] Good evening, President Cross
[4:09:32] and Board of Education
[4:09:34] members presented before you tonight
[4:09:35] is last year's closing of the books,
[4:09:38] 2025-26, Unaudited Aches.
[4:09:41] As Dr. Watson
[4:09:42] mentioned, this is a requirement
[4:09:44] of every school
[4:09:44] district to close the books.
[4:09:48] And as a reminder, the Unaudited Actuals
[4:09:51] represents that
[4:09:52] year-end financial results
[4:09:53] for that particular fiscal year.
[4:09:55] It summarizes the actual
[4:09:57] revenues, expenditures,
[4:09:59] fund balances and
[4:10:00] other financial activity
[4:10:01] in that particular year.
[4:10:03] We do submit this to
[4:10:04] the Los Angeles County
[4:10:06] Office of Education
[4:10:07] and then also in turn,
[4:10:09] it goes to the California
[4:10:10] Department of Education.
[4:10:11] And this is called
[4:10:13] Unaudited Actual Reports
[4:10:14] because it is subject
[4:10:15] to an independent audit
[4:10:17] which the work has already begun
[4:10:19] and the independent audit
[4:10:20] report will be presented
[4:10:21] before the board in December.
[4:10:25] In regards to the budget cycle,
[4:10:29] this is in essence a
[4:10:30] mall map of where we're at
[4:10:32] in the budget cycle
[4:10:33] for this particular year.
[4:10:36] You can see at the top of the clock,
[4:10:38] budget adoption is June.
[4:10:41] That recently occurred
[4:10:42] for the 26-27 budget.
[4:10:44] We are in that green-blue circled item
[4:10:47] and that's the Unaudited Actuals
[4:10:48] and presented before September 15th.
[4:10:52] And this will be a
[4:10:53] reference slide as we move forward
[4:10:55] through other reports
[4:10:56] throughout the year.
[4:10:57] But it's a good guiding
[4:10:58] document to show where we're at
[4:11:00] from presenting reports to
[4:11:02] also even budget development.
[4:11:07] Later on this evening,
[4:11:08] the board will take action
[4:11:10] on the entire report, 139 page report.
[4:11:13] This presentation is a
[4:11:14] summary of just that report.
[4:11:16] In these particular pie charts here,
[4:11:18] you can see the
[4:11:19] comparative total revenues
[4:11:21] comparing on the left
[4:11:22] 2025-26 Unaudited Actuals
[4:11:25] and pardon me that the numbers are small
[4:11:29] in this particular
[4:11:30] graphic but the handouts
[4:11:32] that we have in front of you
[4:11:33] should provide you
[4:11:34] additional viewing opportunity.
[4:11:36] So on the left is 25-26
[4:11:38] compared to 26-27 on the right.
[4:11:43] You can see at the
[4:11:43] bottom in the yellow box,
[4:11:45] between the years we see an increase
[4:11:47] of about $40.66 million in revenue
[4:11:51] between last year and this year.
[4:11:53] And that is due to increase
[4:11:55] in the LCFF funding formula,
[4:11:56] cost of limiting adjustments
[4:11:59] and then one time
[4:12:00] additional block grants.
[4:12:06] And on the next page in
[4:12:08] the pink or dusty rose color,
[4:12:11] you can compare the
[4:12:12] Unaudited Actual expenditures
[4:12:14] on the left side, same
[4:12:15] concept but with expenditures.
[4:12:17] And then on the right side
[4:12:19] is what is currently adopted
[4:12:21] as the budget and you
[4:12:23] can see we see an increase
[4:12:24] of an expenditures of
[4:12:25] about $16.44 million
[4:12:27] there at the bottom and
[4:12:30] that's comparing last year's budget
[4:12:33] to this year's projected budget.
[4:12:41] And then part of closing
[4:12:42] the books is determining
[4:12:44] what does the fund balance look like?
[4:12:47] And so in this particular slide, we are
[4:12:50] particularly looking
[4:12:51] at the unrestricted general fund balance.
[4:12:54] So this table represents
[4:12:56] unrestricted general fund.
[4:12:59] As a reminder to the audience,
[4:13:01] if we talked about
[4:13:02] restricted, restricted has more rules
[4:13:04] for the particular funding.
[4:13:06] In the prior presentation, Prop 28
[4:13:08] is a restricted
[4:13:09] funding source must be used
[4:13:10] on arts education.
[4:13:13] Unrestricted is more general.
[4:13:16] So in June when the
[4:13:17] board adopted the budget,
[4:13:18] the financial services
[4:13:19] team estimated actuals
[4:13:22] at $45 million for the unrestricted
[4:13:24] ending fund balance.
[4:13:26] Between June and
[4:13:28] September, after we have leveraged
[4:13:32] some of the one time restricted funds
[4:13:35] as well as adjusted fund
[4:13:37] balances and accounting,
[4:13:41] we ended up with $20 more million
[4:13:43] and that's a positive place to be
[4:13:45] in the current climate that we're in.
[4:13:48] When we talk about ending fund balance,
[4:13:50] just wanna remind the audience as well
[4:13:52] is that that is one time money.
[4:13:54] It's money that is left
[4:13:55] from that ongoing money
[4:13:56] from year to year.
[4:13:58] Part of the increase is also due to a
[4:14:02] reduced contribution
[4:14:04] to special education
[4:14:05] of about 7.2 million.
[4:14:06] We didn't reduce services, right?
[4:14:09] But the contribution
[4:14:10] need that we forecasted
[4:14:12] was $7.2 million more.
[4:14:14] That was part and due to
[4:14:15] hiring more in-house staff
[4:14:17] versus contracting out.
[4:14:18] So that savings that we've talked about
[4:14:20] over the last couple years, that's
[4:14:22] catching up with us.
[4:14:27] Little bit more detail
[4:14:28] on the ending fund balance
[4:14:30] at $45 million.
[4:14:32] We do have a GASB 87 requirement.
[4:14:34] You may be asking what's GASB 87 about.
[4:14:37] That is a requirement
[4:14:39] because we have real property
[4:14:41] that we lease out.
[4:14:43] So if you recall Prado Apartments,
[4:14:46] while we don't own the apartments,
[4:14:47] the land that it sits
[4:14:49] on is district property.
[4:14:50] So there is a GASB 87 Governmental
[4:14:53] Accounting Standards Board
[4:14:55] Rule 87 requirement in
[4:14:58] consultation with our auditor,
[4:15:00] making sure that we set
[4:15:01] that requirement aside.
[4:15:04] We do have HCM, Human Capital
[4:15:05] Management System with LACO.
[4:15:07] That is about $500,000 to
[4:15:09] cover any training needs,
[4:15:10] tech needs to launch that new system
[4:15:12] that's being implemented countywide.
[4:15:17] Earlier there was a mention of paid
[4:15:18] pregnancy disability leave
[4:15:20] working with HR and planning ahead.
[4:15:21] We're setting aside $2.5 million.
[4:15:23] That was also shared at
[4:15:24] the June budget adoption.
[4:15:26] So these numbers may look familiar
[4:15:30] because it was discussed also in June.
[4:15:32] One of the big items to note here
[4:15:34] is the contribution to fund 40,
[4:15:36] special reserve fund for
[4:15:37] capital outlay projects.
[4:15:38] The recommendation right
[4:15:39] now is about $24 million
[4:15:41] of that ending fund
[4:15:42] balance be shifted to fund 40.
[4:15:44] So at a future board item,
[4:15:46] staff will make a
[4:15:46] recommendation of about that amount.
[4:15:49] 6 million has already been transferred
[4:15:51] at the last board meeting
[4:15:52] to cover security cameras,
[4:15:54] one and a half million
[4:15:55] to cover Senate Bill 848
[4:15:57] facilities adjustments,
[4:15:58] about 1.5 to my recollection
[4:16:01] for additional
[4:16:02] deferred maintenance projects.
[4:16:04] So part of that 24 million
[4:16:06] has already been transferred
[4:16:08] under your direction.
[4:16:10] And then fiscal
[4:16:11] stabilization arrangements
[4:16:12] is set at $12 million.
[4:16:15] And that is to cover for anything
[4:16:16] that 3% reserve doesn't cover.
[4:16:19] Those are the unforeseen conditions
[4:16:21] in state and federal funding.
[4:16:24] And with all of that
[4:16:26] even shared and mentioned,
[4:16:27] we will still meet the
[4:16:28] 10% reserve requirement
[4:16:30] once all those transfers are done.
[4:16:33] And just a side note there,
[4:16:35] come first interim, which will be
[4:16:37] presented in December,
[4:16:38] these amounts may fluctuate
[4:16:39] and it's based upon state or federal
[4:16:41] financial conditions,
[4:16:43] our enrollment and
[4:16:45] shifting of general funds,
[4:16:47] our unrestricted general fund
[4:16:48] to the more restricted side of the house.
[4:16:49] You sum up with that
[4:16:50] one time money up first
[4:16:52] before using unrestricted.
[4:16:57] If we look at all
[4:16:57] funds across the district,
[4:17:00] on the left side, you
[4:17:01] can see the fund number.
[4:17:02] We just talked about the general fund,
[4:17:04] that unrestricted
[4:17:05] general fund at $65 million
[4:17:07] in ending fund balance.
[4:17:08] We do have restricted
[4:17:09] general fund of $61 million.
[4:17:12] And then you can see all the
[4:17:13] different funds that we have,
[4:17:16] student activity special reserve fund,
[4:17:18] that is our ASB funds,
[4:17:19] ASB programs throughout the district.
[4:17:21] There's about $3 million there.
[4:17:25] And I'm not gonna go over all of them,
[4:17:26] child development, about $4 million
[4:17:30] that supports our preschool programs.
[4:17:32] A cafeteria special
[4:17:33] reserve fund, about $25 million,
[4:17:35] sorry, $26 million in balance.
[4:17:38] And so in speaking with
[4:17:40] the department leaders,
[4:17:41] they are aware that they
[4:17:43] need to strategically plan
[4:17:44] to spend these amounts down
[4:17:46] because there are statutory
[4:17:47] caps on some of these funds.
[4:17:50] Our building fund,
[4:17:51] our Measure S bond fund,
[4:17:53] there is about almost $35 million there.
[4:17:55] About $16 million is still set aside
[4:17:58] for our Marshall multi-purpose room.
[4:18:03] So at a future board meeting,
[4:18:05] our facilities planning department
[4:18:07] will bring forward a recommendation
[4:18:08] for the remaining Measure S
[4:18:10] tied to prior discussions
[4:18:12] around Measure S projects.
[4:18:15] And so as you can
[4:18:15] see, across the district,
[4:18:17] we are in a positive
[4:18:19] ending fund balance spot.
[4:18:21] So that's the place we would wanna be.
[4:18:25] Next steps include adjustments
[4:18:27] to the 26-27 working budget.
[4:18:29] We'll continue to conduct the THICMAT,
[4:18:32] Fiscal Health Risk Analysis work
[4:18:34] that has been presented to
[4:18:36] you twice over the past year.
[4:18:38] So that work is in progress.
[4:18:41] As I mentioned, in December,
[4:18:43] December is the time where
[4:18:44] we're gonna actually talk
[4:18:45] about four budgets.
[4:18:47] The independent audit closing out 25-26,
[4:18:49] the current year budget 26-27,
[4:18:51] and then multi-year
[4:18:52] forecasting for the two out years.
[4:18:54] So that particular meeting,
[4:18:56] you're talking about
[4:18:56] four years worth of budgets.
[4:18:59] And then the remaining
[4:19:00] items you can see there
[4:19:01] come January, the governor
[4:19:03] will propose next year's budget.
[4:19:08] Okay. I'm open for questions.
[4:19:12] Thank you so much.
[4:19:15] Do we have questions over here?
[4:19:16] I know I have a couple
[4:19:17] of things I wanted to say.
[4:19:19] Go ahead, Mr. C.
[4:19:22] Thank you for the presentation.
[4:19:23] Not a question, but just a
[4:19:25] statement of appreciation
[4:19:26] for the collective effort it took
[4:19:28] for us to get to this point.
[4:19:30] With the board, I know a few years ago,
[4:19:32] we had to do the FCMAT.
[4:19:34] Certain things had to
[4:19:34] do to steer our district
[4:19:37] into the right direction
[4:19:38] and just think about the work
[4:19:39] that we did then to get to this point.
[4:19:42] With Dr. Bruik and Human Resources,
[4:19:44] the emphasis on reducing outsourcing,
[4:19:48] hiring more in-house,
[4:19:50] which is not just a decision,
[4:19:51] but it means a lot of extra work.
[4:19:53] And so the willingness
[4:19:54] and ability to do all that.
[4:19:56] And of course, the work that you've done
[4:19:57] in your department as
[4:19:58] well since you've been here.
[4:20:00] So just thank you to
[4:20:01] all of you for the work
[4:20:02] to bring us to this point.
[4:20:06] Okay, and do we have any over here?
[4:20:07] Yep.
[4:20:09] Thank you, Mr. Young.
[4:20:10] I echo what Mr. C. just expressed,
[4:20:14] but I do also have a question.
[4:20:16] In thinking about how
[4:20:17] the costs of everything
[4:20:22] across the board have gone up
[4:20:23] and in light of the economy we're in,
[4:20:26] how comfortable are you when
[4:20:28] I get that there is no magic,
[4:20:29] there is no crystal ball, obviously,
[4:20:31] but in general as
[4:20:33] districts are looking at
[4:20:36] assessing future costs.
[4:20:38] And obviously we have limited abilities
[4:20:40] in terms of our
[4:20:41] contingencies and preparing.
[4:20:44] I mean, what we've seen in the last year,
[4:20:46] just as individuals
[4:20:47] going to the grocery store
[4:20:49] where something has
[4:20:50] doubled or tripled in cost,
[4:20:53] goods and services, equipment,
[4:20:55] whether it's
[4:20:56] automobiles, the price of gasoline,
[4:20:58] so the cost of, let's
[4:20:59] say, cooling our facilities,
[4:21:00] so let's say the HVAC is working,
[4:21:02] but the cost of electricity, the cost,
[4:21:04] how do you feel this
[4:21:06] will impact districts
[4:21:07] and more specifically ours, if you could?
[4:21:09] Just a little blurb,
[4:21:11] I mean, not an essay,
[4:21:12] but I don't wanna put you on the spot,
[4:21:13] but it weighs on my mind,
[4:21:15] and so what are your
[4:21:17] thoughts if you wouldn't mind?
[4:21:18] It does weigh on my mind as well.
[4:21:20] It is a moving target right now,
[4:21:22] forecasting out some of the increases.
[4:21:25] Health benefits, for example,
[4:21:28] we've experienced close
[4:21:30] to just over an 8% increase
[4:21:31] from year to year, right, we're
[4:21:32] forecasting that out,
[4:21:33] but it could actually enter double digits
[4:21:36] based on the
[4:21:36] information that we're hearing.
[4:21:38] So fuel costs are costs
[4:21:41] related to JFK transportation.
[4:21:45] Their increase is 3% was to
[4:21:49] absorb some of the fuel costs.
[4:21:50] We are going to see increased refuse
[4:21:54] garbage pickup costs
[4:21:55] as well, and that's
[4:21:57] all tied to fuel costs,
[4:21:59] maintenance costs, staff costs,
[4:22:01] and then also a
[4:22:02] closure of a regional source
[4:22:05] to dump the trash, so
[4:22:07] they have to travel further,
[4:22:08] so they have additional travel costs,
[4:22:10] so we'll likely see increases there.
[4:22:13] So it is definitely a
[4:22:14] moving target as we move forward,
[4:22:16] so the managers and the teams
[4:22:19] are conscious of that as well,
[4:22:21] and careful budget planning and awareness
[4:22:24] is critical as we move forward.
[4:22:26] Well, I thank you and
[4:22:27] the members of your team
[4:22:28] who are also here in
[4:22:29] the audience tonight.
[4:22:30] Thank you very much.
[4:22:33] Dr. Dinkian.
[4:22:34] Thank you so much for the update.
[4:22:37] I'm just thinking
[4:22:37] ahead and planning ahead
[4:22:39] with community school
[4:22:40] grants that will be expiring,
[4:22:42] I believe, in 2028, correct?
[4:22:44] And is there a plan,
[4:22:45] should that not be renewed
[4:22:48] given the climate we
[4:22:49] were just talking about?
[4:22:51] I'm not sure what our contingency plan is
[4:22:54] for community schools.
[4:22:55] Yeah, we actually had a conversation
[4:22:56] earlier today on it.
[4:22:57] I'll have Dr. King expand on it,
[4:22:59] but there is some good
[4:23:00] news around community schools.
[4:23:03] There's some great
[4:23:04] news on community schools
[4:23:05] because now it's moving
[4:23:07] from a competitive grant
[4:23:08] to a allocation for schools that have,
[4:23:15] they reach or surpass that 65% of
[4:23:17] undiplicated students.
[4:23:19] So all of our schools
[4:23:20] that are at the 65% or above
[4:23:24] will be receiving funding,
[4:23:26] and that is secured funding for the next
[4:23:29] seven to eight years.
[4:23:31] All we have to do is do an
[4:23:33] opt-in form by November 1st,
[4:23:36] so we will be doing the opt-in form.
[4:23:40] It does increase the need for our schools
[4:23:44] to really look at
[4:23:45] filling out that educational,
[4:23:50] what are we calling it?
[4:23:51] It's not the free and
[4:23:52] reduced lunch meal survey,
[4:23:54] but as part of the re-enrollment packet,
[4:23:57] there's that one section
[4:23:59] regarding family income
[4:24:01] and family size, and that's really for us
[4:24:04] to help identify all of
[4:24:07] our undiplicated students.
[4:24:09] The largest group of
[4:24:10] our undiplicated students
[4:24:11] are those students who
[4:24:12] qualify for free and reduced lunch,
[4:24:14] and it's really
[4:24:15] important for our families
[4:24:16] to remember that it's not
[4:24:18] just your monthly income,
[4:24:21] it's also your family size.
[4:24:23] So some of our families
[4:24:25] who feel that there's no way
[4:24:26] we would qualify for
[4:24:27] reduced meal, the qualifications,
[4:24:30] but because of family
[4:24:31] size, you actually would.
[4:24:33] So while that positions the
[4:24:35] district for future funding,
[4:24:37] it also is gonna make
[4:24:38] a very big difference
[4:24:40] for schools for
[4:24:42] potential community funding.
[4:24:44] Two schools in
[4:24:44] particular are kind of right on,
[4:24:46] if we looked at last year's numbers,
[4:24:49] that would be Glen Oaks and
[4:24:50] Lockersson Elementary School
[4:24:51] are right on the edge of like 63% or 62%,
[4:24:56] so we're looking to see
[4:24:57] if they might tip over
[4:25:00] to qualify for community schools.
[4:25:02] I know one of our prior
[4:25:05] board members was very passionate
[4:25:07] about daily high school
[4:25:08] being a community school.
[4:25:10] They qualify, so we will be
[4:25:13] sharing a lot more information
[4:25:16] from the state update later in this month
[4:25:18] about what the new
[4:25:19] criteria might or qualifications
[4:25:22] or requirements might
[4:25:23] be for community schools,
[4:25:24] but we are so excited to
[4:25:26] have this as just an allocation
[4:25:29] to those schools for the
[4:25:30] next seven to eight years.
[4:25:34] Wow, that is incredible, actually.
[4:25:36] I'm like, that's happy dance.
[4:25:38] I think that there's
[4:25:41] been a lot of hard decisions
[4:25:42] that the board has had to make and that
[4:25:44] staff has had to do,
[4:25:45] and I wanna acknowledge that the
[4:25:47] incredible hard work
[4:25:48] that went into this with
[4:25:49] your team, with finance,
[4:25:51] with the entire department,
[4:25:53] because this was
[4:25:53] something where for years,
[4:25:56] we've really been
[4:25:56] digging into best practice
[4:25:59] and what has been done and
[4:26:01] just really looking at it
[4:26:03] in the most honest light as
[4:26:04] possible and just being real
[4:26:06] and being like, okay, this isn't working
[4:26:07] or how do we fix this?
[4:26:08] Bringing in the FCMAT was
[4:26:09] a big opportunity for us
[4:26:11] to really drill in on that,
[4:26:14] and then working with our families,
[4:26:18] explaining why we're doing those things,
[4:26:20] why we're filling out those forms,
[4:26:22] ensuring that we can
[4:26:24] get any of those funds
[4:26:25] that we're able to do, but
[4:26:26] then also what your staff
[4:26:27] has been able to do as well
[4:26:28] about looking at things creatively
[4:26:30] and how we can use those funds,
[4:26:32] how we can use Prop 28
[4:26:33] here so that we can enjoy
[4:26:37] expanding the arts,
[4:26:39] but also what the school
[4:26:41] might also need, so I just think that
[4:26:43] it's really important
[4:26:44] that business services knows
[4:26:46] that what they have done is,
[4:26:48] and what you've done
[4:26:49] is incredibly important
[4:26:51] and appreciated and it's
[4:26:52] really, it's hard work,
[4:26:54] and it also is, as we all know,
[4:26:57] there's an ebb and flow to finances,
[4:27:00] so being responsible and looking at that
[4:27:01] and keeping aware, I
[4:27:05] think another thing is,
[4:27:07] we were all shocked when
[4:27:09] special education prices,
[4:27:11] the cost went up so
[4:27:12] high, and one of the things
[4:27:13] that was really important
[4:27:14] to the boards before this
[4:27:18] was ensuring that we had worked on
[4:27:21] closing out all those contracts.
[4:27:22] We found that there was
[4:27:23] just so many contracted workers
[4:27:27] who had not completed their hours
[4:27:29] from back in COVID and all of that,
[4:27:32] and so really helping to clean that up,
[4:27:35] I think that this is one of those things
[4:27:37] where we're doing, I think, a great job,
[4:27:41] but we're doing a great
[4:27:42] job because of the great work
[4:27:42] that's gone into it and the
[4:27:43] great work that came before
[4:27:44] and the great work that
[4:27:45] you guys are continuing to do
[4:27:46] and not backing down, so
[4:27:48] I appreciate that a lot
[4:27:49] and I think it's
[4:27:50] really worth acknowledging,
[4:27:51] so I hope everybody knows that, that
[4:27:53] they're appreciated.
[4:27:55] And from that, I will, I will actually,
[4:27:58] oh great, sorry, I did not
[4:27:59] see that you had a hand up.
[4:28:01] From that, I'm gonna
[4:28:01] throw it over to Greg.
[4:28:04] Now just to reflect on
[4:28:06] his budget in the district,
[4:28:07] obviously I've been looking at the state
[4:28:08] and a lot of school districts are on
[4:28:09] financial challenges
[4:28:11] and I know some of this
[4:28:12] here is one-time grant money
[4:28:13] and I wish it was,
[4:28:15] curious first question,
[4:28:15] what percentage in here is blocked
[4:28:18] on one-time funds that we're getting?
[4:28:20] So when you have it on
[4:28:21] the chart, the pie chart,
[4:28:22] and it shows the percentage in here,
[4:28:24] it says one-time block grants,
[4:28:26] is there a certain
[4:28:27] percentage we're receiving?
[4:28:30] I don't have that
[4:28:30] percentage in front of me,
[4:28:31] I could be happy to get you that.
[4:28:33] It would be helpful.
[4:28:33] Typically the state and federal
[4:28:35] lean more toward one side.
[4:28:37] I understand that's what I was asking,
[4:28:38] because one-time funding
[4:28:39] is just obviously one time,
[4:28:40] doesn't help us with ongoing expenses,
[4:28:42] so we're gonna deal
[4:28:42] with some other challenges.
[4:28:43] And the other
[4:28:44] question I have is regarding,
[4:28:45] basically maybe Kyle
[4:28:46] would have to answer,
[4:28:47] the total amount of employees in our
[4:28:49] district that we have,
[4:28:50] I know we have about 1300,
[4:28:51] it's just indicated, but classified,
[4:28:53] total number of
[4:28:54] employees we have, ballpark?
[4:28:56] Probably around 1400 classified.
[4:28:59] Plus the 1300 and
[4:29:00] teach, so it's about 2700.
[4:29:02] About say even 2700 to
[4:29:05] be safe with the number,
[4:29:06] so just looking at
[4:29:08] potential healthcare increases,
[4:29:10] we're looking close to
[4:29:10] seven million dollars,
[4:29:12] potentially ongoing coming up,
[4:29:14] because even do 8%, even if you,
[4:29:16] because you already said eight or 10%,
[4:29:18] and it's a fact, it's coming.
[4:29:19] I know we have one member in healthcare,
[4:29:21] and I've seen a lot of healthcare,
[4:29:22] and healthcare is going through the roof.
[4:29:24] And just to be realistic with things,
[4:29:25] if we're saying apples to apples,
[4:29:27] and to talk about
[4:29:28] reality we're having here,
[4:29:30] we have potentially a six to eight
[4:29:32] million dollar increase
[4:29:32] to our healthcare plans potentially,
[4:29:34] if you just look at the numbers,
[4:29:35] just adding it up
[4:29:36] because I know our benefits,
[4:29:38] we have one of the best
[4:29:38] benefit plans in the state,
[4:29:40] which we're proud of.
[4:29:41] But looking at this and seeing healthcare
[4:29:43] is going to continue to go up,
[4:29:45] and on top of it, we have
[4:29:46] many employees who we have,
[4:29:47] and classified that work
[4:29:49] a certain amount of time,
[4:29:49] don't get healthcare, they're gonna be
[4:29:51] challenged too lately
[4:29:52] because there's less
[4:29:53] healthcare offered for them,
[4:29:54] because our present
[4:29:55] leadership in the federal government
[4:29:57] has done cuts to a lot
[4:29:58] of healthcare programs,
[4:29:59] which help a lot of our families.
[4:30:01] I know visiting some of
[4:30:02] the schools in the area,
[4:30:04] one of the challenges we're having with
[4:30:05] declining enrollment
[4:30:05] is affordability, housing
[4:30:07] has gone up through the roof.
[4:30:08] At just a little home across from your,
[4:30:11] principal's telling me that
[4:30:12] parents are paying 2700 hours
[4:30:13] for a little two
[4:30:14] bedroom house renting it,
[4:30:16] they can't afford to stay
[4:30:17] here, and they're leaving.
[4:30:18] And you're talking about
[4:30:19] declining enrollment too,
[4:30:20] it's coming, and it's been happening.
[4:30:22] I was in this district, and we had 30
[4:30:24] plus thousand students,
[4:30:25] there's 6000 less
[4:30:26] students here in our district,
[4:30:28] we're year round elementary schools,
[4:30:30] our staff size was a lot
[4:30:32] smaller than it is now,
[4:30:32] but we're maintaining the same budget,
[4:30:34] and I'm just saying for us to be
[4:30:36] financially prudent,
[4:30:37] because at the end of
[4:30:37] the day, we're responsible,
[4:30:39] the last line of responsibility for our
[4:30:42] tax dollars are here,
[4:30:44] and this money has to
[4:30:45] be coming from somewhere,
[4:30:45] and we're seeing that
[4:30:46] there is a potential excess
[4:30:48] with some new tax laws coming up,
[4:30:50] that some of the
[4:30:50] dollars are leaving our state.
[4:30:52] And we talk about rise of cost of living,
[4:30:55] I mean, I've been to the grocery store,
[4:30:57] and we see the cost simple rising,
[4:31:00] so obviously these costs rising
[4:31:01] are impacting our food services too.
[4:31:03] So I'm curious too, it
[4:31:04] would be helpful too,
[4:31:05] to see what impacts,
[4:31:07] because one of the meals
[4:31:08] that we do provide for
[4:31:09] most of our children,
[4:31:10] the best meal they're getting is
[4:31:11] sometimes our schools,
[4:31:12] which we need to provide to our children.
[4:31:15] I'm wondering too,
[4:31:16] what's the impact there,
[4:31:18] just so we could look
[4:31:19] at the full comparative,
[4:31:21] it would be helpful seeing what these
[4:31:23] potential increases,
[4:31:24] we know healthcare, it's
[4:31:25] going up, that's a fact,
[4:31:27] and it's been going up ongoing,
[4:31:30] because I know before the cost
[4:31:32] of health and wealth benefits
[4:31:33] wasn't what it is today,
[4:31:35] what we paid five years ago,
[4:31:38] but as it may, it is
[4:31:41] appreciated for the support,
[4:31:42] I know we always get this point,
[4:31:44] I know January when
[4:31:45] the governor comes out,
[4:31:46] whoever gets elected right at this time,
[4:31:49] that may change too,
[4:31:50] we don't know the way
[4:31:51] of the political climate's gonna happen,
[4:31:53] and who's gonna be the next
[4:31:54] governor, we have no clue,
[4:31:56] we have an idea what the
[4:31:57] percentage of what happens
[4:31:58] in the state, but that
[4:31:59] could impact our budget too
[4:32:00] in many ways, I'm
[4:32:02] more of a, in my nature,
[4:32:05] like being a squirrel
[4:32:07] who saves his acorns
[4:32:08] and being cautious for tomorrow,
[4:32:10] because I'd rather guarantee our staff,
[4:32:11] they're gonna be here for years to come,
[4:32:13] that's one thing we pride
[4:32:14] ourselves in this district,
[4:32:15] is longevity, never having layoffs,
[4:32:17] never having any
[4:32:18] structural financial challenges,
[4:32:19] a lot of districts are
[4:32:21] being taken over by the county,
[4:32:22] and it's been a statewide thing,
[4:32:25] and I appreciate these
[4:32:26] reports, but at the same time,
[4:32:28] I'm just excited but
[4:32:30] cautious too, as one board member,
[4:32:32] to be cautious about this,
[4:32:33] and be cautious in aspect
[4:32:35] of declining enrollment is happening,
[4:32:39] and I'm just curious when
[4:32:41] we're gonna get those numbers
[4:32:42] with our upcoming enrollment numbers,
[4:32:44] when does that come, I know usually,
[4:32:46] is that in October we're gonna find out
[4:32:47] what our numbers are with enrollment?
[4:32:49] First Wednesday in
[4:32:50] October is the census day.
[4:32:52] Across the state, yes.
[4:32:54] Now I recall it's usually
[4:32:55] October, and we see that,
[4:32:56] and I know sometimes I look back,
[4:32:59] and we were declining
[4:33:00] in some of our schools,
[4:33:01] and I'm actually
[4:33:02] Franklin Elementary School,
[4:33:03] back in 2003, 2004, we're
[4:33:05] having challenges there,
[4:33:06] the board at the time,
[4:33:07] we started the Foreign Language Academy,
[4:33:09] we were a board that started,
[4:33:10] and that actually created excitement
[4:33:12] for those families to
[4:33:13] go there out of district,
[4:33:14] and to create revenue,
[4:33:16] because the more kids that we get,
[4:33:18] I like to see our
[4:33:19] opportunities, the programs we have,
[4:33:21] to use as a marketing tool,
[4:33:23] I've seen other private groups advertise
[4:33:26] to our parents here,
[4:33:26] and I've seen our ad,
[4:33:28] I saw our ad recruiting
[4:33:30] students in Burbank's leader,
[4:33:31] in the Burbank
[4:33:32] newspaper, I don't know what kids
[4:33:33] will get from Burbank, unified lists,
[4:33:34] they're having
[4:33:35] challenges there to come to us,
[4:33:37] but I know sometimes we've
[4:33:38] got to market our programs too,
[4:33:39] to attract students too,
[4:33:41] which gives us some
[4:33:42] benefit to enrollment,
[4:33:44] but I know you'll get back
[4:33:47] to one of those questions
[4:33:48] about the block grant,
[4:33:49] and was the other question,
[4:33:50] was the percentage of the healthcare,
[4:33:53] what you talked about?
[4:33:55] Healthcare, and the cost of food.
[4:33:59] Food services.
[4:34:00] So food services I can answer right now,
[4:34:02] as part of the report, it's
[4:34:03] actually page 33 of the document,
[4:34:05] that's in the packet.
[4:34:05] How much is raised on this?
[4:34:07] So last year we spent about
[4:34:08] $9.2 million in food supplies,
[4:34:11] in general supplies to operate
[4:34:13] our nutrition services department,
[4:34:14] this year we budgeted 13 million,
[4:34:17] based upon increasing
[4:34:19] food variety and options,
[4:34:20] but also just general
[4:34:23] consumer price index increases.
[4:34:26] And some of the cost increases too,
[4:34:27] even to the waste management,
[4:34:29] there's a lot more laws on recycling,
[4:34:32] more laws on the drop sites,
[4:34:35] so it's harder on the providers too,
[4:34:36] to maintain their costs,
[4:34:38] because they're getting pressure too,
[4:34:39] it's even anytime there's pressure,
[4:34:41] the dollars has to be covered somewhere,
[4:34:43] I appreciate it Bill, thank you Cap.
[4:34:46] Ms. Cross.
[4:34:47] You are welcome, no problem.
[4:34:49] All right, any more
[4:34:50] questions on this one?
[4:34:52] All right, then we're gonna keep going,
[4:34:55] we'll throw it back to Dr. Watson,
[4:34:57] up there on the computer screen,
[4:35:00] usually it's me up there
[4:35:01] you guys, but it's not today.
[4:35:03] Thank you, so now we
[4:35:05] are in our second item
[4:35:07] under business services,
[4:35:08] and thank you Mr. Young
[4:35:10] for that presentation,
[4:35:11] and thank you board
[4:35:11] members for your feedback.
[4:35:13] Now we'll go on to the proposed
[4:35:15] learner centered technology,
[4:35:17] screen time resolution discussion.
[4:35:19] I first wanna just
[4:35:20] begin by saying thank you
[4:35:22] to all the many
[4:35:22] parents that have emailed me,
[4:35:25] you sent me communications,
[4:35:26] I know you sent them to the
[4:35:28] board as well as our staff,
[4:35:29] thank you for sharing your
[4:35:30] concerns about screen time,
[4:35:32] offering solutions and making a
[4:35:35] collaborative effort,
[4:35:37] to best meet the needs of our learners,
[4:35:39] and so I just wanna just put out there,
[4:35:41] resolution will not be voted on or no
[4:35:45] action this evening,
[4:35:48] we'll just be
[4:35:49] listening to the information
[4:35:50] that's out there around the resolution,
[4:35:52] the resolution truly was the
[4:35:54] district working in advance,
[4:35:56] trying to lay a
[4:35:57] foundation on what needed to come.
[4:35:59] So tonight we want you
[4:36:00] to hear the information,
[4:36:01] hear the background,
[4:36:02] here's some next steps of
[4:36:03] what we as a district need to do
[4:36:05] to ensure that we have the feedback of
[4:36:09] our engaged parents,
[4:36:11] around this issue,
[4:36:12] our students, our staff,
[4:36:13] and any other interested parties,
[4:36:16] so that we could hear your voice,
[4:36:18] Dr. Kelly King, Assistant Super
[4:36:20] Educational Services
[4:36:22] and Mr. Young again, where technology
[4:36:24] rests in his division,
[4:36:25] they'll bring this
[4:36:26] item up for presentation.
[4:36:28] So again, thank you to
[4:36:30] all the community members,
[4:36:32] parents, staff,
[4:36:33] students, sharing on this effort,
[4:36:35] continue to reach out
[4:36:36] to us, thank you so much.
[4:36:41] Okay, good evening once again,
[4:36:42] so thank you Dr. Watson
[4:36:44] for that introduction,
[4:36:45] again for the public,
[4:36:47] this is an information item,
[4:36:48] only not an action
[4:36:49] item and Dr. King and I
[4:36:52] will be presenting information relating
[4:36:54] to a draft resolution that is
[4:36:56] attached to the board agenda,
[4:36:58] and that is built around the Board of
[4:37:01] Education Priorities
[4:37:02] and some foundational documents,
[4:37:05] such as Board Policy 6163.4,
[4:37:09] which is student use of technology,
[4:37:14] or Board Policy 0440 around district
[4:37:17] technology and planning.
[4:37:22] Brief conversation,
[4:37:23] discussion about Board Policy 0441,
[4:37:25] artificial intelligence,
[4:37:26] while the draft resolution
[4:37:29] is not as specific around
[4:37:31] artificial intelligence,
[4:37:32] we believe that part of that discussion
[4:37:34] needs to continue to
[4:37:35] happen before we present
[4:37:36] a final resolution for your consideration
[4:37:38] and approval at a future date.
[4:37:41] So there's also some guiding documents
[4:37:47] or guiding
[4:37:48] expectations at the state level
[4:37:50] that we need to be mindful of,
[4:37:52] the California Standards
[4:37:53] for the Teaching Profession,
[4:37:56] two of the CSTPs specifically speaks
[4:37:59] to the use of
[4:38:01] technology in the classrooms,
[4:38:03] engaging and supporting
[4:38:04] all students in learning,
[4:38:05] so using a variety of
[4:38:06] instructional strategies
[4:38:08] and technologies to
[4:38:09] meet student diverse needs,
[4:38:11] as well as creating, maintaining
[4:38:13] effective environments
[4:38:15] for student learning, creating physical
[4:38:17] or virtual learning environments
[4:38:19] that promote student learning.
[4:38:21] There's also in, we have
[4:38:25] standards for everything
[4:38:26] and frameworks and
[4:38:27] expectations at the state level,
[4:38:30] California Public Schools
[4:38:32] has computer science standards
[4:38:35] and these standards are grouped K2,
[4:38:39] third through fifth
[4:38:40] grade, six through eight
[4:38:41] and nine through 12 and
[4:38:44] provide a vertical alignment
[4:38:47] and progression of
[4:38:48] computer science skills
[4:38:49] from the very earliest grades of how to,
[4:38:52] like what are the pieces of
[4:38:54] a keyboard and a computer,
[4:38:56] to typing and making
[4:38:59] sure that our students
[4:39:00] by third grade are able
[4:39:01] to type small paragraphs
[4:39:04] and small essays all
[4:39:06] the way up to ethical use
[4:39:08] of technology at the
[4:39:11] highest grade levels.
[4:39:12] So there's five core concepts
[4:39:14] in the computer science standards,
[4:39:17] it's computing systems,
[4:39:18] networks and the internet,
[4:39:19] data and analysis,
[4:39:21] algorithms and programming
[4:39:22] and impacts of computing.
[4:39:25] So much of this is
[4:39:26] related to secondary schools
[4:39:29] and students who choose to
[4:39:32] dive deeper into technology,
[4:39:34] our coding schools and
[4:39:36] other specialized programs,
[4:39:38] but specifically we
[4:39:40] still need to be mindful
[4:39:41] as we're creating a resolution or
[4:39:43] discussing screen time
[4:39:45] is our responsibilities at elementary
[4:39:49] to prepare our students
[4:39:50] and kind of backwards map
[4:39:51] for what skills do they
[4:39:53] need at what grade levels
[4:39:55] and how do we responsibly
[4:39:57] and intentionally
[4:39:57] build towards those skills.
[4:40:05] And so as you may see
[4:40:07] throughout the news,
[4:40:08] through
[4:40:09] correspondences, through information,
[4:40:11] there is a trend, a national reset
[4:40:13] back towards intentional technology.
[4:40:15] Across California and the nation,
[4:40:17] districts are reassessing how technology,
[4:40:19] instructional
[4:40:20] technology affects learning,
[4:40:22] wellness and that human connection.
[4:40:25] The emerging direction is purposeful use
[4:40:27] as we talk about a draft resolution.
[4:40:30] We're gonna be talking
[4:40:31] about purposeful use,
[4:40:32] we're gonna be talking about
[4:40:33] developmentally appropriate guardrails,
[4:40:37] transparency and continuous review.
[4:40:41] And it's not about
[4:40:42] technology or no technology,
[4:40:44] it's what is the intent,
[4:40:46] how do we move forward?
[4:40:48] And you may be asking why is the
[4:40:49] assistant superintendent
[4:40:50] of business services
[4:40:51] part of this presentation
[4:40:52] or discussion?
[4:40:53] I am a multiple subjects teacher,
[4:40:55] I'm an elementary teacher,
[4:40:57] actually taught K-5
[4:40:58] computers back in the day,
[4:40:59] I understand it's been a while,
[4:41:01] but technology has been around,
[4:41:02] so when we talk about
[4:41:03] those state standards,
[4:41:04] I was on the front end of that.
[4:41:06] And so working with the team here,
[4:41:09] working with our curriculum team,
[4:41:10] I'm fully aware of some of the concerns
[4:41:13] that arise from technology
[4:41:15] and how we best use it in the classroom.
[4:41:17] On the right hand side,
[4:41:18] you can see LA Unified,
[4:41:20] they have approved a resolution
[4:41:22] to limit student screen
[4:41:24] time, San Diego Unified,
[4:41:26] not too long, not too
[4:41:27] shortly after LA Unified,
[4:41:29] also approved a resolution.
[4:41:31] And so we took language
[4:41:33] from both of those resolutions
[4:41:35] and built a draft that fits Glendale
[4:41:39] at that time in the moment.
[4:41:40] And we also understand
[4:41:41] that this is evolving,
[4:41:42] so you're going to see
[4:41:43] some additional changes
[4:41:44] and additions based upon the feedback
[4:41:45] that we get throughout this process.
[4:41:48] New York City is
[4:41:49] rethinking how AI and classroom
[4:41:51] screen use is being used.
[4:41:53] And then EdSource, a publication,
[4:41:56] parents and educators ask
[4:41:57] what technology improves
[4:41:59] and what it crowds out.
[4:42:01] So as we examine how
[4:42:03] we best move forward,
[4:42:05] we're gonna need to
[4:42:05] get continued feedback.
[4:42:10] So the draft really is just establishing
[4:42:13] a framework similar to
[4:42:15] LA Unified and San Diego.
[4:42:18] It's not a blanket band, a
[4:42:19] blanket band of technology,
[4:42:23] but it's really moving
[4:42:24] towards the core direction
[4:42:26] of a learner-centered
[4:42:28] approach that focuses
[4:42:30] on screen value and digital balance,
[4:42:32] that it's not technology
[4:42:34] for technology purposes.
[4:42:38] It's why are we doing this and be very
[4:42:40] intentional about it.
[4:42:44] Educator-led instruction,
[4:42:45] it should not replace it.
[4:42:47] We know during the years
[4:42:49] of COVID and the pandemic
[4:42:51] that technology replaced instruction,
[4:42:55] necessarily so when we
[4:42:56] were in distance learning,
[4:42:57] but we're not now.
[4:42:59] And we know that it's very
[4:43:01] important for our students
[4:43:02] to have those
[4:43:02] face-to-face human interactions,
[4:43:06] use language, build those social skills,
[4:43:10] build all of the things
[4:43:11] that they need to build,
[4:43:13] and they can only do that by interacting
[4:43:16] with their teachers,
[4:43:17] interacting with instruction.
[4:43:20] But technology is in our students' lives.
[4:43:24] It is what our students
[4:43:25] will be using in the future
[4:43:27] for everything for college and career.
[4:43:30] So how do we, and when do we, and where
[4:43:33] do we integrate that
[4:43:35] to prepare them for what they need to do,
[4:43:39] both for the required state assessments,
[4:43:41] but what do they need to do
[4:43:43] to prepare them for college
[4:43:44] and career after they leave GUSD?
[4:43:48] So the draft includes an
[4:43:50] improvement of a review of software
[4:43:52] for safety, privacy,
[4:43:55] efficacy, and unique learning value.
[4:43:57] It would include the development of
[4:43:59] grade-level subject,
[4:44:00] disability, and
[4:44:01] language-responsive guidance.
[4:44:03] So similar to L-E Unified in San Diego,
[4:44:06] at what grade level is
[4:44:08] technology not in the classrooms,
[4:44:11] potentially, and what grade levels is it,
[4:44:13] and to what extent is it?
[4:44:16] It reduces the passive and
[4:44:18] non-instructional use
[4:44:20] of technology so that if
[4:44:21] we are putting a screen up
[4:44:23] in front of our
[4:44:23] students, there is a educational
[4:44:25] and a sound educational reason for it,
[4:44:28] and then strengthening
[4:44:29] the family tools training
[4:44:30] and public reporting of that,
[4:44:32] so the transparency of
[4:44:34] the use of technology.
[4:44:37] Much of what Dr. King has
[4:44:38] shared is a recalibration
[4:44:40] of policies that already
[4:44:41] exist within the district,
[4:44:44] review, recalibrate, and
[4:44:46] adjust as we move forward.
[4:44:49] When we look at the core direction,
[4:44:51] when we look at high-value uses,
[4:44:53] screen value matters
[4:44:54] more than screen presence.
[4:44:57] So what is the value of
[4:44:59] observing what's on the screen,
[4:45:00] that intentionality?
[4:45:03] What are some
[4:45:04] examples of high-value uses?
[4:45:06] The opportunity to create
[4:45:08] design, code, and solve.
[4:45:10] Definitely the
[4:45:10] opportunities to collaborate
[4:45:11] and communicate using technology,
[4:45:13] and you can see the
[4:45:14] other list of items there.
[4:45:16] One of the other
[4:45:17] high-value uses is being prepared
[4:45:19] for that AI literacy,
[4:45:20] which is very much part
[4:45:21] of today's world, but
[4:45:23] doing it with intentionality,
[4:45:25] grade level specific,
[4:45:27] and some guard rails.
[4:45:29] So build responsible
[4:45:30] digital and AI literacy.
[4:45:33] Uses to reduce or redesign.
[4:45:37] We need to examine passive viewing
[4:45:39] without a clear outcome, right?
[4:45:40] If we're talking about intentionality,
[4:45:41] we should be seeing less
[4:45:42] of that passive viewing.
[4:45:44] Non-instructional gaming and distraction
[4:45:47] that comes with technology.
[4:45:49] We heard it in some of
[4:45:50] the public comments tonight
[4:45:53] around that concern.
[4:45:55] When we talk about intentionality,
[4:45:57] that can actually be reduced.
[4:45:59] And we'll talk about
[4:46:00] some of the strategies
[4:46:01] that the board has
[4:46:02] authorized and implemented
[4:46:03] that we are launching to
[4:46:04] address some of those concerns.
[4:46:07] And then technology, wanna
[4:46:08] stay away from technology
[4:46:10] used mainly as a convenience.
[4:46:12] It is an instructional tool.
[4:46:14] It is part of the curriculum.
[4:46:16] So moving out of that
[4:46:17] convenience aspect of it.
[4:46:20] One thing, one last
[4:46:21] thing on that slide also
[4:46:23] is when are students using technology?
[4:46:26] What is happening during the school day?
[4:46:28] But what are our
[4:46:29] expectations at the home?
[4:46:31] And then if we are providing a device,
[4:46:34] when are we shutting
[4:46:36] off access to the device
[4:46:37] so that our students
[4:46:38] are expected to sleep?
[4:46:39] They're expected to
[4:46:40] interact with their families.
[4:46:42] They're expected to turn off the devices.
[4:46:45] And we have the ability
[4:46:46] with the tools that we have
[4:46:48] to create those blackout periods
[4:46:51] unique to each grade level.
[4:46:53] So as we're talking about screen time
[4:46:56] during the school
[4:46:56] day, we also need to say,
[4:46:59] okay, if we're going to
[4:47:00] put tools in the hands
[4:47:02] of our students that
[4:47:02] are taking them home,
[4:47:04] either opting in or opting out,
[4:47:06] but for those families
[4:47:08] that do have a device at home
[4:47:10] from GUSD, here's the times when you
[4:47:12] cannot use that device.
[4:47:14] And that's different in early elementary
[4:47:18] to our AP students who are
[4:47:20] getting ready for the AP exams.
[4:47:22] So making sure that we're appropriate
[4:47:24] at different grade levels for those
[4:47:26] expectations as well.
[4:47:30] So for, as we mentioned before,
[4:47:33] we do have a district
[4:47:34] policy and standards
[4:47:36] that already require purposeful use,
[4:47:39] but this is really important for us
[4:47:40] as we're developing screen time policies
[4:47:43] and having these discussions
[4:47:45] that we remind our teachers
[4:47:46] and engage with our
[4:47:47] teachers about when is this a tool
[4:47:52] that is really moving
[4:47:53] their instruction forward
[4:47:54] and when do we have
[4:47:55] access to other tools that,
[4:47:58] including a good old textbook and paper
[4:48:02] and reading books and things like that.
[4:48:05] And then being very
[4:48:06] intentional to make sure
[4:48:07] that we do not intentionally shut a door
[4:48:11] if we're still responsible
[4:48:12] for those computer science
[4:48:14] standards at the different grade levels.
[4:48:15] So we want to make sure
[4:48:16] that we see both of those.
[4:48:22] Background noise)
[4:48:24] And then continuing off of that,
[4:48:26] technology is very much integral to GUSD
[4:48:29] programs and access.
[4:48:30] On the left side, you can see
[4:48:31] technology focused choice programs.
[4:48:35] Cerritos Elementary School having
[4:48:36] computer science immersion programs.
[4:48:38] Thomas Edison being an advanced
[4:48:40] technology magnet school.
[4:48:42] Verdugo Academy,
[4:48:44] independent study, fully web based.
[4:48:47] Technology is very
[4:48:48] much part of our programs.
[4:48:49] We have the Academy at Roosevelt Middle
[4:48:51] and then science and technology
[4:48:53] at our Clark Magnet High School.
[4:48:57] When we talk about being integral,
[4:49:00] we need to consider
[4:49:01] access that must be protected.
[4:49:03] We do use technology in special education
[4:49:05] as an educational tool and supports.
[4:49:07] So protecting IEP in section 504 supports
[4:49:11] that require
[4:49:11] technology use or software use.
[4:49:15] Technology can also help with
[4:49:16] multi-language learner tools
[4:49:19] that is being implemented
[4:49:20] today in today's classrooms.
[4:49:23] We are required to provide
[4:49:24] district state assessments
[4:49:26] in a current format, it is web based.
[4:49:30] Intervention and
[4:49:30] progress monitoring, right?
[4:49:32] We talk about computer science,
[4:49:33] we've got robotics
[4:49:34] programs, we've had digital arts
[4:49:36] in our career technology education
[4:49:38] focused around engineering technology.
[4:49:41] We do have reading
[4:49:42] difficulty screening software
[4:49:44] in the district that
[4:49:46] helps support students
[4:49:47] making sure that we can
[4:49:48] differentiate instruction
[4:49:51] and then get assessment also
[4:49:52] done via technology as well.
[4:49:55] One of the biggest things here is that
[4:49:57] as we talk about balance,
[4:49:58] balance must not
[4:49:59] become a new digital divide
[4:50:01] in this conversation.
[4:50:02] We need with that intentionality,
[4:50:05] we need to balance the
[4:50:06] needs of our students,
[4:50:07] our programs, our teachers to make sure
[4:50:10] there is that continued use of technology
[4:50:13] but with increased intentionality.
[4:50:18] So as one of the parents who
[4:50:20] spoke during public comment
[4:50:23] mentioned we need to look at the research
[4:50:27] and this is a evolving field,
[4:50:31] there's not a lot of concrete research
[4:50:35] that's comprehensive at across the board
[4:50:37] but what we are seeing is what's
[4:50:41] reasonably established
[4:50:42] is that heavy or poorly regulated use
[4:50:45] is associated with sleep,
[4:50:46] attention, physical activity
[4:50:48] and mental health and academic concerns.
[4:50:51] So it is important
[4:50:52] that guardrails are put on
[4:50:54] how much use and why
[4:50:56] students are using technology
[4:50:58] to avoid those negative impacts.
[4:51:01] Effects differ by age,
[4:51:02] content, context, social support
[4:51:05] and what use displaces.
[4:51:08] So if they're using technology,
[4:51:09] what are they not doing with that time?
[4:51:12] What are they not doing if
[4:51:14] they're looking at a screen
[4:51:16] or interacting with the
[4:51:17] screen that they could be doing
[4:51:19] and benefiting from otherwise,
[4:51:21] both at school, in the
[4:51:23] classroom, at school, socially
[4:51:25] and at home if we are
[4:51:28] providing devices at home
[4:51:30] and that there is a consistent
[4:51:34] and increasingly
[4:51:35] consistent negative associations
[4:51:37] between entertainment and multitasking
[4:51:42] where you're trying to do homework
[4:51:44] but you also have a device going.
[4:51:46] If you have multiple
[4:51:48] things happening at once,
[4:51:50] it's really decreasing the
[4:51:51] ability to effectively access
[4:51:55] whatever the task is that
[4:51:56] you're trying to accomplish.
[4:51:59] However, as we
[4:52:00] mentioned at the previous slide,
[4:52:02] it's important for us to maintain access
[4:52:04] for our students that have IEPs and 504s
[4:52:07] because for some of them,
[4:52:09] technology is how
[4:52:10] they moderate attention,
[4:52:12] it's how they maintain regulation.
[4:52:15] So this isn't a blanket statement across
[4:52:19] all of our students.
[4:52:20] There's some students where technology
[4:52:22] is how they access learning.
[4:52:24] So we need to make sure
[4:52:26] that we're mindful of that
[4:52:27] but in general, that
[4:52:29] multitasking and distraction
[4:52:31] that technology can cause is something
[4:52:33] that we need to be very mindful of.
[4:52:36] What's uncertain in the research
[4:52:39] and hopefully we see
[4:52:40] studies coming out more and more
[4:52:42] with concrete information.
[4:52:45] Many of the studies are
[4:52:46] observational at this point.
[4:52:48] They're not proof of causation.
[4:52:51] Screen time is very different activities
[4:52:54] in under one measure.
[4:52:56] So if that's screen
[4:52:57] time watching a video,
[4:52:58] is that screen time
[4:52:59] watching the teacher do something,
[4:53:03] demonstrating something on a smart board?
[4:53:07] Is that screen time where the student's
[4:53:09] actually on a device?
[4:53:12] What does screen time mean?
[4:53:13] In screen time right
[4:53:14] now, it's very global.
[4:53:16] It includes many things.
[4:53:18] So we have to really
[4:53:19] define this for GUSD.
[4:53:22] So if we're limiting screen time,
[4:53:25] what is it we're saying
[4:53:26] that we're addressing?
[4:53:28] And then evidence for
[4:53:29] specific minute limits,
[4:53:31] especially for our adolescents
[4:53:33] and instructional use
[4:53:34] is still developing.
[4:53:35] So no matter what we put
[4:53:37] in place at the end of this,
[4:53:40] if it's a resolution, if it's new policy,
[4:53:43] if it's all of those things,
[4:53:45] we're going to have to keep revisiting
[4:53:48] this with our teachers
[4:53:50] based on evolving research,
[4:53:51] based on what's coming out
[4:53:53] so that we stay ahead of
[4:53:55] what's a quickly evolving tool
[4:53:59] with technology.
[4:54:03] And just, I won't spend
[4:54:04] too much time on this one.
[4:54:05] We did call out that
[4:54:06] LA Unified and San Diego
[4:54:08] adopted similar resolutions.
[4:54:10] The model that you're
[4:54:11] seeing before in the draft
[4:54:13] takes some of those
[4:54:14] elements, but also again,
[4:54:16] makes it in
[4:54:18] consideration of our local programs.
[4:54:21] And then some of the early GUSD efforts,
[4:54:23] as I mentioned before, August 12th, 2025,
[4:54:28] the board did adopt a policy
[4:54:29] regarding artificial intelligence.
[4:54:31] And while that may be a short timeframe,
[4:54:34] a lot has changed in regard to the
[4:54:35] conversations around AI.
[4:54:37] So likely a time to tune that up as well.
[4:54:41] Digital citizenship curriculum,
[4:54:43] our ETI's department
[4:54:44] working with our principals,
[4:54:45] launching a digital
[4:54:47] citizenship curriculum.
[4:54:51] Earlier last year, early spring,
[4:54:53] we did have a YouTube
[4:54:55] video approval process
[4:54:56] which required teachers to submit
[4:54:59] intentionality statements
[4:55:01] with particular videos
[4:55:03] that students would watch
[4:55:04] for the curriculum.
[4:55:05] And so that process was launched,
[4:55:07] and then eventually the board authorized
[4:55:10] the subscription service to Lightspeed,
[4:55:12] which is a content filter.
[4:55:13] And just a reminder,
[4:55:15] content filters are not 100%.
[4:55:19] The internet is ever evolving,
[4:55:20] web addresses are ever changing,
[4:55:22] but this particular
[4:55:24] content filter was vetted through
[4:55:26] and received multiple feedback points
[4:55:28] and brought forward
[4:55:29] for your consideration.
[4:55:30] But it does help us block
[4:55:32] and reduce YouTube usage.
[4:55:34] It does have a built-in teacher request
[4:55:36] video process as well.
[4:55:39] It does block social media
[4:55:40] content at all grade levels.
[4:55:42] Gaming sites are blocked and advertising.
[4:55:45] And again, not 100%.
[4:55:48] There are workarounds at times.
[4:55:50] Mr. Schluter and team are
[4:55:52] continuing to conduct audits
[4:55:54] and reviews on this particular software.
[4:55:57] Additional information
[4:55:58] will be brought forward
[4:55:59] at a future board meeting,
[4:56:00] and especially as we talk about this
[4:56:02] particular resolution.
[4:56:04] In addition to that content filter,
[4:56:05] we brought on
[4:56:06] Lightspeed Insight, most in June.
[4:56:09] So we haven't fully launched it yet.
[4:56:12] We are monitoring in the
[4:56:13] first months as we launch school,
[4:56:15] but it does provide the ability to have
[4:56:18] screen time analytics.
[4:56:20] How much screen time is occurring
[4:56:21] at a particular grade
[4:56:22] level, at a particular school,
[4:56:25] during school day, after school day.
[4:56:27] Those analytics can
[4:56:29] help inform our resolution
[4:56:32] or a resolution or a
[4:56:33] policy as we move forward.
[4:56:35] In addition to that screen
[4:56:36] time, we can set usable hours.
[4:56:39] So if there's time
[4:56:41] restrictions for Chromebook usage,
[4:56:42] that can be established
[4:56:43] through these pieces of software.
[4:56:46] And then launching this month,
[4:56:48] there'll be an approved software
[4:56:49] application approval
[4:56:50] and inventory process moving forward.
[4:56:55] One more thing on the mention
[4:56:57] with the Lightspeed Insight.
[4:56:59] If you read through the LA Unified
[4:57:02] and the San Diego Unified
[4:57:04] resolutions that they pass,
[4:57:06] they talk about analytics.
[4:57:08] This is the same thing.
[4:57:10] So that's something that
[4:57:11] we already had in place
[4:57:14] that is similar to what LA
[4:57:17] Unified and San Diego Unified
[4:57:19] are implementing to measure when is
[4:57:22] technology happening.
[4:57:24] And then to also measure after the impact
[4:57:27] of any resolution or
[4:57:28] change in screen time
[4:57:30] or changes in practices, to measure,
[4:57:33] is it continuing to happen?
[4:57:35] Are we seeing consistency
[4:57:36] across schools and grade levels
[4:57:38] and for all of our students?
[4:57:40] So our need, we need to continue to
[4:57:44] engage our teachers,
[4:57:45] administrators, students
[4:57:46] and parents to get feedback
[4:57:48] regarding the effective use of technology
[4:57:52] that's integral to education and
[4:57:54] development of students.
[4:57:55] We need to improve our
[4:57:57] district-wide software
[4:57:58] and application inventory management
[4:58:00] to avoid duplicative applications
[4:58:06] and applications that don't have that
[4:58:09] tight educational payoff.
[4:58:12] So why is it on our system
[4:58:14] or available through Clever
[4:58:16] if we're not seeing a
[4:58:19] benefit to students?
[4:58:20] So really tightening that up.
[4:58:23] And we need to
[4:58:24] establish our technology usage
[4:58:26] reporting processes.
[4:58:28] So not only for us to
[4:58:29] make those decisions
[4:58:30] and our teachers to make those decisions
[4:58:32] and bring that
[4:58:33] information to you, the board,
[4:58:35] on how are we doing with
[4:58:37] tech use and screen time,
[4:58:40] but also to evolve
[4:58:42] into a transparent system
[4:58:44] where the parents can then look and see
[4:58:46] how often their child is on technology
[4:58:51] so that we can look at both ways.
[4:58:56] And part of the next steps,
[4:58:57] continue to engage, refine,
[4:58:59] and return to the
[4:59:00] board with a recommendation
[4:59:02] based upon listening and
[4:59:05] learning on the left there,
[4:59:07] collaborating, refining
[4:59:09] based on those two items,
[4:59:11] and then coming back to the board
[4:59:13] at a future board
[4:59:13] meeting date for consideration,
[4:59:15] either a resolution or a policy
[4:59:17] or other additional next steps.
[4:59:20] We've already begun
[4:59:22] reaching out to our labor partners
[4:59:25] with the initial draft.
[4:59:27] And draft is bold, neon,
[4:59:30] and this is just a place
[4:59:33] to start the conversation.
[4:59:34] It's not a predetermined
[4:59:38] destination of the conversation.
[4:59:40] But we wanted to start
[4:59:42] with something to chew on.
[4:59:46] So we have shared that with
[4:59:49] our labor partners with GTA.
[4:59:51] They have requested to bargain the impact
[4:59:53] on any implementation of this.
[4:59:57] We've shared it with
[4:59:58] CSA and received input.
[5:00:00] We shared it with
[5:00:00] GSMA and received input.
[5:00:03] What we're proposing is a two-step
[5:00:06] process with our parents.
[5:00:09] We want to get a general survey out
[5:00:12] for what are their
[5:00:13] thoughts on technology use,
[5:00:16] what's good, what's not,
[5:00:17] what are their
[5:00:18] suggestions to really cull that.
[5:00:21] It is anonymous because I
[5:00:23] know some of our parents
[5:00:25] very specifically asked me, okay, if
[5:00:28] you're surveying us,
[5:00:29] are they gonna know I'm
[5:00:30] the one who said what I said?
[5:00:32] I'm like, no, it'll be by
[5:00:34] school and by grade level
[5:00:35] so we can kind of calibrate kindergarten
[5:00:38] across the district or
[5:00:40] look at our specific schools.
[5:00:42] But we also want to provide our families
[5:00:44] that degree of anonymity so it's not,
[5:00:48] a teacher doesn't feel like,
[5:00:50] oh, that parent's calling me out.
[5:00:53] We do encourage when we
[5:00:54] do send out that survey
[5:00:56] and we want to send the first survey,
[5:00:58] that more general survey out this week,
[5:01:02] specific examples of what works,
[5:01:05] but specific examples of what they feel
[5:01:08] may be an overuse of technology,
[5:01:11] I think would be really important for us
[5:01:13] to get more concrete, of more
[5:01:15] sense of what they're seeing
[5:01:17] and what the concerns are.
[5:01:19] For example, one of the parents tonight
[5:01:21] was talking to me off camera
[5:01:25] about during the scorcher days
[5:01:28] or rainy days, what we're
[5:01:30] engaging our students in.
[5:01:32] Does that have to be technology
[5:01:33] or can that be play in the classroom
[5:01:35] or some other creative things?
[5:01:38] If we're reading books to our students,
[5:01:40] does that have to be through a video
[5:01:41] or could the teacher be
[5:01:42] reading a book to the students,
[5:01:44] which our teachers do?
[5:01:47] I mean, our teachers are
[5:01:48] really above and beyond
[5:01:50] amazing individuals and professionals,
[5:01:52] but making sure that when
[5:01:54] there is that human connection,
[5:01:57] that we're erring on the
[5:01:58] side of the human connection
[5:01:59] rather than erring on the side of a
[5:02:01] technology connection
[5:02:04] and then coming back once
[5:02:06] we have a more refined draft
[5:02:09] after working with our teachers,
[5:02:12] we're envisioning bringing together
[5:02:14] almost like our curriculum adoption,
[5:02:17] bringing together teachers
[5:02:18] across all of our schools
[5:02:21] as well as GTA
[5:02:22] representation once they see that list
[5:02:25] to really engage in what is kindergarten,
[5:02:28] what is first grade,
[5:02:29] what is second grade,
[5:02:30] what are we saying is
[5:02:33] integral and intentional
[5:02:34] and what are we saying is
[5:02:36] not integral and intentional
[5:02:39] because our teachers
[5:02:39] really are the professionals
[5:02:41] in those classrooms, they
[5:02:42] know what the student needs are
[5:02:45] and they can best inform
[5:02:46] and give us that insight.
[5:02:49] So once we have a more
[5:02:52] thoughtful draft of a resolution
[5:02:55] to put that back out to our parents
[5:02:58] for them to be able to read through it
[5:03:00] and then give a second
[5:03:00] round of input on that
[5:03:03] so that it's not just they're at the
[5:03:06] beginning of the input,
[5:03:07] they're also at the
[5:03:08] further down on the input
[5:03:11] before we bring that to you
[5:03:12] as a board for your discussion
[5:03:15] and then for ultimately
[5:03:17] for your action on it.
[5:03:20] So this is something that
[5:03:22] even if you read through
[5:03:24] Ella Unified and you
[5:03:24] read through San Diego,
[5:03:26] this is something that
[5:03:27] those resolutions talk about
[5:03:29] in a year long process and
[5:03:33] much of this we want to do ahead
[5:03:35] of giving you a resolution
[5:03:38] but then there's still work
[5:03:40] to be done after the resolution.
[5:03:43] So that's where we are with
[5:03:49] any questions that you may have.
[5:03:52] Thank you very much for that.
[5:03:55] And I wanna thank all the parents.
[5:03:56] So I know that I myself
[5:03:58] have gotten a lot of emails
[5:04:00] and while I have tried to
[5:04:01] respond to many of them,
[5:04:03] I have not responded to
[5:04:03] all of them yet, I will.
[5:04:06] And I'm sure that my colleagues have too
[5:04:08] though it's not
[5:04:09] something that we can talk about
[5:04:10] until we're at a public meeting.
[5:04:11] So that's part of where this process
[5:04:13] can feel really slow at times
[5:04:15] but this is where we have the chance
[5:04:17] to talk about these things.
[5:04:18] I also wanna be sure that we are,
[5:04:20] I compliment our teachers in everything
[5:04:22] that I've been doing and continue to do
[5:04:24] because I think that
[5:04:27] there is legitimate fear
[5:04:29] and an important
[5:04:32] conversation to be had here
[5:04:33] but that doesn't mean
[5:04:34] that anyone's necessarily
[5:04:35] doing anything wrong.
[5:04:38] As we move into this
[5:04:39] and have this discussion,
[5:04:40] I think it's very
[5:04:41] important that we're clear
[5:04:43] that we're not LAUSD.
[5:04:46] We're not, where are the other ones?
[5:04:50] New York, San Diego,
[5:04:52] we're also not New York.
[5:04:53] It would get really cold there.
[5:04:56] But we're not, those
[5:04:58] are not us, we're Glendale
[5:04:59] and we have our own unique strengths
[5:05:01] and some of our own challenges
[5:05:03] and we have really
[5:05:05] dedicated people in our classrooms
[5:05:07] and a lot of this is already being done.
[5:05:10] And so with LAUSD's,
[5:05:14] one of the things I hear
[5:05:14] a lot of people saying is the ban.
[5:05:17] And it's not a ban, we
[5:05:19] all need to understand that.
[5:05:20] It is a intentional use.
[5:05:23] They have an intentional use policy
[5:05:25] in which they still have screen exams.
[5:05:29] They still have tech exams.
[5:05:31] They still have assessments
[5:05:32] done on that in kindergarten.
[5:05:35] You know, this isn't something
[5:05:36] that isn't completely being done.
[5:05:38] And so I wanna be clear on those facts
[5:05:41] because I think it's
[5:05:41] important to understand that
[5:05:43] when we're looking and
[5:05:43] having this conversation
[5:05:45] and also understand that
[5:05:49] what works for one family
[5:05:50] might not work for another.
[5:05:51] What works for one child
[5:05:52] might not work for another.
[5:05:55] I personally don't really
[5:05:56] feel that it is our place
[5:05:57] to parent a child when they're home.
[5:06:03] And so this is something
[5:06:04] that we need to be sure
[5:06:05] that we're giving to,
[5:06:06] that we can make a resolution
[5:06:08] that really supports what we can do here
[5:06:10] and what we can educate our
[5:06:12] children and our families on.
[5:06:14] But when they're home,
[5:06:15] you know, blocking a device
[5:06:19] seems to me that we can give parents
[5:06:21] access to that ability.
[5:06:22] But it's not our choice on that.
[5:06:25] Would be kind of where I wanna be sure
[5:06:26] that we don't chase a
[5:06:28] problem that doesn't exist
[5:06:29] or create a problem out
[5:06:30] of the best of intentions.
[5:06:33] Because as parents, they have the right
[5:06:37] to decide zero screens,
[5:06:39] 100% screens in their home.
[5:06:40] It's not our choice.
[5:06:43] And also, you know, I wanna be sure
[5:06:45] that I'm not very
[5:06:45] equitable within the access
[5:06:47] to information that people may,
[5:06:51] that children may use
[5:06:52] on their Chromebooks.
[5:06:53] Whether it's, you know,
[5:06:54] maybe they're listening to music
[5:06:55] and they don't have another
[5:06:55] way to listen to music at home.
[5:06:58] I also think that one of the things
[5:06:59] that a lot of our
[5:07:00] constituents would be really surprised by
[5:07:03] and pleasantly surprised by
[5:07:04] is the lack of use of computers
[5:07:07] in our schools already.
[5:07:10] They are used in some
[5:07:11] places more than others.
[5:07:12] I'm sure some
[5:07:13] classrooms more than others.
[5:07:14] But I think that it's
[5:07:15] really important that
[5:07:19] that we don't kind of chase a problem
[5:07:22] that maybe doesn't exist
[5:07:24] when we're trying to truly,
[5:07:25] what we're trying to
[5:07:26] do is say that this is
[5:07:27] a really important conversation
[5:07:29] and that we don't want
[5:07:30] it to become a problem.
[5:07:31] We don't want it to be an issue.
[5:07:32] So where are there areas that we need to
[5:07:36] either be more clear, bring families in,
[5:07:39] or where are there areas that, you know,
[5:07:42] this conversation is ever gonna change?
[5:07:44] So I'm gonna pass on to,
[5:07:46] do we have anyone over
[5:07:47] here that has comments?
[5:07:48] I don't know.
[5:07:49] I do. You do?
[5:07:50] Okay, go ahead, Dr. Ding-Chien,
[5:07:53] because I don't need to,
[5:07:54] we don't need to hear
[5:07:54] me until 11 o'clock.
[5:07:56] You'll hear me until 11, no, I'm kidding.
[5:07:59] No, thank you.
[5:07:59] I really wanted to
[5:08:00] acknowledge and thank all the parents
[5:08:01] that reached out regarding
[5:08:03] their concerns and thoughts
[5:08:05] about the resolution and
[5:08:07] digital devices in the classrooms
[5:08:09] and especially schools beyond screens.
[5:08:11] Glendale, I do recognize and acknowledge
[5:08:14] the concerns that were raised by parents,
[5:08:16] especially with the younger students
[5:08:18] and even those that are not parents at
[5:08:20] our district as well,
[5:08:22] I do wanna recognize you
[5:08:23] and acknowledge that you,
[5:08:24] you know, there's valid concerns
[5:08:26] because we're hearing a
[5:08:27] lot of things in the media
[5:08:29] and why there are so many
[5:08:31] different implementations
[5:08:31] of policies around school districts
[5:08:33] and our neighboring school districts
[5:08:34] and people are looking now at Glendale,
[5:08:36] wondering what is
[5:08:36] Glendale doing about this?
[5:08:38] And so a couple of thoughts.
[5:08:40] I don't think we're
[5:08:40] wordsmithing this resolution tonight,
[5:08:42] but I do want to just highlight that
[5:08:45] as we go through this
[5:08:46] discussion alongside parents
[5:08:48] that are concerned and
[5:08:49] families and even guardians
[5:08:51] who don't have the mentors and the adults
[5:08:55] that are supporting with
[5:08:56] their academics at home
[5:08:57] to keep in mind the IAP,
[5:08:59] the 504s accommodations
[5:09:01] and linguistic needs that
[5:09:03] digital devices do provide,
[5:09:05] but there's also
[5:09:05] concerns that were raised
[5:09:06] around the personal use of devices
[5:09:09] for those that have access
[5:09:11] versus those that will
[5:09:12] have district issued devices.
[5:09:15] Some kids might be cut
[5:09:16] off within the timeframe
[5:09:18] that, oh, it's, we're done with this,
[5:09:20] but then some kids, you know, students
[5:09:22] can still continue on
[5:09:23] using their personal devices.
[5:09:24] So there's definitely an
[5:09:25] equity concern that I have,
[5:09:28] but also I've also
[5:09:30] looked into AFT's thoughts
[5:09:33] around devices, it's called devices down,
[5:09:35] eyes up, hands on, and
[5:09:37] they definitely have ideas
[5:09:40] around how instructions
[5:09:42] could look like in the future,
[5:09:43] but there's just a mixed bag of feedback
[5:09:46] that I've been receiving personally,
[5:09:48] and it's because we do have
[5:09:50] diverse needs of our district,
[5:09:52] and I think what we have here is,
[5:09:55] and I want to just take
[5:09:57] the time and share that.
[5:09:58] My approach to this really
[5:10:00] is looking at the framework
[5:10:01] from cradle to career.
[5:10:02] What is, what are we, how
[5:10:03] are we getting our students
[5:10:05] from the day they were born,
[5:10:07] and now they're in our school system,
[5:10:09] and how do we prepare
[5:10:10] them for the workforce,
[5:10:11] and depending on the
[5:10:13] pathways they choose to go into?
[5:10:15] And so along those lines,
[5:10:18] I do think that digital
[5:10:19] devices do play a role in academics,
[5:10:23] and it's not a one size
[5:10:25] fit all, unfortunately,
[5:10:26] and it's not a blanket band
[5:10:29] that I see could, you know,
[5:10:30] eliminate technology altogether,
[5:10:32] but I do think
[5:10:33] putting the guardrails with,
[5:10:34] when we get into the
[5:10:35] discussions of AI is critical,
[5:10:39] and I also think that
[5:10:41] with AI being a disruptor
[5:10:43] into our school systems,
[5:10:45] and that's what was described
[5:10:46] when I was reading the AFT documentation,
[5:10:48] that teachers know how to
[5:10:49] deal with disruptions, right?
[5:10:51] And this is one of those things
[5:10:53] that we have to navigate together,
[5:10:55] and the access between TK to five,
[5:11:00] or TK to fifth grade, or
[5:11:02] TK through second grade,
[5:11:04] you know, there's, I do
[5:11:05] think that limitations
[5:11:07] on the screen times that were spelled out
[5:11:08] in the resolution was important,
[5:11:11] but we have to also
[5:11:11] think about some language
[5:11:15] on the supervision, and
[5:11:17] I do wanna add in here,
[5:11:18] not just prohibiting the use of devices,
[5:11:21] like during passing
[5:11:22] lunch, or things like that,
[5:11:24] but it's really
[5:11:25] encouraging more accessibility,
[5:11:27] and giving students agency
[5:11:29] on the use of technology,
[5:11:31] and I don't think that's spoken enough
[5:11:33] and I understand that there's
[5:11:35] developmental delays,
[5:11:36] I get that, there's wellness and concerns
[5:11:38] with screen time that
[5:11:39] causes really concerning
[5:11:41] cognitive issues in the
[5:11:43] brain that could really,
[5:11:45] you know, delay the time that they spend,
[5:11:49] because of the time that
[5:11:49] they're spending in technology.
[5:11:50] However, I do want to make sure
[5:11:54] that we continue to do research and
[5:11:56] evidence-based practices
[5:11:57] and learning from our
[5:11:58] neighboring schools as well,
[5:12:01] on, you know, is limiting
[5:12:05] actually going to help improve,
[5:12:06] or is it really more of
[5:12:08] the work that we are doing
[5:12:09] in addressing the whole child,
[5:12:12] so it's not even just digital devices
[5:12:14] that's causing math scores to go down,
[5:12:16] or reading scores to go down,
[5:12:18] although it could be
[5:12:19] a contributing factor,
[5:12:21] but, you know, we're
[5:12:22] not saying that we need
[5:12:25] to have unrestricted
[5:12:26] use of technology either.
[5:12:28] I do think that, like you
[5:12:29] said, it has to be purposeful,
[5:12:31] it has to be
[5:12:31] controlled, teacher-directed,
[5:12:35] and however we adopt this,
[5:12:37] I like the idea that we are,
[5:12:39] we already are doing as a school board,
[5:12:41] or a school district, asking
[5:12:44] parents to sign an agreement
[5:12:46] on the use of technology
[5:12:48] already in our school district,
[5:12:49] so I do want to, in the future,
[5:12:50] look into our board policies around that.
[5:12:52] Now, in terms of literacy,
[5:12:54] and I think there are
[5:12:55] some parameters here
[5:12:56] that were shared, and I do
[5:12:58] want to share some things
[5:12:59] I read from the schools behind screens,
[5:13:01] because I do want to
[5:13:01] acknowledge some of the areas
[5:13:04] that I think was
[5:13:05] important that was shared.
[5:13:07] You know, I do think about how
[5:13:11] instructions are led,
[5:13:12] whether it's gamifying
[5:13:13] it, I know post-pandemic
[5:13:15] has led to teachers to
[5:13:19] really adopt and adapt
[5:13:21] during times where students are
[5:13:23] readjusting to socialization,
[5:13:25] so I do think that in our resolution,
[5:13:29] we have to focus on
[5:13:31] also embedding wellness
[5:13:35] and supporting for, and support for,
[5:13:41] more of an upstream
[5:13:42] approach to how are we going to
[5:13:46] create this safety, you
[5:13:49] know, safety parameters also
[5:13:50] for the use of technology, so anyhow,
[5:13:52] I'm kind of going on and on,
[5:13:54] but I do want to make sure it is
[5:13:55] continuously focused on,
[5:13:59] it does have a learner-centered approach,
[5:14:01] but there's definitely areas that I think
[5:14:03] we can improve in our
[5:14:03] resolution, so I thank you.
[5:14:06] Thank you, it's totally good,
[5:14:07] we're going to make it to 11,
[5:14:08] I guess we're going to do
[5:14:09] that, anybody else have,
[5:14:12] okay, we're going to go here,
[5:14:13] and then we'll go over
[5:14:13] to Greg and then Telly.
[5:14:16] Okay, I'm going to keep it brief,
[5:14:19] because we have talked about
[5:14:22] a lot of the obvious issues
[5:14:24] and really unpacked a lot
[5:14:27] of what the other policies,
[5:14:29] the neighboring policies
[5:14:31] are, I do want to thank,
[5:14:34] I received emails from 44 people,
[5:14:36] I've responded to 43 of them,
[5:14:38] one came in during the
[5:14:39] meeting, so my apologies.
[5:14:41] I will say that we as a board are reading
[5:14:46] everything that is coming to us,
[5:14:49] we are thinking, we are contemplating,
[5:14:53] we are all parents on this dais,
[5:14:55] I had to think for a minute,
[5:14:57] and have different experiences.
[5:15:01] Just this morning, I got a
[5:15:03] text from a very, very dear
[5:15:05] friend of mine who lives in New Jersey,
[5:15:07] who said that it was the
[5:15:08] first day of no cell phones,
[5:15:11] bell to bell, and was
[5:15:12] sharing a little bit about
[5:15:14] the buzz at drop-off with that.
[5:15:17] I think about one parent in
[5:15:20] particular who wrote and said,
[5:15:23] has the district ever
[5:15:24] considered a magnet program
[5:15:27] that is a low-tech, no-tech magnet
[5:15:30] to see what that would look like?
[5:15:31] And that really got me thinking.
[5:15:33] And I only say this
[5:15:34] because as we're trying to find
[5:15:38] the best solution, and I
[5:15:41] did look at that by the way,
[5:15:42] there is no public school in the United
[5:15:43] States that has that.
[5:15:45] But there are programs that look at
[5:15:49] classical education models, so as Dr.
[5:15:51] King mentioned earlier,
[5:15:53] physical notebooks,
[5:15:54] textbooks, pencil paper.
[5:15:57] I think that it is too
[5:15:59] early to really weigh,
[5:16:02] I think similar to the
[5:16:04] effects of COVID people talk about,
[5:16:06] as a disease, I think
[5:16:09] it is very early still,
[5:16:11] in light of a generation
[5:16:13] that's grown up with technology,
[5:16:15] it is really still early to tell,
[5:16:17] because I might, as one
[5:16:19] individual who came up
[5:16:21] with pen and paper, and
[5:16:23] the advent of the computer,
[5:16:27] my family bought a TRS-80
[5:16:28] that is now in the Smithsonian,
[5:16:30] so I think about that evolution.
[5:16:35] There are so many benefits to technology.
[5:16:39] The ability to have, to
[5:16:41] access the entire Trinity
[5:16:44] library on my phone is amazing,
[5:16:49] but there are
[5:16:50] consequences, and so the ability
[5:16:53] for a young person to
[5:16:54] actually be able to walk
[5:16:55] into a library, or walk
[5:16:57] into a space and problem solve
[5:16:59] if you took it all away, these are things
[5:17:01] that are weighing on
[5:17:02] all of my colleagues,
[5:17:03] and so I just wanted the public to know
[5:17:06] that we take these
[5:17:07] discussions very seriously,
[5:17:09] it is not going to be solved in a day.
[5:17:11] A few parents who I met with said,
[5:17:13] if the board passes a resolution tonight,
[5:17:17] which it is not an action item,
[5:17:18] but if you did, how long
[5:17:21] before it's implemented,
[5:17:23] how long before the
[5:17:24] devices are taken back,
[5:17:25] one person wrote and said that somehow
[5:17:29] a Chromebook remained
[5:17:31] in their home all summer,
[5:17:32] why is it that even when school is out,
[5:17:34] we have your GUSD Chromebook?
[5:17:37] We have to figure it out together,
[5:17:39] and so I asked for a
[5:17:40] little grace from the public,
[5:17:42] staff is working tirelessly to figure out
[5:17:45] what solution works for us.
[5:17:48] We have DLI students, we have a very,
[5:17:51] very diverse district,
[5:17:53] and so it is
[5:17:55] exponentially more complicated,
[5:17:57] and so I just ask that
[5:17:59] the public allow us the time
[5:18:01] to deliberate, to
[5:18:03] study, to hear from staff
[5:18:05] which are experts on the
[5:18:07] matter that are themselves
[5:18:09] consulting with national experts,
[5:18:12] and allow us to bring you
[5:18:14] the very best that we can
[5:18:16] to compare us to districts
[5:18:18] in New York where I'm from,
[5:18:20] or LAUSD, we don't compare
[5:18:24] ourselves to those districts
[5:18:26] with other programs, do we?
[5:18:28] So it's unfair to expect
[5:18:30] us to be compared to LAUSD
[5:18:33] on one thing and not
[5:18:34] on the other 19 things.
[5:18:36] We are Glendale Unified,
[5:18:38] and we will with our teachers
[5:18:41] and our experts come up
[5:18:43] with something that will,
[5:18:45] I believe, be good for all students,
[5:18:48] and those are my
[5:18:49] comments on that, thank you.
[5:18:52] And we're gonna pop over to Greg,
[5:18:53] but I just have to say I had an Apple II,
[5:18:55] so that came out
[5:18:56] within months of the TRS 80.
[5:18:59] Not that we like computers.
[5:19:01] Go on, Greg.
[5:19:03] I'll start off and I'll predicate this.
[5:19:06] Just being open,
[5:19:07] transparent to everyone here,
[5:19:10] I'm the only one at a dais
[5:19:11] with no laptop in front of me,
[5:19:13] so you know where I'm leading with this,
[5:19:14] and I've been like
[5:19:15] that from the beginning.
[5:19:16] I'm an old school board member,
[5:19:18] and my 22 years on the board,
[5:19:20] I've never seen a
[5:19:21] district staff get that far ahead
[5:19:23] of the board before we give input.
[5:19:25] So personally, I'm very
[5:19:26] concerned about the staff,
[5:19:29] what we did and how
[5:19:30] we came to this point.
[5:19:32] I know I was in the
[5:19:33] audience here in April
[5:19:35] when I decided to run,
[5:19:35] come back in the board,
[5:19:36] and look for opportunities
[5:19:37] how to bring back to this board.
[5:19:39] I listed the parents at
[5:19:40] dais speak about this issue.
[5:19:43] Half dozen mothers and
[5:19:45] fathers came and spoke in April
[5:19:46] and concerned about screen time.
[5:19:49] Since then, there
[5:19:50] hasn't been a discussion
[5:19:51] about this at all in the dais.
[5:19:54] In the August 11th meeting,
[5:19:56] I brought up in my board report
[5:19:58] that I would like to see this come back
[5:20:00] as an item as information.
[5:20:03] I brought that up on August 11th here
[5:20:04] during my board report
[5:20:05] saying we need to discuss this.
[5:20:07] I'm curious about hearing from teacher
[5:20:09] input at all levels,
[5:20:10] from middle elementary
[5:20:11] school and high school,
[5:20:12] how do they use
[5:20:13] technology and screen time?
[5:20:15] How does it affect us?
[5:20:18] Then we saw on our
[5:20:19] board letter a resolution.
[5:20:23] Then we saw an email go
[5:20:24] out to the whole community
[5:20:25] of a resolution of a
[5:20:27] screen policy resolution
[5:20:29] without any board input, community input.
[5:20:33] I've never seen that done.
[5:20:34] This is something we need to admit
[5:20:36] and slow down and take a deep breath.
[5:20:41] I think it's incumbent on us to get input
[5:20:44] from the elementary parent groups
[5:20:46] that did reach out to us all this time,
[5:20:47] from the Keppel group,
[5:20:48] from the Monte Vista group,
[5:20:50] the Franklin parents.
[5:20:51] There's a lot of elementary parents
[5:20:52] very concerned about
[5:20:53] this specific issue to them.
[5:20:56] These are our customers, technically.
[5:20:59] These are our client base.
[5:21:03] I challenge to all of us that
[5:21:05] screen time is very difficult
[5:21:07] and it does impact our kids,
[5:21:08] but I know the importance of it in
[5:21:10] certain grade levels.
[5:21:11] There's no question.
[5:21:13] I asked several teachers,
[5:21:15] I even talked to my daughter about it.
[5:21:16] Some of the curriculum is
[5:21:18] defined, it's all digital.
[5:21:19] A lot of the classes are,
[5:21:21] the whole coursework is digitally based.
[5:21:23] So it's difficult to
[5:21:24] look at it in certain,
[5:21:25] that's why I think it
[5:21:26] would be beneficial for us,
[5:21:28] Ms. King and Dr. King,
[5:21:30] and to hear a presentation from teachers
[5:21:32] telling us how they use digital.
[5:21:34] I'm curious to hear from them.
[5:21:35] I'm curious too for district staff
[5:21:37] to meet with these
[5:21:38] parent groups to get insight
[5:21:40] and from us so we could give input
[5:21:42] and we develop a resolution.
[5:21:44] When I hear that we looked at LA Unified
[5:21:46] and based our basis of this resolution
[5:21:50] based on some of these other districts,
[5:21:51] what they've written,
[5:21:53] I attended a Zoom meeting in Virginia,
[5:21:57] that Virginia, Richmond, Virginia,
[5:21:59] and different schools in
[5:22:00] Connecticut and New England
[5:22:01] did these meetings on
[5:22:04] screen time effectiveness.
[5:22:06] How many of our staff actually went
[5:22:07] and observed other workshops like this
[5:22:10] and did these things in this time?
[5:22:13] I'm glad we're at this
[5:22:13] point, we're talking about it.
[5:22:15] Typically it comes as information first
[5:22:17] and we discuss it as a board.
[5:22:19] So the board as elected
[5:22:20] bodies give input on it
[5:22:22] and hear from staff saying, okay,
[5:22:24] they're presenting to us,
[5:22:25] I'm hearing an elementary school teacher,
[5:22:27] I'm hearing a middle school teacher,
[5:22:29] I'm hearing a special ed teacher,
[5:22:31] I'm hearing a high school teacher,
[5:22:32] a gate program, a PEAT
[5:22:34] program, how it's used,
[5:22:35] and how it's affected
[5:22:37] because there's some extreme benefits
[5:22:39] to having this technology.
[5:22:40] I remember we talked before we first,
[5:22:42] Frank, we brought in
[5:22:43] computers with the first measure.
[5:22:45] We developed that program
[5:22:46] because Korea and Japan
[5:22:47] was increasing all programs,
[5:22:49] technology to all their schools.
[5:22:51] And we're in a global economy,
[5:22:52] it's not just Southern California,
[5:22:54] we're in an economy that deals with the
[5:22:56] whole global market.
[5:22:57] Yes, it's critical, we need technology,
[5:23:00] but also we need a balance of things.
[5:23:01] I know balance is a tough word
[5:23:03] because we don't go too much of a balance
[5:23:04] without hurting our kids
[5:23:05] with the tools they need.
[5:23:08] But what concerns me is that,
[5:23:11] and it's a big concern,
[5:23:13] is that this was out to
[5:23:14] the public as a resolution
[5:23:15] before the board even had input.
[5:23:18] And that has to be clear.
[5:23:20] I've never seen that happen
[5:23:21] before as a board and a body
[5:23:23] to decide items that's coming to us.
[5:23:26] And now it's already
[5:23:27] getting tainted out there
[5:23:28] on how we move forward.
[5:23:30] So I'm imploring that district
[5:23:33] gets input from these
[5:23:34] parent groups that came,
[5:23:35] gets input from our
[5:23:36] stakeholders and our labor partners.
[5:23:40] Did we talk before we
[5:23:42] wrote the resolution,
[5:23:42] did we talk to our labor
[5:23:44] partners before this happened,
[5:23:45] did we?
[5:23:49] And did we do these things,
[5:23:50] get input from the parents?
[5:23:52] I mean, the critical thing here is,
[5:23:54] yes, we're here to listen.
[5:23:56] And if we think we're
[5:23:57] gonna come up with a resolution
[5:23:58] in two, three weeks time, I think it's
[5:24:00] gonna be very difficult.
[5:24:02] I'm even opening the fact
[5:24:04] we used to have task force
[5:24:06] on these things.
[5:24:07] And it doesn't behoove
[5:24:08] us to have a task force
[5:24:09] that maybe a board, we
[5:24:10] together launch a task force,
[5:24:12] built the parents from
[5:24:13] elementary, middle and high school
[5:24:15] with teacher support
[5:24:16] and some community support
[5:24:17] and experts in our district
[5:24:18] to come up with a resolution
[5:24:20] to get proposal to us.
[5:24:22] And then we got a
[5:24:23] full gamut of our input,
[5:24:25] of our leadership.
[5:24:26] And then too, we got, then
[5:24:27] it helps buy in at all levels.
[5:24:29] I think for us, I think
[5:24:31] what would help us Kat
[5:24:33] and Telly and Netta and also
[5:24:35] Eileen, I think for us five,
[5:24:37] to have a type of task force like this
[5:24:40] that we have this input, right?
[5:24:42] And then, could we
[5:24:43] have task force before?
[5:24:45] Is there feedback coming?
[5:24:48] Darn it, because Mike might be on
[5:24:49] or there's feedback
[5:24:49] somewhere on a mic in our room.
[5:24:51] I'm not sure.
[5:24:52] Well, finishing my thought,
[5:24:54] we added Foreign Language
[5:24:56] Academies back in early 2000s.
[5:24:57] We're getting pushback.
[5:24:59] And what we did was we
[5:25:00] developed a task force
[5:25:01] and it was consisted of
[5:25:02] parents, faculty members,
[5:25:04] leadership from the district
[5:25:06] and from our labor partners.
[5:25:08] And they came up with a
[5:25:09] plan after several meetings
[5:25:10] and we had a board
[5:25:11] member represent on there,
[5:25:12] one or two of us, and
[5:25:14] helped come up with a plan
[5:25:15] to share buy in together.
[5:25:17] Because it's gonna be
[5:25:18] difficult to come in
[5:25:19] with one resolution that
[5:25:21] everyone's gonna like, right?
[5:25:22] And ultimately, we know it's difficult
[5:25:24] because I remember that
[5:25:25] one movie, "Don't Look Down,"
[5:25:26] where everyone's
[5:25:27] looking down at their phones
[5:25:28] and we're all doing
[5:25:28] that and we're all engaged.
[5:25:31] And our lives go by, but end of the day,
[5:25:34] it's a tough nut to crack.
[5:25:35] But what makes it
[5:25:36] difficult is if we move too fast
[5:25:39] and we're not getting
[5:25:40] input from critical resources
[5:25:41] and also if we're not
[5:25:42] giving input, how is it for us?
[5:25:46] How do we as five
[5:25:46] board members give input
[5:25:47] on a resolution that's already written
[5:25:49] before we give input to it?
[5:25:51] It's a fair question.
[5:25:53] And things like this, we
[5:25:54] need to be focused with this.
[5:25:56] And I think to take a step back,
[5:25:57] my recommendation is that maybe we
[5:25:59] potentially think of,
[5:26:00] and I'm curious about the pleasure
[5:26:02] of my colleagues think about it,
[5:26:04] is maybe have a task
[5:26:05] force specifically on this
[5:26:06] and set a realistic
[5:26:07] time, say maybe by January,
[5:26:09] maybe that task force meets three times
[5:26:11] and they give us input and
[5:26:13] it may be helpful for us.
[5:26:15] Or do we just go with LA
[5:26:16] Unified and San Diego Unified
[5:26:18] and other unified school districts did,
[5:26:20] or do we take a big
[5:26:21] holistic open door policy with this
[5:26:24] and we get feedback
[5:26:25] from our stakeholders?
[5:26:27] It could maybe a
[5:26:27] member from the student body
[5:26:30] from each of the high
[5:26:30] schools have a rep on this.
[5:26:31] Maybe our middle, you
[5:26:32] know what I'm saying?
[5:26:33] There's an idea we could do with this
[5:26:34] that gives us input from everyone,
[5:26:36] gives us a chance to be heard.
[5:26:38] And that's what we're here for.
[5:26:39] We're here to listen and
[5:26:41] then make an educated decision.
[5:26:43] Right now with what we have, I couldn't
[5:26:45] vote on a resolution.
[5:26:47] Yes, there's a lot of
[5:26:48] parents that sent emails.
[5:26:49] I apologize, I've hidden
[5:26:50] email all back to them.
[5:26:52] There'll be an opportunity
[5:26:53] we can engage each other.
[5:26:55] And I'm more than happy to talk about
[5:26:56] this more in detail,
[5:26:57] but my concern is how
[5:26:59] we got to this point.
[5:27:00] I'm glad it's a topic for information,
[5:27:03] but there's so many parents
[5:27:04] I talked over this weekend
[5:27:05] that are worried about
[5:27:06] those action items today.
[5:27:08] Right?
[5:27:08] We're all concerned about that.
[5:27:10] They thought we were
[5:27:10] voting on a resolution today.
[5:27:12] And that's more disturbing to me that
[5:27:15] we're at this point.
[5:27:16] Sorry for being frustrated,
[5:27:18] but I'm not happy with
[5:27:19] how we got to this point.
[5:27:23] Okay, and then we are
[5:27:24] gonna move on to Mr. C.
[5:27:27] And I do wanna say one thing
[5:27:28] just to make sure that things are clear
[5:27:29] is that it is done differently now
[5:27:32] than it may have been done before.
[5:27:34] And there are some
[5:27:35] ways that may be better
[5:27:36] and some ways that may not.
[5:27:38] This was an information item.
[5:27:39] This is not something we're voting on.
[5:27:41] And so I appreciate that that is
[5:27:43] something that we are doing
[5:27:44] and that our staff has for us.
[5:27:46] It's one way to
[5:27:46] introduce the conversation
[5:27:47] and make sure that we can have it.
[5:27:48] Telly, please go ahead.
[5:27:50] Great, thank you, Madam President.
[5:27:52] So I think one thing that I think most
[5:27:56] people would agree on
[5:27:56] is that protections do
[5:27:59] need to be put in place
[5:28:00] and that misuse and abuse of technology
[5:28:06] has a disproportionately
[5:28:08] negative effect on our children.
[5:28:10] I think with that
[5:28:11] being our starting point,
[5:28:13] we can take a look at what
[5:28:15] we wanna do moving forward.
[5:28:16] And so just for the public,
[5:28:19] a resolution, from my perspective,
[5:28:22] a resolution sort of
[5:28:23] sets the district's values.
[5:28:25] Like where is the district's
[5:28:27] position on certain things?
[5:28:29] And then it's from those set of values
[5:28:32] that the district builds policy to
[5:28:34] reflect those values.
[5:28:36] And so this is where
[5:28:38] the district is seeking
[5:28:40] the community's input on
[5:28:42] developing that resolution
[5:28:44] so that we can build
[5:28:44] policy on top of that.
[5:28:47] And the resolution that's put out here,
[5:28:50] this draft is not final, we know this.
[5:28:52] But I think the reason
[5:28:53] why it is put out there
[5:28:55] is because for me and for others,
[5:28:58] it's easier to think about
[5:29:00] what we want a resolution
[5:29:01] to say when we have something to look at
[5:29:05] rather than just
[5:29:06] building it from scratch.
[5:29:07] So I think that's why the
[5:29:10] resolution was put out there.
[5:29:13] Like my board colleagues, I
[5:29:14] received a lot of parent input
[5:29:16] and it is greatly appreciated.
[5:29:19] There's a lot of great information there.
[5:29:21] I think for myself personally,
[5:29:24] several thoughts come to mind.
[5:29:25] One of them is being the equity issue
[5:29:27] because what is the
[5:29:29] reason why districts came up
[5:29:31] with the one-to-one devices
[5:29:33] or each student having devices
[5:29:35] is because of equity concerns.
[5:29:37] That solved one problem.
[5:29:39] Of course, the other
[5:29:39] problem you have then
[5:29:40] is the misuse and
[5:29:43] possible abuse of devices.
[5:29:44] And so how do we deal
[5:29:45] with those situations?
[5:29:47] And at the same time,
[5:29:48] understanding that every
[5:29:49] child has unique needs.
[5:29:51] One of the points in the
[5:29:54] proposal from the parent group,
[5:29:57] schools beyond screens,
[5:30:00] talked about,
[5:30:01] let me pull it up so I don't misread it,
[5:30:09] about eliminating
[5:30:14] device uses with exceptions.
[5:30:17] And I think that that's
[5:30:18] gonna be very important
[5:30:19] is having the exceptions,
[5:30:20] having the flexibilities
[5:30:21] depending on the situation.
[5:30:23] So it could be
[5:30:23] flexibility allowing for more access
[5:30:26] or having flexibility
[5:30:26] for less access, right?
[5:30:28] Having the ability for
[5:30:29] students to turn in homework
[5:30:31] without having to use
[5:30:31] any electronic devices.
[5:30:32] So I think just having the
[5:30:34] flexibility going both ways
[5:30:35] is gonna be super important.
[5:30:37] I think for myself personally,
[5:30:40] the use of artificial intelligence,
[5:30:41] what I have seen as a parent,
[5:30:43] what I've seen as a classroom teacher
[5:30:45] is definitely
[5:30:45] something we should be wary of.
[5:30:47] I know we don't have a
[5:30:48] lot of information right now
[5:30:50] on this relatively new technology,
[5:30:51] but for me personally,
[5:30:53] I don't think I need to
[5:30:55] see more research on this
[5:30:57] or more information on this
[5:30:58] to be able to say that
[5:30:59] we need to be careful.
[5:31:00] I'd rather be too careful on AI than not,
[5:31:04] and then regret what happens from there.
[5:31:07] Mr. Gokorian's idea about
[5:31:08] a task force and committee,
[5:31:09] I like that idea.
[5:31:10] I think that is gonna be important,
[5:31:12] especially if we
[5:31:13] wanna get community buy-in
[5:31:15] the resolution that comes.
[5:31:19] And yes, last thing I'll
[5:31:21] say is to our community,
[5:31:23] you provide a lot of
[5:31:23] feedback, please continue to do so.
[5:31:25] Thank you.
[5:31:27] What you mean by your expert,
[5:31:29] I'm curious about your AI.
[5:31:30] So you saw it in your
[5:31:31] class, is it being abused?
[5:31:33] Is it not your class, we've seen it?
[5:31:35] Because I'm curious to
[5:31:35] hear your opinion about that.
[5:31:38] Sure, so as a special education teacher,
[5:31:40] over the years, one
[5:31:41] of the classes I teach
[5:31:42] is a study skills class.
[5:31:45] Students come in to
[5:31:46] get help with homework
[5:31:48] and assignments from other classes.
[5:31:50] And what I've noticed that in the last
[5:31:52] three to four years,
[5:31:53] the number of students that ask for help
[5:31:55] has gone down to basically zero.
[5:31:57] And the reason I've seen that is because
[5:31:59] of a increased dependency on AI.
[5:32:02] And not even on their phones,
[5:32:03] because they're not
[5:32:04] allowed to have their phones
[5:32:05] in my classroom, it's just
[5:32:06] what is already available
[5:32:07] for them on their
[5:32:08] district provided devices,
[5:32:10] despite all the filters,
[5:32:11] despite all the protections
[5:32:12] that are put out there,
[5:32:13] they're still able to do so.
[5:32:14] So that's what I'm talking about.
[5:32:16] Fair enough, thank you, it helps.
[5:32:17] Can I add to that real
[5:32:19] quick too with the AI,
[5:32:20] because I think it's
[5:32:20] important to also share that
[5:32:22] there's also a form of
[5:32:23] bullying, the use of AI,
[5:32:25] with the use of taking someone's photo,
[5:32:27] whether they're staff teachers,
[5:32:28] and then recreating something which is
[5:32:31] very concerning as well.
[5:32:32] Deep fakes.
[5:32:33] Deep fakes for sure.
[5:32:34] There we go.
[5:32:36] No, I think that this is
[5:32:37] all really good conversation.
[5:32:38] And I also like my
[5:32:40] colleague's idea about the task force.
[5:32:44] I think that the reality
[5:32:45] is, and one of the things
[5:32:46] that I wanna be sure that
[5:32:47] I'm clear in what I have said
[5:32:48] is that this is an ongoing
[5:32:49] conversation, this doesn't end.
[5:32:51] This isn't, we don't
[5:32:53] write the perfect policy
[5:32:54] that makes the perfect movement, that
[5:32:56] makes everything safe,
[5:32:57] and nothing will be a problem ever again.
[5:32:59] The reality is we have to
[5:33:00] keep having this conversation.
[5:33:01] And that technology is going to change.
[5:33:03] And for me, what I
[5:33:04] really wanna see is that
[5:33:05] when we're working with our families,
[5:33:06] that we're listening to
[5:33:07] them, that we are listening
[5:33:11] to our teachers, that
[5:33:12] we're listening to our staff,
[5:33:13] and that we're also understanding that
[5:33:15] this is ever evolving.
[5:33:16] And the best thing that we
[5:33:17] can do is be building this
[5:33:19] in a structure that is flexible,
[5:33:21] because it's going to need to be,
[5:33:23] and it's going to need to be retouched.
[5:33:25] And so really for me, the
[5:33:26] resolution is a commitment.
[5:33:28] It's a commitment to the
[5:33:30] safety of our children,
[5:33:33] moving those benchmarks
[5:33:35] and those kind of goalposts
[5:33:37] as we go, as they
[5:33:38] move, as the needs change.
[5:33:41] And not necessarily like making a policy
[5:33:43] out of a resolution, and making sure
[5:33:45] that we don't solve
[5:33:46] someone else's problem,
[5:33:47] that we work with GUSD,
[5:33:49] we work with what we have.
[5:33:50] And so with that, I
[5:33:52] think that I'm going to back,
[5:33:55] or bounce back to Dr.
[5:33:57] Watson, because we will now
[5:33:59] to the superintendent's office for,
[5:34:04] we're almost out of information items.
[5:34:06] So we might have a
[5:34:09] problem with the speaker.
[5:34:12] And so, and so since I don't think
[5:34:16] that the speaker's working for her.
[5:34:19] I think it is, I just, it
[5:34:20] was, I thought you were in it.
[5:34:22] (indistinct) I'll continue with the superintendent's
[5:34:27] office at this time.
[5:34:28] Can you hear me?
[5:34:39] For those at home, you
[5:34:41] probably heard the echo.
[5:34:42] We're just making sure
[5:34:43] if the echo can go away.
[5:34:48] (indistinct)
[5:34:58] Well, at least you sound cool.
[5:35:00] At least it sounds
[5:35:01] like you are a rock star.
[5:35:02] We've got the echo effect going on.
[5:35:09] If I'm gonna echo and miscross you,
[5:35:12] well, there's such a
[5:35:13] superintendent's office.
[5:35:18] Do you have two devices on perhaps?
[5:35:24] And maybe a phone that's logged in,
[5:35:28] or your computer is not muted.
[5:35:36] I have no extra devices on.
[5:35:38] I've been working on the same one.
[5:35:41] Do you have your
[5:35:41] headphone speakers from earlier?
[5:35:43] Are they in?
[5:35:45] Are they on the, on
[5:35:47] your desk maybe near you
[5:35:48] and actually still
[5:35:49] connected via Bluetooth?
[5:35:51] No.
[5:35:54] That almost sounded correct.
[5:35:57] All right.
[5:36:00] Let's try one more time.
[5:36:02] Okay, can you hear me?
[5:36:04] Is there an echo?
[5:36:06] Yes.
[5:36:08] How about we have you sign
[5:36:10] off, log off and log back in?
[5:36:12] Because if it doesn't work,
[5:36:14] we're just gonna turn it off,
[5:36:15] unplug it and plug it back in, right?
[5:36:18] This is kind of perfect
[5:36:19] timing after our tech conversation.
[5:36:22] So we will keep going.
[5:36:23] Is that, Darren, is that all right?
[5:36:25] Should we keep going or should we wait
[5:36:26] or should I have Dr.
[5:36:28] Bruick or Dr. King keep going?
[5:36:32] We have
[5:36:32] Superintendent's Office A, B and C.
[5:36:36] She's already logged
[5:36:37] off, so we may include her
[5:36:38] and log back in.
[5:36:39] Okay.
[5:36:41] She'll come back on and
[5:36:42] then we can just all look at me
[5:36:43] for the time being.
[5:36:46] Yeah, okay.
[5:36:47] How about we pause for a
[5:36:48] bathroom break really quick?
[5:36:49] Is that okay, Darren?
[5:36:50] Okay.
[5:36:52] We're gonna pause for
[5:36:52] a quick bathroom break
[5:36:53] getting Darren to log back on.
[5:36:55] Yeah, and back on.
[5:36:57] Does it sound better?
[5:36:58] No?
[5:36:59] Okay.
[5:37:01] Could try to a different device perhaps.
[5:37:04] No, I think we're good.
[5:37:05] I think you're good.
[5:37:06] If we have a harder time, do
[5:37:07] you guys can just let me know?
[5:37:13] Okay, she's not echoing anymore.
[5:37:14] Go ahead, Dr. Watson.
[5:37:16] Okay.
[5:37:16] Okay, so I will bring to you three items
[5:37:19] out of the Superintendent's Office.
[5:37:22] Tonight, a proposed
[5:37:24] revision to bylaw 9150
[5:37:25] would speak to the student board member.
[5:37:27] So when a board member makes a request
[5:37:30] to have a discussion or policy
[5:37:31] where I work closely
[5:37:32] with the board president
[5:37:34] to ensure that voice is honored.
[5:37:36] So in this matter, a
[5:37:36] proposed revision has been made
[5:37:38] to have the student
[5:37:39] board member elected annually
[5:37:41] by high school students in the district
[5:37:43] rather than by the
[5:37:44] Student Advisory Council.
[5:37:46] And additionally, the proposed change
[5:37:49] would start July 1st.
[5:37:51] So Mrs. Cartosian, I can't really see,
[5:37:53] and our senior
[5:37:54] director, Dr. Chris Colter,
[5:37:56] executive director, they are the ones
[5:38:00] that oversee the
[5:38:01] Student Advisory Council.
[5:38:02] So they are on hand if
[5:38:04] there is additional insight
[5:38:06] that needs to be offered
[5:38:07] in terms of the process,
[5:38:08] how it evolved over time,
[5:38:10] and how we engage
[5:38:11] student voice in the process
[5:38:13] should the questions arise.
[5:38:14] So at this time, Madam President,
[5:38:16] I will turn it back over to you
[5:38:17] to refer to our board
[5:38:20] member who has made the request.
[5:38:25] All right, so we have a board member
[5:38:27] who's made the request
[5:38:28] and I will pass it over to Mr. C to
[5:38:31] explain his request.
[5:38:33] Thank you.
[5:38:34] So yes, I was the board member
[5:38:35] who proposed that this move forward.
[5:38:39] So like Dr. Watson said, the idea here,
[5:38:42] the major changes from
[5:38:43] what is currently happening
[5:38:45] is that you would have
[5:38:46] a student board member
[5:38:50] be elected by all high school
[5:38:52] students across the district
[5:38:54] and the student board member
[5:38:57] would have to have a majority vote.
[5:39:00] It would also have to be a current member
[5:39:02] of the Student Advisory Council
[5:39:04] and then their term
[5:39:05] would begin on July 1st
[5:39:08] as opposed to after
[5:39:11] the school year begins.
[5:39:12] You'll notice like
[5:39:13] right now, it's September,
[5:39:14] we don't have a student
[5:39:15] board member seated yet, right?
[5:39:17] And so this would be
[5:39:17] something that would change.
[5:39:19] So these would be the major changes.
[5:39:24] Currently, the system is
[5:39:26] that the student board members
[5:39:27] are elected from within
[5:39:29] the Student Advisory Council.
[5:39:30] It's a lot smaller group.
[5:39:32] What I see this doing
[5:39:33] is that it increases
[5:39:35] the democratic process.
[5:39:37] It's consistent with a
[5:39:38] lot of neighboring districts
[5:39:40] and the way they do things.
[5:39:43] And it will also set the timeline
[5:39:45] so that there is more student board
[5:39:47] member participation
[5:39:47] throughout the year.
[5:39:48] There wouldn't be a vacant seat for,
[5:39:51] at any point,
[5:39:52] hopefully with this process.
[5:39:54] So for me as a board member,
[5:39:55] I know that if you
[5:39:56] take a look at the agenda,
[5:39:57] there are some aspects
[5:39:59] regarding the proposed selection process.
[5:40:02] For me personally, I don't see this as,
[5:40:04] I see this as details
[5:40:05] that staff can work on.
[5:40:07] But for me as a board member,
[5:40:09] what I'm looking for here is I wanna see
[5:40:10] the student board member position
[5:40:12] not have a vacancy and also to be elected
[5:40:16] in a more democratic process.
[5:40:17] Thank you.
[5:40:24] Is it me now?
[5:40:27] Yes, I think board president,
[5:40:29] if there's any discussion around this,
[5:40:31] what we would need to do is see
[5:40:32] how you would like us to proceed.
[5:40:34] If this is an item that you
[5:40:35] guys are looking to change
[5:40:36] or make revisions to,
[5:40:38] you'd need to let us know
[5:40:39] so that we can bring it
[5:40:40] back as an information item
[5:40:43] to whether it's to highlight the process,
[5:40:45] to highlight how we get to
[5:40:49] the student advisory council
[5:40:50] and how the board members selected
[5:40:53] or you prefer our process as is.
[5:40:56] So again, if there are any
[5:40:58] questions around the process,
[5:41:00] we have team that's on hand to answer.
[5:41:02] Okay, I guess my one question,
[5:41:04] I wanna be sure like,
[5:41:09] we just reviewed this
[5:41:10] last year, didn't we?
[5:41:13] Okay. Yes, we did.
[5:41:15] Okay, so we are not
[5:41:17] necessarily asking about
[5:41:19] kind of the ideas, do we
[5:41:20] wanna bring up this conversation?
[5:41:21] Do we wanna go anywhere
[5:41:22] with it and possibly edit this
[5:41:23] or do we wanna leave it the way it is?
[5:41:25] Last year, we brought it back to the
[5:41:29] student advisory council
[5:41:30] and please, any staff can
[5:41:31] correct me if I'm wrong,
[5:41:32] but we had brought it back to
[5:41:33] the student advisory council
[5:41:35] and allowed them to kind of review
[5:41:36] and give us the data of the information
[5:41:37] that they wanted us to have
[5:41:39] and if they wanted any changes.
[5:41:40] As far as I
[5:41:41] understand, it's been something
[5:41:42] we've really tried hard to
[5:41:43] like keep in their purview
[5:41:46] and have them tell us.
[5:41:48] As long as we are doing
[5:41:49] things that kind of align with
[5:41:51] keeping it in, ensuring it is equitable.
[5:41:55] And so am I wrong on that?
[5:41:58] And I'm looking at my
[5:41:59] staff just to kind of like
[5:42:00] all the staff around and I'm okay, good.
[5:42:02] So does anyone have any
[5:42:04] questions on what we've done
[5:42:06] or what we're trying to do here?
[5:42:08] I, did you call on me?
[5:42:11] Yes, you did.
[5:42:11] Okay, so I have a preliminary question.
[5:42:16] You know, as someone who has served in
[5:42:18] different capacities
[5:42:19] and have been involved, my
[5:42:21] experience is that in general,
[5:42:23] whether it's students
[5:42:25] or those that essentially
[5:42:26] don't have to participate in anything,
[5:42:28] over the summer, don't.
[5:42:30] And so my question for my colleague is,
[5:42:33] have you considered the
[5:42:37] impact this would have?
[5:42:39] We strategically as a
[5:42:40] board don't plan events
[5:42:43] or certain meetings, we go
[5:42:45] light because people in general
[5:42:47] don't want to show up or don't show up.
[5:42:50] And our students, they
[5:42:52] attend summer programs,
[5:42:53] summer camps, they participate in robust
[5:42:56] extracurricular activities.
[5:42:59] It's in my experience, a
[5:43:02] heavy ask to ask a student
[5:43:03] to participate during the school year
[5:43:06] when they actually are vested, are
[5:43:07] showing up, are in sync.
[5:43:10] Have you considered
[5:43:11] that a summer expectation
[5:43:14] and we have SAC members
[5:43:17] who probably, or students who
[5:43:19] even attending
[5:43:20] regularly their participation
[5:43:23] may be difficult.
[5:43:25] The burden on families not
[5:43:28] to plan the family vacation,
[5:43:29] if you could speak to that,
[5:43:30] that would help, thank you.
[5:43:32] Sure, I think that's a fair question.
[5:43:33] And this is a detail that
[5:43:35] could be sorted out, right?
[5:43:37] Where we can have a student board member
[5:43:39] that is elected or put into
[5:43:40] place at the end of the year
[5:43:42] and then they don't
[5:43:42] have, and they choose to,
[5:43:44] they can be at a
[5:43:47] meeting, whether as an attendee
[5:43:48] or as a participant up
[5:43:50] here during the summer months.
[5:43:51] But in any case, definitely being here
[5:43:55] by the beginning of
[5:43:55] the school year, right?
[5:43:57] I think for me, the
[5:43:57] situation we wanna avoid
[5:43:58] is having multiple
[5:44:00] meetings where there is
[5:44:01] no student
[5:44:02] representative up here in the dyes.
[5:44:04] So summer months can be
[5:44:08] vacant, but by the time
[5:44:10] the school year begins,
[5:44:11] having someone in place.
[5:44:13] And forgive me, I'm
[5:44:14] asking you the questions
[5:44:15] because you presented the item.
[5:44:17] I have a second follow up question.
[5:44:18] So if in the current system that we have,
[5:44:24] if let's say Ms. Courtosian
[5:44:26] and staff were to roll out
[5:44:28] the applications for
[5:44:29] the student board member
[5:44:33] in June before school gets out and say,
[5:44:36] we're gonna put it on the GUSD website
[5:44:39] and even incoming
[5:44:40] freshmen would look at that
[5:44:41] over the summer and say
[5:44:42] the application is due
[5:44:44] instead of August 30th
[5:44:47] or whenever the date was,
[5:44:48] have that application be due July 15th
[5:44:51] so that the selection of the existing
[5:44:56] student advisory council
[5:44:57] and then the subsequent
[5:44:58] board member, student
[5:45:00] board member selection
[5:45:01] were to be done two months earlier
[5:45:04] that would address the concern
[5:45:06] about having a seated
[5:45:08] student board member in August.
[5:45:11] No?
[5:45:13] So for me, I think that
[5:45:16] whatever the timeline is,
[5:45:17] whatever can minimize
[5:45:20] the number of meetings
[5:45:22] in which there is a
[5:45:22] vacancy up here on the dais
[5:45:24] during the school year,
[5:45:25] whatever process can allow that
[5:45:28] to be minimized would
[5:45:30] work for me personally.
[5:45:34] So then may I ask either
[5:45:36] Dr. King or Ms. Courtosian
[5:45:38] who is here with us, would it be possible
[5:45:42] to just move the application,
[5:45:46] the opening of the application
[5:45:48] and the selection to a little bit earlier
[5:45:53] so that in theory rather than seating
[5:45:55] the student board member
[5:45:58] at the first October meeting
[5:46:01] or would that be when we
[5:46:03] would be seating them right now
[5:46:04] in the existing model?
[5:46:05] So rather than seat them in
[5:46:07] the first October meeting,
[5:46:08] they would be seated in September
[5:46:11] within the first 30
[5:46:12] days of the school year
[5:46:13] or some earlier time,
[5:46:15] is that a possibility?
[5:46:17] I think one of the
[5:46:18] considerations would be
[5:46:20] if we do something, it would need to be
[5:46:25] receiving applications
[5:46:27] at the end of the year
[5:46:27] while they're doing finals,
[5:46:28] while they're doing all the
[5:46:30] end of the year activities
[5:46:32] because if we try to launch
[5:46:33] something over the summer,
[5:46:35] then the equity issue of
[5:46:37] do they get the information,
[5:46:39] are they even in town to fill it out,
[5:46:41] do they have access to fill it out?
[5:46:44] I would be concerned about launching it
[5:46:46] during that summer month.
[5:46:48] We have many of our
[5:46:49] students who go out of country,
[5:46:51] we have students who travel
[5:46:53] during that period of time.
[5:46:55] And that would be my
[5:46:56] concern even with a summer seating
[5:46:59] of a board member. It would need to be like
[5:47:00] seating it by June.
[5:47:02] Because the student may want to,
[5:47:05] but inevitably a family may
[5:47:07] make the executive decision
[5:47:09] to go off to a road
[5:47:13] trip to the Grand Canyon
[5:47:14] and then that becomes an
[5:47:16] issue, a student has been selected,
[5:47:18] but I'm done, I just
[5:47:19] wanted to know if it's possible.
[5:47:21] But I'm wondering if
[5:47:21] there's another way of
[5:47:26] maybe brainstorming how to have,
[5:47:28] maybe it's not the
[5:47:30] seated student board member
[5:47:32] during the summer,
[5:47:33] but there's another way
[5:47:34] to have voice during those open months,
[5:47:35] I'm wondering if there's a way to--
[5:47:37] Could the existing
[5:47:38] student board members stay
[5:47:40] into the summer if they so chose to?
[5:47:44] I think we need to look and see,
[5:47:45] and again that would
[5:47:46] depend on that student
[5:47:47] and if they're a senior,
[5:47:49] if they're even around for the summer.
[5:47:53] So as we're looking at
[5:47:54] this, and you have another,
[5:47:55] I would encourage us, at least for now,
[5:47:59] I really want to give
[5:48:01] this to our students
[5:48:02] to decide and to tell us,
[5:48:04] but I think that you
[5:48:05] make a really good point
[5:48:06] and I think that it's important that we,
[5:48:08] at least we brainstorm,
[5:48:12] but we brainstorm with them
[5:48:14] and allow them to say hey,
[5:48:15] this is what we're thinking
[5:48:16] and we would like this,
[5:48:17] and then how do you find
[5:48:18] a solution for that, what
[5:48:19] is it in your guys' world?
[5:48:22] And then I'll throw it over to you.
[5:48:25] So hypothetically, let's
[5:48:26] say that we move the timeline
[5:48:28] to a spring election and a
[5:48:31] student's willing to serve
[5:48:33] on our school board as
[5:48:35] a student board member
[5:48:37] throughout the summer.
[5:48:39] I think there's a two
[5:48:40] part to this, right?
[5:48:41] I think the other
[5:48:41] part is engaging the rest
[5:48:43] of the high school students, is that
[5:48:45] correct, Mr. C, right?
[5:48:46] And I like the idea
[5:48:50] of the civic engagement
[5:48:51] because I do think that maybe
[5:48:54] there are students out there
[5:48:55] that want to engage with the process of
[5:48:57] who's gonna be representing them,
[5:48:59] and I know we have
[5:48:59] SAC that does represent
[5:49:01] the schools that they are involved with,
[5:49:03] but perhaps there are other students
[5:49:06] that want to get
[5:49:07] involved or have thoughts
[5:49:09] around the discussions
[5:49:10] that we're talking about.
[5:49:12] But I mean, I think that's one way
[5:49:15] to really strengthen
[5:49:16] the democratic process
[5:49:17] of producing productive students
[5:49:20] and adults in the future who
[5:49:22] will be part of our community.
[5:49:25] And so I would like to
[5:49:29] hear more about what staff
[5:49:30] might think about, like how we could
[5:49:32] logistically organize
[5:49:35] or work with our SAC council as well
[5:49:37] on how do we continue
[5:49:39] to engage and make sure
[5:49:40] their voices are also represented
[5:49:42] in the selection of our
[5:49:43] student board representative,
[5:49:45] because I'm not sure if I'm
[5:49:47] hearing it's a small group.
[5:49:48] I don't know if that's
[5:49:50] how small this group is
[5:49:51] or if it's really
[5:49:51] representative of the entire school.
[5:49:53] I'm still learning about it.
[5:49:56] I'd like to learn more about
[5:49:57] what that process looks like
[5:49:58] from an equity standpoint.
[5:50:00] Yeah, we have 26 members for this year,
[5:50:06] so there's up to six students
[5:50:08] from every school represented.
[5:50:12] But like Daley High
[5:50:13] School and Verdigo Academy
[5:50:15] didn't have six students apply,
[5:50:18] so we have one member from Daley,
[5:50:20] one from Verdigo Academy.
[5:50:25] I think really putting this back,
[5:50:26] if these are like the
[5:50:28] request of the board to talk,
[5:50:29] how do we have it be a
[5:50:30] more democratic process
[5:50:32] or how do we have it
[5:50:34] cover the summer months,
[5:50:35] I think our SAC students are brilliant
[5:50:37] and have amazing
[5:50:39] ideas to brainstorm that.
[5:50:42] I know the discussion
[5:50:43] previously has come up
[5:50:45] about if it's an open election,
[5:50:48] the different sizes of our high schools
[5:50:51] would be a major concern or question
[5:50:56] that like for Santa Valley High School
[5:51:00] is our largest high school by enrollment.
[5:51:03] So does that mean that any candidate
[5:51:06] from Santa Valley High School would have
[5:51:09] an immediate advantage over a student
[5:51:14] from Daley High School, a
[5:51:15] student from Verdigo Academy,
[5:51:17] a student from Hoover even.
[5:51:19] So I know that that
[5:51:20] has come up as a question
[5:51:22] about a general election
[5:51:24] for the student board member,
[5:51:25] but I think engaging our
[5:51:28] students in this discussion,
[5:51:30] if those are the two
[5:51:30] points in particular,
[5:51:32] and see what they think moving forward,
[5:51:35] because they have been so
[5:51:37] great about being thoughtful
[5:51:40] and intentional about the questions
[5:51:43] that we've brought to them
[5:51:44] about student board members
[5:51:46] and their own SAC membership,
[5:51:50] I think the answers
[5:51:51] might lie with them actually.
[5:51:55] Well, and I wonder about
[5:51:56] the student voice panel
[5:51:57] and even bringing those questions out
[5:52:00] to the greater population of our students
[5:52:01] and having them kind of
[5:52:03] like even maybe being able
[5:52:04] to bring in a bigger weigh-in
[5:52:07] from our students in our community
[5:52:09] that we could then have those discussions
[5:52:11] with lots of different groups.
[5:52:12] And then Mr. Corian and then Mr. C.
[5:52:17] Thank you, Kat.
[5:52:18] And just looking back at this,
[5:52:20] there's several things I wanna,
[5:52:22] there's a couple of topics
[5:52:23] and concerns I have about this.
[5:52:24] I know I'm dating back to
[5:52:27] actually a long time ago
[5:52:28] before I was on the board,
[5:52:31] Christine and I, we moved here from
[5:52:32] Michigan and Connecticut,
[5:52:34] moved here in 1989.
[5:52:35] We chose this area
[5:52:36] because of Glendale Unified.
[5:52:38] We chose to buy a house here,
[5:52:40] and we invested our time
[5:52:42] here in this community.
[5:52:43] And part of the
[5:52:44] investment was because we believed
[5:52:45] in Glendale and Lockwood
[5:52:46] Center Schools that we,
[5:52:48] and actually I looked at my house
[5:52:49] and I have three bond
[5:52:50] measures I'm paying every year for
[5:52:52] that's on my house now,
[5:52:53] but we chose to live here.
[5:52:56] And I think that's
[5:52:56] important too, looking at this as,
[5:52:58] I know we, and I'm curious too on this,
[5:53:00] our proposal what's in here,
[5:53:02] is it stipulating here
[5:53:04] that you need to be a student
[5:53:05] that's not on permit or on,
[5:53:07] or a resident of Glendale Unified?
[5:53:08] Because I look at that here,
[5:53:10] students are taking these spots,
[5:53:12] and it's incumbent upon
[5:53:14] us because we want our kids
[5:53:16] and parents and students use this even
[5:53:17] for college
[5:53:18] applications when they apply it,
[5:53:20] it's a fact, because I've seen every
[5:53:21] student board member
[5:53:22] that's on the wall here has
[5:53:24] used it for college admittance
[5:53:25] and it's an investment that their parents
[5:53:27] and their family made to this community.
[5:53:29] I think it's also
[5:53:30] important as we look at,
[5:53:31] which I think this
[5:53:32] process that is proposed
[5:53:34] would politicize this so much,
[5:53:36] and would change things up
[5:53:38] because who would monitor it?
[5:53:40] We just recently went through election,
[5:53:41] there's a lot of questions on how the
[5:53:42] ballots are counted,
[5:53:43] how things are done,
[5:53:45] and what we had before,
[5:53:46] and I know Kelly, you were
[5:53:48] here with me at the time,
[5:53:48] and Kyle, you were here too at the time,
[5:53:50] ASBs were each school site ASB members,
[5:53:54] and the ASB advisor, part of
[5:53:56] the student advisory committee
[5:53:58] was ASB members, and they were
[5:53:59] elected at their school sites
[5:54:01] because they ran for those offices.
[5:54:03] Somehow, the student
[5:54:04] advisory committee changed
[5:54:05] the past three or four
[5:54:06] years that I was here.
[5:54:08] So we already had
[5:54:09] students that are engaged
[5:54:10] at their school
[5:54:10] sites, they ran for office
[5:54:12] in their local school,
[5:54:13] ran for class president,
[5:54:15] they were getting voted by their
[5:54:16] classmates on campus,
[5:54:18] and those students were the ones that
[5:54:20] eventually went to ASB
[5:54:21] and actually went to the
[5:54:23] student advisory council.
[5:54:24] Somehow, in the past few
[5:54:25] years since I haven't been here,
[5:54:26] it's changed now to a different system,
[5:54:29] which is kind of questions.
[5:54:32] I remember one time we
[5:54:32] had an issue with this,
[5:54:33] I remember Joy McCreary was on,
[5:54:35] and we questioned even term limits
[5:54:37] when they served two terms on
[5:54:39] the student advisory committee
[5:54:41] because kids try to apply for,
[5:54:42] students try to apply
[5:54:43] for this one beyond their,
[5:54:45] I would be at Travis DC
[5:54:46] and someone taking a place
[5:54:48] continuously from a
[5:54:49] kid that wants to apply,
[5:54:51] and I know so many parents
[5:54:52] have reached out to me too
[5:54:53] on this issue here
[5:54:54] that they want their kid
[5:54:55] to have a chance one time to be on here,
[5:54:58] and I said, I don't know,
[5:54:59] look at this policy now,
[5:55:01] and I'm saying, who's to say
[5:55:02] that if club doesn't sponsor
[5:55:04] or endorse a kid?
[5:55:05] This thing here opens up a lot of
[5:55:07] challenges politically,
[5:55:09] which I don't want,
[5:55:10] last thing we wanna do
[5:55:10] is politicize this position.
[5:55:12] This is basically on
[5:55:13] the will of the board
[5:55:14] to have a student board member seat here,
[5:55:16] and it's great to have the kids,
[5:55:18] students give their
[5:55:19] input on some of the issues.
[5:55:20] Obviously, it's a non-voting seat,
[5:55:22] but here are the issues and input on it.
[5:55:24] The last thing we wanna
[5:55:25] do is politicize this,
[5:55:26] and I think that would
[5:55:27] be a big mistake by us
[5:55:29] to politicize this seat, and two,
[5:55:31] with a cat, you talked about equity,
[5:55:34] or mentioned about
[5:55:35] equity with the schools
[5:55:35] and the size of schools
[5:55:37] mentioning, I agree with that.
[5:55:38] I mean, one thing we
[5:55:39] wanted, and I know one,
[5:55:41] I think, Phyllis, I think
[5:55:43] I'm correct if I'm right,
[5:55:44] we had a few years,
[5:55:45] we had a daily student
[5:55:47] as a student board
[5:55:48] member, and that was awesome,
[5:55:50] and I think it's awesome to have,
[5:55:52] and we used to have a rotation between,
[5:55:53] we wanted a rotation
[5:55:54] between the five high schools,
[5:55:55] try to have a rotation like that,
[5:55:57] but before, our policy used to be was,
[5:56:00] it was from ASB students that ran already
[5:56:03] for their school sites,
[5:56:04] so they're already engaged
[5:56:05] in student government
[5:56:06] and their school sites.
[5:56:08] This proposal, in my
[5:56:10] opinion, would politicize it,
[5:56:13] and it's almost impossible to track,
[5:56:15] I don't know how many
[5:56:16] thousands of high school students
[5:56:17] we have, if we add them all
[5:56:18] up, it's about 6,000, 7,000,
[5:56:21] so it's about the right, say,
[5:56:23] so I'm just giving a
[5:56:23] rough guess of what we have,
[5:56:25] and just to count
[5:56:26] those ballots and do that,
[5:56:27] you're just opening up
[5:56:28] a whole can of worms,
[5:56:29] and who's to say that
[5:56:30] one of the committees,
[5:56:31] or clubs from one particular high school,
[5:56:34] decides to sponsor or
[5:56:36] prep buttons for a kid,
[5:56:37] or do something, once you
[5:56:39] start getting involved that,
[5:56:40] you're getting a whole new can of worms
[5:56:42] that could make things difficult,
[5:56:43] or even an outside group says,
[5:56:46] they wanna endorse this student,
[5:56:47] who monitors the statements
[5:56:49] and the fundraising for these kids?
[5:56:51] This creates so many
[5:56:54] challenging questions for me,
[5:56:56] so I'm not comfortable
[5:56:57] with the change at this time,
[5:56:58] that's my personal opinion,
[5:57:00] but if there's anything we do add to it,
[5:57:02] I think it's incumbent on us,
[5:57:05] that I think there would
[5:57:06] be a priority for students
[5:57:07] that are residents and not on permit,
[5:57:10] and secondly, I think it's also,
[5:57:11] I think it'd be
[5:57:12] incumbent on us to have in terms,
[5:57:14] I mean, I think two terms is great,
[5:57:16] but serving more than two terms on
[5:57:18] something like this,
[5:57:19] taking a spot of another
[5:57:20] student to have this chance,
[5:57:22] I don't know, Leonard Kritoszentier,
[5:57:24] I mean, I know some kids
[5:57:25] haven't been able to make this,
[5:57:27] committee of students
[5:57:28] to be able to make it,
[5:57:29] I don't know if kids have
[5:57:31] applied two or three times
[5:57:32] that missed this opportunity,
[5:57:33] that didn't have that spot,
[5:57:35] I'm curious if there was one, you know,
[5:57:37] and I'm not talking about
[5:57:38] being a student board member,
[5:57:39] I'm talking about being on a
[5:57:40] student advisory committee,
[5:57:41] and having that opportunity,
[5:57:43] but my main thing, Ms. Cross,
[5:57:44] is not to politicize this,
[5:57:46] and two, that I'm used to the old way
[5:57:49] when it was ASB members
[5:57:50] who were already elected
[5:57:51] by their student body.
[5:57:57] That's what I'm talking about, I'm sorry.
[5:57:58] Thank you.
[5:57:59] Thank you, yeah, so just to
[5:58:01] address some of the points
[5:58:02] that have been brought up,
[5:58:02] so the point about one
[5:58:04] high school being a lot bigger
[5:58:08] than the others, which is
[5:58:09] why what is being proposed here
[5:58:10] would be based on majority, right?
[5:58:13] Because even though
[5:58:14] there's one high school
[5:58:14] that has a lot more
[5:58:15] students than the others,
[5:58:16] it doesn't have a, it by
[5:58:17] itself does not constitute
[5:58:19] the majority of high
[5:58:20] school students in the district,
[5:58:21] so I think that there is
[5:58:22] a protective layer there.
[5:58:24] It was also brought up about, you know,
[5:58:25] continue to get the input,
[5:58:27] and valuing the input of
[5:58:28] the student advisory council,
[5:58:30] and I agree that the student
[5:58:31] advisory council is made up,
[5:58:33] you know, over the years, we've seen,
[5:58:35] through the student
[5:58:35] voice panel and other events,
[5:58:38] that it is made up of
[5:58:39] some of our most amazing,
[5:58:42] and eloquent, and intelligent,
[5:58:45] and just wonderful students, right?
[5:58:48] But this is not a referendum on their
[5:58:50] decision-making process,
[5:58:51] or their prudence, right?
[5:58:53] This is about democracy, right?
[5:58:55] This is about taking the direction
[5:58:57] that allows the
[5:58:58] greatest number of people,
[5:58:59] greatest number of students,
[5:59:00] to have the greatest amount of impact,
[5:59:02] and so that's what it comes down to.
[5:59:04] So while it may be
[5:59:05] important to get their input,
[5:59:07] I think it is also
[5:59:08] important to just think about,
[5:59:09] you know, what we can do as a district
[5:59:13] to make this process more democratic.
[5:59:15] Mr. Corcoran brought up
[5:59:16] some very legitimate concerns
[5:59:18] regarding, you know, the politicization,
[5:59:22] and, you know, just
[5:59:23] the influence of voters.
[5:59:26] I would say that, you know,
[5:59:27] if we limit the decision-making
[5:59:31] of who becomes a student
[5:59:32] board member to 26 people,
[5:59:35] it would be a lot easier to
[5:59:37] influence that small group
[5:59:39] to influence 7,000
[5:59:41] students across the district.
[5:59:42] So I feel like, you know,
[5:59:44] whatever concerns we have
[5:59:46] about the, you know,
[5:59:48] about the election process
[5:59:51] would already be there
[5:59:52] in its current state.
[5:59:53] Now, the last thing I'll
[5:59:54] say regarding the timeline,
[5:59:55] and again, you know, for me,
[5:59:57] this should be a detail
[5:59:59] that staff will deal with,
[6:00:01] but just one suggestion
[6:00:02] that I see that can work
[6:00:02] is that you have the election, the
[6:00:04] application process,
[6:00:06] the campaigning process
[6:00:07] for a student board member
[6:00:08] to happen, you know, in April,
[6:00:10] so that there's time for
[6:00:12] the elected person to prepare
[6:00:13] and to take their seat in August.
[6:00:14] So I feel like that
[6:00:16] part is a minor detail
[6:00:17] that could be addressed by staff,
[6:00:19] but the most important thing,
[6:00:21] the most important reason
[6:00:22] why this is being brought up
[6:00:24] right now is to allow the
[6:00:26] process to be more democratic.
[6:00:28] Thank you.
[6:00:31] Oh, you have one more thing to say,
[6:00:33] and really we can decide on here
[6:00:35] whether we're gonna
[6:00:36] go down this path more
[6:00:37] if we're gonna leave it
[6:00:38] for staff to work with, Zach.
[6:00:42] Yeah, no, I definitely respect that.
[6:00:44] I just think, I just want
[6:00:45] a point of clarification
[6:00:46] because you said we
[6:00:47] used to have an election
[6:00:49] where the representative
[6:00:51] is seated to Zach, right,
[6:00:54] the Student Advisory Council.
[6:00:56] Is that not the process?
[6:00:57] Is it like application-based?
[6:00:59] Like how are students now seated
[6:01:01] into our Student Advisory Council?
[6:01:04] Is it they apply to be a representative
[6:01:06] or are students elected to be seated
[6:01:09] so that way they're represented?
[6:01:10] Dr. King or Ms. Kudrashian?
[6:01:14] It's open to all high school students
[6:01:15] to apply as Ms. Kudrashian comes up
[6:01:18] to please add to what I'm saying.
[6:01:20] So it's open to all of
[6:01:21] the high school students.
[6:01:22] They have to fill out an application,
[6:01:24] they have letter of recommendation,
[6:01:25] they have to have up their packet.
[6:01:28] So it's open to all.
[6:01:32] Depending on the number of applicants
[6:01:34] for a school, six are chosen.
[6:01:36] We're looking at making
[6:01:38] sure we have diversity across
[6:01:40] and that's the reason
[6:01:41] why it was increased
[6:01:42] to six members for each of the schools
[6:01:46] to really increase
[6:01:48] their diversity of voices
[6:01:50] on the Student Advisory.
[6:01:52] And then from the Student
[6:01:53] Advisory, from the 26 students,
[6:01:56] and it could be more but
[6:01:57] daily, as I mentioned, daily
[6:01:59] and Verdugo Academy only have one each,
[6:02:02] then those students are eligible
[6:02:04] to then run within SAC to
[6:02:06] be the student board member
[6:02:08] and they vote within the Student Advisory
[6:02:12] for the student board member.
[6:02:14] That's correct.
[6:02:19] I do, thank you.
[6:02:20] Good evening board members.
[6:02:22] That is correct the
[6:02:23] way Dr. King explained.
[6:02:26] That's the current 2023 and on.
[6:02:30] We changed the policy.
[6:02:31] Mr. Krikorian is correct as well.
[6:02:35] In the past, it was the ASB advisors
[6:02:39] who chose the students to be part of SAC.
[6:02:43] However, the voting
[6:02:45] process for student board member
[6:02:48] was not, for example,
[6:02:51] one school had four members
[6:02:53] that they can be voting members.
[6:02:55] One school had three
[6:02:57] members based on the enrollment
[6:03:01] of the schools.
[6:03:03] And we had so many
[6:03:05] complaints that we sat down
[6:03:08] and we put our heads together
[6:03:10] and that's why we revised the policy.
[6:03:13] The policy that we revised,
[6:03:15] it is exactly what Dr. King explained,
[6:03:19] that we open up the
[6:03:22] application process in August,
[6:03:25] one week prior, the start of the school.
[6:03:29] So everybody will be in town.
[6:03:31] So we will be, everybody
[6:03:34] will have an equal opportunity
[6:03:36] to apply if they're interested.
[6:03:39] Then we added one more layer.
[6:03:43] We do a parent night
[6:03:45] student information session
[6:03:48] to explain what SAC is,
[6:03:51] what are the responsibilities.
[6:03:53] And for the last four years
[6:03:56] that I've been the advisor,
[6:03:58] the SAC students take very seriously
[6:04:02] when they elect the
[6:04:04] student board members.
[6:04:06] And they, because the
[6:04:08] whole process itself,
[6:04:10] it's confidential.
[6:04:13] The students, what the way it is,
[6:04:16] is that during our first meeting,
[6:04:20] we go through the
[6:04:21] process and then the students
[6:04:26] will be student board members.
[6:04:28] They, we have a deadline,
[6:04:30] they need to let us know,
[6:04:34] they need to send us their resume
[6:04:36] and their letter of
[6:04:38] recommendation if they're interested.
[6:04:41] After that, the day that we're gonna be,
[6:04:46] the SAC students will be selecting
[6:04:48] the student board members.
[6:04:50] They have a maximum of
[6:04:52] five minutes to give a speech.
[6:04:55] And SAC students really listen carefully.
[6:04:59] They look for their leadership skills.
[6:05:01] They look their communication skills,
[6:05:05] their professionalism, the
[6:05:07] way they express themselves
[6:05:09] because it's the entire district
[6:05:11] that the student board member
[6:05:13] is gonna be representing for.
[6:05:15] And they, like I said,
[6:05:18] they take it very seriously.
[6:05:20] And then we will do a confidential ballot
[6:05:26] and then they,
[6:05:28] everybody vote, not everybody,
[6:05:30] three students from each high school
[6:05:33] will be the voting members and they vote.
[6:05:37] Last year, we added the runoff part
[6:05:43] of the voting as well.
[6:05:47] If the students were very close
[6:05:49] and did not have more
[6:05:50] than 50% of the votes,
[6:05:52] there was a runoff, what, second vote.
[6:05:55] So to ensure that
[6:05:57] whoever they're selecting
[6:05:59] or they're electing,
[6:06:00] it's the right person
[6:06:01] to be the student board member.
[6:06:07] Okay, perfect, thank you.
[6:06:08] Does anyone else have any
[6:06:09] more questions for right now?
[6:06:12] Then, Darren, am I
[6:06:15] correct in understanding
[6:06:16] that what I'm doing now is just taking
[6:06:19] a roll call of if people would like to,
[6:06:21] one, either bring these comments,
[6:06:24] like questions to the
[6:06:25] student advisory council
[6:06:26] or two, bring the board
[6:06:28] policy back to be altered
[6:06:30] or like adjusted by the board.
[6:06:32] And also, I have one more question.
[6:06:33] Staff needs board direction as to whether
[6:06:36] there's gonna be any change.
[6:06:38] And if so, whether or not
[6:06:42] it's to be initiated by staff
[6:06:45] based on the
[6:06:46] recommendation from the board member
[6:06:48] some other forms, which is going to SAC.
[6:06:53] Is it feasible for us
[6:06:54] to bring this question up
[6:06:56] for our student, like for
[6:07:00] the student board meeting,
[6:07:01] like when we're having that discussion,
[6:07:04] is it one of the
[6:07:04] questions that's in there?
[6:07:05] Is it, you know, I don't know if it's
[6:07:07] already been decided
[6:07:07] what all those questions are,
[6:07:09] if there's something we want a bigger
[6:07:10] reflection on or not.
[6:07:13] I would just like to propose that maybe
[6:07:15] since we already have,
[6:07:17] the student advisory council
[6:07:19] has been selected already, correct?
[6:07:20] Correct. Okay.
[6:07:21] So we have a student
[6:07:22] advisory council that's selected.
[6:07:24] Typically by way of
[6:07:26] either the student voice panel
[6:07:28] or other meetings that they have,
[6:07:31] we have opportunities to hear from them
[6:07:34] and see how they feel.
[6:07:36] Maybe this could be a
[6:07:37] conversation that they,
[6:07:39] a project that they work on to determine
[6:07:43] if this process in
[6:07:44] their view is equitable
[6:07:46] or if there are any
[6:07:47] recommendations they can make.
[6:07:48] And then that can be a set of questions
[6:07:51] at the student advisory
[6:07:52] panel somewhere in the year,
[6:07:53] one of the few student
[6:07:55] advisory panels that we have
[6:07:56] rather than us retrying events.
[6:08:00] The wheel, leave it to the people
[6:08:02] who are directly impacted just to hear
[6:08:06] if they felt their
[6:08:07] experience was a good one,
[6:08:08] if they felt that they
[6:08:09] had a fair shot at it.
[6:08:11] Well, why if they can't edit the policy,
[6:08:14] they can recommend to us ways
[6:08:15] in which maybe we could edit the policy.
[6:08:17] Right, so then-- And so it would be
[6:08:18] very collaborative. Yes.
[6:08:21] Look at us.
[6:08:23] Board President, if
[6:08:25] it's the will of the board,
[6:08:26] because this is not an action item,
[6:08:29] if it's the general
[6:08:31] direction from the board,
[6:08:33] staff can present
[6:08:35] this to SAC in the manner
[6:08:37] that you've just
[6:08:38] described and get their input.
[6:08:40] So I guess let's find the
[6:08:42] kind of the will of the board
[6:08:43] with that then.
[6:08:44] I know, I think that that
[6:08:45] would be more where I would lean
[6:08:46] because I really wanna
[6:08:48] embrace the student voice.
[6:08:50] And I would, if we change the policy,
[6:08:53] I wanna do it with them.
[6:08:55] So I think that
[6:08:56] that's where I would lean.
[6:08:58] Netta, would you like to
[6:08:58] say where you would lean?
[6:09:00] No, I mean, I
[6:09:00] absolutely think the whole point
[6:09:03] of whether it's seating
[6:09:04] a student board member
[6:09:05] or having a student advisory council
[6:09:08] is to hear from the students.
[6:09:10] And so what better project than have them
[6:09:12] work on their own processes,
[6:09:15] the way that would be
[6:09:17] similar to us doing our own policy.
[6:09:19] So I'm in support of
[6:09:20] having them work on it.
[6:09:25] Yeah, definitely I do want to engage
[6:09:27] our student advisory
[6:09:28] council in the process
[6:09:29] that is important for them to say
[6:09:33] how they wanna be
[6:09:34] represented and how the process is.
[6:09:36] But I do think there is still that gap
[6:09:37] with seating someone here that's not here
[6:09:41] while we're sitting on
[6:09:43] the dais in September.
[6:09:45] So I-- That should be
[6:09:46] one of the questions.
[6:09:46] Yeah, so that's, what do I need?
[6:09:51] (laughing)
[6:09:52] Do you want us to guide
[6:09:55] staff to change the policy
[6:09:57] or do you wanna have us guide staff
[6:09:59] to work with the
[6:10:00] students to change the policy
[6:10:01] and bring that change to us?
[6:10:02] The latter, let's do that.
[6:10:04] Okay, and then, I don't
[6:10:06] know why I turned off my mic,
[6:10:07] but going down to Mr. Connery.
[6:10:09] I don't know about
[6:10:10] students change policy,
[6:10:11] they give us input because we set policy.
[6:10:12] They would give us
[6:10:13] input. We would give us input.
[6:10:14] Yes, they could give us input on it.
[6:10:15] I firmly believe we talk about this.
[6:10:17] We started the
[6:10:18] performing arts magnet at Kepel.
[6:10:20] We actually set
[6:10:21] parameters too for parents
[6:10:23] that lived in the Kepel area
[6:10:25] that were in that
[6:10:25] within a one mile radius.
[6:10:29] Dr. King, right, we
[6:10:29] did, and that's a fact.
[6:10:31] So we create a magnet
[6:10:32] program for students
[6:10:33] who invested and families invested
[6:10:35] homes by the Kepel school had priority
[6:10:38] be on that Kepel campus and
[6:10:40] it's a point I'm leading to.
[6:10:41] I don't know who's on this committee.
[6:10:43] I don't know who the 26, whatever X
[6:10:45] amount of students are,
[6:10:46] but it's my purview
[6:10:47] that they're not on permit,
[6:10:49] they're a student that's a
[6:10:50] resident of this community.
[6:10:51] Also, I would also embark
[6:10:53] on the thing of term limits.
[6:10:54] I don't know how many
[6:10:55] terms these students have,
[6:10:56] I've been out for four
[6:10:57] years, I haven't seen it.
[6:10:58] I know the past has
[6:10:59] been pretty strict before,
[6:11:00] only once or twice I saw a
[6:11:02] student twice due two years.
[6:11:05] So I'm curious if we're
[6:11:05] gonna be doing these things.
[6:11:06] It has to be fair and equitable.
[6:11:08] Those are two concrete things I would,
[6:11:10] as our voters in this community,
[6:11:12] and homeowners in
[6:11:14] Glendale and Lockrissett
[6:11:15] own homes here and
[6:11:16] actually have the right,
[6:11:17] those students, I wouldn't want a student
[6:11:19] that taking a spot of another child
[6:11:22] that actually the parents are here.
[6:11:23] So it's balancing it,
[6:11:25] but there's so many
[6:11:26] things here politically.
[6:11:27] There's too many red flags for me
[6:11:29] of opening up and having it voted
[6:11:33] whole student wide.
[6:11:35] Who's gonna manage it?
[6:11:36] Who's gonna market all those?
[6:11:37] You're talking 7,000 ballots possibly,
[6:11:41] and who's gonna, it's too
[6:11:43] much of a difficult process,
[6:11:45] I think, at this point.
[6:11:47] So I have very mixed emotions about it.
[6:11:50] I do love the fact of
[6:11:51] having a student board member
[6:11:53] and a student council,
[6:11:54] I think that's awesome,
[6:11:55] getting student input from our students.
[6:11:57] And missing a month or
[6:11:59] two is not a big deal
[6:12:00] for them not being here to die.
[6:12:02] I think them losing
[6:12:04] family time during the summer
[6:12:05] is more detrimental
[6:12:06] than having them here.
[6:12:08] I mean, our kids grow up so fast,
[6:12:11] and now we want them here earlier.
[6:12:13] That's not what I would wish.
[6:12:15] I mean, the month or
[6:12:16] two without them here,
[6:12:18] I don't see that as a negative.
[6:12:21] Them starting when they
[6:12:22] traditionally started,
[6:12:23] they've always started in October.
[6:12:24] It's been like that for, I
[6:12:25] don't know how many years now.
[6:12:26] I think Armand Pinocchio was
[6:12:28] our very first student board
[6:12:29] member followed by John Nahas.
[6:12:31] I remember every kid
[6:12:32] that I had that was with us.
[6:12:34] And each one has really
[6:12:35] embodied that position
[6:12:37] and I'm proud of all of them.
[6:12:39] And I'm proud of all
[6:12:39] the students that came
[6:12:40] and applied to be on
[6:12:42] student advisory committee.
[6:12:44] But I think
[6:12:44] politicizing it and turning it
[6:12:46] into something like
[6:12:47] this and not having things
[6:12:49] is, I'm not really crazy about it.
[6:12:52] I'm curious about getting input,
[6:12:54] but not the student setting policy.
[6:12:57] That helps, Kat.
[6:13:00] That was a lot, I don't know if that,
[6:13:02] I don't know what you really said,
[6:13:03] but we'll keep going.
[6:13:05] Telly.
[6:13:09] Thank you.
[6:13:13] I'm in support of getting feedback
[6:13:16] from our student advisory council,
[6:13:19] but I will just emphasize again, I mean,
[6:13:21] this is in part, not because it's meant
[6:13:24] to reflect negatively
[6:13:26] on anything they've done in the past.
[6:13:27] I mean, this is theoretically asking them
[6:13:30] to give up a little bit of their
[6:13:32] decision-making process.
[6:13:34] And so when that happens,
[6:13:36] whatever feedback they give,
[6:13:38] that's something we have to keep in mind.
[6:13:39] Obviously, we believe
[6:13:41] and we hope that they will
[6:13:42] give feedback that is
[6:13:45] objective and makes sense to them,
[6:13:47] but that's just something
[6:13:48] we have to keep in mind.
[6:13:49] So ultimately, the
[6:13:51] motivation behind all this
[6:13:52] is what makes this the
[6:13:54] most democratic process
[6:13:55] for the majority of our students.
[6:13:57] And hopefully, as a board, that's
[6:13:59] something we keep in mind
[6:14:00] when we revisit this as a
[6:14:03] national item in the future.
[6:14:05] And then the second part
[6:14:06] of it, again, the timeline.
[6:14:08] Summer months, I think we've
[6:14:10] talked about this as a board.
[6:14:11] I think we're good with
[6:14:13] them not being in the summer,
[6:14:15] but I think looking at
[6:14:17] ways in which we can minimize
[6:14:19] the times in which
[6:14:22] there's a vacancy here,
[6:14:23] including this meeting
[6:14:24] in which we're talking
[6:14:25] about the position,
[6:14:26] anything we can do to minimize,
[6:14:27] we should try to do as well.
[6:14:28] Thank you.
[6:14:31] Okay, does staff feel like
[6:14:32] you have kind of the guideline
[6:14:34] and, because I could use more words
[6:14:37] and not understand myself either.
[6:14:38] Yeah, so let me just make
[6:14:39] sure we're really clear.
[6:14:41] Staff is gonna work with
[6:14:43] SAC to see if the policy
[6:14:46] should change based on the
[6:14:47] criteria that were described
[6:14:49] by board members tonight,
[6:14:51] any one of them or all of them,
[6:14:53] and then if so, how
[6:14:55] they would recommend it
[6:14:56] to bring that back to the board.
[6:14:58] Yeah, and I think that
[6:14:59] we can discuss with staff
[6:15:00] on whether or not we
[6:15:01] wanna do this as a part
[6:15:02] of the student voice panel
[6:15:03] about having that be questions
[6:15:05] and having to be something
[6:15:05] where they look at our policy
[6:15:07] and they look at what this all is
[6:15:09] and how they might wanna change it.
[6:15:11] We did something earlier
[6:15:12] with a group called YPlans
[6:15:14] and they have this
[6:15:15] really specific structure
[6:15:17] on how they helped
[6:15:17] students kind of take a policy,
[6:15:20] pick it apart, see what was
[6:15:21] working, what wasn't working,
[6:15:22] find the solution and then present it.
[6:15:25] And so something along
[6:15:26] those lines could work.
[6:15:28] I don't think that we need
[6:15:28] to micromanage the decision
[6:15:29] on that part if you
[6:15:30] don't, it's more just like,
[6:15:31] let's let them come to us with kind of,
[6:15:35] let's bring them these questions
[6:15:37] and then offer even some
[6:15:39] solutions or some ideas
[6:15:40] and then they can bring it back.
[6:15:42] That's understood and we'll work to see
[6:15:45] if that can be part of
[6:15:46] the student voice panel.
[6:15:47] I wanna make sure that it's--
[6:15:49] And it might not be able to be,
[6:15:51] I get like it could be too soon.
[6:15:52] Sure, I wanna make sure that it,
[6:15:56] sort of along the lines
[6:15:57] of what Mr. C was saying,
[6:15:59] the board's policy is a
[6:16:01] policy that through the board's
[6:16:03] actions and discretion allows
[6:16:05] for certain things to happen,
[6:16:08] serving the interests of
[6:16:08] the board and the student.
[6:16:11] I don't know if SAC will be looking at it
[6:16:13] from the board's perspective
[6:16:15] and so it's important to make sure that--
[6:16:16] No, I totally agree.
[6:16:17] This wouldn't be something that in which,
[6:16:19] at least I hope I was clear in the like,
[6:16:20] this wouldn't be something that they
[6:16:21] would be rewriting it
[6:16:22] as much as they can give us
[6:16:23] input from their perspective.
[6:16:25] But on the issues that we've described
[6:16:27] versus a blue sky approach to just--
[6:16:29] Oh, to all of it?
[6:16:30] Yeah.
[6:16:30] I mean, maybe they have one,
[6:16:32] something that I don't even know
[6:16:33] that could be really interesting
[6:16:34] and I don't wanna limit their creativity
[6:16:37] as much as like they have
[6:16:39] staff, they have guidance,
[6:16:40] this is, it's something
[6:16:41] but it's not necessarily
[6:16:43] about rewriting our
[6:16:43] policy as much as it is,
[6:16:45] making sure that they
[6:16:45] feel supported in it.
[6:16:47] No, I think, I mean, I think
[6:16:48] we can ask guiding questions
[6:16:49] or ask those questions
[6:16:52] to SAC for their input
[6:16:54] but just as they're not
[6:16:56] a decision-making body,
[6:16:59] you are, regardless
[6:17:01] of what their input is,
[6:17:02] we can bring that
[6:17:03] information for your consideration
[6:17:06] and then at that
[6:17:07] point, you can say either
[6:17:08] we're gonna take this information,
[6:17:10] this input to modify the policy
[6:17:14] or not modify the policy
[6:17:17] or thank you for your input
[6:17:19] but we are gonna go a completely
[6:17:21] different direction.
[6:17:22] I mean, I think it's important to hear
[6:17:24] from the stakeholder,
[6:17:25] from the student
[6:17:25] themselves but ultimately,
[6:17:28] what you do with that
[6:17:29] or don't do with that
[6:17:31] is your decision is the five.
[6:17:38] Oh, absolutely, please.
[6:17:40] So I just wanna ask, would
[6:17:44] it be possible to perhaps,
[6:17:46] again, there are
[6:17:47] themed student voice panels,
[6:17:50] would it be possible
[6:17:51] to just have some type
[6:17:52] of engagement panel where
[6:17:54] one of those three modules
[6:17:56] or the way you divide it
[6:17:57] up could be, for example,
[6:18:01] the process of us
[6:18:04] becoming a student board member
[6:18:05] so that it's very clear
[6:18:07] that, A, the board could listen,
[6:18:09] the board could ask questions
[6:18:10] but that it is an advisory role
[6:18:13] rather than turning it into a mandate
[6:18:19] to come up with a change in policy
[6:18:21] but more so so that we
[6:18:22] as a board could listen
[6:18:24] and see what it is that
[6:18:27] they may feel needs tweaking
[6:18:29] that would allow them
[6:18:30] to feel better heard
[6:18:31] and better represented.
[6:18:33] I mean, it could even be as simple as,
[6:18:35] do people like summer
[6:18:36] involvement, do they not?
[6:18:38] We can wish for someone at the dais
[6:18:40] but if the will is to have a summer off
[6:18:43] or to do something else, then
[6:18:45] that also should be respected
[6:18:46] and so I would like
[6:18:48] to hear from students.
[6:18:50] The good news is that on September 29th,
[6:18:53] you're gonna have a student board member
[6:18:55] sitting at the dais.
[6:18:57] Can I say a quick,
[6:18:59] Ellie, do we still have ASBs
[6:19:01] at each school site?
[6:19:02] Yes. Are they still existing?
[6:19:03] Yes. So we're still an ASB
[6:19:04] advisor at each school, right?
[6:19:06] Each of those students run for off
[6:19:08] or get involved in their
[6:19:09] government at the school site
[6:19:11] from an ASB still. Yes, I mean,
[6:19:13] they all have active ASBHS. Active, okay.
[6:19:15] So I mean, that's insight already.
[6:19:18] You have students already
[6:19:19] engaged in their school sites
[6:19:20] who are involved in the
[6:19:22] structure of the schools
[6:19:23] they actually care, it's not
[6:19:24] just going involved in that
[6:19:25] and that's a big resource there.
[6:19:27] I don't know if we're using them
[6:19:28] or communicating with them
[6:19:30] or hopefully that's the
[6:19:31] standpoint, I appreciate that.
[6:19:32] And many of our student advisory members
[6:19:36] are in ASB, but some are not
[6:19:39] and some really great students
[6:19:41] because of their limited electives
[6:19:43] and everything else have
[6:19:45] chosen a different path
[6:19:46] but are still very
[6:19:47] interested in being involved.
[6:19:48] It's the same ASB advisors basically,
[6:19:50] like Mr. Stepany and I
[6:19:51] remember from Hoover.
[6:19:52] No, there's some
[6:19:52] changes. New chain, new people.
[6:19:54] There's some new advisors.
[6:19:55] At each of the schools, okay, great.
[6:19:56] So in order for this high school,
[6:20:00] former high school
[6:20:01] principal, they go through the ASB,
[6:20:03] you know, elections already.
[6:20:07] So if we're gonna take this to the sites,
[6:20:10] again, it will be similar
[6:20:12] as like a duplicate of ASB,
[6:20:18] you know, students
[6:20:19] that they get elected to.
[6:20:23] Oh my gosh, we're
[6:20:24] gonna keep going right now?
[6:20:25] Okay girl.
[6:20:26] So it's related but I don't think it's,
[6:20:29] we didn't bring it up
[6:20:30] but my understanding
[6:20:31] for our student board members
[6:20:33] is also that they stayed the entire,
[6:20:34] or at least try to stay as
[6:20:35] long as our meetings, right?
[6:20:38] Because, right, or do
[6:20:39] they leave right after?
[6:20:42] No, it's usually they would leave after,
[6:20:44] they could leave during
[6:20:45] like a closed session.
[6:20:46] They could leave at closed session.
[6:20:47] They can. But they can stay.
[6:20:48] Some that stayed.
[6:20:49] Yeah, so they're
[6:20:50] wanting to make sure, yeah.
[6:20:52] (mumbles)
[6:20:53] (laughs)
[6:20:55] They leave by curfew, okay.
[6:20:56] Well, we don't have to
[6:20:57] stay this late, you guys.
[6:21:00] All right, so for right now,
[6:21:01] I think staff has some direction
[6:21:02] and I appreciate the lively conversation
[6:21:05] because I think it's really important.
[6:21:08] And yeah, I'm gonna
[6:21:13] throw it back to Dr. Watson.
[6:21:16] In the next item,
[6:21:18] talking about proposed
[6:21:19] revisions to board bylaw 9220,
[6:21:22] this is the bylaw that's being updated
[6:21:24] by California School Board Association
[6:21:26] to include that a person duly
[6:21:28] elected to the governing board
[6:21:30] who holds an incompatible office
[6:21:31] at the time of the board,
[6:21:33] at the time the board member is sworn in,
[6:21:35] may not continue in
[6:21:36] the incompatible office
[6:21:38] and to reference the new
[6:21:39] attorney general opinion.
[6:21:40] So we have previously
[6:21:42] shared this with you.
[6:21:43] If you have seen the changes already
[6:21:46] and agree with the changes,
[6:21:48] we could bring this back to
[6:21:49] consent at the next meeting.
[6:21:52] So please advise.
[6:21:56] All right, does anyone
[6:21:57] have any comments on that?
[6:21:59] Nope, all right.
[6:22:00] We can bring it back to the
[6:22:01] next board meeting and next.
[6:22:04] Thank you, the last proposed revisions
[6:22:06] are to bylaw 9240 and this
[6:22:08] is regarding board training,
[6:22:10] again, by California
[6:22:11] School Board Association's
[6:22:13] recommendation to bring it up to date
[6:22:15] to comply with Ed code
[6:22:17] and federal state laws.
[6:22:18] So this one is requiring
[6:22:20] a governing board member
[6:22:21] to recite, to participate in training
[6:22:24] on school district finance.
[6:22:26] So it requires the
[6:22:28] district to maintain records
[6:22:30] and trainings as well
[6:22:30] and authorize board members
[6:22:32] to satisfy training through the masters
[6:22:34] and governance programs.
[6:22:35] So if this is to your agreement,
[6:22:38] we could make the changes
[6:22:39] and bring this back to consent as well.
[6:22:43] All right, anyone have
[6:22:44] any long conversations
[6:22:46] they want to have on the
[6:22:47] dais right now about that?
[6:22:48] No, okay, good, awesome.
[6:22:50] All right, and then that leads us to,
[6:22:53] Dorica, do you wanna wrap
[6:22:54] that part up, the next one?
[6:22:55] Yes, thank you.
[6:22:57] At this time, we'll have
[6:22:58] acknowledgement of service
[6:23:00] by Dr. Bruick, thank you.
[6:23:03] Thank you, thank you so much, Dr. Watson.
[6:23:05] Tonight we get the
[6:23:06] opportunity to acknowledge
[6:23:07] four long time employees
[6:23:09] who are ending their career
[6:23:10] in retirement.
[6:23:11] We have Yolanda Krivsky,
[6:23:14] Education Assistant to Horace
[6:23:16] Mann Elementary
[6:23:17] School, 38 years of service.
[6:23:19] We have Michael Peter
[6:23:21] Pankowski, a regular teacher
[6:23:24] at Toll Middle
[6:23:24] School, 41 years of service.
[6:23:27] We have Peter Santos,
[6:23:28] Nutrition Services Driver,
[6:23:30] Nutrition Services Department,
[6:23:32] 20 years, 10 months of service.
[6:23:34] We have Phil Torres,
[6:23:36] Physical Education Teacher,
[6:23:37] Crescent Valley High,
[6:23:38] 30 years of service.
[6:23:40] Together, these employees have
[6:23:41] contributed 129 years to GUSD
[6:23:44] and we wish them well in their
[6:23:45] retirement, thank you.
[6:23:49] Thank you.
[6:23:53] So we will now move on to action items.
[6:23:56] And we're just getting a
[6:23:58] little sleepy here, y'all.
[6:24:00] All right, so action items under
[6:24:02] educational services.
[6:24:03] Approval of adoption of cycles
[6:24:05] for elementary school curriculum.
[6:24:06] Move approval.
[6:24:10] Second.
[6:24:10] Roll call.
[6:24:13] Mr. C.
[6:24:14] Yes.
[6:24:14] Ms. Parid.
[6:24:15] Yes.
[6:24:15] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:24:16] Yes.
[6:24:17] Dr. Dintian.
[6:24:18] Yes.
[6:24:19] And Ms. Cross.
[6:24:20] Yes, make sure you turn your mics off
[6:24:22] so that we don't glare,
[6:24:23] I'll be doing the same thing.
[6:24:25] Approval of agreement
[6:24:27] with Cal State University
[6:24:29] Chancellor's Office for Data Sharing
[6:24:31] and Direct Admission Partnership
[6:24:32] beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
[6:24:35] Move approval.
[6:24:37] Second.
[6:24:39] Roll call.
[6:24:40] Mr. C.
[6:24:42] Yes.
[6:24:42] Ms. Parid.
[6:24:43] Yes.
[6:24:44] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:24:45] Yes.
[6:24:45] Dr. Dintian.
[6:24:46] Yes.
[6:24:47] Ms. Cross.
[6:24:48] Yes, and I have to sneeze.
[6:24:50] Approval of agreement
[6:24:51] with Rio Hondo College
[6:24:52] for college and career access pathways.
[6:24:57] A dual enrollment partnership beginning
[6:24:58] in the 2026-2027 school year.
[6:25:03] Can I get a move for approval?
[6:25:05] Move, second.
[6:25:07] Roll call, please.
[6:25:10] Mr. C.
[6:25:11] Yes.
[6:25:11] Ms. Parid.
[6:25:12] Yes.
[6:25:13] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:25:14] Yes.
[6:25:14] Dr. Dintian.
[6:25:15] Yes.
[6:25:16] Ms. Cross.
[6:25:17] Yes.
[6:25:19] Approval of service
[6:25:20] agreement between Glendale Unified
[6:25:21] School District and
[6:25:22] Glendale Youth Alliance.
[6:25:24] I'll move.
[6:25:26] Second.
[6:25:28] Roll call.
[6:25:30] Mr. C.
[6:25:31] Yes.
[6:25:31] Ms. Parid.
[6:25:32] Yes.
[6:25:33] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:25:33] Yes.
[6:25:34] Dr. Dintian.
[6:25:35] Yes.
[6:25:35] Ms. Cross.
[6:25:37] Yes.
[6:25:39] Approval of service agreement
[6:25:40] with Parker Anderson Enrichment
[6:25:42] for child development and childcare
[6:25:43] after school services
[6:25:45] programs for 26-27 school year.
[6:25:47] I'll move.
[6:25:48] Second.
[6:25:50] Roll call.
[6:25:52] Mr. C.
[6:25:53] Yes.
[6:25:54] Ms. Parid.
[6:25:54] Yes.
[6:25:55] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:25:56] I owe.
[6:25:57] Dr. Dintian.
[6:25:58] Yes.
[6:25:59] Ms. Cross.
[6:26:00] Yes, and I appreciate throwing some
[6:26:02] difference in there.
[6:26:03] We're doing it.
[6:26:04] I throw it all, yes, and I believe that it's just--
[6:26:04] Keeping us all on our toes.
[6:26:05] Approval of service
[6:26:06] agreement with, is it Row Health?
[6:26:11] Row Health?
[6:26:12] Okay.
[6:26:13] LLC for nursing services.
[6:26:14] Thank you for your support there.
[6:26:16] Move.
[6:26:18] I'll move.
[6:26:19] Second.
[6:26:20] All right, roll call, please.
[6:26:22] Mr. C.
[6:26:22] Yes.
[6:26:23] Ms. Parid.
[6:26:23] Yes.
[6:26:24] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:26:25] Ballet.
[6:26:26] Dr. Dintian.
[6:26:28] Yes.
[6:26:28] Ms. Cross.
[6:26:29] Yes.
[6:26:31] All right, approval of
[6:26:32] memorandum of understanding
[6:26:33] between Glendale Unified School District
[6:26:35] and YMCA for College View School.
[6:26:37] I'll move.
[6:26:38] Second.
[6:26:41] Mr. C.
[6:26:42] Yes.
[6:26:43] Ms. Parid.
[6:26:44] Yes.
[6:26:44] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:26:45] Yes.
[6:26:46] Dr. Dintian.
[6:26:47] I owe.
[6:26:48] I owe.
[6:26:49] Ms. Cross.
[6:26:50] Yes.
[6:26:51] Love it.
[6:26:52] All right, approval of
[6:26:54] memorandum of understanding
[6:26:55] between Glendale Unified
[6:26:56] School District and Hill Sides.
[6:26:59] Move.
[6:27:00] Move approval.
[6:27:01] Second.
[6:27:03] All right, roll call.
[6:27:04] Mr. C.
[6:27:05] Yes.
[6:27:06] Ms. Parid.
[6:27:07] Yes.
[6:27:08] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:27:08] Yes.
[6:27:09] Dr. Dintian.
[6:27:10] Yes.
[6:27:11] Ms. Cross.
[6:27:12] Yes.
[6:27:13] Approval of memorandum of understanding
[6:27:15] between Glendale Unified
[6:27:16] School District and Sycamores.
[6:27:19] I'll move.
[6:27:20] Second.
[6:27:22] Roll call.
[6:27:23] Mr. C.
[6:27:24] Yes.
[6:27:25] Ms. Parid.
[6:27:26] Yes.
[6:27:27] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:27:28] Yes.
[6:27:29] Dr. Dintian.
[6:27:30] Yes.
[6:27:30] Ms. Cross.
[6:27:31] Yes.
[6:27:33] Approval of adoption of elementary
[6:27:35] performing arts curriculum.
[6:27:36] I'll move.
[6:27:39] Second.
[6:27:42] Roll call, please.
[6:27:43] Mr. C.
[6:27:44] Yes.
[6:27:44] Ms. Parid.
[6:27:45] Yes.
[6:27:46] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:27:46] Yes.
[6:27:47] Dr. Dintian.
[6:27:48] Yes.
[6:27:49] Ms. Cross.
[6:27:50] Yes.
[6:27:52] And special education
[6:27:53] settlement agreement.
[6:27:57] I'll move.
[6:27:58] Second.
[6:28:00] Roll call.
[6:28:01] Mr. C.
[6:28:02] Yes.
[6:28:03] Ms. Parid.
[6:28:04] Yes.
[6:28:05] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:28:06] Yes.
[6:28:06] Dr. Dintian.
[6:28:07] Yes.
[6:28:08] Ms. Cross.
[6:28:10] Yes.
[6:28:11] Business services,
[6:28:13] emergency resolution number 14,
[6:28:14] authorized in HVAC work
[6:28:16] at multiple school sites.
[6:28:17] Move approval.
[6:28:18] Second.
[6:28:20] That I wanted to do.
[6:28:21] Second.
[6:28:21] All right, let's do a roll call.
[6:28:23] Mr. C.
[6:28:24] Yes.
[6:28:25] Ms. Parid.
[6:28:26] Yes.
[6:28:26] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:28:27] Yes, get the air condition going.
[6:28:29] Dr. Dintian.
[6:28:30] Yes.
[6:28:30] Ms. Cross.
[6:28:32] Absolutely.
[6:28:33] And then business
[6:28:36] services resolution number 15,
[6:28:37] in support of proposition number three.
[6:28:39] We heard about this earlier today.
[6:28:40] I'll move.
[6:28:41] Move.
[6:28:43] I'll second.
[6:28:44] And does anyone wanna
[6:28:45] say a short little bit
[6:28:47] about our support of this as we are,
[6:28:50] understandably, it's running very late.
[6:28:52] So if we don't need to,
[6:28:53] but I want everyone to
[6:28:55] know that we are in support.
[6:28:57] All right, roll call.
[6:29:00] Mr. C.
[6:29:01] Yes.
[6:29:01] Ms. Parid.
[6:29:02] Yes.
[6:29:03] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:29:04] Yes.
[6:29:05] Dr. Dintian.
[6:29:06] Yes.
[6:29:07] Ms. Cross.
[6:29:08] Yes.
[6:29:10] Next is resolution number 16,
[6:29:11] gone or GAN
[6:29:13] appropriations limit for 2526 and 2627.
[6:29:17] I'll move.
[6:29:19] Second.
[6:29:21] Roll call.
[6:29:22] Mr. C.
[6:29:23] Yes.
[6:29:23] Ms. Parid.
[6:29:24] Yes.
[6:29:25] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:29:25] Yes.
[6:29:26] Dr. Dintian.
[6:29:27] Yes.
[6:29:28] Ms. Cross.
[6:29:29] Yes.
[6:29:31] Next is approval of the 2526,
[6:29:33] unaudited actuals and
[6:29:35] technical corrections
[6:29:36] to the 2627 adopted budget.
[6:29:38] I'll move.
[6:29:39] Second.
[6:29:41] Roll call.
[6:29:42] Mr. C.
[6:29:43] Yes.
[6:29:44] Ms. Parid.
[6:29:45] Yes.
[6:29:46] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:29:46] Yes.
[6:29:47] Dr. Dintian.
[6:29:48] Yes.
[6:29:49] Ms. Cross.
[6:29:49] Yes.
[6:29:51] Next is approval to
[6:29:52] renew RFP number 006-24-25
[6:29:56] with West Coast Arboress Inc.
[6:29:59] for tree services district wide.
[6:30:01] I'll move.
[6:30:02] Second.
[6:30:05] Roll call please.
[6:30:06] Mr. C.
[6:30:07] Yes.
[6:30:08] Ms. Parid.
[6:30:08] Yes.
[6:30:09] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:30:09] Yes.
[6:30:10] Dr. Dintian.
[6:30:11] Yes.
[6:30:11] Ms. Cross.
[6:30:12] Yes.
[6:30:15] Next is the approval of
[6:30:16] credit change order number one
[6:30:18] with MCOR services for
[6:30:19] Cal-shape HVAC assessment services
[6:30:22] and notice of completion.
[6:30:23] So moved.
[6:30:25] Second.
[6:30:27] Roll call please.
[6:30:28] Mr. C.
[6:30:29] Yes.
[6:30:30] Ms. Parid.
[6:30:30] Yes.
[6:30:31] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:30:31] Yes.
[6:30:32] Dr. Dintian.
[6:30:33] Yes.
[6:30:34] Ms. Cross.
[6:30:35] Yes.
[6:30:38] Approval of independent consultant
[6:30:39] agreement number L008
[6:30:41] with PBK Architects Inc.
[6:30:43] for architectural and
[6:30:44] engineering services
[6:30:45] at Hoover High School.
[6:30:47] I'll move.
[6:30:49] Second.
[6:30:51] Roll call please.
[6:30:52] Mr. C.
[6:30:53] Yes.
[6:30:53] Ms. Parid.
[6:30:54] Yes.
[6:30:54] Mr. Cacorian.
[6:30:55] Yes.
[6:30:56] Dr. Dintian.
[6:30:57] Yes.
[6:30:57] Ms. Cross.
[6:30:59] Yes.
[6:31:01] Next is the approval
[6:31:01] to use CMASS contract
[6:31:04] for the first DBA AFE sports
[6:31:07] for track resurfacing
[6:31:08] at Hoover High School
[6:31:09] not to be confused with
[6:31:11] an AstroTurf replacement.
[6:31:13] It's just the name of the company.
[6:31:15] I'll move.
[6:31:18] I'll second.
[6:31:20] Roll call please.
[6:31:20] I just have a question.
[6:31:22] Question of information regarding this.
[6:31:25] I know we initially
[6:31:26] signed the contract before
[6:31:27] for the track in the
[6:31:28] field itself years ago.
[6:31:30] Part of the contract was
[6:31:32] the money that we agreed to
[6:31:33] was that part of the
[6:31:34] resurfacing and doing this?
[6:31:35] Was this above and beyond, do we know?
[6:31:38] What's in there?
[6:31:40] Of the old contract?
[6:31:41] Yeah.
[6:31:42] We've done a few times.
[6:31:44] This is above and beyond.
[6:31:45] The track has suffered
[6:31:46] some damage from usage.
[6:31:50] And so it is time to
[6:31:51] repair before there are any
[6:31:53] safety concerns with students.
[6:31:55] And is there a warranty on there?
[6:31:57] They have a guaranteed of the repairs?
[6:32:00] The warranty has passed.
[6:32:01] The repairs are
[6:32:02] associated with chairs being placed
[6:32:05] on the track and other
[6:32:07] items being placed on the track
[6:32:08] that should not be placed on the track.
[6:32:10] Thank you.
[6:32:11] Yes.
[6:32:13] Okay, we can go ahead
[6:32:13] with roll call now please.
[6:32:15] Mr. C?
[6:32:15] Yes.
[6:32:16] Ms. Farid?
[6:32:17] Yes.
[6:32:17] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:32:18] Yes.
[6:32:18] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:32:20] Yes.
[6:32:20] Ms. Gross?
[6:32:21] Yes.
[6:32:23] Approval of Independent Consultant
[6:32:24] Agreement number L007
[6:32:27] with TBP Architects for Architectural
[6:32:31] Engineering Services
[6:32:31] at Hoover High School.
[6:32:33] I'll move.
[6:32:34] Second.
[6:32:37] Roll call.
[6:32:38] Mr. C?
[6:32:39] Yes.
[6:32:39] Ms. Farid?
[6:32:40] Yes.
[6:32:41] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:32:41] Yes.
[6:32:42] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:32:43] Yes.
[6:32:43] Ms. Gross?
[6:32:45] Yes.
[6:32:47] And next we have
[6:32:47] ratification of change order number two
[6:32:50] with Adco Rufine at
[6:32:52] Glen Oaks Elementary School
[6:32:53] and approval of notice of completion.
[6:32:55] I'll move.
[6:32:55] Second.
[6:32:56] Roll call.
[6:32:59] Mr. C?
[6:32:59] Yes.
[6:33:00] Ms. Farid?
[6:33:01] Yes.
[6:33:02] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:33:03] Yes.
[6:33:03] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:33:04] Yes.
[6:33:04] Ms. Gross?
[6:33:06] Yes.
[6:33:06] And then ratification of
[6:33:08] change order number one
[6:33:08] with T3 Contractors, Inc.
[6:33:10] for Administration Building
[6:33:12] Third Floor Interior Batement Project.
[6:33:15] I'll move.
[6:33:16] Second.
[6:33:17] Roll call.
[6:33:19] Mr. C?
[6:33:20] Yes.
[6:33:21] Ms. Farid?
[6:33:22] Yes.
[6:33:23] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:33:24] Yes.
[6:33:24] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:33:25] Yes.
[6:33:26] Ms. Gross?
[6:33:27] Yes.
[6:33:29] Yes, I was just reading
[6:33:30] how many more there were,
[6:33:30] but I know, because I read this earlier.
[6:33:33] Ratification of change order number one
[6:33:35] with Strength, Inc.
[6:33:36] for Administration Building
[6:33:37] Third Floor Renovation Project.
[6:33:39] I'll move.
[6:33:41] Second.
[6:33:42] We had two seconds.
[6:33:43] You got it?
[6:33:44] All right.
[6:33:46] And roll call, please.
[6:33:48] Mr. C?
[6:33:49] Yes.
[6:33:49] Ms. Farid?
[6:33:50] Yes.
[6:33:50] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:33:51] Yes.
[6:33:52] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:33:53] Yes.
[6:33:53] Ms. Gross?
[6:33:55] Yes.
[6:33:56] Next we have resolution number 13,
[6:33:58] establishing the
[6:33:59] maximum monthly compensation
[6:34:00] for board members pursuant to education
[6:34:02] code section 3512-0,
[6:34:06] as amended by AB 1390.
[6:34:08] Move approval.
[6:34:10] I'll second.
[6:34:12] Roll call.
[6:34:13] Mr. C?
[6:34:14] Yes.
[6:34:15] Ms. Farid?
[6:34:16] No.
[6:34:17] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:34:18] Yes.
[6:34:19] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:34:20] Yes.
[6:34:22] Ms. Gross?
[6:34:23] Yes.
[6:34:24] Next we have approval of agreement
[6:34:26] with frontline education
[6:34:27] for professional growth solutions.
[6:34:31] Move approval.
[6:34:32] Second.
[6:34:34] Roll call.
[6:34:35] Mr. C?
[6:34:36] Yes.
[6:34:37] Ms. Farid?
[6:34:37] Yes.
[6:34:38] Ms. Kukorian?
[6:34:39] Yes.
[6:34:40] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:34:41] Yes.
[6:34:42] Ms. Gross?
[6:34:43] Yes.
[6:34:44] Very well termed waiver,
[6:34:46] request administrative services program
[6:34:48] in the Selpa department
[6:34:49] for the 26-27 school year.
[6:34:51] I'll move.
[6:34:52] Roll call.
[6:34:54] Mr. C?
[6:34:55] Yes.
[6:34:55] Ms. Farid?
[6:34:57] Yes.
[6:34:57] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:34:58] Yes.
[6:34:58] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:34:59] Yes.
[6:35:00] Ms. Gross?
[6:35:01] Yes.
[6:35:05] Very well termed waiver request
[6:35:06] for certificate of
[6:35:07] completion of staff development, CCSC,
[6:35:10] at Crescent Valley High School
[6:35:11] for the 26-27 school year.
[6:35:13] Move approval.
[6:35:15] Second.
[6:35:17] Roll call.
[6:35:20] Mr. C?
[6:35:21] Yes.
[6:35:21] Ms. Farid?
[6:35:22] Yes.
[6:35:22] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:35:23] Yes.
[6:35:23] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:35:24] Yes.
[6:35:25] Ms. Gross?
[6:35:27] Yes.
[6:35:27] And I want to promise it
[6:35:28] won't always be this long.
[6:35:32] Contract approval,
[6:35:33] assistant general counsel.
[6:35:36] I'll move it.
[6:35:37] Second.
[6:35:38] Roll call.
[6:35:40] Yes.
[6:35:41] Mr. C?
[6:35:43] Ms. Farid?
[6:35:44] Yes.
[6:35:44] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:35:46] Yes. Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:35:47] Yes.
[6:35:47] Ms. Gross?
[6:35:48] Yes.
[6:35:49] And now we're gonna move to,
[6:35:52] do we wanna have a clap?
[6:35:53] Do you wanna come up?
[6:35:54] Would you like to come up
[6:35:55] and say something really quickly?
[6:35:56] Are you prepared for a speech?
[6:36:00] (laughing) (audience applauding)
[6:36:07] Welcome to the family.
[6:36:09] Thank you, I appreciate that.
[6:36:10] My name's Josh Weldon,
[6:36:11] if I hadn't had an
[6:36:11] opportunity to introduce myself.
[6:36:13] Thank you.
[6:36:15] And that's how we do it, you guys.
[6:36:17] Let's channel that for our,
[6:36:20] yeah, let's channel that
[6:36:21] for our board reports, y'all.
[6:36:23] Because right now we're
[6:36:24] going to the consent calendar.
[6:36:25] Consent calendar?
[6:36:26] Move approval.
[6:36:27] Second.
[6:36:28] Roll call.
[6:36:33] I was.
[6:36:36] Mr. C?
[6:36:37] Yes.
[6:36:38] Ms. Farid?
[6:36:38] Yes.
[6:36:39] Mr. Kukorian?
[6:36:40] Yes.
[6:36:41] Dr. Dan Tien?
[6:36:42] Yes.
[6:36:42] Ms. Cross?
[6:36:44] Yes.
[6:36:45] And I am going to encourage my colleagues
[6:36:49] to share from their
[6:36:51] heart what they need to say
[6:36:52] with their board report,
[6:36:53] but also understand
[6:36:54] that we have a commitment
[6:36:55] to each other and to our team.
[6:36:56] We don't need to go this long.
[6:36:58] And so I'm gonna start with Greg, please.
[6:37:01] I'll make it quick.
[6:37:02] Thank you, make it quick, Corinne.
[6:37:03] I wanna talk about one of our speakers,
[6:37:05] say Emma Hosepian talked
[6:37:06] about left-handed desks.
[6:37:08] I think all the years
[6:37:08] I've never heard that.
[6:37:09] I think it was the coolest thing of
[6:37:10] public communication,
[6:37:11] something for us to look
[6:37:12] at Bill, left-handed desks,
[6:37:14] because the kids deal
[6:37:15] with it, it's awesome.
[6:37:16] Also to public communication,
[6:37:18] I know before the board had to deal with
[6:37:21] very adversarial comments and happens,
[6:37:24] but I also recommend for the board
[6:37:25] to look at changing the camera angle
[6:37:27] so the speaker could be
[6:37:29] seen out in the public.
[6:37:30] I think it's also important to have that.
[6:37:33] It's my opinion, just
[6:37:34] in that area there too.
[6:37:36] I do wanna re-invite and mention
[6:37:38] after-school hours with Greg,
[6:37:40] it's gonna happen next week.
[6:37:41] I'll be posting the
[6:37:42] date for Northwest Glendale
[6:37:44] for area B.
[6:37:45] So inviting parents, teachers, students,
[6:37:49] community members to
[6:37:50] after-school hours with Greg,
[6:37:51] tapping next
[6:37:52] Wednesday at Kenneth Village.
[6:37:54] I'll be posting the flyers for everyone
[6:37:56] that's interested in attending,
[6:37:57] and hopefully people from area B show up,
[6:38:00] and if they don't
[6:38:00] show up from other areas,
[6:38:01] you're all more than welcome to come
[6:38:02] and have coffee or iced tea with me.
[6:38:05] And I do support, I'm
[6:38:07] glad the parents came out
[6:38:08] and issued their
[6:38:09] concerns about the screen time,
[6:38:11] but I encourage the
[6:38:12] board, I'll make this quick,
[6:38:13] I think the task force would be great
[6:38:15] for us to initiate a
[6:38:16] task force on this item,
[6:38:18] and actually having parents and teachers
[6:38:20] and build a whole team together
[6:38:22] and really tackle this together.
[6:38:23] Thank you, that's my board report.
[6:38:25] God bless.
[6:38:26] Thank you so much.
[6:38:27] I'm gonna now pop it
[6:38:28] over to Dr. Dingchen.
[6:38:30] Yeah, so thank you, Madam President.
[6:38:32] So I first wanted to say
[6:38:35] thank you to everyone again
[6:38:37] for expressing their
[6:38:38] concerns about screen time,
[6:38:40] and we will make our due diligence
[6:38:41] to making sure that we
[6:38:42] incorporate a lot of the feedback
[6:38:44] that we have received.
[6:38:46] More recently, we did have
[6:38:47] our board governance meeting,
[6:38:48] which I thought was great to set the tone
[6:38:51] for the next several
[6:38:52] years of us working together.
[6:38:53] So I really appreciated the
[6:38:54] time that we spent together
[6:38:55] as board members, in
[6:38:57] ensuring that we agree
[6:38:59] that we will disagree.
[6:39:00] The other area that I wanted to highlight
[6:39:03] is I've made some visits
[6:39:04] to Glen Oaks Elementary,
[6:39:05] which I had the pleasure of
[6:39:07] meeting with the principal,
[6:39:08] Christina Royan,
[6:39:09] getting to know her priorities
[6:39:10] for her schools and the
[6:39:11] families that are just wonderful
[6:39:14] in the schools that she's overseeing.
[6:39:17] So I wanted to say thank you for the time
[6:39:19] that she spent with me to visit.
[6:39:21] I also wanted to
[6:39:22] congratulate the new principal
[6:39:23] at Thomas Edison, Francesca Silva,
[6:39:25] who I know very closely, very well,
[6:39:28] who was at Jefferson previously as an
[6:39:30] assistant principal.
[6:39:31] So I'm really excited to see and visit
[6:39:33] some of the classrooms,
[6:39:34] Spanish DLI programs at
[6:39:36] Thomas Edison as well.
[6:39:38] I do want to quickly
[6:39:40] recognize that more recently,
[6:39:42] the anti-Armenian hate
[6:39:44] issue that was raised
[6:39:46] within our school district,
[6:39:47] I want to echo what
[6:39:49] Ms. Cross said earlier
[6:39:50] that there is definitely no place for
[6:39:52] hate in our community.
[6:39:54] And I do appreciate
[6:39:55] that we did have someone
[6:39:58] that addressed this to
[6:40:00] our community on our board,
[6:40:01] but also the swift
[6:40:02] action that our superintendent
[6:40:04] and staff have made to ensuring
[6:40:07] that the protection and
[6:40:08] safety of our students
[6:40:09] and parents that have
[6:40:10] raised concerns about the hates
[6:40:12] that was brought upon
[6:40:15] around our school campuses
[6:40:17] is something that we need to
[6:40:19] continue to have a conversation
[6:40:21] with our kids on
[6:40:22] resiliency and how do we respond
[6:40:25] whenever we are facing
[6:40:26] controversial concerns
[6:40:28] and issues with that.
[6:40:28] And so I do want to also
[6:40:30] share that I have raised this
[6:40:33] concern also with council members
[6:40:35] and other members of our community
[6:40:37] and making sure that we are collective
[6:40:39] in responding to
[6:40:39] anti-hate in any community.
[6:40:43] And so I'm just gonna keep it brief.
[6:40:45] And it's also 988 days,
[6:40:47] so suicide prevention is
[6:40:49] really key and important.
[6:40:50] I want to recognize that
[6:40:51] if anyone is in need of help
[6:40:52] that we do have wonderful programs,
[6:40:54] Bright Life and Saluna.
[6:40:57] They're great self-health tools
[6:40:58] that I think has
[6:40:59] helped students in the past
[6:41:00] that I know of, so thank you.
[6:41:03] Thank you, and we'll
[6:41:03] now go over to Mr. C.
[6:41:07] All right, thank you,
[6:41:09] especially those of you
[6:41:10] who stayed all the way to the end.
[6:41:12] Really quick, yes, since
[6:41:13] the last time we were here,
[6:41:14] we had the first day of
[6:41:15] school, which was awesome.
[6:41:16] I had the privilege
[6:41:17] of being at Monte Vista
[6:41:18] and Scorsetta Valley
[6:41:19] High School for that.
[6:41:20] I'm also attending
[6:41:21] the Monte Vista Rosemont
[6:41:22] and Glendale High
[6:41:23] School back to school nights,
[6:41:24] wonderful events.
[6:41:26] Finally, just want to
[6:41:27] thank all the community members
[6:41:29] who showed up and emailed us
[6:41:31] advocating for their children
[6:41:32] regarding technology use.
[6:41:34] Lastly, proud that this
[6:41:36] board passed the resolution
[6:41:38] regarding Proposition 3, which will
[6:41:40] ensure that our schools
[6:41:42] and our educators will get the
[6:41:44] appropriate funding they need.
[6:41:45] It'll be the step in the right direction.
[6:41:47] So this is just one step.
[6:41:49] Please make sure to
[6:41:49] vote for Prop 3 in November
[6:41:52] when the time comes, thank you.
[6:41:55] And no one's gonna guess
[6:41:56] who's next, Ms. Fuhrree.
[6:41:58] All right, so let's see,
[6:42:00] since the last meeting,
[6:42:02] I did attend the Los Angeles County
[6:42:04] School Trustees Association
[6:42:06] retreat as a board member.
[6:42:08] And as being a rookie board member,
[6:42:11] I was appointed to the
[6:42:14] legislation committee
[6:42:15] as well as the
[6:42:16] membership outreach committee.
[6:42:17] And so I'm excited to
[6:42:19] begin that important work.
[6:42:22] I'm excited to also share that Dr. Watson
[6:42:25] has graciously agreed to allow us to host
[6:42:27] one of the LACSTA
[6:42:29] meetings in February, 2027.
[6:42:31] And so that makes it very convenient
[6:42:33] for anyone interested
[6:42:35] in our area to attend.
[6:42:39] I would like to go
[6:42:41] continue on what I said earlier
[6:42:43] and thank Dr. Kometian and
[6:42:45] Student Wellness Services
[6:42:47] who again worked in, I guess in tandem
[6:42:50] or along with input from
[6:42:52] Dr. Fercio, Special Education
[6:42:54] and Mr. Yilmasekian in creating
[6:42:56] the wonderful 50 page resource guide,
[6:42:59] which is called a comprehensive manual
[6:43:01] for suicide risk and threat assessments.
[6:43:03] I'm very impressed with the resources,
[6:43:06] the extensive resources,
[6:43:08] the guidelines, the rubrics
[6:43:10] and just the wealth of
[6:43:11] information in that one
[6:43:13] concise packet so I like, I thank staff
[6:43:16] for their work on that
[6:43:17] important publication.
[6:43:19] I would like to thank all of the parents
[6:43:22] who wrote to us and stakeholders,
[6:43:24] community stakeholders.
[6:43:25] We received communication not only
[6:43:29] on the obvious screen time issue,
[6:43:31] which many of you heard in the boardroom
[6:43:34] and at tonight's deliberations,
[6:43:36] but we also heard regarding the incidents
[6:43:39] of the hateful flyers
[6:43:42] that are in the community.
[6:43:43] We heard from band parents.
[6:43:45] We did receive a lot of
[6:43:46] mail this period of time,
[6:43:49] but we do take each and
[6:43:50] every piece of feedback
[6:43:52] and so I thank you for writing.
[6:43:54] Everyone, I would like
[6:43:56] to welcome Mr. Josh Walden
[6:44:00] who's just left the room.
[6:44:02] It seems every time we hire
[6:44:04] counsel, our meetings go late.
[6:44:07] However, I believe
[6:44:08] that your first evening
[6:44:10] was later than this one,
[6:44:11] so I thank you and your family for that.
[6:44:14] I will wrap it up.
[6:44:15] I want to say that our
[6:44:17] thoughts are with anyone
[6:44:19] impacted by the 9-11 disasters
[6:44:21] as we come up on that 25th anniversary
[6:44:24] and also I would like to
[6:44:26] wish everyone celebrating
[6:44:28] a happy Rosh Hashanah, which
[6:44:31] begins on sundown on Friday
[6:44:33] and that's my board report.
[6:44:35] Thank you very much.
[6:44:37] I think that touching
[6:44:39] on a lot of the stuff
[6:44:41] that we talked about today,
[6:44:42] it's really important that the community
[6:44:43] stays engaged with us
[6:44:44] and that we hear you,
[6:44:45] that you write.
[6:44:46] You know, there was.
[6:44:47] It was a really big
[6:44:48] week of a lot of emails
[6:44:50] and a lot of these topics of conversation
[6:44:53] have been coming up around and around.
[6:44:55] So that's, sometimes it feels frustrating
[6:44:59] because you feel like
[6:44:59] you're not getting anywhere
[6:45:00] but we're here and we're listening
[6:45:01] and we're just trying
[6:45:02] to make the process go.
[6:45:04] The other thing I want to say is the
[6:45:06] importance of 9-8-8.
[6:45:08] It saves lives.
[6:45:08] It saves lives, unbelievably.
[6:45:11] It is a moment.
[6:45:12] It is a moment and then a
[6:45:14] life is over and it's gone
[6:45:15] and it is, it's an accident sometimes.
[6:45:20] It's a curiosity for a child.
[6:45:22] It's a, or even an adult.
[6:45:24] It's flirting with a danger
[6:45:28] that they don't understand sometimes
[6:45:29] and having that 9-8-8,
[6:45:32] having something to call,
[6:45:33] having a stopgap between themselves
[6:45:36] and even an accidental permanent future
[6:45:42] is so important and
[6:45:44] we're so lucky to have that.
[6:45:45] I am eternally grateful for the services
[6:45:48] that are provided by our community,
[6:45:51] our teachers and all of our colleagues
[6:45:54] and with that we are
[6:45:55] going to wrap up the meeting
[6:45:57] with a farewell from
[6:45:59] Dr. Watson coming in.
[6:46:02] I'm gonna just speak for both of us
[6:46:03] since the connection has been echoey
[6:46:06] and we will close
[6:46:06] that meeting out at 11.48
[6:46:08] and I promise this will be
[6:46:09] the last one, latest one.