[0:03] Call the meeting to order.
[0:05] Are there any speaker cards?
[0:08] No.
[0:08] Hearing none, we will forego the reading of
[0:12] the rules related to public speakers, and we will adjourn to closed
[0:18] session.
[0:26] Call the meeting to order. Thank you for your attendance this evening.
[0:30] I'd now like to recognize a new member on the dais tonight.
[0:33] Please give a warm welcome to Hunter Morton as she joins us as the newest addition.
[0:46] I'd now like to ask our student board member, Ariel McPherson, to lead us in the
[0:51] pledge of allegiance.
[0:56] When you say this? Yes, there you go.
[0:58] You're perfect.
[1:00] Right hand over your heart. Ready, begin.
[1:04] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
[1:10] Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
[1:16] with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated.
[1:26] I'd now like to ask our student board member, Ariel McPherson, to read the
[1:30] Grossmont Union High School District purpose statement.
[1:40] Purpose, whoa, gosh.
[1:45] Purpose statement. Guided by its core values of caring, collaboration, and
[1:50] innovation, the Grossmont Union High School District exists to empower each GUHSD
[1:55] student to build a better future.
[2:01] Thank you. Awards recognition and special report.
[2:06] I call upon Trustee Jim Kelly, who will recognize Grossmont Union High School
[2:11] District teacher Brittany Meyer from Granite Hills High School.
[2:36] Whoops. Forgot I still have my dice.
[2:38] One second,
[2:39] please.
[3:01] Sorry to hold everybody up. I had a back injury and it's hard for me to stand and
[3:07] walk.
[3:14] I didn't realize this would be about the first thing on the agenda.
[3:18] Of course.
[3:23] Okay, here we go.
[3:27] I'm very honored to be making this presentation.
[3:32] I personally recommended Brittany Meyer.
[3:34] I've been told she could be the very best special ed teacher we have in the
[3:40] entire Grossmont district. And so I want to read you
[3:46] the reason why.
[3:49] Tonight I have the privilege of recognizing an educator who represents the very
[3:53] heart of special education in our district.
[3:56] From August 2011 through June 2026, Brittany Meyer served as a
[4:01] foundational pillar of the Monte Vista High School community.
[4:05] For many years at Monte Vista, Brittany led the special education department as
[4:10] co-chairperson. Brittany's impact reaches far beyond the classroom.
[4:15] She has been the advocate who fights tirelessly to ensure students get the support
[4:20] they need to thrive. She builds true partnerships with families, making sure
[4:25] parents feel valued and heard, ensuring students feel supported and loved.
[4:31] Brittany's
[4:34] commitment to supporting GUHSD students goes beyond the classroom, from
[4:39] coaching and advising cheer, advising Club Inspire, and mentoring
[4:45] new teachers, to attending every homecoming, prom, and graduation right alongside
[4:51] her special education students. After 15 years as a Monte Vista Monarch,
[4:57] Brittany is bringing the same dedication and passion to Granite Hills to continue
[5:02] serving our greater East County community.
[5:04] Brittany, thank you for your years of service, leadership, and service to our
[5:08] students.
[5:16] Okay. So thank you. If we can have a picture.
[5:20] I'm not going to be able to go out tonight to honor all of our special guests.
[5:24] I'll be sitting and honoring you.
[5:28] Oh, do we have the plaque? Oh, yeah. It's right in front of me.
[5:32] So Brittany, I'm honored on behalf of this district to award you this beautiful
[5:37] plaque.
[5:47] Thank you.
[5:47] Thank you so much.
[5:49] Can I get-
[5:49] Oh.
[5:49] Hold on. Can we get a picture with
[5:52] Brittany and the plaque?
[5:53] Should we go off to the side?
[5:55] No, no, no. Stay right here.
[5:57] Could you all-
[5:57] Oh.
[5:58] Could you all go around the podium?
[6:00] I'm going to hide this, if we could.
[6:07] Thank you.
[6:08] I have this.
[6:09] All right. Welcome Brittany.
[6:11] Perfect.
[6:17] That's great. All right.
[6:19] All right.
[6:19] One, two, three, big smile.
[6:23] One more.
[6:25] Perfect. Thank you guys.
[6:27] Great. Thank you.
[6:35] Thank you.
[6:35] Thank you so much.
[6:36] Can you just wait here?
[6:41] Our next item is recognition of the Grossmont Union High School District school
[6:46] resource officers. I call upon Director of Student Support Services, Mary
[6:51] Nishikawa, and Trustee Dr. Gary Woods, who will recognize our GUHSD SROs.
[7:13] Officers,
[7:16] as we approach 9/11 and how all those first responders ran to danger while everyone
[7:21] else was running away from it, you are heroes.
[7:27] On behalf of the governing board, we would like to proudly recognize the GUHSD
[7:33] school resource officers that protect and serve our school sites and community.
[7:39] For 25 years, the safety and wellbeing of our students has relied on the foundation
[7:45] built not only within the classrooms, but across all of our entire
[7:50] campuses. Central to this commitment is a vital longstanding partnership
[7:56] between Grossmont Union High School District and our dedicated school resource
[8:01] officers from the San Diego
[8:05] Sheriff's Office and the El Cajon Police Department.
[8:09] When our SRO program was first established 25 years ago, the vision was clear: to
[8:15] create safe learning environments where students could thrive and where law
[8:21] enforcement officers were seen as mentors and protectors.
[8:26] Over the years, that vision has blossomed into a deep and enduring collaboration
[8:31] that has fundamentally changed the culture of our schools.
[8:36] Keeping schools safe requires vigilance, foresight, and specialized training.
[8:42] Our school resource officers play an invaluable role, from providing
[8:48] rapid effective responses when there's a crisis, to being a mentor, an encourager,
[8:53] and a trusted adult when students need advice from an adult.
[8:57] Our SRO bridges this gap
[9:03] It's the gap between youth and law enforcement, and you do it every single day.
[9:08] That is incredible. Your proactive approach to threats and your
[9:14] ability to shut down violence before it occurs ensures that our schools remain safe
[9:20] havens across the entire campus dedicated to student learning and well-being.
[9:25] So as we reflect on these 25 years of shared history, the
[9:31] Grossmont Union High School District extends our deepest gratitude to the
[9:36] generations of school resource officers and partnering law enforcement agencies
[9:42] that have dedicated their careers to safeguarding our schools.
[9:47] You truly live out the motto of to serve and to protect, and
[9:53] that is the most important thing you can do to our students.
[9:56] You not only work in our schools, you are a part of our schools. Thank you so much.
[10:03] We would like to invite the representative from Joel Anderson's office, who has
[10:08] brought recognitions, to speak as well.
[10:14] Is he here? Oh, on his way.
[10:19] Yeah.
[10:19] Right.
[10:26] Thank you, sir. Thank you.
[10:29] I'm here today on behalf of the Office of Supervisor Joel Anderson, who is the
[10:33] county supervisor of District 2 of San Diego, and one of our biggest and most
[10:38] central areas is the different constituents of the Grossmont Union High School
[10:43] District. And as a high school student myself over at Henry High School, I always
[10:49] am aware and present of the unity and the safety and the resources that the
[10:55] school resource officers bring. They truly create an environment where you feel
[11:00] that you have support behind you, where you feel that you can grow and you can
[11:03] develop as an individual and a part of the community.
[11:07] So on behalf of the high school students and also the administrators in
[11:13] our office, we would like to thank the school resource officers for all that they
[11:18] do for who they want to protect, for who they give their time, their effort, and
[11:23] their undivided attention to. So thank you very much, and certificates of
[11:28] recognition should be with one of your supervisors. Thank you very much.
[11:39] Thank you. Thank you. When I go to campuses and talk to students about who their
[11:44] favorite person is, it's almost always the SRO.
[11:48] You are making an incredible impact.
[11:51] I want you all to stand now, and as your name is called, if you would come to this
[11:56] podium right here.
[11:59] Thank you. Appreciate it. So as the daughter of a police officer, it
[12:05] is more than my honor to recognize each of you tonight.
[12:08] As I say your name, if you would come up along the stairs, I would appreciate it.
[12:12] I'm going to start with David Guillen, Grossmont High School.
[12:20] Erika Incharighi, El Cajon Valley High School.
[12:29] Jose Santana, Mount Miguel High School.
[12:35] Melissa Modesto, El Capitan High School.
[12:44] Go, Melissa!
[12:44] Levi
[12:45] Kealualui, Granite Hills High School.
[12:50] I practiced all day for that name.
[12:53] From Monte Vista High School, we have Juan Oseguera.
[13:01] We have two from Santana, one filling in both here tonight.
[13:05] We have Crystal Corona and Alexis Heredia.
[13:15] Anell Rodriguez, Valhalla High School.
[13:23] Erika Vasquez, West Hills High School.
[13:31] Asia McCoy, Steele Canyon High School.
[13:37] And last but never least, our longest-standing school resource officer, Rob
[13:42] Lesagonich from Idea Center and Chaparral Continuation High School.
[13:53] Absolutely. Happy to.
[13:55] Great job.
[13:56] Thank you.
[14:00] If I could take just one last second.
[14:02] I just want to-
[14:03] Yeah, no, no, no
[14:03] ... I just want to take a minute to recognize our law enforcement command in the
[14:06] audience as well, here both to support us and support their school resource
[14:11] officers.
[14:20] All right, we're going to take a picture and a new video.
[14:22] You're in the middle, but I need you first you all to get real cozy and squeeze in.
[14:27] Yeah, start to huddle around.
[14:32] Let me see all of you.
[14:42] Great.
[14:47] All right. All right, here we go. Big smile. One, two, three.
[14:52] One more. Perfect. Thank you.
[14:55] Everybody who got the opportunity to work the SRO, please.
[15:11] We're about to go 100 miles an hour.
[15:12] If you're on Zoom, you don't even-
[15:21] Okay, guys. I've got a really good picture.
[15:27] Great job. Great job.
[15:34] All right. Again.
[15:37] Yeah, we're going to kind of scoot over to the far right just to get it.
[15:52] That's it. All right. Big smile. One, two, three.
[15:58] Perfect.
[16:08] Thank you.
[16:11] You're going to be the host next year.
[16:12] Are you thinking
[16:14] about that?
[16:15] With you and pick it up tomorrow, which is our fault not working from home.
[16:22] And I'll pick it up tomorrow or-
[16:24] And then we, Austin River, should we send the representatives from-
[16:29] Either way is good. I appreciate it. Thank you again, guys, for flooding us.
[16:34] Thank you.
[16:35] And I guess we'll-
[16:38] Yeah. I'll send it to you.
[16:39] I'll send it to you.
[16:39] Or Chris, yeah. Yeah.
[16:42] Our next recognition is for the GUHSD 2025-26
[16:48] Coaches of the Year. I call upon Director of Extended Curricular Programs, Donnie
[16:53] Carroll, and Trustee Dr. Gary Woods, who will recognize the GUHSD
[16:58] 2025-26 Coaches of the Year.
[17:11] You want to get out of your way.
[17:22] So I'm excited to present for the first time ever four 2026 Grossmont
[17:28] Athletic Conference Coaches of the Year voted on by our athletic directors.
[17:32] Tonight we celebrate two who are here this evening, but I would like to mention
[17:37] that the two other honorees who are coaching this evening, they could not be
[17:41] present. Valhalla's girls water polo coach, Paola Vizcarra, and Santana's boys
[17:46] water polo coach, Rod Bowen, as our two other honorees.
[17:52] So first up,
[17:55] we'd like to introduce
[17:57] Coach Antoine Woods of Mount Miguel Early College High School.
[18:11] Coach Woods has turned the Mount Miguel Early College High School cross country
[18:16] team into a powerhouse, winning a Valley League title in three of the last four
[18:20] years, earning the team Valley Championship and district finals two of the last
[18:24] three years. Mount Miguel has never been known as a cross country school prior to
[18:28] Coach Woods' arrival, having only won one league title in school history.
[18:34] The team, once again, had an amazing showing, and despite being in the Valley
[18:38] League, only lost to two conference schools.
[18:40] Coach Woods is a Mount Miguel alum and teacher on campus who truly pushes the
[18:45] Matadors to be the best that they can be.
[18:47] He never uses negative reinforcement to motivate his athletes and has developed
[18:51] such trust amongst his boys that when he has them do things that are less
[18:55] conventional, they will always believe in him and do whatever he wants them to do.
[19:00] I present to you one of our 2026 Coach of the Year, Antoine Woods.
[19:15] Coach Woods, you are evidence that coaches make a difference.
[19:19] And so on behalf of the governing board, we wish to congratulate you on earning the
[19:24] title of 2025/2026 Grossmont Union High School District
[19:30] Coach of the Year.
[19:38] Coach Woods, you have built Mount Miguel High School's cross country program into a
[19:44] true powerhouse, capturing three league titles in just four
[19:49] years. And so as a proud Mount Miguel alumnus and a dedicated campus teacher,
[19:55] you exemplify education-based athletics, empowering student-athletes to
[20:01] excel both on the course and in the classroom.
[20:06] And so, Coach Woods, thank you for your unwavering dedication to our
[20:10] student-athletes and to the Mount Miguel Early College cross country program.
[20:16] Go Matadors. And now we take a photo.
[20:24] Bring it in.
[20:25] Everyone, to a little bit
[20:30] nearer.
[20:31] I think we're going to get some.
[20:34] Of course.
[20:35] Come on up.
[20:35] Bringing up your family.
[21:07] All the way back. You can't hurt him.
[21:09] Ready?
[21:21] Okay, perfect. Try to back from the door so truth can be when you need. Good. Wait.
[21:27] Big smile. One, two, three. Perfect. Thank you.
[21:49] Congratulations.
[21:51] Thank you.
[21:51] Yes, sir. Here.
[21:55] Okay. Next up, I'd like to welcome Monte Vista's head softball coach, Philly
[22:00] Tavares.
[22:08] Coach Tavares took over a program that had won just one game the previous season,
[22:13] with 13 of those losses by double digits.
[22:16] He inherited a team that needed structure, confidence, and a new identity.
[22:20] In just one year, he transformed a very young Monte Vista team, turned them into a
[22:25] 19 and 14 overall record and CIF Division V champions,
[22:30] completing a remarkable turnaround.
[22:33] Coach Tavares has emphasized accountability, belief, and consistent daily growth.
[22:38] His players bought into the new standard of preparation fundamentals, steadily
[22:42] improving over the course of the season, ultimately hitting their stride during the
[22:45] playoffs. What stands out most is not just the title, but the speed of the
[22:49] transformation from one win team to a CIF championship title and a winning record
[22:54] in a single year under his leadership.
[22:57] Coach Philly emphasizes doing things the right way, both on and off the field, set
[23:01] clear expectations for respectable conduct amongst players, assistant coaches, and
[23:06] spectators. I present to you Monte Vista's coach, 2026 Coach of the Year, Philly
[23:12] Tavares.
[23:19] Coach Tavares, you are a remarkable person.
[23:23] On behalf of the governing board, we wish to congratulate you on being named
[23:28] Grossmont Union High School District Coach of the Year for
[23:32] 2025/2026.
[23:37] Awesome job.
[23:42] Coach Tavares, you have led a
[23:46] truly remarkable one-year turnaround for the Monte Vista High School softball
[23:52] program, guiding a young team with only one senior, and yet you transformed
[23:58] a one-win season into a CIF Division V championship title.
[24:05] Your calm, structured leadership instills accountability, mastery, and
[24:11] respect. Coach Tavares, we deeply appreciate your hard work and commitment,
[24:16] elevating our Monte Vista Monarchs student-athletes, and congratulations again on
[24:22] being nominated Coach of the Year for 2025/2026.
[24:27] So go Monarchs.
[24:47] Okay. Players, come on up.
[24:50] Okay, good.
[24:55] Monarchs
[24:55] softball.
[25:11] Good job.
[25:12] All right. Everybody look up here in the middle. Ready?
[25:17] One, two, three. Big smile. One more.
[25:23] Perfect. Thank you.
[26:00] We will now have a presentation on the establishment of the Grossmont Union 1920
[26:05] Education Foundation. Superintendent Dr. Kirsten Baetzele-Brulte.
[26:12] I am just thrilled for this item. This item is the presentation of what the
[26:17] foundation is, and later in the agenda, we ask the board to take action
[26:23] on establishing the foundation. So I invite our guest, Cindy Strom-Ariano,
[26:29] who is a partner with the law firm AALRR, to join us via audio to
[26:35] present the purpose for establishing the Grossmont Union 1920 Education
[26:40] Foundation.
[26:43] Thank you very much, Dr. Brulte.
[26:47] So first of all, congratulations on the decision to form an educational foundation.
[26:53] I work with a lot of districts on forming educational foundations, and it's always
[26:59] a beneficial thing for the district.
[27:02] What I'd like to do is talk through, very briefly, the process of forming
[27:08] an educational foundation and the steps we'll take to form that
[27:14] foundation
[27:17] So to start with, when we form an educational foundation, we form it as a
[27:23] corporation. So having said that, the educational foundation
[27:28] will be a separate and distinct legal entity from the district with its own
[27:33] officers and its own board of directors.
[27:37] Having said that, there are a number of ways that we ensure that the
[27:43] educational foundation will
[27:46] be supporting the district and will achieve its goal of increasing fundraising for
[27:52] the district. The first way we do that, and the major way, is
[27:58] through the purposes that are set forth in the articles of incorporation,
[28:04] and those describe what the educational foundation was formed, the purposes for
[28:10] which it was formed. And in this case, for the Grossmont Union 1920
[28:16] Educational Foundation, we have listed four purposes.
[28:20] The first one, establishing and supporting programs and activities within the
[28:25] Grossmont Union High School District, which maximize academic achievement and
[28:31] educational enrichment for students of the district.
[28:35] The second purpose is supporting, conducting, and sustaining other
[28:40] educational enhancement programs established for students of the district.
[28:46] Third, providing financial assistance to the district by acquiring equipment and
[28:52] supplies for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of students of the district.
[28:57] And fourth, assisting and supporting the district in the attainment of its
[29:01] educational, cultural, scientific, artistic, and technological goals, and in
[29:07] fulfilling its role in serving the community of which the district is a part.
[29:13] So, those will be what we call the exempt purposes of the foundation.
[29:19] And then the second thing we do is we generally have someone from the district
[29:24] serve along with various community members on the board of directors for the
[29:29] foundation. And that ensures that the district is always aware of and
[29:35] involved with the foundation's activities.
[29:40] So there's many different ways to do that.
[29:43] We
[29:44] have designated that the superintendent or the
[29:50] superintendent's designee would serve on the foundation board along with the other
[29:55] community members.
[29:58] To start the formation, the first step in the formation
[30:04] process is to file the articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State.
[30:09] And I believe you will be approving, you as the board will be approving those
[30:15] articles tonight. And those articles contain
[30:21] all the required IRS provisions that need to be in those
[30:27] articles for it to be considered a 501 [c] [3] educational foundation.
[30:33] We will then prepare bylaws and the other organizational documents and
[30:38] register the foundation with the California Attorney General's Office
[30:44] Registry of Charitable Trusts. And then the final step is to prepare and
[30:50] file the IRS exemption application and the California exemption application to
[30:55] request 501 [c] [3] status. So those are the general steps,
[31:01] but once the articles are filed with the Secretary of State
[31:07] and the foundation board is appointed, then the foundation can
[31:13] commence its operations.
[31:17] I'm happy to answer any questions anyone may have.
[31:25] Okay, I'm not sensing any questions. I'll make a quick comment.
[31:30] Personally, I'd just like to acknowledge that
[31:34] Darrell Priest is here tonight, and I think I can say with complete conviction, we
[31:39] would not be setting up this foundation if it not were for him.
[31:43] So thank you very much, Darrell.
[31:53] Anyone else?
[31:55] Okay, thank you very much. I'm looking forward to see how this works.
[32:00] It's going to be good. I really do appreciate all you've done.
[32:05] Let's see, attendance priorities and updates.
[32:08] I call upon retired administrator, Lucia Washburn.
[32:13] I invite Director of Student Support Services, Mary Nishikawa, to come to the
[32:17] podium to give her presentation.
[32:28] Good evening. I'm Mary Nishikawa, Director of Student Support Services and
[32:31] Alternative Education, here to provide tonight a brief update to our community and
[32:35] our governing board work that we've done around improving attendance in the
[32:39] Grossmont District throughout last year and what our plans are to continue the work
[32:44] this year.
[32:46] The why to focus on attendance I know is pretty obvious, but I think it's important
[32:50] to state that if we really work on reengaging students in school, improving their
[32:55] attendance, it's everything from increased engagement for students, higher
[33:00] graduation rates, improved academic engagement, and it also creates additional
[33:05] financial stability for the district. So it's a win on both sides.
[33:11] When we talk about attendance, we have to remember that it's just one piece of a
[33:15] very large pie that we are trying to work on throughout the Grossmont District.
[33:19] The goals really reflect all of the work that the district is doing, and this is
[33:23] one piece of that. But attendance is a big piece of the pie when we talk about
[33:28] improving graduation rates, improving student connectedness to school, so we will
[33:32] continue to come around to this topic likely throughout the school year.
[33:37] The theory of action that's driven our work all year, and I'm not going to read it
[33:41] to you, but ultimately we're saying that if we do all of these things around
[33:45] attendance, and I'm going to discuss here in a moment, then we will increase site
[33:49] and district-wide attendance rates.
[33:51] We're going to expand enrollment in our alternative education programs, reduce the
[33:54] number of students leaving our district for independent charter schools, and over
[33:59] time we should then see a more sustained attendance across the district.
[34:06] So joining me tonight, in order to help us really understand how our attendance
[34:11] rate is calculated, which is a very complicated process, I'm going to call upon our
[34:16] lovely, wonderful I should say, Executive Director of Fiscal Services, Emily Mayer,
[34:21] who's going to describe it a little better.
[34:23] Thanks, Mary. So talking about calculating our attendance rate.
[34:27] So in California, we are funded on our average daily attendance.
[34:31] And the way we calculate this, it's a complicated process, and it factors in both
[34:36] the percentage of students attending school daily, but also your total school
[34:41] enrollment. So for example, having 100 students with 95% attendance from
[34:47] the state of California's perspective is the same as having 95 students with 100%
[34:51] attendance. If we go to the next slide.
[34:56] And then attendance numbers increase our funding, but generally in future years.
[35:00] So post-COVID, the state added a safety net.
[35:03] So if our ADA count is less than the prior year, our average daily attendance or
[35:08] number of students attending is less than the prior year, we're funded on the prior
[35:13] year or on a three-year average, whichever is higher.
[35:17] And what that means is that we don't see funding gains immediately when the ADA
[35:22] percentage increases because we're already getting some of that money in our safety
[35:26] net. So we'll feel it the next year as this sort of safety net ceiling
[35:33] becomes the new year's safety net ceiling, but we're often feeling the benefit of
[35:39] that rolling average from one year to the next.
[35:41] And so sometimes you don't feel that impact as immediately in the current year.
[35:46] Thank you so much.
[35:49] So having a little bit of that understanding now, I want to celebrate that between
[35:53] the '24, '25 and '25, '26 school year, we saw a 0.77% increase in
[35:59] our overall attendance rate. That's a lot of growth in one year and something that
[36:03] we definitely need to celebrate, and it really acknowledges the work that all of
[36:07] our school sites have been doing around this particular effort throughout last
[36:12] year. That increase means we just got to keep working harder.
[36:15] We can't just say, "Oh, we went up three quarters of a percent," but rather we did
[36:19] that, now what can we do next? And so our goal for the '26, '27 school year is a
[36:24] 1.25 goal. It's a stretch goal, but I think we want to really push ourselves and
[36:29] see how much we can continue to grow.
[36:32] So a 1.25 in addition to the growth that we've seen would be our goal for this
[36:36] school year. But I would be remiss if I didn't remind everybody that every absence
[36:42] affects our attendance rate. This idea that only unexcused absences and truancies
[36:46] are the worry, that's an old school mindset.
[36:49] And nowadays in the state of California, regardless of the reason a student is out
[36:55] It affects us. It dings our ADA rates.
[36:57] So really helping students and parents understand the importance of being in
[37:01] school, that it's no longer just about truancies.
[37:05] So this shows you what our attendance rate was like at all of our comprehensive
[37:09] sites from '24-'25 to '25-'26. You will see that we had six sites that had
[37:15] nice growth from '24-'25 to last year.
[37:18] We're going to continue to see that increase. Our overall rate was 91.17.
[37:24] Any mathematicians in the room? Yes, I acknowledge if you do the math of all the
[37:27] percentages, it doesn't come out to 91.17, because that number
[37:32] is affected by every single program that we have in the district.
[37:37] So that's independent study, that's home choice, our special ed academies, even our
[37:42] non-public school. Everything that we have to serve our students gets calculated in
[37:47] to create the 91.17. But our comprehensive sites make up the biggest portion, and
[37:52] that's why I wanted you to see their rates specifically.
[37:59] Oh, time's up.
[38:13] Okay.
[38:34] There we go. Yep. Perfect. That works.
[38:37] So I mentioned we had six out of our nine sites that saw nice growth.
[38:41] I want to give special acknowledgement to Granite Hills and Monte Vista that had
[38:44] the largest growth, and it speaks specifically to the really intentional work that
[38:48] they did throughout the school year.
[38:50] Our dropout prevention specialists, we have four, technically five across the
[38:55] district that support our students.
[38:57] You can see that they served a multitude of support to our families throughout the
[39:03] school year. Fifty-nine hundred points of contact from phone calls to home visits
[39:07] to pulling kids out of class and trying to figure out, "What's going on?
[39:11] Why are you missing some classes? Why aren't you coming to school?" A hundred and
[39:15] seventy-seven home visits. But the work of our dropout prevention specialists has
[39:19] been extremely impactful in really helping students re-engage in school.
[39:25] So the attendance priorities that we started this year, I'm just going to touch on
[39:28] briefly. It has to do with the tiered response to attendance.
[39:33] You've got to have three tiers. You've got to have your marketing the importance of
[39:36] attendance, the attendance intervention meetings for the students that are starting
[39:40] to show a lack of engagement or starting to miss school, and then it's the ongoing
[39:44] follow-up and monitoring. If you meet with a student and a family, and you tell
[39:47] them, "You really need to come to school," and we never talk to that student and
[39:50] family again, we've lost them. It's that ongoing monitoring that's the most
[39:54] impactful. I mentioned our attendance intervention meetings, home visits.
[39:59] Our DPSs will go
[40:03] from schools out to our sites to really meet with families and find out why their
[40:07] kids aren't coming to school. What are the barriers to them coming to school?
[40:10] Sometimes it's as simple as transportation, and we can provide a resource.
[40:14] Sometimes there's mental health issues.
[40:15] There's a lot that impacts student attendance, but they'll go to where the parents
[40:19] are and really try to provide that support.
[40:22] We have our attendance teams at each site. We're offering robust Saturday schools.
[40:27] That was a big goal for last year, and you'll see we went from 2,600 in '24-'25 to
[40:32] over 5,600 students or absences that were cleared, so 3,000
[40:38] additional absences that were cleared.
[40:41] For every 100 students that attend Saturday school, we get back about $6,700, and
[40:46] that's after we cover the cost of running Saturday school.
[40:49] So teachers have been paid, campus supervisors have been paid.
[40:52] We bring back about $6,700 to the district.
[40:56] So continuing all that work from last year, we want to add a few things this year
[41:00] to continue the work. Improving our process for short-term independent study
[41:04] contracts, and I have to give a huge thank you to Mike Falconer, an assistant
[41:08] principal at Granite Hills High School, who developed a system to really streamline
[41:12] that process, especially for teachers, who I know it can be very cumbersome for.
[41:17] And now he has gone out and trained all of our sites in that process to really
[41:21] streamline it. Creating a district attendance review team, so we can continue to
[41:25] provide that ongoing monitoring for students and families.
[41:29] The thing that's probably most dear to my heart is decreasing the number of
[41:32] students that are leaving this district for independent charter schools.
[41:36] I can say unequivocally that every teacher in this audience, every staff member
[41:40] across this district can provide a better service and a better education to our
[41:44] students than any independent charter school can.
[41:55] But now we've got to make sure our parents understand that as well.
[41:57] And that's our goal and that's our challenge, because we want to keep our kids here
[42:01] where we can serve them.
[42:03] We want to have a parent portal, so it makes it a little bit easier for our parents
[42:06] to clear absences, and Monte Vista is going to pilot that process for us this year.
[42:11] And then lastly is something that seems really simple, but we added attendance code
[42:15] options in Infinite Campus, so we can start to better identify which students are
[42:19] missing school all day and which students are missing school as a period here and a
[42:24] period there. Those are different students with different needs, and we had no way
[42:28] in our system to identify those students separately. We will now this year.
[42:36] And then lastly is the policy updates that we've been working on.
[42:39] I've said it before and I will say it again, California's made it very difficult to
[42:43] have accountability around attendance. They just have.
[42:46] And so we've got to figure out what we can do, and we've got to live within that.
[42:49] So requiring medical verification when students are absent for more than 12 days in
[42:53] a school year is reasonable. Ensuring that students notify the attendance office in
[42:58] advance of leaving for a doctor appointment, a dentist appointment, we have to make
[43:02] that a priority. I know that seems really straightforward.
[43:05] Unfortunately, we have students that leave quite often, and then the parent tries
[43:08] to call in later to excuse the absence.
[43:11] We've got to remind teachers that they have the authority to deny the ability to
[43:15] make up assignments and assessments when a student is unexcused or truant.
[43:19] I know teachers that re-implemented this policy last year, and it has paid
[43:23] dividends. They are seeing students that will say, "Oh, I wasn't going to come to
[43:28] school today, but I decided, you had a test, I've got to be there." Whatever it
[43:31] takes. Whatever we have to do to show students that there is accountability, we got
[43:35] to have it in the syllabus, and then we have to hold accountable, but we've got to
[43:39] start having some of those policies in place.
[43:41] And then for the students that continue to be chronically truant, we have to figure
[43:45] out at the district level, what is the next step? Is it providing more resources?
[43:49] Is it transferring to continuation school?
[43:51] We have to look at the totality and figure out what's going to be best for each kid
[43:54] and for each school.
[43:57] So the last thing I'm going to share is, I get asked this question a lot, mostly by
[44:01] our superintendent, which is: how do we know it's working?
[44:04] And that's a really tough question to answer when we talk about attendance.
[44:08] So here's the best analogy I came up with at 3:00 a.m. one night.
[44:12] So if you think about the work we do around attendance as flowers, you put two or
[44:16] three flowers in a vase, it's not very interesting. It doesn't do very much.
[44:20] And if we had one or two things that we could do about attendance and it would fix
[44:24] it, we'd all be doing that one or two thing.
[44:27] The truth is, attendance takes doing a lot of things and doing them all together to
[44:32] really make a difference. So if you think of it as a full bouquet of flowers, each
[44:36] one of those flowers isn't more or less important than another one, but they're all
[44:40] working together, and that is how we're seeing a 0.77% increase in our attendance
[44:46] rate. It's how we're really making a difference. But it's not about that one thing.
[44:50] It is about doing all the things, evaluating them, making adjustments.
[44:55] So how I know it's working is I think of it as a bouquet of flowers, and that's the
[44:58] work that we're doing and we're dedicated to.
[45:02] And so lastly, it comes with a district investment to increase the work that we're
[45:06] doing around attendance. We're establishing district goals specific to attendance,
[45:10] and then supporting that by increasing the number of dropout prevention specialists
[45:14] that we have in the district to really provide that dedicated, impactful support to
[45:20] each high school.
[45:22] Thank you. Any questions?
[45:29] Thank you, Mary. We ask for that investment when we get to audited actuals.
[45:35] You'll see a slide on moving one-time money over a couple of years from a couple of
[45:41] years out to now to be able to fund the attendance that Mary has proposed this
[45:46] evening.
[45:50] I have a couple comments. First of all, I am so
[45:55] I appreciate your passion, and this is so important.
[46:00] With our whole portrait of a graduate is telling us that we have to work more on
[46:05] motivating students. We have to really stress the idea of student
[46:10] engagement, student empowerment, because they get the ownership of what they're
[46:15] learning. It makes them want to come to class.
[46:18] And so, since the government took away the stick, now we use the carrot.
[46:23] Yeah.
[46:23] We work more on the motivation, the positive motivation, which is far more
[46:26] effective anyway. So I am just so excited about this.
[46:31] The reason that we really focus on attendance is because every student counts.
[46:37] We can't afford for students to fall between the cracks and not be
[46:43] successful. And so from the founding of our country,
[46:48] 250 years ago, public education has been central to everything that our country
[46:53] stands for. And education is the great uplifter.
[46:59] It's the way that
[47:02] students, including all of our new students that are coming to our country, are
[47:06] able to unlock the American dream.
[47:09] And so, I think as a board, all of us are committed to do everything within our
[47:15] power to make sure that not one single student is left behind, but they all
[47:20] succeed. And that has to do with understanding their multiple intelligences, their
[47:26] learning styles, by offering things that are relevant to them, CTE.
[47:31] And so thank you for bringing this to our attention.
[47:35] Absolutely. Thank you.
[47:42] You have questions?
[47:43] Mary, I wanted to ask you something.
[47:44] I have some questions, too.
[47:50] I was going to say, she disappeared on us.
[47:52] Oh, sorry.
[47:54] Yeah, no worries. First I wanted to express my appreciation, too.
[47:56] Thank you for what you're doing. I don't need to add to what Gary said, but I just
[48:01] ditto his comments about
[48:04] getting all of our students, to not have any of them fall through the cracks.
[48:09] And on the one slide, you did mention about, the dropout
[48:17] prevention specialist.
[48:17] Prevention specialist.
[48:18] So how many of them do we have right now?
[48:22] We have five total right now.
[48:23] Okay, great.
[48:25] Different schools.
[48:26] Yeah.
[48:27] Right. Correct. El Cajon Valley funds theirs separately, and then all of our other
[48:31] schools share. So they have two, and then Idea Center gets a person one day a week,
[48:36] which is part of what we're trying to address.
[48:38] You'll see that their attendance rate actually needs the most support-
[48:41] Mm-hmm
[48:41] ... and why we're hoping to increase to get them more support as well.
[48:44] Okay. And as I was looking at the stats, I just wanted to give a shout-out to West
[48:49] Hills and Monte Vista and Granite Hills. I saw you guys all broke the 1% growth.
[48:54] Mm-hmm.
[48:54] I really appreciate that. Thank you for what you've done specifically, but for all
[48:59] the schools, I know you're embracing this and trying to build it up, and we
[49:03] appreciate that a lot. It's important for our students.
[49:06] Agreed. Thank you.
[49:10] Okay.
[49:11] First, a comment. I'm becoming more and more convinced that we need to try
[49:17] and get every kid to become involved in extracurricular activities,
[49:22] sports, band, cheer, ag,
[49:28] CTE, drama, and performing arts. By the way, I'm hearing some really good rumors
[49:33] about some pretty exciting things that's going to be happening with performing
[49:38] arts.
[49:40] But I think that's the thing more than anything that gets kids to come to school-
[49:45] Mm-hmm
[49:46] ... is they make friends. When it comes to sports, they get in shape.
[49:50] They develop camaraderie. One of the things that these colleges look for is they
[49:56] want to see kids be involved in extracurricular activities, sports.
[50:01] I found out there's five prestigious university, Berkeley being one of them, if
[50:06] you've been in a band, that is a big plus for you to get into Berkeley.
[50:14] We want these kids to be involved. We want them to make friends.
[50:19] We want them to learn important things.
[50:22] There's things you can learn on the football field, the baseball field, the
[50:25] basketball court, the tennis court.
[50:29] Even pickleball.
[50:31] Even pickleball.
[50:32] All these things, in a pool, that you can learn lessons there about life you can't
[50:38] learn in a classroom.
[50:41] And by the way, we don't want these kids being tempted to be involved in
[50:47] things that are not good, gang activity, drugs, be in the backseat of a
[50:53] car or what have you, hanging around bad kids unsupervised.
[51:00] So I think what we have to do is we have to make Grossmont the number
[51:06] one district for extracurricular activities.
[51:11] And then here's my question.
[51:15] We have acknowledged that we've been losing a lot of kids, hundreds of kids to the
[51:20] charter schools.
[51:21] The independent charter schools.
[51:22] Independent charter schools.
[51:24] Mm-hmm. So like Diego Valley, Innovation, Altus, and Service Master. Yeah.
[51:28] And also Helix and Steele.
[51:31] Yeah.
[51:31] And a few private schools. And I've been pushing that we do
[51:37] surveys because I think we're flying blind.
[51:40] Mm-hmm.
[51:41] That we do surveys of the students and surveys of the parents, first of all, the
[51:45] ones who are leaving us.
[51:46] Mm-hmm.
[51:46] Why did you leave and go to-- Why was it?
[51:52] Because I've been told these Helix and Steele, they are doing surveys, and I heard
[51:57] a rumor that I think it's 70 or 77% of the students they're getting was because of
[52:03] sports.
[52:06] And I look back on when I was in high school, sports was everything to me.
[52:11] It was the most exciting thing that I ever did, and I made some lifelong
[52:17] friends and lifelong lessons I learned.
[52:21] One of being, which is,
[52:24] you can do much more than you think you could have because they pushed you way
[52:29] beyond
[52:31] what you were convinced you could do.
[52:35] And when you thought you're 100% exhausted, and the coach would tell you, "Another
[52:39] lap."
[52:40] Mm-hmm.
[52:40] Another 100-yard wind sprint, another set of killers.
[52:45] And, "I can't do it," but you couldn't tell that to the coach.
[52:50] And your reputation would be ruined with the team if you ever just said, "No, I
[52:54] don't think I can make this." I figured, well, if I collapse, well, okay, then
[52:59] they'll get it. They can't hold me accountable if I pass out.
[53:03] But anyways, I learned I could do much more than what I thought I could do, and
[53:07] that helped me in life. So I'm hoping we can do surveys.
[53:14] Almost any business you go into nowadays, you get a survey. How did we do?
[53:19] Are you going to refer others? Do you think you'll come back?
[53:22] How likely are you to do these things?
[53:25] They are constantly, and we need to do that kind of surveying.
[53:31] And maybe we ask the kids once or twice during the year, "How are things going?
[53:39] Tell us what we're doing, what we're doing good, or what we can do to improve."
[53:44] Mm-hmm.
[53:45] And anyways, that's-
[53:46] I appreciate that
[53:47] ... my question or comment. But it sounds like we're moving in that direction.
[53:50] Definitely.
[53:51] Okay. Thank you so much.
[53:53] Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.
[53:54] Thank you, Mary.
[54:05] I call on our retired administrator, Lucia Washburn.
[54:11] I invite Director of Curriculum and Instruction, April Baker, to come to the podium
[54:15] to give her presentation and to remain on stage for the next presentation as well.
[54:27] Perfect, thank you.
[54:32] Good evening, President Shiel, trustees, Superintendent Patel-Roti, and cabinet
[54:37] members. For my first presentation tonight, I am going to be presenting on a
[54:42] proposed Grossmont Union High School District literature approval process, which is
[54:47] a structured, transparent four-month pipeline for vetting and adopting core
[54:51] instructional texts across our district.
[54:56] The draft that you're going to be seeing tonight stems from a strong foundation
[55:00] originally put together by our former superintendent, Mike Fowler.
[55:05] To ensure complete alignment across our district, the draft I'm presenting tonight
[55:10] is actively undergoing collaborative review and feedback with our partners in the
[55:14] Grossmont Education Association and in our Grossmont Union High School District
[55:19] English Council, which is comprised of all of the department chairs at the various
[55:23] campuses.
[55:28] I forgot to click. There's the slide that I just talked about. Here we go. Okay.
[55:34] So phase one of the literature approval process begins at the school site during
[55:39] months one and two of the process. If a teacher is interested in looking at new
[55:43] curriculum, they first will check our approved digital catalog, which is posted on
[55:47] our website. If they determine that they'd like to put a new text forward, they
[55:52] will complete a very detailed evaluation that is aligned with board policy and
[55:56] California ed code. Once that document is completed, it goes to the department
[56:01] chair, who reviews the text, meets with the teacher, adds any written remarks that
[56:07] they may want to put forward, and then the packet goes to the site principal.
[56:15] In phase two...
[56:19] Let me click. There we go. In phase two, the principal reviews the form and then
[56:25] routes it to the subject matter council for consideration during their regular
[56:29] monthly meeting. We maintain a vital feedback loop here.
[56:33] The recommending teacher will receive all administrative and council remarks, and
[56:39] are able to review those remarks, and retains the ability to either advance or
[56:44] withdraw their submission based on the feedback that they receive.
[56:51] Phase three is a formal committee review and the physical logistics of the process.
[56:57] Part of that is the school site submitting 10 physical copies of the book to the
[57:01] district office and for the literature approval committee.
[57:05] To guarantee an objective evaluation, committee members must be free of conflict of
[57:10] interest, and they must follow committee policies and procedures, which is also a
[57:15] draft document that you can find on the agenda.
[57:18] A two-thirds supermajority vote from the committee is also required before anything
[57:24] is recommended to go to the board.
[57:31] There we go.
[57:34] In month three, there's a focus on public transparency.
[57:37] At a scheduled board meeting, we will publicly announce the proposed literature
[57:41] that is under consideration. We share explicit details on how the community can
[57:45] inspect the materials and provide a clear pathway for public input before any other
[57:51] final vote takes place.
[57:54] During months three and four, we offer direct community access.
[57:58] Proposed literature is placed on physical display at the district office, where
[58:03] parents and community members can schedule appointments to review the text
[58:07] firsthand before the final board decision.
[58:11] Step four brings a final resolution to the process.
[58:14] The governing board hears public comments and then holds an official vote.
[58:18] Following your decision as a board, the College and Career Readiness Office will
[58:22] provide a closed-loop notification to the recommending teacher, the department
[58:26] chair, the principal, and the subject matter council, which formally completes the
[58:31] evaluation cycle.
[58:36] So that is my brief overview of the process.
[58:39] Does anyone have any questions for me on this?
[58:43] All good.
[58:45] I just have a little question.
[58:47] Sure.
[58:47] On one of the procedures, I saw that the teacher brings the material to the school.
[58:55] The school has a committee.
[58:57] The district.
[58:58] No.
[58:58] Oh.
[58:58] Before that. Little before that.
[58:59] Oh, the council. English council?
[59:01] The school council, yeah. So tell me some more about the council.
[59:04] How many members do they have on these councils typically?
[59:09] So each site typically will have one department chair.
[59:12] Yeah.
[59:12] Some sites have a split, and you'll have two department chairs.
[59:15] Mm-hmm.
[59:15] And so they either will come together or sometimes one
[59:20] goes one month and one goes another month.
[59:22] Mm-hmm.
[59:22] And we meet for an hour, hour and a half, or maybe two, depending on how many
[59:27] agenda items they put on the agenda for that council. And discussions are had.
[59:32] I act as a liaison for the district.
[59:35] If they have questions or they need answers to things or they want me to follow up
[59:39] on something, I can take that role for them.
[59:41] There's also a principal that sits on each council.
[59:45] So I go to math, social science, science, and English, and world language and
[59:50] performing arts, depending on their needs.
[59:52] Mm-hmm.
[59:53] But it'll be at least one per site that's there every time.
[59:57] So, that's the layer after they talk to the department chair-
[1:00:01] And the principal
[1:00:02] ... and they meet with the school council.
[1:00:04] And so you're saying that sometimes you're a part of the school council?
[1:00:08] I go as a liaison, so I sit on-- Some of them are in Zoom, some of them are in
[1:00:13] person.
[1:00:13] Mm-hmm.
[1:00:13] But I sit on those and just try to help however I can, bringing information back to
[1:00:18] the district-
[1:00:19] Yeah, yeah
[1:00:20] ... giving them information that they requested and helping move the agenda
[1:00:24] through.
[1:00:24] Okay.
[1:00:25] Yeah.
[1:00:25] All right. Thank you.
[1:00:26] Yeah, no problem.
[1:00:28] Any other questions or comments before I go to the second presentation?
[1:00:33] All right. April Baker-
[1:00:34] Okay. Thank you
[1:00:34] ... please continue with your next presentation.
[1:00:37] Here we go.
[1:00:39] Okay. My second presentation of the night is on a draft
[1:00:45] year one roadmap for the Grossmont Union High School District math adoption
[1:00:50] process.
[1:00:52] In this process, our primary objective is to establish a collaborative
[1:00:57] district-wide plan that is designed to drive long-term positive student outcomes
[1:01:02] for math.
[1:01:08] In my presentation earlier this year on our curriculum audit, I mentioned that
[1:01:12] curriculum is just one piece of a larger pie for improved student outcomes.
[1:01:17] It's the same pie that Mary talked about earlier. We all have lots of pieces.
[1:01:22] They're cut very small. There's many, many pieces in a pie, but this is one piece
[1:01:25] of that. For our math adoption, there are three synchronized moving parts: ongoing
[1:01:31] professional learning, targeted student interventions, and high-quality
[1:01:35] instructional materials.
[1:01:38] While navigating this adoption process, we are making parallel progress by actively
[1:01:44] deploying interventions and professional learning today to provide support to our
[1:01:49] students now.
[1:01:52] To establish consistency in our classrooms, we are focusing on three priorities:
[1:01:57] identifying rigorous math-specific standards and translating those into clear
[1:02:02] learning goals and success criteria, and shifting assessments to measure true
[1:02:06] mathematical understanding.
[1:02:09] We are designing for learner variability through instructional modules and
[1:02:14] instructional strategies, and we're providing site scaffolding and coaching, and
[1:02:19] equipping administrators with math walkthrough protocols, and supporting site
[1:02:23] learning specialists in their work.
[1:02:28] We're also providing district-wide professional learning to address the needs of
[1:02:32] all our students. Currently this year, for our English learners and diverse student
[1:02:36] populations, our paradigm is amplifying mathematic language rather than simplifying
[1:02:42] content. We're also doing professional learning about integrating universal design
[1:02:47] for learning and embedding English learner supports directly into our daily
[1:02:51] instruction, ensuring students build content mastery and mathematical literacy at
[1:02:56] the same time.
[1:03:00] Our AI professional learning that we're offering this year is designed to leverage
[1:03:04] artificial intelligence tools to construct authentic, dynamic assessments that
[1:03:09] gauge math comprehension in real time, and using artificial intelligence as a
[1:03:14] dynamic scaffolding tool, delivering tiered supports tailored to individual student
[1:03:18] learning profiles without lowering academic rigor.
[1:03:24] Through the California Math Council Conference that's taking place this fall in
[1:03:29] Palm Springs, the attending math teachers will bring back the newest research from
[1:03:34] across the globe with a focus on math innovation and best practices.
[1:03:40] District-wide professional learning with our partners at Engaging Every
[1:03:45] Learner will provide instructional strategies and supports that math teachers can
[1:03:50] immediately use in the classroom.
[1:03:53] They're providing walkthrough coaching for administrators to identify how those
[1:03:57] strategies and supports are working.
[1:03:59] And they're coaching our site learning specialists and our instructional leadership
[1:04:03] teams to provide targeted, site-based professional learning.
[1:04:09] For direct student intervention, our department that oversees accountability and
[1:04:13] state and federal programs launched the Hey Tutor pilot at Grossmont High School
[1:04:18] this semester, deploying three full-time tutors for five hours a day across
[1:04:23] IM1 and IM2 classrooms. This Hey Tutor model provides push-in support
[1:04:29] for eight teachers across 14 classes each day and provides library drop-in
[1:04:35] sessions.
[1:04:37] Based on a proven 5% benchmark increase in our neighboring Sweetwater district, we
[1:04:43] plan to expand this tutoring model to two to three additional sites in semester
[1:04:47] two.
[1:04:51] Complementing this tutoring program, school sites utilize many direct intervention
[1:04:55] strategies, to name a few, dedicated math intervention classes that are scheduled
[1:05:00] during the school day so students who need it get additional support, built-in
[1:05:05] revision days that are embedded in math classroom pacing so students have multiple
[1:05:09] opportunities to show mastery, targeted grade repair for section-specific
[1:05:14] recovery without repeating an entire course, and all of our sites provide
[1:05:19] after-school tutorials specific to math for out-of-hours support.
[1:05:25] In addition to the professional learning and the interventions, we also want to
[1:05:31] make sure that we are keeping track of how students are doing and identifying
[1:05:35] students that need additional help.
[1:05:38] We are going to be generating D and F data reports after every grading period and
[1:05:42] conduct a deep-dive subgroup analysis for English learners and special education
[1:05:46] students. The real-time feedback here will allow site leaders and teachers to make
[1:05:51] rapid pedagogical adjustments when they need to.
[1:05:57] While site interventions and professional learning support our students today, a
[1:06:02] unified, thoughtful curriculum adoption is the vehicle that will sustain these
[1:06:06] positive outcomes moving forward.
[1:06:09] Our proposed year one plan is a structured six-step roadmap.
[1:06:16] As a collective group of math professionals, we are going to craft a shared vision
[1:06:21] for math in the Grossmont Union High School District.
[1:06:25] Teachers are going to define what good math instruction looks like in GUHSD, and
[1:06:30] we're going to develop a portrait of a math learner.
[1:06:34] We're going to identify essential standards.
[1:06:36] We're going to have deepened knowledge of what high-quality instruction materials
[1:06:40] look like. We're going to select pilot materials wisely with a common
[1:06:46] purpose, and then we will be planning for pilot implementation.
[1:06:53] Later this evening, you will have the opportunity to take action on a consulting
[1:06:57] contract with the UCSD Math Project.
[1:07:02] To support our year one plan, this partnership with the UCSD Math Project is going
[1:07:07] to provide us with deep, content-based professional development.
[1:07:11] UCSD has done studies about math and where students are coming into the UC system
[1:07:16] in math, and they have incredible insight for our schools and our district so that
[1:07:21] we know what they're looking for, so we know what marks we need to reach.
[1:07:27] The partnership views curriculum adoption not merely as picking books.
[1:07:32] It's a vital catalyst for meaningful professional growth and a district-wide
[1:07:37] culture shift in how we do math in GUHSD.
[1:07:46] Okay. So looking at our year one glance across foundations, action, and support, we
[1:07:51] will be building our vision, our methods of communication, and a very thorough
[1:07:56] pilot rubric. We're going to be conducting deep curriculum reviews in partnership
[1:08:02] with the UCSD Math Project and the San Diego County Office of Ed, and we will be
[1:08:07] holding live Q&A sessions with potential vendors so that we can ask questions and
[1:08:13] get a better understanding than just maybe looking at something online or holding a
[1:08:17] textbook in our hands.
[1:08:20] We're also going to ensure that professional learning that we continue to do
[1:08:23] throughout this process is guided by the California Math Framework and our GUHSD
[1:08:28] portraits.
[1:08:32] By the end of year one, our goals are this: to have a pilot plan fully ready for
[1:08:38] implementation in fall of 2027, that we have thoroughly prepared pilot teachers,
[1:08:44] trained on the process, trained on the evaluation rubric, with a very clear
[1:08:49] understanding of what they're looking for, and that we will have a system in place
[1:08:54] and ready to go for year two that will encompass the pilot, the feedback, the
[1:08:58] evaluation, the selection process, and then final board action.
[1:09:07] So that concludes my presentation on the math adoption process.
[1:09:13] I appreciate your dedication to providing high-quality math curriculum and
[1:09:17] instruction in this district. So thank you very much.
[1:09:24] Do you have any questions or comments for me?
[1:09:28] April, first of all, thank you. This is a very
[1:09:32] ambitious plan. I think it's a really excellent plan.
[1:09:36] It's something where we can become leaders in the state, I think, when we implement
[1:09:41] this kind of thing. I did want to have you go back just to point out a couple of
[1:09:47] things. So if you go back, not this slide, but two back. Yeah, right there.
[1:09:52] Mm-hmm.
[1:09:54] So I was looking at this, and I just thought this-- I wanted the board to hone in
[1:10:00] on this slide and the next one, just to realize there's something very concrete
[1:10:03] that you've done, and it's very measurable. And as a math major, I like that.
[1:10:09] It's like, oh, check, check. We can see our progress here.
[1:10:14] And
[1:10:17] then, so the next page is like the
[1:10:21] completion of all those checks in that progress.
[1:10:23] Correct. Yeah.
[1:10:24] So I just wanted the board to point out this slide and then the next one.
[1:10:28] Could you go to the next one?
[1:10:29] Yeah.
[1:10:30] That's the-
[1:10:30] There we go
[1:10:31] ... the finality of it all.
[1:10:33] Mm-hmm.
[1:10:33] So I appreciate your planning on this and your vision that you're giving to us.
[1:10:37] I think it's wonderful and-
[1:10:40] Thank you
[1:10:40] ... yeah. I'm excited to see where this goes.
[1:10:42] Me too. Me too.
[1:10:43] Yeah.
[1:10:43] And I do want to go back and mention, the UCSD Math Project does this work in
[1:10:49] K through 12-
[1:10:50] Yeah
[1:10:51] ... across the county. So they are experts in the field.
[1:10:54] They are experts at working with schools that are feeding into their programs.
[1:10:58] Mm-hmm.
[1:10:58] And so that makes me extra excited to have that level of expertise.
[1:11:03] I am an English teacher at heart, so I am here to help.
[1:11:06] But
[1:11:08] to have a group that our math council really does respect and have met with before
[1:11:12] about other things related to math, I think it's going to be a really great
[1:11:16] process, and I'm looking forward to it.
[1:11:18] I agree. I've been to one of their conferences, and it was excellent, what they
[1:11:21] were providing.
[1:11:22] Yeah.
[1:11:22] Yeah.
[1:11:23] And just so you know, because you made a comment about other districts, I got a
[1:11:26] phone call today that I couldn't answer because I was getting ready for this, but
[1:11:29] it was from a colleague that I know who oversees math in San Diego Unified, and she
[1:11:34] wants to know what we're doing.
[1:11:35] Mm-hmm.
[1:11:37] So we better do it right.
[1:11:38] There you go. Thank you.
[1:11:40] Thank you. Anything else?
[1:11:41] Yes, I want to say, when we implement this, I think all eyes are going to be upon
[1:11:46] us.
[1:11:47] Mm-hmm.
[1:11:47] Because math is a foundational skill, and we're finding that districts throughout
[1:11:53] California, many if not most, are really struggling with how do we teach students
[1:11:58] math. And yet math is going to be the foundation for financial literacy.
[1:12:04] Even being able to figure out when AI is making a mistake, you have to have
[1:12:09] knowledge to be able to question AI and realize it does make mistakes.
[1:12:15] Mm-hmm.
[1:12:15] And so we need these math skills, and
[1:12:19] by incorporating this continuous improvement, this feedback, this evaluation,
[1:12:24] making everything measurable,
[1:12:28] is going to be something that's tremendous.
[1:12:30] So combining this as part of the portrait of a graduate, I can't wait to see what
[1:12:35] happens in the next three years. I think we're going to lead the state of
[1:12:40] California, so keep up the good work.
[1:12:42] Thank you very much. Thank you.
[1:12:44] April, we thank you, and happy birthday.
[1:12:47] Oh, yeah.
[1:12:49] Happy birthday.
[1:12:49] Thank you.
[1:12:57] Next, I call upon our retired administrator, Lucia Washburn.
[1:13:02] I invite Executive Director of Leadership, Jake Gehr, to come to the podium to give
[1:13:06] his presentation.
[1:13:11] Thank you.
[1:13:13] We won't sing April.
[1:13:16] Good evening, President Schiel, trustees, Superintendent Vital-Brutti, cabinet
[1:13:20] members. Thank you for your time and continued support of our district staff and
[1:13:25] leadership. Leadership isn't an accidental outcome.
[1:13:29] Specifically, school leadership is not an accidental outcome.
[1:13:33] It requires intentional design. Tonight, I'm excited to walk you through our vision
[1:13:38] for cultivating leadership from within.
[1:13:44] To understand our approach, we must view leadership as a complete interconnected
[1:13:47] ecosystem. As you can see on the slide, our pipeline spans seven pillars.
[1:13:53] Community alignment, grounding every leadership expectation in real lived
[1:13:57] experiences of GUHSD students and families.
[1:14:02] Establish leadership standards, defining clearly what great leadership looks like
[1:14:06] through the lens of portrait of an adult and portrait of a graduate.
[1:14:12] High-quality pre-service preparation, relaunching our internal apprentice programs
[1:14:18] so future leaders are prepared long before they step into an administrative role.
[1:14:23] Selective hiring and placement, aligning our interviews and selection process
[1:14:27] strictly with our new standards. Leadership tracking, utilizing data to
[1:14:32] continuously shape and refine individual professional learning plans.
[1:14:38] Principal supervision and coaching, shifting our central office role away from
[1:14:42] passive oversight toward intensive hands-on coaching.
[1:14:46] On-the-job support and retention, sustaining our school leaders through strong
[1:14:51] communities of practice so they thrive long-term.
[1:15:00] This evening, we're going to focus on two of those major strategic shifts.
[1:15:06] First, cultivating internal capacity by relaunching the admin apprentice program.
[1:15:12] This program will prepare our certificated staff for assistant principal roles and
[1:15:17] director roles, and other leadership spaces, through structured mentored
[1:15:22] experiences. And second, defining excellence.
[1:15:26] By establishing new GUHSD leadership framework, we're moving away from generic
[1:15:31] off-the-shelf rubrics towards district specific standards, again, that directly
[1:15:36] align with our portrait of a graduate.
[1:15:41] Let's look at how we build capacity from within.
[1:15:44] The admin apprentice program bridges the pathway from teacher leader to assistant
[1:15:48] principal, and ultimately to principal.
[1:15:51] Leading a comprehensive high school in GUHSD requires specialized skills.
[1:15:56] The program prepares certificated staff through experiences tied directly to our
[1:16:01] district's priorities. Our core objectives ensure candidates achieve total
[1:16:06] readiness for GUHSD assistant principal role, strengthen their instructional
[1:16:12] leadership skills, build capacity to lead adult learning, and cultivate a positive
[1:16:18] school culture. Maintain a robust, highly prepared pool of internal candidates
[1:16:24] when vacancies arise.
[1:16:32] To ensure the integrity of the program, we've established a clear blueprint.
[1:16:36] Candidates must hold a valid California clear teaching certificate, and have at
[1:16:42] least four years of successful teaching experience.
[1:16:45] They must show demonstrated leadership such as department chair, PLC, athletics, or
[1:16:51] advisory, and receive a written recommendation from their site principal.
[1:16:56] This is a one-year program consisting of small district-wide cohorts.
[1:17:00] This year we have 14 participants.
[1:17:04] Candidates remain grounded in their home site while taking part in strategic
[1:17:07] cross-site learning opportunities.
[1:17:10] Candidates are supported through mid-year formative feedback conference,
[1:17:14] participate in mock interviews to test their readiness, and construct a summative
[1:17:20] leadership portfolio that proves their impact.
[1:17:26] What does admin apprentice actually look like on a daily basis?
[1:17:30] It centers on five domains. Instructional leadership, student support,
[1:17:37] school operations, extended curricular, and family and community.
[1:17:42] This month, they're focused on extended curricular.
[1:17:46] Participating in events, interviewing the ASB advisors, talking to the athletic
[1:17:50] directors about what it means to have extracurricular things going on on
[1:17:56] campus. And they'll get to participate in their first football game, not in the
[1:18:00] game, but at the game.
[1:18:08] I love this slide here. All of this preparation leads for our ultimate destination,
[1:18:13] developing school leaders who embody our core values.
[1:18:17] That last line there, "Exceptional outcomes are not just possible, but
[1:18:23] inevitable."
[1:18:25] Let's look at our leadership framework across five domains.
[1:18:30] This is the new GUHSD leadership framework.
[1:18:34] Domain one focuses on improving instruction.
[1:18:38] Great leaders embody the lead learner, developing feedback that inspires
[1:18:42] reflection, and works hand-in-hand with the instructional leadership team on
[1:18:47] campuses. Domain two focuses on creating climate hospitable to education.
[1:18:54] We explicitly champion joy as a transformative element in school culture.
[1:18:59] Leaders build authentic relationships, lead restorative discipline, and foster
[1:19:05] courageous thinking.
[1:19:09] Domain three centers on visionary leadership.
[1:19:12] We look for guiding collaborative SVSA, school plans for student achievement,
[1:19:18] and WOSD processes that build genuine staff ownership and use data-informed inquiry
[1:19:25] for decision-making, designing master schedule centered around student agency, and
[1:19:30] advancing career technical education.
[1:19:36] Domain four is managing people and process.
[1:19:38] This involves cultivating the next generation of teacher leaders, conducting
[1:19:43] transparent evaluations, and practicing distributive leaderships.
[1:19:48] We ask all of our principals to work with their assistant principals and their
[1:19:52] teacher leaders on campus. Part of the coaching that I will be doing with the
[1:19:57] principals is in that space with their APs and teacher leaders.
[1:20:03] Domain five represents executive leadership.
[1:20:06] Here, leaders lead with confident humility.
[1:20:08] They're open to being wrong, I've been wrong a few times, and start with curiosity.
[1:20:14] They model a growth mindset, navigate difficult conversations with courage, and
[1:20:19] bring grace under pressure.
[1:20:23] To close, I want to emphasize how seamless this system connects.
[1:20:28] Our admin apprentice rotations directly map to site leadership framework.
[1:20:34] Instructional leadership rotations feed directly into domain one.
[1:20:38] Student support and family engagement prepare leaders for domain two.
[1:20:43] School operations rotations build capacity for domains three and four.
[1:20:48] And our professional learning series directly cultivates domain five, executive
[1:20:53] leadership. By aligning our learning pathways directly with our leadership
[1:20:57] standards, we ensure that every future leader in GUHSD is fully supported,
[1:21:03] thoroughly prepared, and empowered to lead our schools into the future.
[1:21:08] Thank you.
[1:21:20] Questions, comments?
[1:21:22] Yes. Director Gear.
[1:21:25] There's a maxim that everything rises or falls on leadership.
[1:21:28] It's from John Maxwell.
[1:21:29] Mm-hmm.
[1:21:30] And the more leaders you have, the more success that cannot be stopped.
[1:21:35] And so I am thrilled with this leadership development program.
[1:21:39] I was just jotting down some of the words you were using, and it's transformative,
[1:21:43] inspirational, motivational, empowering, visionary, innovation, and then
[1:21:49] grace. All those things together help us to go-- We're no longer in the
[1:21:55] 1990s. We're in the 21st century. This is the golden age of
[1:22:00] education and you're leading the way. Thank you.
[1:22:03] Thank you.
[1:22:10] Thank you. We move on to communication from the public.
[1:22:13] I call upon our Senior Executive Assistant, Jodi Hostetler, to read the procedures
[1:22:19] for receiving comments from the public.
[1:22:22] Thank you. Members of the public who wish to speak on an item on or not on the
[1:22:27] agenda must have filed a speaker card indicating their full name and agenda item or
[1:22:32] subject to be addressed prior to the meeting being called to order.
[1:22:35] Only the person listed on the speaker card may address the board when called on.
[1:22:39] Pursuant to board bylaws 9323, comments from the public on agenda items will be
[1:22:44] heard for 30 minutes. Each speaker is allotted three minutes, and speakers must
[1:22:49] adhere to the time limit to ensure fairness.
[1:22:51] If you wish to speak to an item when it appears on the agenda, prior to the board
[1:22:56] taking action, you need to have indicated that on the speaker card.
[1:23:00] You will be called to speak to the board at the time the item is addressed.
[1:23:03] Public input for each item is limited to a total of 20 minutes.
[1:23:07] The speaking timer will be displayed, and the microphone will turn off when your
[1:23:10] time has run out. I will call three speakers at a time and ask that you please line
[1:23:15] up and be ready to speak, so we can hear as many speakers as possible during the
[1:23:19] allotted time.
[1:23:23] And the first three speakers are Caleb Ludwig,
[1:23:28] Will Kopack, and Pete Mergens.
[1:23:57] Do I just start whenever? All right. Hi, I'm Caleb Ludwig.
[1:24:00] I'm a senior at Granite Hills High School.
[1:24:04] I'm here to talk about the phone policy and the experiences I've had with it, and
[1:24:09] how I believe it's violating my Fourth Amendment and different other procedures.
[1:24:14] So within Granite, I have been told by multiple teachers
[1:24:19] that the law says that you have to put it into a box, but the law that they keep
[1:24:25] referring to is AB3216, with it just stating that existing
[1:24:31] law authorizes the governing body of a school district, a county office of
[1:24:35] education, or a charter school, to adopt a policy to limit or prohibit the use by
[1:24:39] its pupils of smartphones or other pupils or at a school site or by the pupils
[1:24:46] or under the supervision and control of an employee or employees of that school
[1:24:50] district. Existing law, however, specifies circumstances in which a pupil may
[1:24:55] not be prohibited from possessing or using a smartphone.
[1:25:00] It just states that a school has to have a phone policy by July 1st of 2026, which
[1:25:05] has passed.
[1:25:08] The school policy that is listed from Granite Hills is students should not bring
[1:25:13] personal electronic devices, just saying that they shouldn't, not that they can't,
[1:25:17] and it says students will not use their cell phones or other personal electronic
[1:25:20] devices during class time, nor should they have them out so as to avoid
[1:25:24] distractions to themselves and others.
[1:25:27] Students may not use personal electronic devices during exams or assessments in
[1:25:31] order to maintain academic integrity.
[1:25:34] And then your own board policy, 5131.11, it just states that if a
[1:25:40] disruption occurs, employees shall direct the student to turn off the device and/or
[1:25:44] confiscate it. If a school employee finds it necessary to confiscate a device,
[1:25:49] he/she may either return it at the end of the class period or school day will keep
[1:25:54] it until the principal or designee has consulted with the student's parent or
[1:25:56] guardian. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that their cell phone are
[1:26:02] turned off and out of sight during unauthorized time.
[1:26:05] A student who violates this policy may be prohibited from possessing a personal
[1:26:09] electronic signaling device at school or school-related events.
[1:26:12] This policy was issued on July 8th of 2004, but you have another policy,
[1:26:17] 5131.6, which just states that no electronic devices can be at school, but that was
[1:26:22] issued in 1994, and from my interpretation, the sooner the policy,
[1:26:28] the more
[1:26:29] likely it is to being enacted. And then the policy that you guys also made, 5131.8,
[1:26:34] which passed back in May, that is not on the
[1:26:39] district site of policies. So from interpretation, from what teachers I've talked
[1:26:44] to,
[1:26:46] we do not believe that it can exactly be enacted since it's not publicly
[1:26:51] available. So thank you for your time.
[1:27:03] Okay.
[1:27:05] Hello, East County School Board and residents.
[1:27:10] My name's Will Kopack. I'm a East County resident,
[1:27:15] and welcome to a new school year. To the school board, it's been quite a while
[1:27:20] since we last met, but we meet again. Let's wind the clocks back, shall we?
[1:27:27] You told this community
[1:27:30] last year that this school district was broke and that the school district needed
[1:27:35] money. What did you do to get some of the money?
[1:27:40] Well, with the exception of Chris Fight, who is fighting for our students and
[1:27:45] teachers and parents, you fired librarians, all the
[1:27:51] librarians in the district. You also fired school counselors in the district.
[1:27:57] Also, with the exception of Chris Fight, you
[1:28:03] voted to let ICE agents possibly intimidate and harass our
[1:28:09] students, despite the objections and pleas of the
[1:28:14] constituents.
[1:28:17] After you did such draconian actions, you gave yourselves a
[1:28:23] 300% pay raise, and you spent a few million
[1:28:29] dollars on athletic and video games. That's right, video games.
[1:28:35] That's money that could've been used to improve student learning and
[1:28:41] also to improve the pay of our teachers, librarians, and school counselors.
[1:28:48] Heck, I'll bet you're gonna let the students play Grand Theft Auto VI at the end of
[1:28:54] this year, which is unsuitable for high school students.
[1:28:58] Well, you've been playing a terrible game with our students, teachers, and parents,
[1:29:04] and that game is called Grand Theft Education, and you guys are not the heroes
[1:29:10] of the game. You are the villains. So like I said
[1:29:14] late last year at the school board, we're coming for your
[1:29:20] seats in November because you've failed East County students, teachers, and
[1:29:25] parents. We can no longer afford your incompetent and appalling
[1:29:30] leadership. And once we vote you nitwits out in November, we
[1:29:36] will be singing, "Na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey.
[1:29:42] Goodbye."
[1:29:44] Less than two months until the election, your days on the school board are
[1:29:50] numbered. Tick-tock, tick-tock, clock's ticking.
[1:29:58] Pete Mergens, Janae Luttrell, and Jackie Na.
[1:30:04] Lucia, it's good to see you back up on the podium.
[1:30:08] I'm reminded just by my conversation yesterday with you, Kirsten,
[1:30:15] and hearing Mary talking, and hearing April talking,
[1:30:21] and Jake presenting. We have some incredibly brilliant people in this district.
[1:30:27] And the number one strength of this district are the people.
[1:30:31] And thank God I retired before this next adoption cycle. Oh my gosh.
[1:30:37] You go through three adoption cycles, and you get to the end, and you're like,
[1:30:40] "That was a lot of work."
[1:30:44] We are at a crossroads in this district, as you know.
[1:30:48] And the people who are sitting up on the
[1:30:53] stage right now, they're all intelligent people, every one of you, and you're all
[1:30:58] good people.
[1:31:00] And I am running against you, Jim. You said something incredibly profound a few
[1:31:06] minutes ago, that extracurriculars really draw kids in.
[1:31:11] And so
[1:31:13] I can't fault you for that. As a matter of fact, the things that I fault you for
[1:31:17] are things that you've done. So just know that the personalities
[1:31:24] are not the thing that are driving me to run for school board The things that are
[1:31:29] driving me are the things that have changed in this district over the last few
[1:31:33] years. And I want to see those things flip back to the way that they were.
[1:31:38] Because I watched some pretty dang intelligent people, Dan McDowell for one,
[1:31:44] who's a great leader in education in San Diego County, get fired.
[1:31:50] And a few seconds ago, you said we should be doing surveys like Helix.
[1:31:55] And as you recall, Dan McDowell, the day he was fired here, the next day, he was
[1:31:59] hired at full salary by Helix High School because they recognized the importance of
[1:32:04] Dan McDowell. So we need to remember that when we say something, it affects
[1:32:09] everything. I heard Mike Falconer's name mentioned, and Mike Falconer was
[1:32:14] pink-slipped when the RIFs-- When we celebrated the RIFs here.
[1:32:19] Mike Falconer went for a year not knowing if he was going to be hired back, not
[1:32:24] knowing where he was going. Married,
[1:32:27] kid, two kids. The day before summer school ended, he found out he was going to be
[1:32:31] at Grant Hills, and today he's being celebrated as somebody who really knows what's
[1:32:35] going on. We need to understand that this is not just
[1:32:40] about today. This is about the last little while.
[1:32:46] We, as
[1:32:48] the leaders in this district, need to celebrate the people and
[1:32:54] respect the people and make sure that the people are taken care of. Thank you.
[1:33:07] Good evening. I am here tonight regarding the proposal to add a
[1:33:13] Pupil Personnel Services credential as an acceptable qualification for our
[1:33:17] Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. Let me be clear.
[1:33:22] I hold a PPS credential. I have served as a counselor, an assistant principal, a
[1:33:27] county deputy superintendent, and I deeply respect
[1:33:33] that pathway. However, on a school campus, multidisciplinary teams balance
[1:33:38] operations, discipline, and student safety.
[1:33:41] But this cabinet role is not site operations, it is our district's head of
[1:33:46] academics.
[1:33:48] Under your own job description, this leader selects curriculum, directs
[1:33:52] instructional pathways, evaluates principals on classroom achievement.
[1:33:57] And when I worked as a deputy, I always had an expert in curriculum and instruction
[1:34:01] on my team to oversee this work. True leadership means respecting professional
[1:34:06] boundaries. You wouldn't ask a classroom teacher to lead crisis mental health, and
[1:34:11] you cannot ask someone without instructional teaching experience to lead classroom
[1:34:15] instruction. Trustee Woods frequently speaks from the dais about the importance of
[1:34:21] academic rigor. Yet bringing forward a revision that systematically lowers the
[1:34:25] professional qualification of our highest academic officer reveals a striking
[1:34:30] contradiction between what is preached and what is practiced.
[1:34:34] To anyone watching tonight, this doesn't look like good governance.
[1:34:38] It looks like another attempt to tailor a job description for a favored candidate.
[1:34:43] We already saw this board majority invent a chief of staff position for Jerry Hobbs
[1:34:47] over the objections of Trustee Fight, who was the only vote against it.
[1:34:51] That backroom deal ended in a scandal and cost our taxpayers nearly
[1:34:57] $200,000 in buyout money on top of massive legal fees.
[1:35:02] We cannot afford another rigged hiring decision, especially for the person in
[1:35:06] charge of our students' education.
[1:35:09] Our teachers and our students deserve an academic leader who have actually taught
[1:35:14] classes, built lesson plans, and earned respect by walking in a teacher's shoes.
[1:35:19] In fact, I typed these out before I heard the wonderful presentation from Executive
[1:35:25] Director of Leadership, Jake Gear, tonight talking about the fact that before you
[1:35:29] can even be considered to be an administrator now in our district, you need four
[1:35:34] years of successful classroom teaching experience.
[1:35:38] So I do want to share that I heard Trustee Woods, quote, unquote,
[1:35:44] saying, "Everything rises or falls on leadership." And I'd like to go back to
[1:35:49] something that we just saw in our leadership plan. Confident humility.
[1:35:54] I would hope to see some confident humility tonight in recognizing that this is a
[1:35:58] poor decision and it should not pass tonight.
[1:36:07] Jackie Naw, Stephanie Micchecka, Dustin Millsap, and Mary
[1:36:12] Davis.
[1:36:15] Good evening, board members. My name is Jackie Naw.
[1:36:18] I'm here tonight to speak about district values. Also, I'm wearing two hats.
[1:36:22] I'm a CTE teacher at Valhalla Norseman, and I'm also the parent of a special
[1:36:27] education student at Grossmont. And unfortunately, from where I stand, neither hat
[1:36:31] is seeing these enhanced resources we keep hearing about in Dr. Woods' post online.
[1:36:37] At Valhalla, I teach a successful and growing CTE teaching and learning pathway.
[1:36:42] Our program has grown by 33%. We now have two sections of our first-year program
[1:36:47] and an active second-year internship where students work with young learners at
[1:36:50] Vista Grande Elementary. They're getting real-world career experience while also
[1:36:54] helping introduce future students and families to the incredible programs available
[1:36:59] at comprehensive schools like Valhalla. This is exactly what CTE is supposed to do.
[1:37:05] Yet while our CTE program grew by 33%, the budget for supplies and field trips was
[1:37:10] cut by 33%. So more students, but fewer resources.
[1:37:15] Apparently, in GUHSD, that's what enhanced resources looks like.
[1:37:19] I must have missed that definition in staff development.
[1:37:22] Meanwhile, this board found nearly $4 million in new funding for extracurricular
[1:37:26] programs. And I want to be clear, these programs connect kids to school.
[1:37:30] They build community. They deserve investment.
[1:37:33] But athletics aren't the only thing that connect kids to school.
[1:37:36] As a special education parent, I'm also watching restrictions on special education
[1:37:40] funding, reductions in support positions, and cuts to paraprofessional support.
[1:37:47] I've had to comfort staff members at my site who were literally physically
[1:37:51] assaulted because we do not have adequate aid coverage for special needs students
[1:37:55] at Valhalla. These are the people who help some of our most vulnerable students
[1:37:59] successfully access their learning. So when Dr.
[1:38:02] Gary Woods repeatedly tells the community on social media that this board is
[1:38:06] supporting classrooms and enhancing resources, I have to ask, which classrooms?
[1:38:12] Because it isn't what I'm experiencing as a teacher, and it isn't what I'm seeing
[1:38:15] as a parent. Social media posts are easy. Governing requires choices.
[1:38:20] Budgets reveal priorities much more clearly than your AI-generated slop Facebook
[1:38:24] posts do. AI can generate a lot of things, including posts that make Gary Woods
[1:38:29] look like Lieutenant Templeton on The A-Team.
[1:38:31] You know, the smooth-talking con man who could get the team almost anything they
[1:38:34] need, but apparently, it can't generate my CTE supply budget. If Dr.
[1:38:39] Woods wants voters to believe he supports CTE, special education, and our
[1:38:44] classrooms, then his votes and budget priorities should demonstrate that.
[1:38:48] Until then, I implore voters to look past the post and look at the record.
[1:38:52] Our students deserve leaders whose actions match their promises.
[1:38:56] Based on what I see both as a teacher and a parent, Woods has not earned another
[1:39:01] term on this board. Vote Latrell, Mull, and Mergens in November, y'all.
[1:39:19] Good evening, Board President, Vice President Woods, and members of the board.
[1:39:23] My name is Stephanie Micchecka, and I'm the Grossmont Education Association
[1:39:26] president, and I'm here to oppose the proposed change to the Assistant
[1:39:30] Superintendent of Education Services qualifications.
[1:39:34] As written today, this district's own job descriptions requires a valid California
[1:39:38] teaching credential and an administrative services credential for this position,
[1:39:43] and for good reason. This role sets curriculum, oversees instruction, oversees
[1:39:49] teacher training, and shapes teacher evaluation for every classroom in this
[1:39:53] district. That takes someone who has actually stood in front of a classroom and
[1:39:59] knows what happens when a lesson plan meets 38 teenagers on a Monday morning.
[1:40:06] A Pupil Personnel Services credential is valuable.
[1:40:09] It trains counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
[1:40:12] That's important work, but it's different work.
[1:40:16] It doesn't prepare someone to evaluate instruction or lead curriculum
[1:40:20] district-wide. It doesn't prepare someone to implement teacher training, which is
[1:40:25] something vital to this role. Opening this door doesn't widen the pool with equally
[1:40:30] qualified candidates. It lowers the bar
[1:40:34] And minimum standards are exactly what separate us from private schools.
[1:40:39] California doesn't require private schools to employ a single credentialed teacher.
[1:40:44] State law only asks that our instructors be capable of teaching.
[1:40:48] Families who choose private school accept this trade-off.
[1:40:52] Families who choose us do so because public schools promise
[1:40:58] minimum enforceable standards for who leads instruction.
[1:41:03] That promise is why parents trust us with their kids.
[1:41:07] Watering it down moves this district toward the private school model without the
[1:41:11] choice private school families actually have.
[1:41:14] This board does not have a strong track record on staffing upper management.
[1:41:19] We've watched a chief of staff position draw public controversy and end in
[1:41:23] resignation. Every time qualifications become negotiable, it's the students in our
[1:41:28] classrooms who pay for it. If the goal is truly a wider candidate pool, recruit
[1:41:33] harder for qualified instructional leaders.
[1:41:36] Don't
[1:41:38] quietly redefine qualified to fit whoever the board already has in mind.
[1:41:43] I'm asking you tonight to reject this change and hold this position to the standard
[1:41:47] our students deserve. Thank you.
[1:42:00] Hi, Lucia. So the true public education advocate.
[1:42:04] Same with the three that presented here, Mary and Jake, and April.
[1:42:08] Appreciate you guys. Chris Fied, appreciate you.
[1:42:10] So last board meeting, Jim Kelly, he talks a lot about radical leftist activists
[1:42:16] and overpaid teachers.
[1:42:20] Yes, we're activists for public education, dude.
[1:42:22] And you're the one on the board, and along with three other of these hooligans that
[1:42:27] have been actively engaged in an insurrection against public schools.
[1:42:31] For example, activist Jim Kelly and his bros voted to hire Jerry Hobbs despite his
[1:42:37] documented racist and sexist conduct, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of
[1:42:43] dollars when Hobbs resigned months later.
[1:42:47] He and his other bozo anti-public education crusaders were recently implicated by a
[1:42:51] grand jury and superior court judge for, and I quote, and I'm going to quote a few
[1:42:56] things, "Denying the renewal of San Diego Youth Services' school-based mental
[1:43:00] health contract solely due to a misrepresentation about referrals for services to
[1:43:06] transgender students." "Denied renewal of San Diego Youth Services contract for
[1:43:11] school-based mental health services and the memorandum of understanding for the
[1:43:15] suicide prevention program based on political leanings, not by any proven
[1:43:21] facts." "Denied renewal to San Diego Youth Services without identifying a
[1:43:26] replacement provider, putting students at risk
[1:43:31] during a time of high demand for such services, which was highly detrimental to
[1:43:36] students of all backgrounds." This decision of these untrustworthy board members
[1:43:42] went against their so-called East County values of respect and responsibility.
[1:43:47] But as sheep for the anti-equity, diversity, and inclusion cause, their shutdown of
[1:43:52] San Diego Youth Services was not aligned with the district's LCAP, compromised the
[1:43:56] superintendent, administrators, educators, and clinicians' abilities to achieve the
[1:44:01] goals outlined in the ELPAC, violated its duty of care as it did not use care
[1:44:07] and diligence in its decisions regarding the provision of student services,
[1:44:12] performed actions which are the responsibility of the superintendent and staff, and
[1:44:17] did so without their involvement, and violated, more importantly, the public trust
[1:44:22] doctrine as it acted in conflict with the best interest of students, and lastly,
[1:44:27] disparaged the school community, denying public comments and social media posts,
[1:44:33] which has fueled ongoing distrust and dissension.
[1:44:37] Dissension, okay? Listen, we're advocates for constitutional rights.
[1:44:43] Every kid should have access to a free and accessible and appropriate
[1:44:48] public education, whether they're lesbian, whether they're gay, whether they're
[1:44:52] transgender, q***r, whatever. So when we stand up and we say, "Liberty and justice
[1:44:58] for all," that's what we mean. We're actually defending the Constitution against
[1:45:03] three of you fools. Vote them out.
[1:45:17] Hi. Good evening. Mary Davis with the Public Education Oversight Project, and I'm
[1:45:22] here today to speak on a couple items.
[1:45:24] One is item I-4 or Q-5, which has to do with the 1920 Education Foundation that
[1:45:30] you're going to look at starting, and the other is your literature adoption.
[1:45:35] First, for the 1920 Education Foundation, it's not so much that I'm for or against
[1:45:39] it. What I would've liked to have seen is a lot more information.
[1:45:43] And I say this as a oversight watchdog that goes to many different school
[1:45:48] districts. I have a problem, let's use Cajon Valley as an example.
[1:45:52] With their World of Work foundation they set up, that was people involved in the
[1:45:56] district that set up this foundation.
[1:45:59] One of the issues for that was they had the same people for the executive cabinet
[1:46:05] over on the foundation. So the optics alone are bad for conflict of interest, but
[1:46:11] then as well as decision-making and any 1090 concerns.
[1:46:14] There was also concerns about them borrowing money from the district to front
[1:46:19] foundation costs, and then reimbursing later. That happened two or three times.
[1:46:25] Again, so what I consider potentially commingling.
[1:46:27] Again, it's not a criminal accusation, just again, bad optics that are something
[1:46:32] that need to be accounted for. Also, I wanted to bring up the San
[1:46:37] Dieguito Union High School District as a model of what to not
[1:46:43] do. They had in particular, I think it was the Canyon Crest Academy Foundation, two
[1:46:49] young watchdogs who deserve awards from this county for being good stewards
[1:46:55] of the money that went to that foundation. They tried to sound the alarms.
[1:46:58] They used the proper channels, tried to go through it.
[1:47:01] They were actually bullied and intimidated, not only by some parents, but also by
[1:47:06] district administrators, for sounding the alarm and wanting oversight.
[1:47:10] One of them was skimming 20... If they donated to a particular club or foundation,
[1:47:17] the foundation skimmed 25% off the top.
[1:47:20] So when they raised concerns about that, they were vilified, intimidated.
[1:47:23] One was actually called into the principal's office over it.
[1:47:26] So again, those are the kind of oversight things.
[1:47:29] I would like to see some guardrails on whatever foundation.
[1:47:32] I would've liked to have seen a lot more about funding, how that's going to be,
[1:47:36] what's the vision for the board set up.
[1:47:38] Again, it's much easier to get this all up front and then not tell us that we'll
[1:47:42] fill in the details later because that's where abuses happen.
[1:47:46] Next, for I-6, the literature adoption process.
[1:47:50] I just wanted to share quickly something, and I do salute the process.
[1:47:54] It seems very transparent, but I would like to take it a step further and run it
[1:47:58] through a district filter. And I bring up a, I think it was Temecula, that a mom
[1:48:03] actually tried to email some of the assignments that a teacher had backdoored
[1:48:08] curriculum, and the mom emailed it to the board.
[1:48:12] It would not even make it through the district filter.
[1:48:15] So use that as a litmus test. If you can't read it at a school board meeting or put
[1:48:20] it through a district filter, maybe it's not appropriate for children.
[1:48:23] Thank you so much.
[1:48:35] Thank you. There will be more speakers that will speak immediately before specific
[1:48:40] items on the agenda. Thank you to everyone who spoke.
[1:48:45] The board values your opinions and appreciates your input.
[1:48:49] As a reminder, we will hear from additional speakers when their specific item is
[1:48:54] addressed on agenda, and if needed, we will provide time for public comment at the
[1:48:59] end of the meeting.
[1:49:01] I call upon our board clerk, Scott Eckert, to report on closed session.
[1:49:10] Thank you, Mr. President.
[1:49:12] Report on closed session. Item C through F, actions taken in closed session.
[1:49:18] On a motion by Member Woods, seconded by Member Eckert, in closed session, the
[1:49:24] governing board approved claim RM26021,
[1:49:30] Part A, to grant the claimant's application for leave to present a late
[1:49:36] claim pursuant to Government Code Section
[1:49:40] 911.4 and 911.6 And to
[1:49:46] reject the claim RN-26021 Part B, the underlying
[1:49:52] government claim pursuant to Government Code Section
[1:49:57] 912.6. The roll call vote was five yes and zero no.
[1:50:03] Item two, on a motion by Member Shield, second by Member Feit, in closed session,
[1:50:08] the governing board rejected claim RM-26025.
[1:50:13] The roll call vote was five yes, zero no.
[1:50:17] Number three, on a motion by Member Shield, second by Member Eckert, in closed
[1:50:23] session, the governing board rejected claim RM-26027.
[1:50:29] The roll call vote was five yes, zero no.
[1:50:33] On a motion by Member Kelly, second by Member Feit, in closed session, the
[1:50:38] governing board rejected claim RM-26028.
[1:50:43] The roll call vote was five yes and zero no.
[1:50:50] Item five, on a motion by Member Shield, second by Member Feit, in closed session,
[1:50:56] the governing board approved the motion to approve the superintendent's
[1:51:01] recommendation to approve the settlement agreement in the Office of Administrative
[1:51:05] Hearing, case number
[1:51:08] 2026040571. The roll call vote
[1:51:13] was five yeses, zero no.
[1:51:17] This month, there were no student matters pursuant to Education Code Section
[1:51:23] 49073, 249079, and
[1:51:28] 51241C.
[1:51:31] Lastly, in a matter of student record challenge, grade change
[1:51:37] appeal, case number 26-27-01, Education
[1:51:43] Code 49070. In closed session, the governing
[1:51:49] board heard an appeal, reviewed the findings of facts, which were provided
[1:51:55] by parents and district staff. As a result, we must take
[1:52:00] action to uphold the district's decision to reject the parent's grade appeal.
[1:52:07] This means
[1:52:09] a yes vote upholds the district's decision to reject the parent's appeal.
[1:52:14] A no vote rejects the district's decision and grants the parent's appeal.
[1:52:21] Mr. President, I turn this over to you.
[1:52:29] Could I have a motion and second? There will be no discussion due to student
[1:52:34] privacy.
[1:52:36] I make the motion.
[1:52:38] I second.
[1:52:40] Please vote.
[1:52:44] Mr. Eckert, thank you. Motion passes five zero.
[1:52:50] Mr. President, that concludes my report.
[1:52:53] Thank you. Could I have a motion and second to approve the agenda?
[1:52:58] So moved.
[1:52:58] Second.
[1:53:00] Discussion.
[1:53:03] Student board member, Ariel McPherson, please give us your preferential vote.
[1:53:08] Aye.
[1:53:10] Other board members, please vote.
[1:53:14] Motion passes five zero. Item four, approval of the
[1:53:20] minutes of the special governing board meeting of July 23rd, 2026.
[1:53:25] Could I have a motion, please?
[1:53:28] I make the motion.
[1:53:29] Second.
[1:53:31] Any discussion?
[1:53:34] Ariel McPherson.
[1:53:36] I abstain.
[1:53:38] Abstain? Okay. Thank you. Everyone else, please vote.
[1:53:43] Motion passes five zero. Item five, approval of minutes of the special governing
[1:53:48] board meeting of August 13th, 2026. Could I have a motion, please?
[1:53:54] So moved.
[1:53:55] Second.
[1:53:56] Any discussion?
[1:53:58] Yes. I think that's the board meeting that I missed, if I'm not mistaken.
[1:54:04] Yeah.
[1:54:04] That's correct, so you'll be abstaining then?
[1:54:06] Yeah, either no vote or abstention.
[1:54:10] Hit abstain then, yeah.
[1:54:11] Okay.
[1:54:12] All right. Board members, please vote.
[1:54:18] Motion passes with four yes, one abstention. Item L1, superintendent's report.
[1:54:23] Superintendent, Dr. Kirsten Patel-Broult, please give your report.
[1:54:28] Thank you, President Shield, and good evening, everyone.
[1:54:31] The 2026-27 school year is well underway, and I'm pleased to share some highlights
[1:54:37] from across our district. Tonight's presentation is a couple minutes longer than
[1:54:42] usual because we have a lot to cover because we didn't have an August meeting.
[1:54:49] So first, creating conditions for back to school.
[1:54:54] Before welcoming students back to campus, our administrators and management came
[1:54:59] together at our back-to-school professional learning.
[1:55:03] A big part of our time together was focused on the culture we want to create across
[1:55:08] GUHSD, and the choices we can make as leaders to create the conditions for
[1:55:14] our teams to do their best work for kids.
[1:55:17] We grounded those conversations in our board goals and our recently adopted adult
[1:55:22] portrait, while also building familiarity with all three of the portraits and
[1:55:28] connecting them to the work we do each and every day.
[1:55:32] We also talked about small, intentional changes we can make in how we lead and work
[1:55:37] together, things like how we manage email and establishing meeting norms.
[1:55:43] These aren't major initiatives or new programs.
[1:55:46] They're everyday leadership choices that when practiced consistently, can help
[1:55:52] create the conditions that will help bring our portraits to life.
[1:55:56] At GUHSD, our people are truly our superpower, and I'm grateful we had this time
[1:56:02] together with our district leaders to prepare for the year ahead.
[1:56:10] I was grateful for the opportunity to meet with CIF San Diego Section Commissioner
[1:56:15] Joe Heinz. Athletics and extracurricular activities are a vitally important part of
[1:56:20] high school and young people's experience, helping students develop
[1:56:26] confidence, discipline, and teamwork while binding our school communities together.
[1:56:32] Commissioner Heinz and I had a great conversation about opportunities to improve
[1:56:36] the experience for all student athletes.
[1:56:39] One of our district objectives this year, which we'll discuss later in the meeting,
[1:56:43] is to expand extracurricular access and support to positive school culture by
[1:56:48] implementing the CIF San Diego Section six pillars of character, sportsmanship,
[1:56:54] and school spirit programs. This aligns with board goal number one, to provide a
[1:57:00] safe, supportive, and collaborative school environment that welcomes all students.
[1:57:06] I look forward to our partnership with the commissioner and CIF San Diego Section
[1:57:10] as we work together to enhance the education-based athletics.
[1:57:24] We had one of the most exciting parts of beginning a new school year is welcoming
[1:57:29] our new educators. I was pleased to join our new certificated staff orientation,
[1:57:35] where 28 new teachers and certificated employees learned more about our
[1:57:40] organization, connected with new colleagues, and received resources to help them
[1:57:45] begin their journeys with confidence.
[1:57:48] I shared a little about my own journey, starting as a new teacher at Whittier High
[1:57:52] School in 1994, and after initially pursuing a different path, choosing to respond
[1:57:57] to the calling to become an educator.
[1:58:00] I know everyone who joins this profession does so because they want to make a
[1:58:04] meaningful difference in the lives of students.
[1:58:07] Whether it's their first, 10th, or 33rd year in education, we all share that same
[1:58:13] commitment. We also connected our newest educators to our recently adopted adult
[1:58:18] portrait, which describes the knowledge, skills, and mindsets we believe every
[1:58:23] adult in our system needs to help bring our portrait of a graduate vision to life.
[1:58:29] I want to thank our friends at East County Schools Federal Credit Union for
[1:58:33] supporting this event and our new educators, and for continuing to be such a valued
[1:58:38] partner in our district. To our new educators, I'm excited to see the difference
[1:58:43] you'll make in the lives of students. Welcome to GUHSD.
[1:58:49] We're so glad you're here
[1:58:55] Trustees Wood, Feit, Eckert, and I were proud to join the celebration of a
[1:59:00] milestone at the ribbon cutting and official kickoff of Mount Miguel Early College
[1:59:06] High School. This moment builds on more than a decade of collaboration among East
[1:59:11] County educational institutions and the many opportunities and successes for
[1:59:16] students this collaboration has created.
[1:59:19] For their steadfast commitment to Mount Miguel and its students, I want to take
[1:59:23] this opportunity to especially thank our partners at Cuyamaca College,
[1:59:28] President Jessica Robinson, a proud Mount Miguel alum, the
[1:59:33] Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, their chancellor, Lynn Nolt, and
[1:59:38] their governing board. The work we celebrated on August 11th would simply not be
[1:59:43] possible without their partnership and shared belief in what our students can
[1:59:48] accomplish. Through our expanded partnership, every Mount Miguel student will have
[1:59:54] the opportunity to take a college course and earn transferable college credit
[1:59:59] during the school day at no cost to their families.
[2:00:03] This gives students more than a headstart on college.
[2:00:06] It gives them the opportunity to see themselves as college students, experience
[2:00:10] college-level learning, and build the confidence to know they belong and can
[2:00:15] succeed. Thank you and congratulations to the Mount Miguel leadership, staff,
[2:00:19] students, families, and everyone who made this possible.
[2:00:23] When educational partners work together to remove barriers and create clear,
[2:00:28] accessible pathways to college and career, more students have the opportunity to
[2:00:33] build their best future.
[2:00:38] Update on Portrait of a Graduate.
[2:00:42] On August 20th, the district held its first Portrait of Graduate strategic planning
[2:00:47] committee meeting for the '26, '27 school year at El Cajon Valley High School.
[2:00:52] The committee includes more than 80 GUHSD staff members from across the district
[2:00:57] and employee groups. Its purpose is to give concrete meaning to the graduate adult
[2:01:03] and system portraits and collaboratively develop
[2:01:08] proposals for organizational changes that align with our community's shared vision
[2:01:14] for student success. The committee will meet monthly, and we will share updates
[2:01:18] with the board as the work progresses.
[2:01:20] Thank you to all our strategic planning committee members for dedicating their time
[2:01:25] and energy to this next vital phase of Portrait of a Graduate.
[2:01:35] We may need a new clicker.
[2:01:39] New school years also bring the return of great traditions that build school
[2:01:45] pride and belonging. I was honored to participate in the 37th
[2:01:50] annual Odin's Procession at Valhalla High School, a treasured celebration
[2:01:56] welcoming freshmen and new students and staff to the Orange Nation.
[2:02:01] As a newish superintendent, I had the honor of leading the procession this year,
[2:02:05] touching Thor's hammer and crossing the Rainbow Bridge alongside Valhalla's newest
[2:02:11] Norsemen. I look forward to experiencing more of these great traditions at our
[2:02:16] schools in the years ahead. They are an important part of building positive school
[2:02:21] culture, and that was certainly on display at Valhalla.
[2:02:31] Speaking of culture building celebrations, a visit to Grossmont High School gave me
[2:02:36] the opportunity to attend Hillers in the Villa back-to-school assembly, where
[2:02:41] students competed in class games and filled the gym with incredible energy and
[2:02:47] Foothiller pride. During a classroom visit at Grossmont, I also had the chance to
[2:02:51] watch Megan Long help students develop their understanding of latitude and
[2:02:55] longitude through friendly, or maybe
[2:02:58] not so friendly, competitive games of Battleship. Just joking.
[2:03:04] The kids were having a ball, and so did I.
[2:03:07] At Valhalla, I joined a staff meeting to share district updates, discuss our
[2:03:11] objectives for the year ahead, and answer more anonymous questions so I can address
[2:03:16] exactly what's on people's minds.
[2:03:19] At El Cap, I spent time with one of our district's incredible supporters, Daryl
[2:03:23] Priest, walking through the ag department, which has benefited so much from his
[2:03:28] generosity. We also discussed the plans for signage recognizing the official naming
[2:03:34] of the Daryl R Priest Agricultural Center at El Cap.
[2:03:38] At Santana, we visited math, social science, and English language arts
[2:03:43] development classrooms, and toured the incredible new auto body facility.
[2:03:50] Absolutely. We look forward to officially opening later this fall with our
[2:03:55] trustees.
[2:03:59] And welcome back to our SROs. I also met with our SROs and officials from the San
[2:04:04] Diego County Sheriff's Department and the El Cajon Police Department.
[2:04:09] We had a great discussion about their work to keep our students and staff safe and
[2:04:14] heard their suggestions for how we can work together most effectively to continue
[2:04:19] to build a culture of safety. As we shared tonight, our SROs are essential partners
[2:04:25] to our school leaders and to Mary Nishikawa and her team in student support
[2:04:29] services. They respond to safety incidents, help prevent them through the trusting
[2:04:35] relationships they build, and serve as trusted adults students can turn to.
[2:04:40] I want to thank all of our SROs for their service and our partners at the San Diego
[2:04:44] County Sheriff's Department and El Cajon PD for their continued collaboration.
[2:04:49] Our schools are safer thanks to you.
[2:04:55] We also held our first student advisory council meeting of the school year this
[2:04:59] week. As I tell everyone, student advisory is my favorite meeting each month,
[2:05:06] and Monday's meeting reminded me why.
[2:05:09] As always, our students asked insightful questions, this time about class
[2:05:13] schedules, earning core subject area credits through CT classes, and the promise
[2:05:18] and potential challenges of artificial intelligence.
[2:05:23] Our student board members, Ariel and Ashlyn, facilitated the meeting brilliantly,
[2:05:29] as I'm sure you all would expect. I look forward to the year ahead,
[2:05:34] hearing their ideas and working together to improve the student experience across
[2:05:38] our schools. I already have some follow-ups just from the first one.
[2:05:46] And before I conclude, trustees, I'd like us to pause and remember.
[2:05:49] Tomorrow, flags across our nation and here in the Grossmont Union High School
[2:05:53] District will fly at half-staff as we mark the 25th anniversary of the September
[2:05:59] 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the
[2:06:03] United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
[2:06:07] We remember 2,977 precious lives lost that day, and we
[2:06:13] all continue to mourn with families who have endured 25 years of their absence.
[2:06:17] We remember the more than 400 first responders who gave their lives rushing towards
[2:06:22] danger to save others. Remember the sacrifice, courage of Todd Beamer and the other
[2:06:27] passengers aboard Flight 93, who fought back against the hijackers with Beamer's
[2:06:33] words, "Let's roll,"
[2:06:35] becoming a lasting symbol of their bravery and inspiration to all Americans.
[2:06:40] We remember men and women of our armed forces who answered the country's call to
[2:06:46] serve
[2:06:50] in the years that followed September 11th. Sorry.
[2:06:56] And the sacrifices made by them and their families.
[2:07:00] At 25 years later, we remember our responsibility as educators to
[2:07:05] recognize and inform our students who did not experience that day, its
[2:07:11] lasting impact, and the nation's unity that arose from the ashes, and how
[2:07:19] we are all changed forever. We remember.
[2:07:23] And thank you. That concludes my report. Sorry. I didn't think that would happen.
[2:07:38] We will now have our fiscal year 2025/26 fourth quarter and end of
[2:07:44] the year report to the governing board. Superintendent Dr. Kirsten Patel-Ruhlford.
[2:07:50] Okay. And I'd like to introduce Emily Mayer to make this presentation
[2:08:10] All right. Thank you. So this is an update on our legal fees for our fourth quarter
[2:08:15] of our 25/26 reports. So for quarter four of
[2:08:21] FY26, we spent $302,000 on legal fees.
[2:08:26] This is an increase compared to last year, quarter four, of about $73,000.
[2:08:33] Looking at the overall picture for the year, for FY26, we spent a total of $1.2
[2:08:39] million on legal fees. This is an increase of $170,000
[2:08:44] compared to FY25. When we look at the breakdown within those categories,
[2:08:51] you can see that the largest category is our all other bucket.
[2:08:55] That includes our construction and bond, Brown Act and miscellaneous general legal
[2:08:59] matters, public record requests, student matters, board meeting support, and
[2:09:04] collective bargaining. The largest single category is our employee-related legal
[2:09:10] expenses, which is related to employee discipline and employee matters, employee
[2:09:14] investigations, and layoffs, followed by special education and then by charter
[2:09:20] schools. And that concludes the update on legal fees.
[2:09:30] All right. Thank you very much.
[2:09:33] Let's see here.
[2:09:36] Public report by Executive Director of Fiscal Services regarding the public
[2:09:40] disclosure of district investments for the period ending June 30, 2026.
[2:09:47] Executive Director of Fiscal Services, Emily Mayer.
[2:09:51] All right. So diving into our quarterly report on district investments.
[2:09:56] This is broken into three categories.
[2:09:58] We have our cash in county treasury, our cash in banks and credit unions, and our
[2:10:03] OPEB investment in the CERBT account.
[2:10:07] So looking on the next page at our investments in the San Diego County Treasury.
[2:10:12] So this is with the overall county, not the County Office of Education Treasury
[2:10:17] investment pool. You can see we have a total across all of our funds of
[2:10:22] $131.99 million. Going into our investments in financial
[2:10:27] institutions, so this is in credit unions and other banks.
[2:10:32] This is mostly our ASE accounts, as well as some of our other cash and clearing
[2:10:36] accounts. It's a total of $5.9 million.
[2:10:41] And then if we go to the last page, that will have, for Exhibit C, investments in
[2:10:46] the California Employers' Retirement Benefit Trust program,
[2:10:51] CERBT. And what this is, is it's a tax-exempt Section 115 trust
[2:10:57] fund that's managed by CalPERS. So that's where we're voluntarily pre-funding some
[2:11:02] of our other post-employment benefit liabilities, where we can accumulate
[2:11:06] investment income over time to offset our long-term retiree healthcare liabilities
[2:11:12] and lower those annual operating costs.
[2:11:17] You can see that we began the year with $12.46 million.
[2:11:20] We generated $1.46 million of investment earnings, and we're ending with a total
[2:11:26] market value of investment of $13.9 million.
[2:11:30] And that concludes this update on district investments.
[2:11:35] Are there any questions or comments?
[2:11:39] Thank you very much.
[2:11:41] Public hearing: Adoption of Resolution 2027-10 on sufficiency of instructional
[2:11:47] materials for the 2026-2027 school year.
[2:11:52] I declare the hearing open. Are there any speakers?
[2:11:57] Seeing none,
[2:11:59] are there any questions or discussion from the governing board?
[2:12:04] I hereby declare the hearing-
[2:12:06] I have one.
[2:12:06] Oh, go ahead.
[2:12:08] While reading, how can we-
[2:12:11] Could you turn on your mic? Yeah.
[2:12:14] Kirsten, will there be any updates from the cabinet on our sufficiency and things
[2:12:20] that we should know about that? Because
[2:12:24] when I was reading through the material, I just had some questions.
[2:12:26] I was hoping for some more information on making that decision.
[2:12:33] Making the decision on the sufficiency?
[2:12:35] Yeah.
[2:12:36] Maybe-
[2:12:37] That the vote will come up later, and-
[2:12:39] So I don't know if Dan is here or Lucia here to be able to answer those
[2:12:45] questions. What did you want to ask about?
[2:12:49] It's the first time I voted on this idea of sufficiency of instruction, and it says
[2:12:54] that we're going to affirm that all our students have the materials they need.
[2:13:00] And that's something that I don't know.
[2:13:03] So I need the expert opinion, you guys who are in the classrooms and the
[2:13:08] schools. I'd just like assurance that you got that.
[2:13:14] So-
[2:13:14] Lucia?
[2:13:15] Let me see if I can address some of it.
[2:13:18] At the end of the day, we did a curriculum audit in the spring, which we presented
[2:13:22] to the board, and I do think we have some work to do on textbook adoptions.
[2:13:28] Having said that, why this is a sufficiency, not because it's
[2:13:33] necessarily that there are
[2:13:36] textbooks that are up-to-date books themselves, but because we use
[2:13:42] many online resources. And so what you see in the sufficiency is that it
[2:13:48] takes not just the textbooks, but also the OER that we use as a district.
[2:13:55] In that curriculum audit, and I see April is in the audience, in that
[2:14:01] curriculum audit, we also recognize that there are a lot of adoptions we need to do
[2:14:05] as a district, and that we started to chunk out.
[2:14:08] We're going to start with math, and then we're going to move to the next subject
[2:14:12] area and the next subject area. And we may find that we don't necessarily want a
[2:14:17] particular textbook. We may want an online textbook.
[2:14:21] But we, as a district, this has to be our path over the next five years, is looking
[2:14:26] at instructional materials. And it's because of the OER that I feel like we can
[2:14:32] say that there's sufficiency.
[2:14:35] That doesn't mean we don't have work to do.
[2:14:37] That's
[2:14:38] the assurance I wanted to hear, that we had the substance to vote yes because you
[2:14:43] guys are able to say that we have enough for all of our students. Thank you.
[2:14:49] Yeah. I don't know if
[2:14:52] either Dan or April or Lucia, if there anything else you would add to what I said?
[2:15:00] No, I was going to say the same.
[2:15:01] Okay.
[2:15:02] Thanks.
[2:15:07] Did I already declare the hearing closed?
[2:15:11] Hearing closed.
[2:15:14] Item N, approval of revised job description for Assistant Superintendent of
[2:15:19] Educational Services. I believe we have a couple of speaker cards.
[2:15:23] One speaker card? Okay. Thank you.
[2:15:27] The speaker for this item is Gavin Preston.
[2:15:34] Gavin.
[2:15:34] Good evening. I'm Gavin Preston. I am a teacher at Granite Hills High School.
[2:15:40] I'm also the site learning specialist there.
[2:15:43] I facilitate the work of the instructional leadership team, and I am the proud
[2:15:47] holder of a valid California teaching license.
[2:15:52] The folks that I work with on the instructional leadership team are also holders of
[2:15:56] a valid California teacher's license.
[2:15:59] The teachers that I'm supporting right now that have 38 students in their classes,
[2:16:04] often sometimes 40, 41 students, the teachers that I'm supporting that are having
[2:16:08] to open up new sections today on the second to the last day of week five, one week
[2:16:14] before we submit our grades, that are opening new sections because our classes are
[2:16:18] so filled to the brim. So I'm a little bit tired, right? So funny story.
[2:16:22] I'm in my room waiting to-- I'm working, getting ready to come to this board
[2:16:26] meeting, was not planning on speaking, had not had an opportunity to look at the
[2:16:30] agenda. And then I did look at the agenda, and I was like, "Wow.
[2:16:35] Is this really happening again?" Are we really, really having one of our
[2:16:41] trustees again propose to make changes to a job description, seemingly
[2:16:47] to tailor it to someone maybe they have in mind?
[2:16:51] It is very, very, very alarming. And as somebody that sits at these board meetings
[2:16:56] all the time, I'm a longtime board watcher. I'm an active member of this community.
[2:17:02] And I support all of these teachers, teachers that have to have a valid
[2:17:07] California teacher license. And then I'm seeing board members say-
[2:17:14] ... superintendent of ed services really need to have one? I don't know.
[2:17:17] Maybe they can have something else instead. That is nuts.
[2:17:21] That is absolutely insane. That defies every bit of logic, and
[2:17:27] as somebody whose sole job in this district is to help provide the best possible
[2:17:32] instruction for my students and for my staff, I'm the department chair of world
[2:17:38] languages, and I work, I'm doing these coaching cycles, instructional coaching with
[2:17:43] the teachers, that we're getting all these nice presentations about how it's
[2:17:46] really, really important, and then at the same time, things like this get on the
[2:17:51] agenda, which is just so crazy to me.
[2:17:55] And the one thing I can be grateful for is that the behavior of some of these board
[2:17:59] members has been so egregious that this can no longer go unnoticed.
[2:18:04] We've got people here that are like, "Whoa, no.
[2:18:06] We have to read every agenda to make sure that this stuff does not slide through."
[2:18:10] It is horrifying, and I'm so ready for it to be different.
[2:18:15] So, I do thank those of you that keep making wrong decisions, because when I go out
[2:18:19] and canvas for the new hopeful board members in November, it makes it a really
[2:18:25] easy sell. I can do direct quotes. I can give them very specific data, and
[2:18:30] hopefully, this doesn't become another thing on my list for when I canvas next
[2:18:33] time. Thank you.
[2:18:35] Yes.
[2:18:45] Okay, approval of revised job description for assistant superintendent educational
[2:18:49] services. This item is brought by Trustee Woods.
[2:18:52] Could I get a motion and second to discuss?
[2:18:55] So moved.
[2:18:57] I'll second.
[2:18:59] Discussion?
[2:19:01] Yes.
[2:19:05] This does seem nonsensical. We're talking about a position that is assistant
[2:19:10] superintendent of educational services, and they don't need a teaching credential.
[2:19:15] As pointed out earlier, Jake Gehr, in his presentation, said in order to move up
[2:19:20] the leadership scale, and certainly is near the top of that, you need four
[2:19:26] years of good evaluations, if I understood that correctly.
[2:19:30] So we would theoretically
[2:19:34] appoint somebody to a position who doesn't have that?
[2:19:37] That seems nonsensical. Now, if it's been rumored that we're really doing this to
[2:19:43] tailor a job, Gary, I would be very disappointed.
[2:19:52] You kind of-
[2:19:53] Yes, the reason for revising the job description is to expand the pool
[2:19:59] of qualified candidates, and from my perspective, this is a good
[2:20:04] thing for the district. We will see once it goes through the- ...
[2:20:09] interview process.
[2:20:14] I'd like to make a few comments, too.
[2:20:18] Ms. Machak, I agreed with you about let's make a really solid effort on expanding
[2:20:23] the pool and put some good effort into that. I agree with that.
[2:20:28] But I think part of it, too, is offering more opportunities.
[2:20:34] Now, ideally, an assistant sup of ed services
[2:20:40] would have a teaching credential, but I don't think teaching is the only thing
[2:20:46] they're responsible for. They're responsible for so many other things, including
[2:20:51] special ed, parents, ADA,
[2:20:56] and some of those are better met with a PPS degree.
[2:21:02] Now,
[2:21:04] in answer to a couple of your questions, as far as does it make sense, well, I was
[2:21:09] looking into it to see what is this all about, and the California Commission on
[2:21:14] Teaching Credentialing, they're the ones who define the admin
[2:21:20] credential. And they define it as,
[2:21:24] in part,
[2:21:26] the qualification would have a teaching credential or a PPS.
[2:21:30] So it's not like it's totally off the wall or crazy made-up thing.
[2:21:35] It comes right from the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing.
[2:21:41] There are other schools that have it.
[2:21:44] Irvine Unified,
[2:21:47] trying to remember off the top of my head,
[2:21:50] San Luis Obispo, Temecula Unified.
[2:21:53] Those are just some examples that have done this.
[2:21:56] Now, but ultimately,
[2:22:00] I don't know what others are thinking, but for me, I want an
[2:22:05] excellent executive leader. Now, if a person has only
[2:22:11] a teaching credential, they will be strong on the instructional component, of
[2:22:15] course. If a person has a PPS, they're going to be stronger on some of the other
[2:22:20] things. And if you look at the job description, there are several other things that
[2:22:24] are not specifically instruction-related. So it's a kind of balance.
[2:22:30] So it all comes down to the instructional leadership qualities that the person
[2:22:35] brings. If they've had no
[2:22:41] teaching, they have a PPS, or maybe they have a little bit of teaching, or they
[2:22:45] have a teaching credential, the proof in the pudding is going to be in their past
[2:22:49] leadership. And that will show up, and that's what I'm going to choose.
[2:22:53] If someone has the past leadership, have they
[2:22:58] shown that they can support the teachers?
[2:23:02] More than likely, we're talking about principals, people who have lots of principal
[2:23:06] experience. And if that principal, PPS degree or teaching degree, if they've
[2:23:12] been in their district and they are leading their teachers and supporting them and
[2:23:17] proving that they've shown success, then it comes down to me on the leadership
[2:23:23] skill, not the PPS or the teaching credential.
[2:23:26] Because a principal with a proven track record, that's going to show something.
[2:23:31] So those are some of the things that have influenced me on why I want to vote for
[2:23:36] this. I know
[2:23:38] you may not agree with it, but at least now you know some of my thinking on it.
[2:23:47] I understand the need for leadership skills, but after 24 years public school
[2:23:53] teaching in Lakeside under, I think, five different
[2:23:58] assistant sups of this position, they not only need leadership skills, but they
[2:24:04] need leadership skills with competence in education.
[2:24:09] If you bring somebody in, or we, I guess, bring somebody in, who has no
[2:24:14] experience in the classroom, frankly, it will be a very strong uphill battle for
[2:24:20] them to have credibility with the average teacher in the classroom.
[2:24:24] My experience would be,
[2:24:27] I'm here every day with a room full of kids who flip every 50 minutes or whatever
[2:24:32] it was, and I have a curriculum. There potentially is a need for a different
[2:24:38] curriculum, and I'm supposed to be listening to the leadership of somebody who has
[2:24:43] zero experience with curriculum.
[2:24:45] We've had a lot of comments tonight about curriculum.
[2:24:48] It strikes me as a bit disingenuous to talk about we're committed to
[2:24:54] excellence in curriculum, but our number one position in the district has no
[2:24:59] experience with curriculum. And that doesn't pass the smell test to me, and
[2:25:04] furthermore-
[2:25:05] Ah, boy.
[2:25:08] This board voted in May of 2026, so we're not talking about a long-term
[2:25:14] difference here. That's what? Six months ago, give or take.
[2:25:18] In May of 2026, this board voted five to zero to
[2:25:23] revise this job description.
[2:25:27] Here we are a couple of months later, looking to totally change the qualifications
[2:25:33] for the exact same job that we voted on in May 2026.
[2:25:39] Why? It doesn't pass the smell test.
[2:25:43] I will clearly be voting no, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
[2:25:49] Other comments?
[2:25:53] I would just add, it's not a total change. It's just adding opportunities.
[2:25:58] It'll expand the pool, and if the candidates don't surely have the stuff, then they
[2:26:04] don't have the stuff. That'll show in the interviews.
[2:26:07] There you go.
[2:26:11] Any other questions or comments?
[2:26:14] Please vote
[2:26:22] Motion passes three zero.
[2:26:24] Three two.
[2:26:25] Oh, I'm sorry. Three two. Wishful thinking, I guess. Wait, I don't know. Whatever.
[2:26:33] Item two, approval of first reading and option to waive second reading of revisions
[2:26:38] to E 9270, conflict of interest. May I have a motion and second
[2:26:44] to discuss and approve?
[2:26:47] I make a motion.
[2:26:49] I will second. Any discussion?
[2:26:55] Student board member Ariel McPherson, preferential vote, please.
[2:27:00] I abstain.
[2:27:01] Okay, thank you. Board members, please vote.
[2:27:08] Motion passes five zero. Item three, approval of second reading of legal updates to
[2:27:13] board policy 1312.2, community relations. Could I have a motion?
[2:27:19] So moved.
[2:27:20] Second.
[2:27:21] Discussion?
[2:27:24] Ashlynn, preferential vote?
[2:27:27] I approve. No. Yes. Sorry. Aye. There's too many words.
[2:27:34] Okay. Correct me if I'm wrong, I heard you vote aye.
[2:27:38] Is that correct?
[2:27:39] That is correct.
[2:27:40] Thank you. Other board members, please vote.
[2:27:45] Motion passes five zero. Item four, approval of second reading of legal updates to
[2:27:51] board policy 5131.2, bullying.
[2:27:56] So moved.
[2:27:58] Second.
[2:28:00] Discussion?
[2:28:03] Please vote. Oh,
[2:28:05] is it Ariel?
[2:28:07] Yes, it is.
[2:28:07] It's not my fault. I didn't write this, sorry.
[2:28:11] Okay.
[2:28:11] Gosh. Ariel, preferential vote, please.
[2:28:15] Aye.
[2:28:16] Thank you. Board members, please vote.
[2:28:21] Motion passes five zero. Item five, approval of second reading of legal updates to
[2:28:26] board policy 5141.52, suicide prevention.
[2:28:31] Could I get a motion, please?
[2:28:33] So moved.
[2:28:35] Second.
[2:28:35] Discussion?
[2:28:38] Just a quick comment. When I was going over these, that one was concerning to me,
[2:28:43] and it was just a small modification about
[2:28:47] it had left out any communication with the parents, and I thought that that was an
[2:28:51] important ingredient to update. So
[2:28:55] some of that stuff in yellow is just to make sure the parents are looped in and
[2:29:00] clean up a few things, but that was all I wanted to say about that.
[2:29:05] Other comments or questions?
[2:29:10] Ariel, what is your preferential vote, please?
[2:29:12] Aye.
[2:29:14] Other board members, please vote.
[2:29:18] Motion passes five zero. Item six, approval of second reading of legal updates to
[2:29:23] board policy 5145.7,
[2:29:28] sexual harassment. Could I have a motion, please?
[2:29:31] So moved.
[2:29:32] Second.
[2:29:34] Discussion?
[2:29:38] Ariel, please, your vote.
[2:29:40] Aye.
[2:29:41] Thank you. Other board members, please vote.
[2:29:46] Motion passes five zero. First reading and discussion of board policy
[2:29:52] 6161, selection and evaluation of instructional materials.
[2:30:00] So this one we're not asking you to vote on, we're just asking you for first read,
[2:30:04] and we'll bring this back. This is the policy that ties to the book process.
[2:30:09] So we wanted to give time to make sure that our community, everyone could
[2:30:16] weigh in on the policy. So we'll ask you to take action at the October meeting on
[2:30:20] this policy.
[2:30:23] Any questions or discussion? I appreciate that, because this is the first time I
[2:30:27] saw this and trying to vote on something this important, because there
[2:30:33] may be ways that we can improve it, or streamline it, or even compare it with best
[2:30:38] practices. So thank you for letting us know that we're not voting on this today,
[2:30:44] but we will vote next month.
[2:30:48] Any other comments, questions?
[2:30:51] Okay, item O,
[2:30:54] approval of district goals. I call upon our superintendent, Dr.
[2:30:58] Kirsten Patel-Rufai.
[2:31:00] Great. So we are presenting these goals as a team this evening.
[2:31:05] Thank you, President Shield.
[2:31:07] Yes, just-
[2:31:07] We're pleased to share the district goals and objectives for the 26-27 school year
[2:31:12] for board action. In July, the governing board adopted its goals and objectives,
[2:31:17] establishing overall strategic direction for our district.
[2:31:21] The district goals and objectives for 26-27 support and advance those goals,
[2:31:27] and each district objective aligns with one or more of the board's stated
[2:31:31] objectives. That alignment is intentional.
[2:31:35] The board establishes the vision and strategic direction for the district, and our
[2:31:39] role as staff is to carry that vision forward in collaboration with the board.
[2:31:44] The district goals and objectives translate the board's priorities into work in our
[2:31:49] organization.
[2:31:54] To help walk you and our community through this work, Assistant Superintendent of
[2:31:59] HR, Stephanie Stewart, will help me present.
[2:32:02] I'd also like to invite Executive Director of Leadership, Jake Geer, to join us at
[2:32:06] the podium on stage. Thank you, Jake.
[2:32:10] As he makes his way, I'll note that tonight's presentations will highlight several
[2:32:15] areas of focus for this year. The full goals document is also available to the
[2:32:21] public as part of the board's agenda. So let's begin with goal one.
[2:32:29] All right. In ed services, to achieve this goal, we'll be working to support our
[2:32:34] school leadership teams and attendance teams, as we heard from Mary tonight, in
[2:32:38] implementing strong attendance improvement plans.
[2:32:42] As we heard earlier, it's complex and requires a multifaceted approach.
[2:32:46] Our plans will include active monitoring, supported by district internal auditing,
[2:32:51] positive incentives, strategic personnel investments, and family communication.
[2:32:58] We'll also support expanded extracurricular access and positive school culture by
[2:33:04] implementing the CIF six pillars of character, sportsmanship, and spirit programs.
[2:33:08] These opportunities help students participate, contribute, and build connections on
[2:33:13] their school and with one another.
[2:33:17] In human resources, we will align our processes and communications with the
[2:33:21] graduate, adult, and system portraits, including hiring and onboarding processes
[2:33:27] and HR documents, resources, and webpages.
[2:33:31] This work will make HR information and processes more clear and useful for our
[2:33:35] employees and leaders while reflecting the expectations established through the
[2:33:40] portraits.
[2:33:42] In business services, we'll increase student input and transparency in school menus
[2:33:47] by adding nutritional and potentially allergen information and implementing a
[2:33:52] student feedback form through social media.
[2:33:55] They'll also work to reduce attorney costs and building internal capacity to manage
[2:33:59] Public Records Act requests and reduce outside repair costs by expanding our
[2:34:05] capacity to service electric vehicles.
[2:34:08] They'll prioritize and complete critical maintenance projects to ensure student
[2:34:12] safety and protect district assets, consistent with our system portraits commitment
[2:34:17] to updated and well-maintained facilities.
[2:34:21] They'll transition the district to a new website platform while the organization
[2:34:26] establishes clear responsibility for its ongoing quality content and layout.
[2:34:31] Finally, as a district, we'll also sustain communications that regularly share our
[2:34:35] successes, priorities, key work, and important updates with the community.
[2:34:40] And that brings us to goal two. Our second goal is create and support an
[2:34:46] exceptional and innovative learning environment.
[2:34:49] Excellent. In ed services, our work toward this goal includes creating a strategic
[2:34:53] plan that brings graduate, adult, and system portraits to life and aligns the
[2:34:59] LCAP and the district budget with newly adopted portraits.
[2:35:03] You heard earlier tonight about focus on leadership growth this year.
[2:35:06] We'll be providing professional development for principals, assistant principals,
[2:35:11] and members of our district leadership group.
[2:35:13] Also, as we heard from April Baker, we'll continue the district-wide math
[2:35:18] instructional system with professional development, standards-aligned curriculum
[2:35:22] and assessments, and shared instructional strategies.
[2:35:26] We'll also build on the work of our school-based instructional leadership teams and
[2:35:30] strengthen coaching partnerships across the district with classroom walkthroughs
[2:35:34] focused on clear learning goals and success criteria.
[2:35:39] In human resources, we'll work with payroll and fiscal services to strengthen
[2:35:43] position control and streamline our processes for managing positions and staffing.
[2:35:48] We'll make HR information easier to find and understand by providing clear guidance
[2:35:54] on practices, annual processes, key deadlines, including hiring, mandatory
[2:35:59] training, complaints and investigations, and evaluations.
[2:36:03] We'll also improve HR operations by evaluating current technology and automation
[2:36:08] solutions, and we'll work to strengthen our HR team through professional learning,
[2:36:12] cross-training, and role clarity.
[2:36:14] In addition to the position control work previously mentioned, business services
[2:36:18] has established mechanisms to maintain approved spending limits and will work to
[2:36:24] streamline the personnel action form or PAF process.
[2:36:29] That brings us to our third goal.
[2:36:33] Our third goal is ensure college and career readiness opportunities and life
[2:36:37] readiness for all students.
[2:36:39] In ed services, we'll be implementing an early warning data system to identify
[2:36:44] students who are off track for graduation and connect them with the support they
[2:36:47] need, with a focus on ninth-grade DF rates and 12th-grade credit deficiencies.
[2:36:53] We'll also continue expanding access to our world-class career technical education
[2:36:58] pathway opportunities, which keep many kids engaged in school and open new doorways
[2:37:03] to student success.
[2:37:05] Human resources will collaborate with other departments and our schools to
[2:37:09] implement recommendations from the board-approved School Services of California and
[2:37:14] FCMAT studies and work towards developing clear, consistent staffing guidelines and
[2:37:19] formulas for special education and across the district.
[2:37:23] I know completing these studies was a district objective last year, so we're
[2:37:26] pleased to be carrying that work forward this year.
[2:37:29] And finally, business services will work with educational services to provide
[2:37:33] professional learning and instruction and instructional and productivity best
[2:37:38] practices around AI. This work will help establish district-wide practices and
[2:37:42] expectations for healthy and responsible use of technology and AI tools.
[2:37:50] With your approval, trustees, these three district goals and the objectives that
[2:37:55] define them will guide our work in '26, '27, all in alignment with your recently
[2:38:01] adopted goals and objectives. We thank you for your guidance you've provided us and
[2:38:05] look forward to ongoing collaboration with you as we work to create safe,
[2:38:10] supportive, and collaborative schools, build an exceptional and innovative learning
[2:38:14] environment, and ensure every student has opportunities to be prepared for college,
[2:38:20] career, and life.
[2:38:23] Could I have a motion, please, to approve? So moved.
[2:38:27] Second.
[2:38:28] Discussion or questions?
[2:38:30] Yes.
[2:38:33] We heard a report that the CTE program
[2:38:38] involving education, so training our next generation of teachers, is not
[2:38:44] sufficiently being funded. I would like recommendations before the next board
[2:38:48] meeting on how do we increase that funding so that we can train our next
[2:38:54] generation of teachers through CTE.
[2:38:57] And not just the teachers, I understand we have, of course, aerospace, we have
[2:39:03] biotechnology, we have cybersecurity with drones, all these
[2:39:08] programs. But if they're not being sufficiently funded, or at least from the
[2:39:13] teachers' perspective, the money hasn't come to them. That needs to be a priority.
[2:39:19] So I made a note of the comment. At board meetings, often when we hear public
[2:39:23] speakers as a team, we do board debrief the very next day.
[2:39:28] So comments that are made, we debrief, talk about, and then look into whether it's
[2:39:33] a parent comment, a student comment, even the comment about the cell phone policy,
[2:39:39] whether it's properly put up on our website.
[2:39:44] So we will follow up to find out about the funding of CTE.
[2:39:47] Yeah. This is one of my passions. In fact, I was recently named the CTE champion
[2:39:53] for San Diego County. And now to find out we're not funding our own education needs
[2:39:58] to be addressed. Thank you.
[2:40:02] Just as a tangent, thank you. I would like to hear that report on the cell phone,
[2:40:06] too, after you've talked about that. Just since you brought it up.
[2:40:10] Yeah, absolutely.
[2:40:12] Yeah.
[2:40:14] Could I have a motion, please? Or do we have a motion on the floor?
[2:40:16] Discussion.
[2:40:17] Oh, okay. Any final comments?
[2:40:23] Let's see. Ariel, student advisory vote?
[2:40:25] Aye.
[2:40:26] Thank you. Other board members, please vote.
[2:40:30] Motion passes five zero. Item P, educational services.
[2:40:36] Adoption of Resolution 2027-10, Sufficiency of Instructional
[2:40:42] Materials for the 2026-2027 School Year. Could I have a motion, please?
[2:40:48] So moved.
[2:40:49] Second.
[2:40:50] Any discussion?
[2:40:51] Yes, I've also been hearing complaints that
[2:40:55] certain of our social studies textbooks have omitted the
[2:41:01] Holocaust. I think we need to do a review of our textbooks and make sure that that
[2:41:06] is not the case.
[2:41:15] Any other comments, questions?
[2:41:19] Ariel, student advisory vote?
[2:41:21] Aye.
[2:41:22] Other board members, please vote.
[2:41:29] Motion passes five zero. Item Q1, approval of fiscal year 2025-2026
[2:41:35] on audited actual financial reports. I call upon Superintendent Dr.
[2:41:41] Kirsten Patel-Bulte.
[2:41:43] And Emily Merritt, our fiscal director, will come on up to present this.
[2:42:07] I will get to try my hand at the clicker, and we will find budget for a new one if
[2:42:10] we need.
[2:42:13] All right, so going into our '25, '26 year-end close.
[2:42:16] So this is the culmination of our 2025-2026 fiscal
[2:42:22] year, and it's been a huge effort on the part of the fiscal services team, so I
[2:42:27] definitely want to be appreciating them.
[2:42:29] Our purpose today is per education code, on or before September 15th, the governing
[2:42:35] board shall approve an annual statement of all receipts and expenditures of the
[2:42:40] district for the preceding fiscal year and shall file all necessary reports with
[2:42:44] the county superintendent of schools.
[2:42:47] The bottom line of the numbers is that '25, '26, the general fund total beginning
[2:42:52] fund balance was $93.7 million. The general fund total ending balance
[2:42:58] is $76 million.
[2:43:00] The unrestricted ending balance is $64 million, of which 15.6 million is our
[2:43:06] 4.5% board-established minimum reserves.
[2:43:10] The restricted general fund ending balance is $25.3 million.
[2:43:14] The unrestricted general fund deficit spending has improved by $1.1 million
[2:43:20] compared with the estimated actuals that were presented in June, and so this is an
[2:43:24] improvement from a deficit spending rate of $14.5 million to a deficit spending
[2:43:29] rate of $13.4 million.
[2:43:32] Our recommendation is that the board approve the '25, '26 unaudited actuals and
[2:43:37] submit to the San Diego County Office of Education by September 15th, as required
[2:43:42] by education code.
[2:43:44] This is diving a little bit deeper into our year-end close numbers.
[2:43:49] So our end-of-the-day numbers are our revenue minus our expenditures.
[2:43:53] You can see we have unrestricted and restricted.
[2:43:55] I won't subject you to hearing all of the numbers described individually.
[2:44:02] But our total ending balance for unrestricted is $50.7 million.
[2:44:06] For restricted is $25.3 million, for a total of $76 million,
[2:44:12] minus our committed and restricted and non-spendable balances.
[2:44:16] That leaves available reserves of $14.9 million that will move into being available
[2:44:21] for the subsequent fiscal year '26, '27, which is the year we're in now.
[2:44:28] And so we have our $14.9 million of our budgeted reserve, plus our mandated
[2:44:34] minimum reserve of $15.6 million, for a total of the $30.5 million.
[2:44:40] Within our district reserves, we have our commitments.
[2:44:43] These are our board-designated commitments.
[2:44:46] We have our school and department carryovers.
[2:44:48] So this number is updated to reflect the projected carryover going into '25, '26 of
[2:44:53] $2.32 million. Our excess liability reserve of $1.5 million.
[2:45:00] Impacts of our classification study of $0.6 million.
[2:45:04] Synthetic turf and track replacement, 1.5.
[2:45:07] Teacher laptop refresh '24, '25 through '27, '28,
[2:45:13] of $0.54 million. The impacts of last year's negotiations on subsequent
[2:45:20] years of $12 million.
[2:45:22] Our ETS Technology Services reserve of $0.84 million.
[2:45:27] And our reserve for our AI contract of $0.4 million, for a total of $19.7
[2:45:32] million committed fund balance.
[2:45:35] Within our restricted ending fund balance of $25 million, you can see our
[2:45:39] restricted state and local resources here.
[2:45:47] And here is our variance report, so our differences compared with the estimated
[2:45:51] actuals that we presented in June.
[2:45:53] So the numbers we presented alongside the original adopted budget in June were our
[2:45:57] estimated actuals, what we projected based on what we knew then.
[2:46:01] And this is compared to our unaudited actuals, so what we know now, now that we've
[2:46:06] reconciled everything. So you can see that our revenue ended at $2.3 million higher
[2:46:11] than originally projected. That's primarily driven by interest and E-rate revenue.
[2:46:17] Our expenditures ended $7.1 million,
[2:46:21] primarily driven by the E-rate purchases offset by revenue and a shift of expenses
[2:46:27] coded to special education to general education funding sources where appropriate.
[2:46:31] So this is moving between restricted and unrestricted side of the house, and this
[2:46:35] is just looking at unrestricted. We also have $2.9 million of debt servicing on
[2:46:39] capital assets. So these are accounting entries that we have to do as part of our
[2:46:43] general ledger. You can see that down below.
[2:46:46] It's then recognized in our other sources and uses.
[2:46:49] Our contributions were shifted in tandem with the special education sources.
[2:46:54] And so then finally, it ends with a
[2:46:57] net change to the fund balance of $1.1 million to the good.
[2:47:01] So our deficit spending rate is $13.3 million.
[2:47:09] And as Dr. Bolte alluded to earlier, we're also taking this time to provide an
[2:47:14] update on the FY27 discretionary block grant multi-year spending plan.
[2:47:19] So you last heard about this at our August special meeting.
[2:47:22] This is $13.9 million of one-time revenue that were passed as part of the
[2:47:27] governor's budget revision,
[2:47:30] the governor's final budget, that was incorporated in our 45-day revised budget in
[2:47:35] August and will be incorporated in our budget going forward.
[2:47:39] So this is an update in our proposed spending plan.
[2:47:41] So we include
[2:47:44] spreading these $13.9 million across the next three years.
[2:47:49] So this year, next year, and the following year.
[2:47:52] We have our startup costs for finishing off the esports launch of $0.7
[2:47:57] million. We have negotiated agreements with GEA as part of the
[2:48:03] AB 1200 bargaining agreement that was reviewed back in July.
[2:48:08] We have curriculum implementation costs in alignment with April Baker's curriculum
[2:48:14] implementation rollout. We are continuing block grant programming from
[2:48:20] FY27 that is on other one-time funding sources this year, primarily into FY28
[2:48:26] and '29. This includes our student Chromebooks, dual enrollment counselor, S3
[2:48:32] counselors, site learning specialists, and our school safety reserve.
[2:48:37] Most of those are being spent in FY28, with just the Chromebooks continuing into
[2:48:41] FY29. And then finally, we're breaking out $0.8 million,
[2:48:47] so $800,000, for attendance and web-based communications.
[2:48:51] So based on our attendance increase goals, primarily adding DPS staffing as well as
[2:48:56] website supports. And so we set aside that money to begin this work in FY27 and
[2:49:02] then continue it into FY28. And so that's our overall spending plan for the
[2:49:07] $13.9 million.
[2:49:11] In terms of our next steps, our district external auditors will independently
[2:49:15] review and audit the financial data to validate the accuracy of our financial
[2:49:19] transactions and internal controls and ensure compliance.
[2:49:23] As required by Ed Code, the audited financial reports will be presented to the
[2:49:26] board in December of 2026. And our carryover balances, so carrying over
[2:49:32] our remaining balances from FY26 into FY27, will be
[2:49:38] allocated in any budgets by September 30th.
[2:49:46] Any questions?
[2:49:50] Any questions or comments?
[2:49:53] Yeah, I have a comment.
[2:49:57] Thank you so much for presenting this to us.
[2:49:59] It shows the importance of transparency.
[2:50:03] Here as a district, or as a governing board, we often have to make difficult
[2:50:08] decisions, but it's vital that we provide the
[2:50:13] scaffolding to make every student successful, and that's what this is doing.
[2:50:18] By being able to use the AI and even programs like esports, they
[2:50:24] incentivize, they engage students who otherwise are not engaged.
[2:50:29] And again, we have all these eighth graders, when they see what we have here on our
[2:50:34] campuses, they want to go to school. And so thank you for making this happen.
[2:50:42] Any other comments or questions?
[2:50:45] Could I have a motion, please?
[2:50:49] So moved.
[2:50:50] Second.
[2:50:51] Any further discussion?
[2:50:54] Ariel, your advisory vote, please.
[2:50:57] Aye.
[2:50:58] Other board members, please vote.
[2:51:02] Motion passes five zero.
[2:51:06] Item two, approval of booster clubs, parent organizations, and foundations to
[2:51:11] fundraise on behalf of the school district's schools and students annual renewal.
[2:51:16] Could I please have a motion? So
[2:51:19] moved.
[2:51:45] Second.
[2:51:46] Any discussion?
[2:51:47] Yes, Mr. President. I want to thank the San Diego Foundation for a grant of
[2:51:53] almost $4,000 in support of the Chaparral High School counseling
[2:51:58] department in efforts to increase financial aid and completion rates and
[2:52:03] helping our students go to college.
[2:52:06] Also, another virtually $4,000 from the San Diego Foundation to support
[2:52:12] Granite Hills High School's counseling department for the same thing.
[2:52:16] And then we've received from Costco 384 new
[2:52:22] backpacks and another $500 and a cash card for school supplies.
[2:52:27] This is so great, and again, it helps our school counselors.
[2:52:31] And then $500 from Next Phase Construction in support of
[2:52:36] Grossmont High School's flag football program.
[2:52:41] And so it's great to see the girls in their flag football, and we're having
[2:52:45] softball. So many great programs so that every student has a chance to be involved
[2:52:50] in athletics, as Mr. Kelly talked about.
[2:52:56] Thank you. Any other comments?
[2:52:59] Let's see. Is there a motion on the floor, or do I need to ask? There is.
[2:53:05] Oh, okay.
[2:53:06] Yes.
[2:53:07] Then please vote. Oh, Ariel, I apologize. Please vote.
[2:53:11] Aye.
[2:53:13] Other board members, please vote.
[2:53:16] Motion passes five zero. Item four, approval of pricing agreement with the County
[2:53:21] of San Diego for school resource officers through the sheriff's department for the
[2:53:25] period July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027.
[2:53:31] Could I have a motion, please?
[2:53:33] So moved.
[2:53:34] Second.
[2:53:35] Thank you. Discussion.
[2:53:38] Yes.
[2:53:39] Having student resource officers on our campuses changed the entire
[2:53:45] equation. And so it's essential that we support our police, our deputy
[2:53:51] sheriffs.
[2:53:54] Again, they're just not protecting students, they're engaging with them, talking
[2:53:58] with them. When a student gets in trouble, the first person they call is the SRO,
[2:54:04] and then their parents.
[2:54:06] Other comments?
[2:54:09] Ariel, advisory vote, please.
[2:54:12] Aye.
[2:54:12] Other board members, please vote.
[2:54:17] The motion... Oh, wait. There we go. Five, zero. Thank you.
[2:54:22] Let's see. Item five, approval to establish the Grossmont Union 1920
[2:54:28] Education Foundation. We have a speaker.
[2:54:33] Yes, we do. The one speaker for this item is Darryl Priest.
[2:54:39] Thank you.
[2:54:57] Thank you very much for hearing me.
[2:54:59] I may get a little more time than the three minutes, if you don't mind.
[2:55:02] But this has actually been in the works for a long time.
[2:55:06] Terry Ryan, actually, we talked about this back in 2005, 2006.
[2:55:13] I've talked to other superintendents that we've had since then, and your current
[2:55:18] superintendent really took the bull by the horns and actually has done this before.
[2:55:23] It was a concept, I think, at her last district, Superintendent Buelte.
[2:55:27] So she's done a really good job. And I think the purpose of this that I see,
[2:55:33] if I'm part of it, is to connect the alumni back to the school.
[2:55:37] I think that's the hardest thing that we have here.
[2:55:40] You go to a college, any of your teachers, when you go in the classroom, you can
[2:55:45] usually tell where they went to school, right?
[2:55:47] They've got a flag of USC, UCLA, San Diego State, whatever, right?
[2:55:52] But you don't see people that have a flag of, other than myself, probably, El Cajon
[2:55:57] High School, Granite Hills, El Cap, wherever it's at, Santana.
[2:56:02] And I think that we can use this as a vehicle to connect with the alumni and also
[2:56:07] bring them back in. And I can tell you, my personal story, just real quick, is how
[2:56:13] I got connected back with El Cajon is in 2005, they had that really good football
[2:56:18] team, and they invited the alumni back.
[2:56:20] And then we found out that they had a shortcoming. That was in 2005.
[2:56:26] And so we ended up raising 40 grand, right?
[2:56:28] But that connected me back to the school.
[2:56:29] But if I wouldn't have been invited, I never would've known that they needed the
[2:56:33] money. And then since then, we've supported the programs for years and still do,
[2:56:39] continuing. And with the ag program, that actually came from Mr.
[2:56:44] Dyer, who was the ag teacher at El Cajon High School.
[2:56:48] And I actually didn't have ag, but I was a track CIF quarter-miler and he
[2:56:54] was the head track timer. And I don't know if anybody remembers, but back in the
[2:56:57] old days, you had to have nine guys with stopwatches and two guys for first, two
[2:57:02] guys for second. They didn't have the electronic timing.
[2:57:05] And so we actually became really good friends, and he was a sports guy.
[2:57:08] And then when he retired, they started the program at El Cap.
[2:57:12] And when my youngest-- my oldest son, I'm sorry, started the program there, we
[2:57:18] started buying animals. And I can still remember that first year.
[2:57:21] I think we bought three animals, and it was like $800, and I almost had a heart
[2:57:25] attack. And
[2:57:27] now, I think this year, I think I was a part, I don't know, 30, 40 animals, and I
[2:57:31] don't even want to tell you how much I spent. But it's a great program.
[2:57:36] So I think we need to figure out a way to connect.
[2:57:40] And what I'm seeing, and I've talked to a lot of the coaches because we want to get
[2:57:46] input, is the coaches and the teachers and people in the school district, it's hard
[2:57:51] for them to fundraise, so we could be the buffer in between.
[2:57:54] And also, too, we live in a different world than I grew up in.
[2:57:58] It's a social media world, and so as a foundation, we could help promote
[2:58:04] and do a donor of the month at Granite Hills, a donor a month here, donor a month
[2:58:10] there. I was talking with Donnie Carroll.
[2:58:12] He's not here, but we talked about
[2:58:15] what if we did something where a lot of the old guys we know, see if we can get a
[2:58:20] Spartan club and we get 300 people to donate $300.
[2:58:23] That's $90,000 for the school,
[2:58:26] and for the athletics. And so I think right now it's just hard.
[2:58:30] There's not a vehicle that's easily for alumni that are not directly connected to
[2:58:36] the school to have that. So that's what I see this could really have a chance to
[2:58:42] become. And I think it's a really good thing, and
[2:58:47] I'm willing, if I'm on the board, to give it my best effort, and I'm pretty sure
[2:58:52] it'll succeed. If it doesn't, which I know it's going to, but if it doesn't, it's
[2:58:57] not going to be for lack of effort. I've been on many a boards and
[2:59:02] done a lot of stuff.
[2:59:04] So I think that's the vision, and this thing could go a lot of different
[2:59:08] directions. But if we don't try it and give it the very best effort, then we don't
[2:59:13] know what we're going to have. And I'm really impressed again with your
[2:59:17] superintendent for having the leadership. She was the one that mentioned it.
[2:59:20] I was already kind of thinking about it at lunch, and boom, it was right out there,
[2:59:24] and has done it before. And I don't know if anybody knows how many alumni we have
[2:59:30] out there, but I think we graduate about 4,000 a year for the last 50 years.
[2:59:35] Isn't that like 200,000 people? If we could somehow get 10% of those, or
[2:59:41] 5%, and it doesn't have to be thousands of dollars, but 100 bucks here, 100 bucks
[2:59:46] there, maybe have meetings and support all the high schools.
[2:59:50] Because the world's changed. We need vocation, and I noticed when they were talking
[2:59:55] about the ADA, you're trying to keep kids at school and you're at 91%, how good
[3:00:01] that is. But I know from personal experience, if I wouldn't have played athletics
[3:00:05] at El Cajon when I went there and I graduated in '77, I don't think I ever would've
[3:00:10] graduated. I never would've made it because I was a poor kid on food stamps, and
[3:00:15] you don't want to go work and I'm sick of being poor.
[3:00:18] And if I think we give them something creative to go to and a dynamic,
[3:00:24] I think that'll help your ADA, too, because I think, what do you get, 15,000 a
[3:00:29] student or 40? Whatever the number is.
[3:00:31] If we can keep 100 more students in there, that's millions of dollars on top of
[3:00:37] what we can raise. So that's what I see this as a conduit between the alumni and
[3:00:43] people that want to support the school. It makes it easy.
[3:00:45] It makes it where the coaches don't have to go out and ask the parents because they
[3:00:49] can say, "Hey, give to the foundation," and then it gets earmarked to the different
[3:00:53] things, right? And
[3:00:56] my vision is
[3:00:59] through the philanthropic is for the youth of East County, and you have the youth
[3:01:04] of East County. So I think this would work out really good.
[3:01:10] Thank you. Any questions?
[3:01:14] Thank you. We really appreciate your commitment to the future of the kids in this
[3:01:19] community.
[3:01:20] Yeah. It's the best money I spend every year. It is.
[3:01:24] There's nothing like it. So yeah.
[3:01:27] I'd just like to add for those people who are here that are skeptical,
[3:01:32] now I'm not even here that much longer, but I'm wholeheartedly in support of this,
[3:01:36] and I believe that
[3:01:39] Darryl's history with the district, if you look into it, is well worth
[3:01:45] supporting him because he puts his money where his mouth is.
[3:01:48] Yeah. And it's not going to be me. We're going to build a team and do it right.
[3:01:53] And I think if, again, if we can make it easy for people to be able to give and to
[3:01:59] be recognized, because that's the world we live in, and it doesn't have to come
[3:02:03] from you, but it can be something they can recognize, I think we can do some great
[3:02:07] things. If we don't try, we're never going to know.
[3:02:11] In my whole life, I've been told that I can't do what I do, and I still do, right?
[3:02:15] Yeah. So we can do this. And again, we'll build a team. It's just not one person.
[3:02:21] Absolutely. Thank you very much.
[3:02:22] Thank you.
[3:02:23] Mr. President.
[3:02:24] Yeah.
[3:02:24] I have a comment to make.
[3:02:25] Please.
[3:02:26] Darryl, you might want to put your fingers in your ears and go, "La, la, la" when
[3:02:29] I'm speaking.
[3:02:30] No, don't.
[3:02:31] See, Darryl is a very humble guy. In fact, if you remember at last month's meeting,
[3:02:35] I recommended we honor him by
[3:02:39] naming the agricultural center at El Capitan after him.
[3:02:45] So I called him later and said, "Well, what were you interested in as far as the
[3:02:50] ceremony? Like, the date and
[3:02:54] who you'd like there?" And he says, "No, I don't want a ceremony.
[3:02:59] I don't want to say good things about myself." I said, "What about other people
[3:03:02] saying good things?" "No, I definitely don't want that."
[3:03:05] No.
[3:03:05] So there's not going to be a ceremony for him, because that's the kind of guy he
[3:03:10] is. One of the nicest
[3:03:14] expressions I heard was a friend of Daryl's, who works on our campus, one of our
[3:03:20] campuses, for 30-something years. And he has an expression, which I love.
[3:03:26] He talked about, there's certain people who he called kid guys, a kid guy,
[3:03:32] and that he didn't define it, but I know what that means.
[3:03:35] It's someone
[3:03:38] that's sold out for the kids. It's not like they work 8:00 to 5:00 and
[3:03:45] it's just a job. But, like, last night, I had to deliver something that
[3:03:51] someone left in my office. It happened to be a teacher.
[3:03:55] And when I noticed it, I'd been working late.
[3:03:59] Yeah.
[3:04:00] I said, "Well, I could take it to you." I took it to his campus at 10 o'clock at
[3:04:06] night. That's a kid guy. For him, it's kids,
[3:04:12] just sold out. Well, Daryl's one of those kid guys.
[3:04:17] He'll have an expression. He'll say, "Hey, I do these for kids." If you want to
[3:04:22] touch his heart, mention kids, and he is all in
[3:04:29] with his checkbook, with his money.
[3:04:34] We have 200,000 graduates. Who's the one out of 200,000 who stepped up to do
[3:04:40] this? And believe me, he's got a very busy life and schedule.
[3:04:46] There's a lot of things he could be doing.
[3:04:48] But after all these years since he graduated, I'm guessing, what was it, about 1975
[3:04:53] from-
[3:04:54] '77, yeah .
[3:04:55] Seventy-seven. So you're even younger.
[3:04:58] Yeah. Thank you.
[3:04:58] From Cajon Valley.
[3:05:00] Yeah.
[3:05:00] He's still thinking of the kids.
[3:05:03] Yeah.
[3:05:03] Now, here's a problem that Daryl's solving.
[3:05:08] We've been having coaches raise money to pay for a lot of the athletic programs.
[3:05:14] And let's say the coaches get some parent of an athlete to
[3:05:20] donate $5,000. But let's say the coach doesn't
[3:05:26] play the kid, he doesn't make first team. Parents are upset.
[3:05:30] "Hey, we donated $5,000, and you didn't play my kid." So
[3:05:36] now the money can go to the foundation, which can be dispersed to the various
[3:05:41] programs. So that
[3:05:44] takes care of a problem there. And also, I'm not putting pressure
[3:05:50] on you, Daryl, on this foundation.
[3:05:53] But I
[3:05:54] don't think Daryl will disagree with me.
[3:05:56] This foundation, I believe, could raise a million dollars a year.
[3:05:59] Yeah, I think so.
[3:06:01] You see, if he says, "I think so," that means count on it.
[3:06:04] Yeah. Yeah.
[3:06:08] Probably the most generous donor in Grossmont's
[3:06:14] 100-year plus history is this man right there. By far.
[3:06:19] Millions and millions of dollars he's already donated.
[3:06:23] And no pressure , no obligation, but I just know how he is.
[3:06:29] If we have a million dollars, he's going to probably give half of it and raise the
[3:06:32] other half. I might be exaggerating a little bit.
[3:06:35] We'll see.
[3:06:35] But this is the man.
[3:06:36] Yeah.
[3:06:37] This is the man, and that's why I wanted to honor him.
[3:06:41] Thank you.
[3:06:43] And if I could say one more thing. I was really fortunate.
[3:06:46] I was partners on a lot of deals with Conrad Prebys and the foundation
[3:06:51] and all the things that he did, and I got to get a bird's eye view of how it was.
[3:06:57] And I remember, Conrad's done a lot of stuff.
[3:06:59] He's got hospitals and the zoo and everything else.
[3:07:03] And the one thing when he got older, before he passed away, he said, "I wish I
[3:07:08] would've done more stuff on the ground.
[3:07:10] Not just go and write a giant check, but I wish I would've dug
[3:07:15] in and got my hands dirty," we would call it, right?
[3:07:18] Because there's thousands of people that'll take a check.
[3:07:20] Trust me, I get a lot of calls every day.
[3:07:23] But this is important, and this is worth getting my hands dirty to do.
[3:07:27] Yeah.
[3:07:32] Thank you very much.
[3:07:33] I could stay more, but that will conclude my comments.
[3:07:36] Appreciate it. Okay, let's see. Do I have a motion? What?
[3:07:42] Okay. Could I have a motion, please? So moved.
[3:07:47] Thank you. Any further discussion?
[3:07:50] Yes, Mr. President. The way the tax system works, wealthy communities
[3:07:56] have lots of money to give to their students.
[3:07:58] Well, we're not one of the wealthy communities.
[3:08:02] But our students deserve everything that they can receive, and people like Daryl
[3:08:07] Preuss make sure that happens. And I am thoroughly in support
[3:08:13] of this. Now,
[3:08:15] we'll track the funds because that's our obligation, but this makes a
[3:08:21] difference for kids.
[3:08:28] All right. Student advisory vote.
[3:08:32] Aye.
[3:08:32] Everyone else, please vote.
[3:08:37] Motion passes five zero. Thank you, Daryl.
[3:08:43] Item R1, ratification and approval of tentative agreement with the Service
[3:08:47] Employees International Union, SEIU Local 221, for an increase to its salary
[3:08:53] schedule effective July 1st, 2026.
[3:08:57] And contract language provisions as outlined in the tentative agreement.
[3:09:02] There is no student board member vote on HR items. Could I have a motion, please?
[3:09:07] I make a motion.
[3:09:11] Second.
[3:09:12] Discussion? Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Okay. Discussion.
[3:09:18] Please vote.
[3:09:22] Motion passes five zero. Item two, ratification and approval of increase to the
[3:09:26] management and supervisory employees' salary schedules effective July 1st,
[3:09:31] 2026. Could I have a motion, please?
[3:09:34] So moved.
[3:09:35] Second. Discussion.
[3:09:38] Yes, Mr. President.
[3:09:41] This board is committed to increasing pay of all of its employees, and I think if
[3:09:47] you go back after the last several years, we've been trying to average about 5%
[3:09:53] per year. Sometimes it's eight, sometimes it's three.
[3:09:57] But we have to really keep up with inflation, and we have to attract the best
[3:10:02] teachers, and that's why I'm supporting this.
[3:10:07] Other comments?
[3:10:10] Please vote.
[3:10:14] Motion passes five zero. Item three, ratification and approval of an increase to
[3:10:19] the confidential employee salary schedule effective July 1st, 2026.
[3:10:25] We do have at least one speaker card.
[3:10:28] Jody Hostetler.
[3:11:04] It's a very long walk.
[3:11:06] Sure.
[3:11:07] Good evening, President and members of the board.
[3:11:10] I'm speaking tonight as an individual, a district resident, and a member of our
[3:11:15] district's confidential employee group to speak to this agenda item R3.
[3:11:20] I'm speaking on my own behalf and as part of the majority who voted on this issue.
[3:11:25] I'm not speaking in my official capacity as the clerk to the governing board.
[3:11:30] Hunter Morton will be my substitute taking over the minutes so I can exercise my
[3:11:34] right to address this body during the public comments.
[3:11:38] I am a little nervous.
[3:11:40] I am also resolute because of the importance of institutional trust.
[3:11:44] When the district administration brought the salary schedule options forward to the
[3:11:48] confidential employee group, it was presented in good faith with clear
[3:11:52] understanding that it was backed by the board's authority.
[3:11:56] As a group, we took this process seriously and we analyzed the options, discussed
[3:12:00] the impacts, and conducted a democratic vote to reach a decision.
[3:12:05] The majority of our group voted to move forward with the proposed option before you
[3:12:10] tonight. We did our part, we followed an agreed upon process, we held discussion,
[3:12:15] and we acted based on clear information and in good faith.
[3:12:19] I understand that despite our collaborative process, there is a possibility that
[3:12:23] the board may choose not to approve this item tonight.
[3:12:26] You have the right to vote up or down however you wish, but the agreement before
[3:12:31] you is what you had already authorized.
[3:12:35] I urge you to carefully consider the profound message that a negative vote would
[3:12:39] send. When employees engage in meet and confer processes under parameters
[3:12:44] authorized by the board, reach a democratic conclusion, and then have the rug
[3:12:49] pulled out from under them, it signals that a good faith agreement may not actually
[3:12:53] be an agreement. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the outcome of the vote, why
[3:12:58] would any of us participate in meet and confer process going forward if the
[3:13:03] potential agreement proposed is not a real proposal at all?
[3:13:08] For a group of confidential employees who work intimately behind the scenes to keep
[3:13:12] the district running smoothly, maintaining trust is paramount.
[3:13:17] Rejecting this item undermines our entire group and our employees' trust in our
[3:13:21] institutional processes. I'm asking the board tonight to honor the process that you
[3:13:26] authorized. Please ratify the salary schedule options as presented, respect the
[3:13:31] democratic vote of the confidential group, and uphold the commitment you made to
[3:13:36] your staff. Thank you for your consideration.
[3:13:47] Could I have a motion, please?
[3:13:49] I make the motion.
[3:13:50] I'll second it. Discussion.
[3:13:53] Yes.
[3:13:55] I got a couple of emails from a couple of folks who were involved, and they
[3:14:01] said, "Discussion and internal vote regarding confidential salary schedule
[3:14:05] conducted in a fair and ethical matter." Because the confidential group has
[3:14:10] historically received salary raises through me too, they were somewhat out of
[3:14:15] practice.
[3:14:18] Once the administrators left the room, so
[3:14:22] Dr. Brulte, Dr. Stuart, and Emily Meyer were there.
[3:14:25] Once those administrators, they gave them the options.
[3:14:29] Once those administrators left the room, our group met independently to decide how
[3:14:33] to proceed. We engaged in an open, positive, constructive conversation where every
[3:14:37] member's input was heard. We were explicitly given the option to pause the process
[3:14:42] or move forward, and the entire team unanimously agreed to vote on two options.
[3:14:48] Okay, and then here is another one.
[3:14:50] So, it came to my attention
[3:14:56] there are concerns regarding the recent changes to the confidential salary
[3:15:00] schedule.
[3:15:02] I personally did not have a strong preference for one option over the other.
[3:15:06] What is important to me, though, is the process our group agreed to follow.
[3:15:10] As a group, we discussed the options and agreed that each confidential employee
[3:15:14] would vote for the option they preferred, and we would move forward with whichever
[3:15:18] option received the majority of the votes.
[3:15:20] This is the process we agreed to, and that is the process that was followed.
[3:15:26] So
[3:15:28] as Jody pointed out here, we as a board normally just do the me-too clause, and
[3:15:34] then you just accept it. But this time they said, "Okay, we have a couple different
[3:15:37] options." So they agreed on two options to vote on.
[3:15:41] One was, again, taking the 3%, and the other was to have the 25-year step, but that
[3:15:46] would reduce the total amount of money available to 2.51.
[3:15:50] Everybody was aware of this. And as these two people pointed out, and as Jody
[3:15:55] pointed out, it followed every step as it should.
[3:16:00] But if it turns out that the board decides that, "You know what?
[3:16:03] We don't like the outcome,"
[3:16:06] that sends a terrible message. What it does is it sends a message that, one, we
[3:16:10] don't trust you, and two, it could be overwritten.
[3:16:12] So why would we, as a board, give them this option if we don't abide by the
[3:16:18] results that they themselves wanted to do?
[3:16:23] So I urge a yes vote on this.
[3:16:27] It looks very fishy if indeed it turns out that because some
[3:16:33] people didn't get what they wanted, they're complaining to certain people and
[3:16:38] therefore they blow up this process. That's not the way democracy works.
[3:16:45] I have a comment.
[3:16:46] Go ahead.
[3:16:49] I imagine several of us, Chris got some comments.
[3:16:54] I got some comments. I got two who said, "Let's go with what the
[3:16:59] vote was." I've got two or three, I think three, that expressed concerns on
[3:17:05] the other side.
[3:17:08] After listening to the different comments, I wrote this.
[3:17:14] "While confidential employees deserve thoughtful compensation decisions, my main
[3:17:19] concern is the flawed process behind this proposal.
[3:17:24] Giving employees effectively two work days to vote on restructuring their 3%
[3:17:29] increase into a new longevity model was far too compressed for an informed
[3:17:34] decision. The proposal raises serious equity concerns.
[3:17:40] The new longevity step disproportionately benefits 10 of the 10 employees while
[3:17:45] reducing the percentage increases for the rest, effectively solving a narrow
[3:17:51] issue at the group's expense. I also have concerns regarding vote
[3:17:56] confidentiality, precedent setting, and whether employees received individual
[3:18:01] financial impact analysis before voting." Also, apparently there was a
[3:18:07] member who did not vote and may have not been notified about the
[3:18:13] vote.
[3:18:15] There's other things I might share with the board in private
[3:18:22] for obvious reasons.
[3:18:26] But here's what I would propose. I would propose that the vote be taken over.
[3:18:33] They have a little bit more time
[3:18:36] to process it and get more information regarding how this will affect them long
[3:18:41] term, because there's been some, I think, legitimate concerns
[3:18:48] by at least three people, and the three people who have come forward.
[3:18:53] Usually, these are the types of employees that never, ever, ever will bring
[3:18:59] anything to a board member. There's a lot of people that are afraid to go to a
[3:19:04] board member, and apparently it took a lot of courage for them to come forward to
[3:19:09] express their concerns, thinking it was not a fair process.
[3:19:14] So
[3:19:16] I would like to keep our agreement but just ask for a
[3:19:21] time where another vote could be taken, and we can address these concerns that some
[3:19:26] of these confidential employees have identified.
[3:19:31] Are you asking them to table the motion?
[3:19:36] Or do you want to discuss more?
[3:19:37] Yeah, I want to discuss more.
[3:19:38] Okay, let's discuss more.
[3:19:43] So Jody, I really agree with everything in principle with what you're saying.
[3:19:48] And one thing, I'm not completely decided yet. I've been appreciating the comments.
[3:19:55] So
[3:19:57] now I know the confidentials aren't a union,
[3:20:01] but there's a small group when I was at Cuyamaca, we voted, and
[3:20:07] our votes for the union decisions were double blind.
[3:20:13] So there's like turn it in. One person finds out my ID number, makes sure I'm in
[3:20:18] the union, and then the inner envelope is passed on to somebody who doesn't know
[3:20:22] who it is, and they do the count. So it's completely double blind. Nobody knows.
[3:20:27] And
[3:20:29] when I'm voting for my salary, I kind of like that privacy.
[3:20:34] But when I'm voting and it's impacting another person's salary, I
[3:20:40] think that privacy is even more important.
[3:20:42] And so I know it seems like there's,
[3:20:47] I'm comparing union structure that we did with confidentials where you guys don't
[3:20:52] have that kind of formality. So
[3:20:58] I acknowledge that you guys voted, you respected that, and I could even
[3:21:04] just say, "Yes, let's just move forward and accept it." But-
[3:21:12] But I still have that little uneasy feeling like, man, it would've been much easier
[3:21:17] to vote if it was
[3:21:20] all the employees
[3:21:22] had total anonymity in the voting, because it's a small group, so
[3:21:30] that's going to create-- No, I shouldn't say that that way.
[3:21:35] But it's going to potentially be different.
[3:21:39] People that have voted, there's a little bit of pressure. I don't know.
[3:21:42] It's just a little weird for me. I can get over it, but if that is
[3:21:48] actually an option, say, "Hey, let's do another vote," where everybody can do it
[3:21:54] 100% anonymity,
[3:21:58] that would totally alleviate my one issue.
[3:22:03] It is my understanding that a paper vote secret ballot was offered, and
[3:22:09] instead the group decided to email their vote.
[3:22:14] So that was something that was discussed as it was reported to me, and then not
[3:22:20] chosen at that time.
[3:22:22] So wait, there was an anonymous vote option?
[3:22:25] So there was a discussion of an anonymous vote,
[3:22:30] and it was then said, "We'll just email our vote in." So the email
[3:22:36] was then sent in to Jodi, and that's the process that
[3:22:41] the group had decided on. But it was offered to do a
[3:22:46] paper secret ballot, and people chose instead to do
[3:22:53] the email the vote in.
[3:22:57] Well, it's uncomfortable saying this.
[3:22:59] I wish you hadn't mentioned who they sent it to, but one of the concerns was that
[3:23:03] the person they were sending it to had a conflict because they were affected by
[3:23:09] this vote, and they wanted-
[3:23:12] So I think
[3:23:15] for this conversation to continue in that vein, we need to do that in closed
[3:23:19] session. Tonight, we don't have negotiations agendized,
[3:23:26] so I just think it's important that it's okay for us to talk about the process,
[3:23:30] what happened, but not to that extent.
[3:23:35] So I appreciate that, Member Kelly.
[3:23:37] Well, it was one of the concerns. So I would make a motion that we table it till
[3:23:43] next month, which allows them and the board can talk to the superintendent
[3:23:49] about some of the concerns to make sure it's perceived as totally fair and totally
[3:23:54] anonymous, and that they can get more information regarding the long-term impacts
[3:24:00] on their
[3:24:02] salary going forward.
[3:24:05] I'd like to make a comment here.
[3:24:08] Did you call the question?
[3:24:09] Well, I made a motion to table this item till next month.
[3:24:14] Okay.
[3:24:14] So a motion to table, then it needs to be voted on.
[3:24:16] But before that, I'm going to talk because earlier we did this, and he didn't want
[3:24:20] to talk about it.
[3:24:22] Well, I think I mentioned it a second ago.
[3:24:22] Yeah, I know. But you should mention that, so I'm going to talk anyway.
[3:24:26] This idea that there's a conflict of interest, I was a bargaining chair, and one of
[3:24:31] the things when you're negotiating a contract for salary schedule is, are you going
[3:24:36] to put these anniversary increments in there?
[3:24:39] Well, obviously, for people who've been there for a long time, they might vote for
[3:24:43] that. But people that aren't there and necessarily don't plan on being there,
[3:24:49] they could vote no. That's their right, just as it's the right for the people that
[3:24:53] get the anniversary increment. The whole point is you as a group decide
[3:24:58] democratically. So it's not a conflict of interest if some of the people vote for
[3:25:04] that when it's made clear to everybody that the 3% now will
[3:25:10] be 2.51 because of the 2% anniversary.
[3:25:15] Jodi or anybody else has the right to say, "No, I don't want to do that because I'm
[3:25:19] not going to be here," just like the person who does
[3:25:23] get the benefit of it. That's the nature of bargaining.
[3:25:27] So that's not a conflict of interest.
[3:25:29] That's their own individual personal interest over what they're talking about.
[3:25:34] I think we agreed we'd do that at the closed session, though.
[3:25:36] Okay. But this needs to be made clear because you made the point that there was a
[3:25:39] conflict of interest, and there's always a conflict of interest, but it's not right
[3:25:44] or wrong. It's just a personal preference for what they deserve.
[3:25:48] That's not a conflict of interest.
[3:25:49] Well, maybe a bias would have been a better word to use.
[3:25:51] No, that's not a bias either, because the people that don't want it, maybe younger
[3:25:56] people or whatever, and they don't plan on being here, they have the right to
[3:26:00] agree. None of that is relevant. What is relevant is that we followed, or they
[3:26:06] followed the process, and we as a board gave them this option.
[3:26:10] And because it didn't turn out the way that some of us wanted because, whatever,
[3:26:15] now we want to have a revote, and that looks terrible because it is terrible.
[3:26:22] Do they get to decide for themselves or not?
[3:26:26] I also wanted to clarify, there was a comment-
[3:26:29] Mr. President, I made a motion, and
[3:26:33] for further discussion, there should be a second whether to consider this motion.
[3:26:39] Okay, second.
[3:26:41] Go ahead.
[3:26:42] Now we can have a discussion.
[3:26:44] So I just want-
[3:26:46] Wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. A motion to table-
[3:26:48] Okay, what's the motion again? To table?
[3:26:50] I think a motion to table, there's no discussion. There's just an immediate vote.
[3:26:55] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Go ahead.
[3:26:59] But
[3:27:00] the motion to table, if it gets a second, there's no discussion.
[3:27:04] It's just immediate vote.
[3:27:07] I've been asked to speak, so I'm going to speak.
[3:27:10] Mr. President, would you make a ruling?
[3:27:14] I've asked the superintendent to speak.
[3:27:16] In that case, I appeal to the board
[3:27:19] to override what the board president has just said.
[3:27:23] Robert's Rules of Order says, which we are under, there's a motion to table and a
[3:27:29] second, there must be an immediate vote and no discussion is allowed.
[3:27:34] Do you agree with that? Do you agree with Robert's Rules of Order and what I just
[3:27:38] said?
[3:27:39] We are not mandated under Robert's Rules of Order, and no offense, but
[3:27:44] that's a rather hollow argument coming from you.
[3:27:49] Oh.
[3:27:49] I have just asked for the board to see if there's three votes to override your
[3:27:54] decision.
[3:27:56] I override.
[3:27:58] No.
[3:27:59] Well, thanks for sharing. Go ahead, superintendent.
[3:28:01] No, no, no. The board hasn't voted. Scott?
[3:28:05] I'd like the Robert's Rules of Order.
[3:28:07] I think-
[3:28:07] Pardon?
[3:28:07] I would like to follow the rules of Robert's Rules of Order.
[3:28:11] I like a lot of things, too. I'd like a new Ferrari.
[3:28:15] Rob, you've been overruled by three members of the board that have said they want
[3:28:19] to vote right now without the discussion.
[3:28:22] However, I'd still like to hear what the superintendent has to say.
[3:28:25] Please call for the vote.
[3:28:29] Let me ask-
[3:28:30] Go ahead. Please call for the vote.
[3:28:32] Mr. President,
[3:28:34] you-
[3:28:35] This is a violation of the governing board.
[3:28:42] Okay.
[3:28:42] Mr. Superintendent, I would not speak because the majority of the board has said
[3:28:47] they want no discussion. They want to vote immediately.
[3:28:52] I can't get in between the five of you.
[3:28:56] You need to decide what your next steps are.
[3:28:59] The majority vote-
[3:28:59] And there was a comment made by a trustee that was not clarified, and I think for
[3:29:05] the record, I need to clarify the one comment of information.
[3:29:10] The board just voted. The majority of the board just voted that we vote on this
[3:29:14] motion without discussion.
[3:29:19] As the acting vice president now, I would say please vote by voice on
[3:29:25] whether or not to table.
[3:29:28] We approve the meeting-
[3:29:29] As the seated president, you don't have the authority to do that.
[3:29:33] Mm.
[3:29:34] Ooh.
[3:29:34] The majority of the board has a right to overrule the board president.
[3:29:40] I vote aye.
[3:29:41] I am going to call a five-minute recess.
[3:29:47] Call us back to order. There is a motion on the floor to table.
[3:29:54] Please vote.
[3:29:59] I don't think the machine's on. Oh, now you can vote.
[3:30:07] So we're voting on whether to table.
[3:30:10] Correct.
[3:30:11] Correct.
[3:30:11] Oh, wait. Would you reset that, please? Whoever's running this machine.
[3:30:18] Hunter? Yeah. Thank you, Hunter.
[3:30:19] Thank you. Okay. Please vote on the motion to table
[3:30:28] Motion fails.
[3:30:30] Thank you for allowing the table to act.
[3:30:34] Okay, moving on.
[3:30:40] Well, I don't think it's a secret I hate this whole thing, but let's flesh this
[3:30:45] out.
[3:30:48] Oh, that's true, our superintendent has something to say. I'd sure like to hear it.
[3:30:54] There was another comment that was made that I think it's important just to
[3:30:59] have the facts. There was an employee that did not vote,
[3:31:05] and they were invited to vote and chose not to vote.
[3:31:11] So I just think that's important, just clarifying that particular piece of
[3:31:16] information that had not been clarified.
[3:31:18] I'm sorry. They were informed but decided not to vote. Is that correct?
[3:31:24] Yes, we do. I want to be careful. We have an employee out, and they were then
[3:31:29] contacted by Dr. Stewart whether they wanted to vote or not.
[3:31:34] There was a comment made that somebody who was out didn't get the chance to vote,
[3:31:38] and they were offered the vote and chose not to vote, which is totally fine,
[3:31:44] but I do think that's an important fact.
[3:31:53] The fact is, there are a relatively small group of employees, I think, what,
[3:31:58] there's 10 confidential, nine that participated. Is that correct?
[3:32:02] That's correct.
[3:32:05] I am loathe to somehow override
[3:32:10] a reasonable,
[3:32:13] I'm sure it's not perfect, but a reasonable, open, full
[3:32:18] participation from people who were available,
[3:32:22] and they came to a conclusion. Who am I to question that process?
[3:32:31] Well, we've covered a lot of things that
[3:32:35] it communicates to people. I don't like that.
[3:32:39] But on a different level, if we were to somehow delay
[3:32:45] this for a month, which fortunately it's not tabled, but if we were to delay it for
[3:32:50] a month, all that means is there's an awful lot of lobbying that will go on behind
[3:32:56] the scenes, which completely undermines the democratic process in my mind.
[3:33:01] The democratic process, ideally, is you set a date and a time certain
[3:33:07] to vote. That moment passes. If you didn't vote, you can't go back and say,
[3:33:13] "Gee whiz, now I want to vote because I don't like the outcome." That's not how the
[3:33:17] system's supposed to work. Is it perfect? No. Could it have been better?
[3:33:23] Perhaps. I don't even believe it's our job to judge that.
[3:33:27] So with that in mind, we go back to the original motion.
[3:33:34] We have a motion on the floor, is that correct?
[3:33:37] I-
[3:33:37] Which is to approve the agreement,
[3:33:40] as agreed by these 10 confidential, well, nine, but it's ultimately 10 confidential
[3:33:46] employees. And are we going to approve the agreement that was negotiated
[3:33:52] in good faith, both by the employees and by our superintendent, within the
[3:33:58] parameters that we authorized? I'm not going to get into it now, but there was
[3:34:03] another one that we passed where it was negotiated beyond our authorization,
[3:34:10] but everybody up here voted for it to avoid legal problems.
[3:34:17] Let's just do the right thing, approve this thing, and get out of here.
[3:34:22] Amen.
[3:34:23] All right. Any other comments? Because I don't-
[3:34:25] Yeah
[3:34:25] ... feel like I have to own the-
[3:34:27] Yes
[3:34:27] ... floor here.
[3:34:28] Emotions are high here, but we want to all take a deep breath and not make an
[3:34:34] emotional vote.
[3:34:41] And we have a bunch of crazy hecklers here that are here every board meeting.
[3:34:47] They're the rudest people. If they were students, other teachers would kick them
[3:34:52] out of the classroom.
[3:34:54] Jim, you're out of order. That is-
[3:34:55] No, no, they're out of order
[3:34:56] ... the conversation.
[3:34:57] You're out of order, and you're not doing your job.
[3:34:59] Can you stay focused on the conversation?
[3:35:00] I call for the vote.
[3:35:01] Hey, you see,
[3:35:04] we need to be objective, and we need to take a breath.
[3:35:07] And I want you to listen very carefully to this.
[3:35:11] There was nine people voted. Three people contacted me,
[3:35:17] and they had certain concerns that it was not done properly.
[3:35:22] All we're doing is letting these actually give the 10 people a chance to vote
[3:35:27] again.
[3:35:32] There's been questions how the vote was conducted and whether it was genuinely
[3:35:37] confidential and informed. I request that we slow this process down, not till the
[3:35:43] next board meeting, because we're setting up a special board meeting, I think, on
[3:35:47] the 23rd. That's less than two weeks away.
[3:35:50] So that if the vote happens before that, we can do it on the 23rd.
[3:35:54] We can vote for it. That's not waiting a month.
[3:35:56] So I request we slow this process down to ensure a transparent,
[3:36:03] a fair, and truly confidential vote where all 10 employees fully
[3:36:09] understand the long-term financial impacts. That's all I'm asking for.
[3:36:14] Let the 10 vote. Don't rush it, and then we can vote
[3:36:19] to affirm however they vote September 23rd.
[3:36:26] We've already established that
[3:36:30] all of the people involved in the process were well aware of the financial impacts
[3:36:36] of what's going on.
[3:36:38] They declined to do a special,
[3:36:44] whatever you call it, ballot.
[3:36:48] So there was no process that was
[3:36:52] violated.
[3:36:55] And this idea that they need more time, I think Rob alluded to that, is basically
[3:36:59] that allows a lobbying period of time.
[3:37:04] No laws or rules were violated. It was done
[3:37:10] properly. In a democracy, you get one vote.
[3:37:14] You don't get do-overs because things don't turn out the way you want.
[3:37:17] So let's proceed to the vote, please.
[3:37:21] Mr. President, I want to say, for me, minorities have rights, too,
[3:37:27] and so often the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many, and
[3:37:33] I'm concerned also about the peer pressure.
[3:37:36] I think we should align all these salary increases with the agreements we made with
[3:37:41] the GEA and the SEIU. It should be 3% across the board, fair for
[3:37:47] everyone, not certain people getting more and other people getting less.
[3:37:54] They negotiated a dollar-neutral solution that they ultimately supported.
[3:38:01] I don't think it's our role to second guess that.
[3:38:06] I also don't like the precedent. We have roughly, what, 900 members of the GEA.
[3:38:13] Does that mean if one of us gets 20 emails saying they don't--
[3:38:19] They won't come out and flat out say, "I don't like the result." But if you get 20
[3:38:24] emails saying it wasn't fair, are we going to have this conversation again?
[3:38:30] It's inappropriate.
[3:38:34] I'm ready to vote.
[3:38:36] Are we ready to vote?
[3:38:39] Please vote.
[3:38:40] We're voting to-
[3:38:41] We are voting to affirm the negotiated settlement between the
[3:38:47] confidential employees and the superintendent as
[3:38:53] written, correct?
[3:38:55] That is correct.
[3:38:56] Okay, thank you.
[3:38:56] Approving the increases in mind.
[3:38:58] This will affect the retirement, which is the rest of their lives.
[3:39:03] Understood. Please vote.
[3:39:08] And an affirmative vote is to?
[3:39:11] Accept the agreement as presented tonight.
[3:39:21] Motion passes three-two.
[3:39:26] Consolidated agenda. Hopefully, this comes off without a hitch.
[3:39:31] The consolidated motion expedites board action on all agenda items which are not
[3:39:35] held for discussion. Items that are held are excluded from the consolidated agenda
[3:39:41] and will be acted upon individually.
[3:39:43] There will be no student board member preferential vote on consolidated items.
[3:39:47] Do any board members have any items to be pulled?
[3:39:51] Yes. V1 and-
[3:39:53] V1?
[3:39:54] V as in Victor, one
[3:39:55] Victor one. Okay.
[3:39:57] And V as in Victor, 15.
[3:39:59] V or Victor 15.
[3:40:02] Yes.
[3:40:02] Any others to be pulled?
[3:40:06] Could I have a motion to pass the consolidated agenda, less item V1 and
[3:40:12] V15?
[3:40:13] I make a motion.
[3:40:14] Second.
[3:40:17] Any further discussion? V as in Victor.
[3:40:20] He was the second.
[3:40:20] Oh, who was the second on the motion?
[3:40:23] Scott.
[3:40:24] Scott, thank you.
[3:40:25] No, I made the motion.
[3:40:26] Oh.
[3:40:28] Mike.
[3:40:28] Okay, Scott made the motion. Who was the second?
[3:40:31] I was second.
[3:40:32] Thank you, Jim. Please vote.
[3:40:36] We're voting on the consolidated minus one and 15. Yeah.
[3:40:39] Correct.
[3:40:43] Yeah.
[3:40:44] Okay.
[3:40:44] Oh, I thought you voted.
[3:40:47] Motion passes five zero. Item V1, I don't have that in my
[3:40:53] folder, so I'd like to know what it is.
[3:40:57] Certificated personnel action.
[3:40:59] Which...
[3:41:05] What was the first one?
[3:41:10] These are all the people-
[3:41:11] The item is the ratification and approval of certificated personnel actions.
[3:41:22] Is this limited to hiring or I, uh... I don't fully understand what this means.
[3:41:27] It's the listing of all our certificated employees and
[3:41:33] each job that they're being put into.
[3:41:43] I am not sure how to handle this, because if it's an employee matter, it's supposed
[3:41:47] to happen, uh, it's confidential, right?
[3:41:52] Oh. The board takes action on ratification of these employee matters.
[3:41:57] Without knowing what it is, I can't address it.
[3:42:01] Okay.
[3:42:02] Um, if-
[3:42:03] Yeah.
[3:42:03] If it's regarding a person's salary, does that make it closed session?
[3:42:10] No, the salary of a person is a public item.
[3:42:15] Well-
[3:42:15] Well, that's-
[3:42:16] Oh, so these are payments to people, so it would be public.
[3:42:22] It's hard for me to say other than yes, salaries are public items.
[3:42:28] If we were negotiating a contract, that would be different.
[3:42:31] So salary of a contract position and how that happens would be a closed session.
[3:42:37] It's hard for me to answer the question without understanding the problem.
[3:42:41] Okay.
[3:42:42] Yeah.
[3:42:42] I'm going to barrel ahead and simply ask my colleagues to exercise some
[3:42:48] serious restraint
[3:42:51] before
[3:42:54] airing dirty laundry, I guess. I will make the motion to
[3:43:00] ratify and approve certificated personnel actions. Is there a second?
[3:43:06] Second.
[3:43:06] Second? Okay. Member Feit, this is item V1. Discussion.
[3:43:13] Yes.
[3:43:15] The way this is going to go is we're going to be talking about a certain
[3:43:19] individual,
[3:43:21] and I'm going to ask a question about a certain individual without mentioning this
[3:43:26] person's name. I think this would be proper for closed session.
[3:43:36] Unless if the superintendent wants to, like, we have a sidebar, I can tell you what
[3:43:40] the question is, and you can decide whether that should be closed session or open
[3:43:43] session.
[3:43:47] Is there something similar with V15? I don't know what that is.
[3:43:52] No, that one doesn't address a certain individual.
[3:43:57] So we can have an open conversation in open session on V15?
[3:44:02] Yes.
[3:44:03] Okay.
[3:44:04] Is there something in there to that, to that?
[3:44:10] Like I said, I'd be happy to have a sidebar.
[3:44:13] Go.
[3:44:13] Okay. Under D1-
[3:44:18] D1?
[3:44:18] D1. Let's go back into closed session.
[3:44:22] Oh, okay.
[3:44:23] Let's go back into closed session for D1 to address this issue, and if it's not
[3:44:28] closed session, we'll come right back out.
[3:44:31] Okay.
[3:44:31] Okay.
[3:44:36] Vote to extend the meeting.
[3:44:39] Yes, we should vote to extend the meeting before we go back into closed session.
[3:44:44] I move to extend the meeting until 10:30. Could I have a second?
[3:44:50] Second.
[3:44:51] Pardon?
[3:44:52] I'm just joking.
[3:44:54] Is that a second?
[3:44:55] I think somebody seconded it.
[3:44:56] Jim seconded it.
[3:44:57] Jim seconded it.
[3:44:59] But if you guys vote no, that's okay with me. I'm happy to go home.
[3:45:02] Please vote. Just give me a... Go ahead and vote.
[3:45:09] Yeah.
[3:45:10] All right. Thank you. Five-oh.
[3:45:14] We'll be back.
[3:45:16] God bless all you diehards.
[3:45:19] We're back.
[3:45:21] We got to wait right-
[3:45:23] Pardon?
[3:45:25] Set up.
[3:45:25] Oh.
[3:45:28] I could use some levity right now if there is any.
[3:45:34] I need more people.
[3:45:35] Wait, come on.
[3:45:35] Oh, okay.
[3:45:39] We care about this.
[3:45:40] All right. Let's see, everybody's here. Call us back to order.
[3:45:45] There is, correct, a motion on the floor to approve item V1, correct?
[3:45:52] Is there any further discussion?
[3:45:55] Please vote.
[3:45:59] Motion
[3:46:01] passes five zero. Item V15. Let me see what it is, because I
[3:46:07] don't have it in my script.
[3:46:11] Sure.
[3:46:11] V15.
[3:46:12] It's food services manager.
[3:46:14] Right. Q, R, S, T, U. We're almost there.
[3:46:19] 12.
[3:46:24] Right.
[3:46:24] All right.
[3:46:26] I move to approve the new job description for food services planning manager.
[3:46:31] Is there a second?
[3:46:32] Second.
[3:46:32] Discussion.
[3:46:34] Yes.
[3:46:36] The new job includes a preference for experience working with individuals who
[3:46:42] are hearing impaired or have a disability.
[3:46:46] No other job description within the food services department contains this
[3:46:50] specification, including the director of food services and supervisor of food
[3:46:56] service operations roles. Given this deviation from established departmental
[3:47:02] standards, I'd just like clarification on the intent, purpose, and
[3:47:08] necessity of the requirement prior to approval.
[3:47:15] Dr. Stewart, do you have an answer for that?
[3:47:18] Yes, I can share that
[3:47:20] this is a job description template that we're moving towards, and as
[3:47:26] we are putting job descriptions on this template, there are certain components
[3:47:32] that I believe to be universal. So that remained on there.
[3:47:38] If that is not, I see that this person, in working with cafeteria staff as well as
[3:47:43] students, that that would be relevant.
[3:47:48] I'm open to a different option.
[3:47:51] Yeah.
[3:47:53] I just don't understand why we do it for one position but not all the other
[3:47:57] positions in food services.
[3:48:02] Are we updating other job descriptions in this way?
[3:48:05] So over time, we have a classification and compensation study that's
[3:48:11] happening this year where many, many job descriptions will be redone and brought
[3:48:15] over into this new template.
[3:48:20] Again, there are certain elements on this that I believe to be that we're adopting
[3:48:25] universally, but I can
[3:48:30] I see value to it, but I can revisit with the person who will manage this
[3:48:36] particular role and find out whether or not that's something that he also weighs
[3:48:42] in on. We did a process, and he approved this job description as we worked on it in
[3:48:48] human resources. But that being said, that's something I can revisit with the
[3:48:53] hiring manager to determine if that's an essential element of the job or not.
[3:48:58] I do think if Vince were here tonight, he would want the job description to be
[3:49:02] approved. It's paid for with food services money, and he has
[3:49:08] plans from our goals to really improve menus.
[3:49:13] So it could be adopted without that one line, so that at least he can then
[3:49:18] get started while we look at updating all job descriptions, if that's a concern for
[3:49:24] the majority of the board.
[3:49:26] Well, personally speaking,
[3:49:30] I would prefer if we wouldn't give a preference, because I don't think that's
[3:49:36] the most important thing that we would look at in a candidate, even though I
[3:49:41] appreciate the intention or spirit behind it.
[3:49:45] But I don't view that as something that would give someone a leg up
[3:49:51] over the other candidates.
[3:49:59] Any other questions or comments?
[3:50:03] Okay. Now that we're talking about it, I'm looking at this paragraph,
[3:50:09] educational requirement, the minimum qualifications.
[3:50:17] Daniel, right?
[3:50:18] Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. The minimum qualifications.
[3:50:27] I'm looking at the qualifications.
[3:50:29] There's a lot of things being asked, skills, abilities.
[3:50:40] Normally when I read a resume or someone is hiring, I'm trying to hire a teacher
[3:50:46] for math at our department, minimum
[3:50:49] qualifications are like, have to have a master's, have to have
[3:50:55] experience.
[3:50:57] That
[3:50:59] part, minimum qualifications, is that really well-defined here?
[3:51:04] Page four.
[3:51:04] Page four.
[3:51:06] Working conditions.
[3:51:09] Is it the minimum qualifications one through nine?
[3:51:12] Is it which would be the job requirements-qualifications on page two?
[3:51:17] Page two, let me see that one. Thank you.
[3:51:22] So where it says job requirements, qualifications, and then there's this-
[3:51:26] Oh, okay. There we go
[3:51:26] ... the knowledge, skills, and ability. Is that the section?
[3:51:31] Leave it there for a moment, if you would.
[3:51:37] In light of the time, I would like to just table this so that we can reflect on it
[3:51:45] deeply, because this is something that I'm very much interested in, making
[3:51:51] sure that we are hiring appropriate people, but also not
[3:51:57] discriminating against anyone.
[3:52:00] Now, the problem with tabling is that delays us hiring somebody, correct?
[3:52:05] Right. We can't hire. If the majority of the board has an issue with the
[3:52:09] preference, then I would encourage us just to adopt it without the preference,
[3:52:15] if that's the issue for the majority of the board.
[3:52:18] Because if you table it,
[3:52:21] then it will come back probably as the same job description with Vince here
[3:52:27] to explain why something has a preference or not.
[3:52:33] I'm sure it was with the best of intentions to think about students who go through
[3:52:38] a line as we support food services workers and the diversity of students
[3:52:44] that we work with. It's always good for management staff to have a
[3:52:50] sense of not only an educational environment, but then also the diversity of
[3:52:56] students with IEPs and their disabilities.
[3:52:59] And because it says preference, it is not a requirement.
[3:53:03] It just means as we look at applications,
[3:53:08] it's something that's looked at but not required.
[3:53:11] Right.
[3:53:11] Well, I'll go along out of respect for the superintendent's recommendation and make
[3:53:16] an amendment that we pass this
[3:53:21] minus that one preference.
[3:53:24] Okay. The amendment, I think the appropriate amendment is to delete that sentence.
[3:53:29] And then assuming that passes, we would still follow up with a vote to approve.
[3:53:34] That's correct.
[3:53:35] So is there a second to delete that sentence?
[3:53:42] If we can bring it up just to make sure we know which sentence so the board-
[3:53:46] I can't see it on the screen. We're not in the right place.
[3:53:49] Okay. So-
[3:53:50] The sentence being, correct me if I'm wrong, Jim, "Experience working with
[3:53:55] individuals who are hearing impaired or are identified as having a disability is
[3:54:00] preferred." Is that the sentence you want?
[3:54:02] That is.
[3:54:03] Okay. So there is a motion to delete that sentence.
[3:54:09] Is there a second?
[3:54:13] I will second that. But with the qualification, I would like to go back and
[3:54:20] see if we may consider how we can better say that.
[3:54:26] Well, you have to make a decision now.
[3:54:29] Yes. The qualification would be more...
[3:54:32] Well, at this point, we'll just
[3:54:35] delete that. But I do not think that we should disqualify people who are hearing
[3:54:40] impaired. I have a very strong interest in that area personally.
[3:54:47] So right now we're voting on whether to-
[3:54:49] Delete the sentence.
[3:54:50] That's it.
[3:54:51] That's it.
[3:54:51] Okay.
[3:54:53] Any further discussion?
[3:54:57] Please vote.
[3:55:02] Motion fails three-two. We can now go back to the motion as originally presented,
[3:55:08] which is still on the floor. Any further discussion?
[3:55:14] Once I looked at the minimum quals one through nine are
[3:55:21] very adequate. They're very good.
[3:55:23] And so if that's the main thing and we get someone who has the
[3:55:29] extra ability to and can adapt and help and support people who have hearing
[3:55:34] impairment issues, it seems like that's a win.
[3:55:38] And that it's not required, it makes sense to me just let it go.
[3:55:43] I think the word there is preferred, not required.
[3:55:46] Right. That's what I meant.
[3:55:47] Okay.
[3:55:47] It's not required, but it's preferred.
[3:55:49] It's a bonus.
[3:55:49] It's a bonus.
[3:55:52] Any other discussion, questions?
[3:55:57] So we will now be voting on the original motion in its entirety. Please vote.
[3:56:07] Motion passes four to one.
[3:56:12] So I think we made it through consent agenda, right?
[3:56:16] Yeah.
[3:56:16] Communication from board members. I think we lost our student board member, right?
[3:56:22] Okay. Member Fight.
[3:56:24] No report.
[3:56:27] Member Kelly.
[3:56:28] First of all, I'd like to say I appreciate the superintendent's report regarding
[3:56:34] September 11th with emotion. That was beautiful.
[3:56:39] Emotion's a good thing.
[3:56:42] And also, this is the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Charlie Kirk,
[3:56:47] and I want to recognize that as a terrible tragedy for someone who
[3:56:53] is favoring free speech on college campuses.
[3:56:57] Unfortunately, that free speech cost him his life.
[3:57:04] So I want to honor all the victims of September 11th, not only those that
[3:57:10] died in the buildings, those who were trying to rescue those in the buildings, and
[3:57:14] then all the,
[3:57:18] I forget the term.
[3:57:20] First responders.
[3:57:20] First responders. Thank you, Chris.
[3:57:22] All the first responders who died years later, some years later from all the
[3:57:29] diseases they got trying to rescue others.
[3:57:33] It's appropriate that we honor them 25 years after. And that concludes my report.
[3:57:42] I have no report.
[3:57:43] No. Okay. Dr. Woods?
[3:57:45] Yeah, I just want to echo all the words that Mr. Kelly said.
[3:57:51] Again, the first responders in, rushing in knowing that there was no chance of
[3:57:57] them surviving the day. On a brighter note,
[3:58:04] in the last couple of weeks, I've been reflecting on the best decision that this
[3:58:08] governing board has ever made, and that was to install air conditioning in every
[3:58:13] building. Because when I first came on the board, nothing was air conditioned.
[3:58:18] We had some window units, but the gyms, everything was without air conditioning.
[3:58:22] When we had a heat day, we sent all the students home to their un-air conditioned
[3:58:27] homes,
[3:58:29] which I don't know how that helped.
[3:58:31] But now we have all this air conditioning, and I'm just so grateful.
[3:58:41] I have no additional report other than the date of our next board meeting.
[3:58:45] The regular governing board meeting will be on Thursday, October 8th, 2026.
[3:58:51] Open session begins at 6:00 PM here at Grossmont High School, Taylor Guitars
[3:58:56] Theater, 1100 Murray Drive, El Cajon, 92020.
[3:59:02] Meeting adjourned.