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[6:08]
Monday I probably won't bring those in, but yeah.
[6:11]
Everybody here?
[6:13]
Okay, I'm going to call us to order at 6:06 PM.
[6:19]
As we begin every meeting, I ask everyone to join us for the Pledge of
[6:22]
Allegiance.
[6:27]
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
[6:31]
America, and to the republic for which it stands,
[6:35]
one nation, under God, indivisible, with
[6:39]
liberty and justice for all.
[6:45]
As for the roll call.
[6:48]
Shelby Sykes?
[6:49]
Here.
[6:49]
Liz Webb?
[6:50]
Here.
[6:51]
Sandeep Sahay?
[6:52]
Here.
[6:53]
Austin Zulpagari?
[6:54]
Here.
[6:55]
And Mike Ghari is absent.
[6:58]
Thank you. Item E is report from closed session.
[7:02]
There is nothing to report from closed session.
[7:05]
Item F is the approval of the agenda.
[7:08]
Are there any questions or comments about the agenda?
[7:10]
If not, can I get a motion to approve it?
[7:12]
I'll make the motion approved.
[7:14]
I'll second.
[7:15]
All in favor?
[7:16]
I.
[7:17]
Aye.
[7:18]
Okay, Item G, public comment. This is the time
[7:22]
that members of the public can address the board on any
[7:25]
matter within our jurisdiction.
[7:29]
We can't take action on it unless it's placed on an agenda in the
[7:32]
future.
[7:34]
Any person wishing to be heard has three minutes.
[7:37]
I don't have any public comment cards, but is there anyone wishing to make public
[7:40]
comment tonight?
[7:44]
Seeing none, we will move on to Item H, the
[7:48]
approval of the consent agenda. Do I have any questions from
[7:52]
board members about the consent agenda?
[7:55]
If not, can I get a motion to approve it?
[7:59]
I.
[8:01]
I'll second.
[8:02]
All in favor?
[8:03]
Aye.
[8:05]
Aye. And no items removed from the consent agenda, which brings us to
[8:08]
information items.
[8:10]
Just as a reminder, each information item starts with a
[8:14]
presentation, then we'll have any questions from the board, followed by
[8:18]
public comment, and then any deliberation by the board.
[8:22]
And that starts us with item J1, reports from the
[8:25]
PTA and Foundation for Reid Schools.
[8:32]
That's my one. Seven.
[8:35]
All right, I'm Noemi Holcomb, the executive director of the foundation, wrapping
[8:39]
up my first year.
[8:41]
So before I start the update, I just want to thank everyone sort of in this
[8:45]
room, the board as trustees, especially Trustee
[8:49]
Zulpagari, who is falling off, I think. Maybe not.
[8:52]
I still have May through November.
[8:56]
Thank you so much for all that you've done for this school district, but also to
[9:00]
the district office. It's been a pleasure working with Dr.
[9:03]
McGrath and Dr. Kim, et cetera. Thank you for all your help.
[9:07]
And then the collaboration between the PTA, it's been wonderful working with you.
[9:11]
And all of the site chairs, site principals as well, thank you
[9:15]
guys all for being so collaborative and being very accessible for the
[9:19]
trustees. Not only are you guys donating to the foundation, but I really
[9:23]
appreciate you actually showing up to the events and being accessible to our parent
[9:27]
community, so thank you all so much.
[9:30]
So, a lot of information tonight, but I'll kind of skim over it so you don't get
[9:34]
too much. Family giving updates with some comparisons from
[9:38]
this year to last. But we are ending, or maybe
[9:42]
not ending, we've still got about a week and a half left over, so we might have
[9:45]
some more donations coming in. But we currently have 551
[9:49]
donations in with $1.961 million raised,
[9:53]
with 77% participation.
[9:55]
Mm.
[9:55]
Compared to last year, where we had 509 donations with
[9:59]
$1.827
[10:01]
in raised dollars, with 73 participation.
[10:05]
So the sort of takeaway, we gained about 42 more donations this
[10:08]
year.
[10:10]
We have $133,000 more and 4%
[10:14]
up in participation. There is also just a
[10:17]
reminder that we did raise our dues from...
[10:20]
Not dues, our donations from $1,600 to $8,000.
[10:23]
Mm-hmm.
[10:24]
So you are seeing a little bit more of an uptick from that.
[10:28]
Next slide, please.
[10:30]
There's a couple significant takeaways from our family giving campaign.
[10:33]
I just wanted to highlight three of the big things that we did this year, likely
[10:38]
which delivered really big results.
[10:41]
We had 185 new donations that came in with nearly
[10:44]
$585,000 raised. We had 20 families
[10:48]
turn leadership, jump to 32. We had
[10:51]
26 jump to 55 of Scholar Circle, and new family
[10:55]
participation doubled between 22 up to
[10:59]
36%.
[11:01]
The MyBar Nelsy phone bank remains one of the most effective tools that we
[11:05]
have. It's one evening of calls generated, and it's very
[11:09]
impressive in the growth results.
[11:11]
It's all about peer-to-peer reach, right?
[11:14]
We had 44 new donations that came in with
[11:16]
$103,000 raised, and participation
[11:20]
increased from 57% to 63%.
[11:24]
And then just recently, we had the pizza party participation.
[11:28]
That was our last initiative that we did.
[11:31]
The grade level challenge created excitement and competition, and a meaningful
[11:34]
increase in participation across the district.
[11:37]
Just to highlight all of those key points.
[11:40]
Pre-K reached an incredible 88% participation, jumping nearly
[11:44]
20% in just less than a week. First
[11:48]
grade increased by 14%. Third grade jumped
[11:52]
to 5.7%, and then seventh grade saw a
[11:56]
3.8% increase. And then overall family
[11:59]
participation climbed to 74%.
[12:03]
Next slide.
[12:06]
I'm just going to read you a little...
[12:07]
We'll
[12:10]
go to the
[12:13]
video.
[12:17]
One pizza, two pizza, three pizza, four.
[12:20]
I love pizza.
[12:25]
I love pizzeria.
[12:27]
Money. I love pizzeria.
[12:31]
Money. I love pizzeria.
[12:35]
Pizza, pizza, pizza.
[12:40]
We will restart. But we just hosted this last Friday.
[12:44]
So the winner of the pizza party participation challenge, obviously, was the
[12:47]
pre-K'ers.
[12:50]
First off, I was very happy that they won.
[12:52]
I was thinking that they would probably eat the least amount of pizzas.
[12:55]
It would be
[12:57]
the greatest return on investment.
[12:59]
But they surprised us all. So just impressive numbers up
[13:03]
there. They ate 190 slices of pizza.
[13:08]
And they wanted more, but we had to cut them off. Which is good.
[13:12]
And
[13:13]
so combined with the staff and the pre-K'ers, we served
[13:17]
over 300 slices last Friday, and everyone
[13:21]
was so incredibly appreciative. These pre-K'ers were so
[13:24]
polite. They came up and they were like, "This is the best pizza we've
[13:28]
ever had." So big thanks to Stefano's for giving us
[13:32]
our discount, but it was a huge hit.
[13:34]
So we will continue this awesome tradition next year.
[13:39]
All right. And then we've just kind of spearheaded the giving
[13:42]
campaign, or the fundraising campaign this year with the business sponsorships.
[13:47]
I just wanted to give credit to the sponsorship team.
[13:49]
We jumped from 20 businesses sponsoring the feed this year to
[13:52]
47, and we were able to raise over $104,000
[13:56]
from community sponsors. So this was incredible.
[14:00]
But I think the
[14:02]
car line banners that we introduced this year at Reed was really
[14:05]
providing a lot of visibility to hundreds of families throughout the year to these
[14:11]
sponsors, and that was a big pull. We've been doing a lot more
[14:15]
social media and we've been including these sponsors also in
[14:18]
our monthly newsletters, as well as the social media.
[14:22]
So they are getting a lot of visibility and ROI from
[14:26]
our events, as well as our
[14:30]
newsletters and our comms.
[14:33]
Okay. Sure.
[14:36]
And then just a couple event highlights.
[14:38]
I feel like we just did this, but this was back in October.
[14:41]
The Run for Reed. I'd like to say we like to bookend two really amazing events
[14:45]
throughout the whole year. So we usually do the Run for Reed at the beginning of
[14:49]
the year, and we hosted this in October.
[14:52]
We had 539 little racers, families, and
[14:55]
specialists, and grandparents came out to participate and cheer.
[14:59]
We had food trucks and beverages, with the
[15:02]
adult nature that was available, post-event.
[15:06]
And they all kind of stuck around and had family picnics.
[15:09]
But this was a great way to start off the school year.
[15:15]
And then we just had our Peak Gala a couple weeks
[15:18]
ago. I did talk about these numbers at the last
[15:22]
meeting, so I won't go too into detail, but total raise was
[15:25]
$214,000. We still do have some expenses coming in,
[15:29]
so that is a gross number and not net.
[15:34]
Next slide. Just a little year in review.
[15:37]
As I mentioned, the business sponsorships kicked off the year with strong
[15:40]
momentum. We increased participation, raised more money than the previous year.
[15:45]
We launched a few new initiatives, including the pizza party participation
[15:48]
challenge,
[15:50]
as well as introducing the monthly foundation newsletter.
[15:54]
I think we expanded community engagement with several events.
[15:57]
And then we are continuing to grow our culture of philanthropy.
[16:00]
And I'm seeing that personal reach out and volunteer leadership remains
[16:05]
our most effective fundraising tool is.
[16:08]
And then just looking at the year ahead. It's going to be coming out really soon.
[16:11]
We'll be back here again. But we want to continue engaging and welcoming new
[16:15]
families through events and personal outreach.
[16:18]
I just personally want to say that last week when we had the new family event
[16:22]
at Reed, I think that was a great event to sort of
[16:25]
highlight some of the organizations that are really relevant to these parents.
[16:29]
As they come in, they're able to kind of understand the function of the PTA, the
[16:33]
foundation, district services, and it was really nice to
[16:36]
see how many new families actually came and participated.
[16:40]
So hopefully that's something that we'll keep on doing in the future.
[16:45]
We'd really like to maintain the monthly foundation newsletter and
[16:49]
just looking at some of the click-through rate or just the open
[16:52]
rate. We're looking at about 77% to 80 per
[16:56]
newsletter. So I think that's a pretty high number.
[16:59]
So it's a lot of work, but we're going to continue to do so.
[17:02]
And I think just leveraging our new comms, ParentSquare, and thank you
[17:05]
PTA for sponsoring that. But I think that's going
[17:09]
to be really great to help centralize communication through
[17:13]
that to the parents. And then we'd like to set up participation and
[17:18]
keep on building participation initiatives such as the pizza party,
[17:22]
and then we'll keep going community building events such as Run for Reed and Read
[17:26]
Derby. In that vein, we are bringing back the Reed Gala
[17:31]
next year. We're going back to calling it the Reed Regatta, and it's going to be
[17:34]
back at Black knee's and will be a three-day event, that
[17:38]
Wednesday will have the reception of the 10th.
[17:40]
Thursday will be a family night. We're thinking a
[17:43]
bingo or some other sort of all-inclusive family
[17:47]
evening. And then Friday we'll bring back the fashion show.
[17:50]
And then
[17:52]
Saturday will be our big regatta. So we're going to be tapping the
[17:56]
community, a lot of alumni for their expertise.
[17:59]
It's going to be all hands on deck for this huge event.
[18:03]
And again, just letting people know, people can go there and volunteer through our
[18:06]
Precise outreach. So yeah, focus next year at all is the year of
[18:10]
momentum, strengthening community connections, improving communication,
[18:14]
increasing participation, and creating momentous
[18:18]
experiences that bring families together in support of our schools.
[18:24]
Any questions?
[18:28]
Amazing. Thank you.
[18:29]
Maybe some challenging for you at the end of the month.
[18:44]
Hi, everyone. Jennifer Edgers, District PTA president,
[18:48]
and I'm happy to be giving our final presentation of the year as
[18:52]
well. I would like to echo Mickey's comments and just thank
[18:56]
you to the board, thank you to the community. This is why we're here.
[18:59]
So thank you for all your support and everything you do for our schools, our
[19:03]
teachers, our parents, and everyone here.
[19:07]
So, a few updates from district level.
[19:13]
District PTA assisted
[19:16]
Ms. O'Leary with the May 15th Spring Craft Show that was at
[19:20]
Grandview. We helped out with some volunteers and with the raffle.
[19:24]
We coordinated the Celebration of Education on May 20th and provided
[19:28]
financial awards to two of the teachers that were honored.
[19:32]
It's a really great event.
[19:34]
We elected our new executive board on that same day. It's a busy day for us.
[19:38]
And there are transition meetings taking place now.
[19:42]
We are doing a budget review and forecasting on this coming
[19:46]
Friday with our treasurers so that we can have budgets ready to roll in
[19:50]
August, and have them approved before the school year starts.
[19:54]
We're in the midst of the Parent Square training and pilot program,
[19:58]
and we have a vote out right now on funding the Del Mar basketball
[20:02]
backboards and hoops
[20:05]
replacement project. So, hopefully we will have that settled by the
[20:09]
end of the week.
[20:11]
One other thing I forgot to put on there is that we're also currently collecting
[20:14]
for the end-of-year gift for all staff.
[20:18]
So that's been going out in comms. There's a QR code.
[20:20]
It's all done through Square, so it should be really easy.
[20:23]
Just putting that out to everyone's radar that we are spearheading that again to
[20:26]
collect for
[20:28]
a cash gift for every member of the staff throughout the entire district.
[20:33]
So, I just want to give a quick shout-out.
[20:38]
There are a lot of us that do this that are pretty front-facing, and we get lots of
[20:41]
recognition and lots of thanks, but there are a lot of people that do
[20:45]
really hard work in the background, which people don't necessarily know that
[20:49]
they're there. So I just want to give a big thank you to these members that
[20:52]
are outgoing from our executive board.
[20:55]
So Matt Barron is our outgoing treasurer.
[20:58]
Megan Hirsch, outgoing EDP, and she's just done a
[21:02]
lot for our schools and communities over the years, and she's starting a new
[21:05]
chapter as she's moving to Connecticut.
[21:07]
So, we will miss her, but she's just contributed a
[21:10]
lot, so I want to make sure she gets some recognition.
[21:14]
Arvon is moving on from Del Mar. Rebecca will be moving on from
[21:18]
Bel Air. Leanna as principal, and then Amy Kaufman
[21:22]
as honor. That's not technically part of the executive board, but she's also been
[21:25]
around for a really long time, so wanted to give her a shout-out too.
[21:30]
Okay, so as far as Del Mar goes, eighth grade graduation plans are
[21:34]
underway. They've got some donations that they needed, a photographer
[21:38]
secured. They're working on a slideshow that I think goes on the boats with the
[21:42]
kids, and they're in good shape. So that's exciting.
[21:45]
Again, motion to approve the pending of the basketball hoops, or approve
[21:49]
the basketball hoops is pending, hopefully by the end of the week.
[21:53]
The Tiburon Art Show this past weekend included Del
[21:57]
Mar's Wildlife Photography Contest. It's pretty cool.
[22:00]
And they're working on their budget and will have it to us by...
[22:05]
At Bel Air,
[22:06]
last week was the Bel Air talent show, which is the cutest thing
[22:10]
ever. Included
[22:13]
participation from 28 students, and
[22:16]
participation from a couple of students from the MCOE
[22:20]
class, which was great.
[22:22]
So that's that top picture there is a kid playing the electric guitar, which is so
[22:25]
amazing.
[22:27]
And then at the end of the talent show,
[22:29]
the students presented Principal Decosmo with
[22:33]
a whole book of handmade letters they had all written to him wishing him
[22:37]
well in his next chapter.
[22:40]
Last week at school in Bel Air is super fun. We have an ice truck.
[22:43]
They have field day. They're bringing back the B and Back show.
[22:46]
And then the fifth graders get to do the parade. They get their photo.
[22:49]
They get their ceremony. They get the pizza lunch, and then they get their
[22:53]
newly famous last day dance party which is something too.
[22:57]
They're going to do an incoming third grade camp at Beachside Inn.
[23:01]
They did a volunteer thank you breakfast for the PTA slate
[23:05]
at
[23:07]
Grimace house on May 29th. And my favorite news of all,
[23:11]
the slate for Bel Air for next year is almost entirely full, which
[23:15]
is incredible. Very excited about that.
[23:18]
And then over at Reed, we had kindergarten safety day.
[23:21]
Also one of the cutest days ever. Police, fire, public works all come
[23:25]
and teach the kids about various things.
[23:28]
They had a staff appreciation potluck on May 14th.
[23:31]
They have field day coming up June 10th. The Reed field day is epic.
[23:35]
Mr. Kizer, really helping manage this year. Love that day.
[23:40]
They just saw this. That's amazing, with parent volunteers.
[23:43]
And then they have an end of year PTA slate celebration this week,
[23:47]
and then that's just final wrap-up of the total.
[23:49]
They finally got all those books counted.
[23:50]
So 1,320 books for book exchange, which is-
[23:53]
Awesome
[23:54]
... quite a few. That's it. Any questions for me?
[24:00]
Thank you.
[24:01]
Thank you so much.
[24:02]
All right. Thank you.
[24:06]
That brings us to J2, report from the superintendent.
[24:09]
Dr. Pratt.
[24:10]
Yeah, happy to report out on
[24:12]
lots of good things happening. So food service update.
[24:16]
So,
[24:17]
as you know, we've held a food service task force this year and
[24:21]
hold on to our same goal of wanting to have nutritious
[24:25]
food for kiddos that has limited waste, limited
[24:29]
plastics, that utilize local source of
[24:33]
foods that perhaps incorporate our gardens and have
[24:36]
nutrition education incorporated into that.
[24:41]
We've held on to that vision and do not
[24:45]
have any new vendors that are totally prepared to sign on with
[24:49]
us for this upcoming school year. We'll remain open if
[24:53]
we have one in particular that might have something developing
[24:57]
here in the semi-local area. So we will remain open if
[25:01]
we hear from that vendor. But we are going to move forward with Revolution Foods
[25:05]
for next year as our vendor. I will say that they've been open to
[25:09]
maximizing and improving
[25:12]
to meet our needs the best they can as a really large organization.
[25:16]
They have gone with compostable packaging.
[25:18]
We're looking at more family-style meals, perhaps on a consistent
[25:22]
basis, maybe Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, having more of the
[25:25]
family-style meals, meaning less packaging.
[25:29]
They have been game for locally sourced milk from Clover and
[25:33]
some seasonal fresh fruits being available also.
[25:36]
And looking at the keeping and having more frequent
[25:41]
ever-popular grill days, burger days, and maybe looking to see if we can
[25:45]
figure out a
[25:46]
pizza day to throw in there as well.
[25:48]
It's been a little more complicated as obviously they have to follow national
[25:52]
school lunch compliance type of pizzas.
[25:54]
So,
[25:55]
I know it's not the answer that everyone was looking for, but it is the
[25:59]
very best that we can do for next year with a lot of effort
[26:03]
that went into that. We'll keep our mind open way down the road
[26:07]
if facility changes or something different comes along that's
[26:11]
a different solution. But for now, we'll go with Revolution Foods for
[26:15]
next year.
[26:17]
Keep our minds open if something else comes along that someone develops
[26:21]
another option, and that's what it will look like for next year.
[26:25]
Okay.
[26:26]
Next, if you don't mind, Sarah, I was going to talk about an update on our district
[26:30]
priorities for '26, '27. So later in the agenda, you have an
[26:34]
item on the strategic plan, and so that's a beautiful opportunity to
[26:38]
look back on 52 pages worth of actions that have taken place
[26:42]
from this incredible staff.
[26:44]
This is a way to look at the district
[26:48]
priorities as we move forward. And so we still have our six
[26:52]
pillars there that we're looking at.
[26:56]
Keep in mind that we're finishing up our second year of our six-year plan, so next
[26:59]
year would be year three of that six-year plan.
[27:02]
In pillar one, we have academic excellence, and
[27:06]
the board has especially highlighted in our work together the
[27:10]
area of instructional strategies, including rigor,
[27:14]
including relevance, academic challenge, differentiation being
[27:18]
one way that that can happen, but of course, there's lots of other ways.
[27:21]
So, there's a list of priorities there within
[27:24]
academic challenge, but I'll just highlight that one.
[27:27]
In pillar two, social-emotional learning.
[27:30]
We're always proud that we're working to develop a whole child and not only
[27:34]
focused on the academics. Two of the areas highlighted there
[27:38]
are belonging and inclusion. As
[27:42]
we know, when every student feels welcome, they can thrive, right?
[27:45]
So, continuing that great work that's been taking place.
[27:49]
Also looking at an age-appropriate and an intentional tech
[27:53]
use framework. So, as we're hearing on a national stage and
[27:56]
especially a statewide stage, really being thoughtful about how
[28:00]
tech is used. Obviously, what that looks like for a pre-K student is really
[28:04]
different for eighth grade. You're going to hear some great work that's taken place
[28:08]
in the area of AI, which falls under this a little bit.
[28:11]
But even just as a whole staff, being even more thoughtful about how we're
[28:15]
utilizing in tech and being thoughtful about the time that it's utilized and
[28:19]
how it can be really impactfully used.
[28:22]
In pillar three, we have staff and staff culture,
[28:25]
really thinking about community, collaboration, purpose.
[28:30]
We want this incredible staff to be highly
[28:34]
motivated and to be connected and to feel a deep purpose and to have the
[28:38]
professional development that keeps them connected to
[28:41]
continuing to hone our craft. So, excited about that in pillar
[28:45]
three. In pillar four, the main piece that was highlighted
[28:49]
there was report card improvements.
[28:52]
Looking at how do we align things better with assessments, with
[28:55]
our newly adopted curriculum, and how do we continue to modernize this
[28:59]
communication tool. So we'll look forward to that work this year.
[29:03]
In pillar five, under facilities and infrastructure, we'll be
[29:06]
discussing the bond further today, and then I
[29:10]
will look for the board's decision on moving forward with a bond being on the
[29:14]
November election or not at the next board meeting on the
[29:18]
8th. So if we are moving forward with that, that will obviously a big
[29:22]
focus for us and could be a potential
[29:25]
big improvement to our facilities.
[29:28]
Finally,
[29:29]
in pillar six is working towards a balanced budget.
[29:33]
As you know, Chris will go into a deeper explanation of that,
[29:36]
but we want to work towards moving towards a balanced budget
[29:40]
along with these other pieces. So, strategic plan
[29:44]
continues to guide our work, all six pillars.
[29:47]
Looking forward to this work here.
[29:49]
And then later, like I said, in the strategic plan presentation, we'll cover the
[29:53]
things that have been accomplished.
[29:55]
Lots of great work as we begin to look forward.
[29:59]
Great. Next topic I have is a crossing guard update.
[30:03]
So as you'll remember, we heard about six crossing guards
[30:07]
being reduced. Thanks to everyone for diving in, including
[30:10]
parents in the community. We now have that down to
[30:14]
adjustments from
[30:16]
the Tam Group. Additional... crossing
[30:20]
guards paid for through our JPA, which we're thankful for.
[30:24]
And now we're down to only looking at one
[30:28]
reduction. So we're going to look to see if we can
[30:31]
rearrange things, and Mr. Stewart and Mr.
[30:33]
Song are on board with having two on
[30:37]
Avenida Miraflores instead of three.
[30:39]
And so we'll work together to restructure things
[30:43]
and move forward at the beginning of the year with seeing if we can
[30:47]
operate with two on that road right there instead of three.
[30:51]
So, thanks for getting that down to a much more manageable number, and we
[30:55]
appreciate everyone diving in for that.
[30:57]
Next, ParentSquare update. I won't say too much about it as it's been mentioned,
[31:01]
but our new communication tool. People are diving into piloting, to demoing,
[31:05]
to having training. We'll look forward to a big kickoff next year and really
[31:09]
maximizing the use of the new communication tool.
[31:13]
Thanks to PTA for helping to sponsor that, as it was a goal
[31:17]
for them as well. So, looking forward to that.
[31:20]
And then I'll just end on a really positive note, that we had an amazing
[31:23]
opportunity, and Celebration of Education might be one of my favorite events of the
[31:27]
year, because it's just such a great opportunity to celebrate amazing
[31:31]
work that's done by so many of the staff members.
[31:33]
There's no way to recognize everyone that
[31:37]
really deserves recognition. But it is an opportunity to really highlight a few
[31:41]
people within the certificated and classified staff that
[31:45]
should really be recognized for just incredible work that they do.
[31:48]
So, that was really fun, as well as our Golden Bell Awards that we're able
[31:52]
to celebrate there at the Celebration of Education, but also at
[31:55]
Dominican University in front of a large crowd to be able
[31:59]
to clap for those Golden Bell winners.
[32:01]
So, when you have an amazing group like this and an incredible
[32:05]
staff, it feels so great to be able to recognize, for just a minute,
[32:09]
people that really deserve it. So that's my update for
[32:12]
today. Thank you for that.
[32:17]
Thanks for Dr. McGrath.
[32:20]
Public comments.
[32:23]
Okay. That will end deliberations.
[32:27]
Then we will move on to information from the board of trustees.
[32:31]
Zesty, do you mind starting?
[32:33]
I know that next week we're going to have some things there, so I'll try
[32:37]
to spread out my
[32:40]
updates a bit too so I don't take up too much time.
[32:43]
But,
[32:45]
wanted to start off piggy-backing on all the celebrations that
[32:49]
have been happening.
[32:52]
So I don't know if it was just for me, because this will be my last Celebration of
[32:56]
Education event, but I wish every single
[33:00]
school community member could witness our
[33:04]
Celebration of Education. It is
[33:06]
so special
[33:10]
to witness all of our teachers and staff together in one room, and
[33:14]
how much of a family they are and how much support
[33:18]
there is. And to be able to highlight,
[33:21]
everyone's doing amazing jobs, but then to highlight the few teachers
[33:25]
and staff in the year, and then everyone's cheering them on, it's
[33:29]
really beautiful. And I think it's really an indication of why our
[33:33]
schools are so great, because our teachers are so amazing.
[33:37]
And it's just a really beautiful event.
[33:39]
And PTA puts on a lovely event and then we have
[33:43]
Nicole and our principals who are
[33:47]
sharing really beautiful words about the winners, and it's
[33:51]
really lovely and it makes me very proud to be part of this
[33:55]
district.
[33:58]
I was able to attend the Spring Art Night.
[34:02]
And I know that everyone has sort of mentioned it, but really I think it was really
[34:05]
exciting. It was a packed house at Browns.
[34:10]
We were able to highlight students' visual arts.
[34:13]
There were musical performances from Bel Air Choir
[34:17]
and
[34:20]
the rock band at Del Mar. And it's sort of everything,
[34:24]
when we look at our strategic plan in a couple of
[34:28]
minutes, it's exactly what we want.
[34:32]
In-person, tangible, to see that happening in our
[34:36]
broader community. It was such a success.
[34:38]
I know there was so much work that went into it, but I
[34:42]
really hope that we can continue
[34:46]
doing this. And so very big thank you to everyone who
[34:50]
made that happen.
[34:52]
I also attended the Bel Air Spring Concert, and
[34:57]
I think that we are very, very fortunate to have such a strong
[35:01]
music and performing arts department at Del Mar.
[35:05]
Really something to be very proud of.
[35:08]
And I was able to
[35:12]
volunteer at the Del Mar Math Festival.
[35:15]
I'm not sure if this is the first time it's happened or it's happened in the
[35:19]
past, but there was so much great energy around math.
[35:24]
And it was very engaging. It wasn't just wrote
[35:28]
worksheets, but kids
[35:30]
engaging in applied mathematics.
[35:33]
And it was really fun to see kids going from different stations
[35:37]
and some really engaging in some areas and some not.
[35:40]
But I hope that that also continues because it's a great
[35:45]
way for kids to see that math is just out in the real world, doing stuff.
[35:49]
And then I also was able to
[35:54]
participate in the fifth grade Walk Through American
[35:58]
Revolution, and
[36:00]
that was incredible. So it's an example of an
[36:04]
in-school field trip where the students have
[36:07]
been preparing for probably over a
[36:11]
month, and they're fully engaged.
[36:14]
And I'm kind of embarrassed on how much I learned
[36:18]
in that two and a half hours of our American Revolution
[36:22]
history. But it's really great to see that that's what they're doing in fifth
[36:25]
grade, and then they'll have more American history in eighth grade.
[36:28]
But what a way to set a foundation. It was fantastic.
[36:32]
So thank you to our teachers for
[36:35]
all that. And
[36:37]
thenI attended the
[36:40]
E2. It was the last one of
[36:44]
the year, and they just gave an update on the Middle School
[36:48]
Athletic League. It's going to be known as MMAL.
[36:52]
And they have hired their commissioner.
[36:55]
Her name is Michelle Smith. She was an
[36:59]
assistant
[37:01]
director at Novato High School, and has worked at College of Marin,
[37:05]
and has
[37:08]
just a lot of experience. So, she is currently working on
[37:11]
developing league policy and procedures.
[37:15]
And everything is going to actually start in the fall,
[37:19]
which is really exciting.
[37:22]
So, there will be something very similar to MCA
[37:26]
and Cal for high school, but now with middle school.
[37:29]
And their main focus, which I really love, is to
[37:32]
retain-- I'm going to read this. "Retain
[37:35]
of fun, joy, participation, and a place for
[37:39]
everyone in the sports." So it's not who is the best, but
[37:43]
just an entry point for anyone who may have not
[37:47]
played any of these sports before.
[37:49]
I think it's going to be a really great thing.
[37:52]
They have changed the structure of it now.
[37:54]
So MCOE is going to fund 50% of the program,
[37:58]
instead before it was going to be kind of funded by everyone.
[38:02]
And so this will be a three-year pilot.
[38:04]
And in the fall, it's going to be volleyball girls, flag football
[38:08]
co-ed girls and boys, and then cross country
[38:12]
co-ed. So,
[38:14]
I think it's a great example of our districts
[38:18]
working together
[38:20]
to bring something for our students.
[38:22]
And next year, they will be focusing on AI and
[38:26]
tech resources. So
[38:29]
if there's anything over the summer you're thinking about for the E2
[38:33]
meeting, please let me know.
[38:38]
All right. Well, thank you. I'm going to keep it quick.
[38:44]
It was mostly all about gratitude at the end of the year,
[38:48]
and celebration. I visited
[38:51]
those three events. One was Celebration of Education,
[38:55]
the other was what Dr. McGrath talked about, the Golden Bell Award Ceremony.
[39:00]
This was at Dominican University, and
[39:04]
it was amazing to see
[39:09]
educators, class employees, staff, come
[39:13]
together from all parts of Marin County
[39:16]
and connect with each other. And it was a small place.
[39:20]
Everybody knew everybody. So that was awesome.
[39:26]
And then, there was a parent volunteer appreciation lunch that
[39:30]
the district organized. And, again, thank you
[39:34]
to everybody. It does take a village to make this work.
[39:38]
So,
[39:39]
I just got to be a part of a lot of gratitude and a lot of
[39:44]
thankfulness.
[39:46]
So I appreciate that. And that was about it.
[39:51]
Great. I had similar experience. This was just the hundred days-
[39:56]
... but everyone says the hundred days of May, there's so much going on, but it's
[39:58]
all such fun stuff. It's the opportunity to
[40:02]
celebrate our teachers, it's the opportunity to celebrate the PTA, and the
[40:06]
celebrations from the foundation.
[40:08]
It's also to see our kids celebrating all their accomplishments over the course of
[40:11]
the year, and to really see them thrive.
[40:15]
I will share more about my gratitude
[40:19]
just overall at our final meeting as well, but I'm so grateful to be part of
[40:23]
this district because everyone puts all in to everything they
[40:27]
do. You hear that in the speeches at the Celebration of Education, our
[40:31]
staff going above and beyond every day for their students, and to be able to
[40:34]
honor some teachers for their outstanding year, but also to honor
[40:38]
all the teachers. Everyone has put forth their
[40:41]
best effort with everything they do, and it's a wonderful celebration.
[40:44]
So it's nice to see that. And to every day see our PTA thinking about
[40:48]
not only our staff, but our families and our students, and to see them
[40:52]
each month coming up with something more amazing to show their gratitude and
[40:56]
to help share that.
[40:58]
And
[41:00]
the two big events for the students that I attended were the
[41:04]
Spring Art Night for the first time,
[41:08]
sponsored by Abby O'Leary and VAPA and everything that went into that.
[41:10]
But it was amazing, outstanding. It was packed
[41:14]
with parents and students and teachers and staff, and
[41:18]
all of the artwork was displayed like it was professional.
[41:21]
And the students got to have their debut, and there were students
[41:24]
serving appetizers and making them right there, and then the rock performance.
[41:28]
It was amazing. Of course, I said to Ms.
[41:31]
O'Leary, "Can we do this every weekend?" She's like, "Maybe just once a year." So
[41:35]
it was really amazing, outstanding, and it just
[41:38]
showcased
[41:41]
what we are able to help encourage our kids to do, and they just
[41:45]
did an outstanding job. So,
[41:47]
also, I attended the Math Festival, and I think it was the first one. Ms.
[41:50]
Smith was putting it on, and it was so fun
[41:54]
to see the students come, and there were
[41:57]
15 different tables with different manipulatives that they were able to work
[42:01]
in pairs to finish. And they went from pretty simple to very
[42:05]
complex. And to watch students pair up and help
[42:09]
each other problem solve. And as a parent watching and
[42:13]
thinking, we always want to help them.
[42:16]
But then when you just watch them figure it out on their own, it's not only
[42:20]
rewarding for them to be like, "That was awesome." But you're like, "They did it."
[42:23]
And it's just so exciting to see math become a fun experience and to
[42:27]
see them really think
[42:30]
bigger with geometry and they're trying to cross
[42:34]
bridges and figure out how many steps it takes to accomplish things.
[42:37]
It was very impressive. And everyone was into it.
[42:41]
So that was really fun to watch.And I feel
[42:45]
that these are things that we get to see as board members, and I know
[42:49]
that it's very engaging for the students and staff, but it's really
[42:53]
amazing for parents to be able to witness, too.
[42:55]
We had a lot of volunteers, parent volunteers, and like you were mentioning,
[42:59]
the American Revolution, or walk through the American Revolution, it is robust, and
[43:03]
it is so cool that we bring that to our campuses.
[43:05]
This math festival is the same way. This is an outside individual who brings it.
[43:09]
She's so organized, and she's very good at keeping everyone
[43:12]
kind of on task in a very quiet way.
[43:16]
It was impressive. So it's a wonderful way to celebrate and very
[43:20]
honored to be part of this district. Thank you for all that you do.
[43:25]
I attended many of the same celebration events as my fellow trustees, and
[43:29]
they gave lovely descriptions of those.
[43:33]
But I just want to reiterate one thing, which is
[43:37]
our kids are really lucky to have the community that they
[43:41]
have, and that starts with our teachers,
[43:44]
our administrators, it's our staff, but it's our families.
[43:46]
It's also our broader community here who steps up to
[43:50]
support our children, and
[43:53]
we are really lucky to have that. And so it's always nice this time of year to
[43:57]
get to celebrate all the sort of different elements of that community for our kids,
[44:01]
and our kids are sort of the main element of that community.
[44:06]
So that was lovely.
[44:07]
The two sort of substantive things I had were I attended
[44:11]
JLAC, and not surprisingly, it was all about
[44:15]
May revise.
[44:17]
And so there's clearly some discrepancies between
[44:22]
what the legislature and the governor want to do, and there's still
[44:26]
potential withholdings from Prop 98
[44:29]
guarantees. I just think we're going to have to wait to see how it all lands over
[44:33]
the summer. It's still clearly very much a work in
[44:36]
progress. And then the other thing is just a
[44:40]
reminder to everyone that bus passes are
[44:43]
on sale.
[44:47]
I believe at this point, all of the routes are pretty much staying the same
[44:51]
that they were last year.
[44:53]
But just so our community knows, there probably will be a larger discussion in the
[44:57]
fall around sort of
[45:00]
what are the most efficient ways to run our bus routes, and
[45:04]
how should we be structuring our bus stops.
[45:06]
So just more to come. And that's sort of the end of
[45:10]
my update. Any questions for anyone?
[45:13]
No? We will move right on to our substantive part of our trustee
[45:17]
considerations. And
[45:20]
I believe we start with item 1A, potential
[45:23]
facilities bond discussion, and we've got Jeff Small here.
[45:27]
And just a reminder for everyone, we start with the presentation, and then we'll
[45:31]
have questions from the board. After our questions, we have the opportunity
[45:34]
for public comment, then we go into deliberation.
[45:38]
And then for items that require a vote, which this only yet is again, we'll do
[45:42]
that.
[45:44]
So Jeff.
[45:45]
Well, thank you very much.
[45:48]
So I want to review a presentation with you tonight, and
[45:52]
the premise is this.
[45:55]
On June 8th, you may adopt or consider
[45:58]
adopting a resolution calling for a bond election.
[46:02]
So what I would like to do tonight is spend a few minutes talking
[46:05]
about some of the direction that we would like from the board
[46:10]
and also provide you with some information that you should
[46:13]
consider when you think about calling for a bond,
[46:17]
because it is no simple, small task.
[46:21]
So I would like to make sure that you understand
[46:24]
what it means, what it means in terms of outreach, what it means in terms of your
[46:28]
time, and some of the compliance responsibilities that you
[46:31]
have. Now, I know that you've seen the presentation.
[46:35]
It's in your board packet. I'm confident that you read it.
[46:39]
So I'm not going to go over every single word in there, but there are
[46:43]
some key messages that I would like to deliver.
[46:46]
Number one, I'd like to get some feedback on the actual bond authorization
[46:50]
amount.
[46:51]
We'll talk a little bit about the resolution that you'll be looking at in a play.
[46:55]
And finally, the outreach plan will be a big portion of tonight's
[46:59]
presentation.
[47:01]
So as you well know, one of the reasons why we're here
[47:06]
is
[47:07]
the community was extremely gracious in passing
[47:11]
bond issues in 2001 and 2005, which
[47:15]
really helped the district bring the school facilities up to standards.
[47:19]
That was a long time ago now. 25, 20 years of time really
[47:23]
goes by, and just as homeowners, we all know
[47:26]
that we always have to reinvest in our homes.
[47:30]
And so we know that there's some critical repairs, some safety
[47:34]
upgrades, some facility improvements at the three campuses
[47:37]
here that
[47:40]
we would like to address. I want to talk to you in a minute about
[47:43]
some history about that. But
[47:47]
one of the remarkable things here, if you think about it,
[47:51]
is all of your kids go to your three schools.
[47:56]
So this is, I think it's a cohesive community.
[48:00]
And we're going to talk about a bond amount
[48:04]
anywhere from $90 to 95, anywhere from $90 to $115 million.
[48:08]
We know it's a Prop 39 bond, 55% approval.
[48:13]
And ultimately working towards that election day,
[48:17]
November 3rd. One of the things that came up during
[48:20]
our research was, it's hard to imagine, Reed
[48:24]
has the most general bond tax rating among all of the
[48:28]
neighboring Marine Elementary school districts with general obligation bonds.
[48:32]
So
[48:34]
certainly your timing is
[48:38]
right in terms of being eligible and whatnot.
[48:40]
So on the next slide,
[48:44]
this is something that your board has not taken lightly.
[48:47]
There's been over four years of robust transparency,
[48:51]
community discussionWhether it be facility
[48:55]
master planning workshops or board study sessions.
[48:59]
I know I've been here on a couple Saturdays talking about
[49:03]
facility plans and what it means to bring a
[49:07]
bond forward. You've had a survey of
[49:11]
parents and teachers that's come forward.
[49:14]
You've had two independent surveys.
[49:16]
So there's been a lot of information,
[49:18]
quite a bit of engagement. And so that brings
[49:22]
us to where we are today.
[49:26]
Next slide.
[49:28]
So we had a board workshop a few weeks ago, I think it was April
[49:33]
25th, if I'm not mistaken. Time really flies.
[49:36]
We talked about a $90 million bond with a $24
[49:40]
maximum tax rate versus a $115 million bond at a
[49:44]
$30 tax rate. And tonight,
[49:48]
I would love to be able to leave with some feedback on
[49:52]
what that amount is. And the reason is, on the next slide you'll
[49:56]
see...
[49:57]
Well, I'll get there in a minute. The reason why we want that information
[50:01]
tonight is because we want to bring back the resolution and call it for the
[50:04]
election. That requires us to state what that
[50:08]
amount is. It also requires us to have a tax rate statement, which would
[50:12]
have things such as the average tax, the maximum
[50:16]
tax,
[50:18]
items of that nature. If we go on the next slide.
[50:21]
I alluded to this earlier. This is some of the research that we had.
[50:26]
You see these are delivering
[50:30]
the elementary districts, K districts.
[50:33]
The burgundy is the existing K tax rates.
[50:36]
You can see Reed out there.
[50:39]
The blue is the proposed
[50:41]
tax rates if bonds were to pass in this election cycle of
[50:45]
2026, where districts would be. And Reed would
[50:48]
be
[50:49]
the middle towards low end of what that tax burden is.
[50:54]
Go on the next slide.
[50:56]
So the resolution for the election has some critical components.
[51:00]
It'll have some recitals. Those recitals will reference some of the
[51:04]
good work that the district has done in the past, some of the good work that the
[51:08]
district has done more recently with the long-range facilities plans,
[51:12]
the involvement of the community.
[51:14]
And
[51:15]
there will be a 75-word ballot statement.
[51:18]
Basically, your elevator pitch to voters in the district,
[51:22]
which will just very quickly explain what the
[51:26]
measure's about. A project list, which is really a
[51:30]
contract with your community. It must be very
[51:33]
specific. If there's improvement that's not on the list,
[51:37]
you can file postings for that. And we were able to review
[51:41]
that in quite a bit of detail at a board workshop.
[51:45]
Got some wonderful feedback, was able to take that feedback and
[51:49]
with the help of your council, put that into a
[51:52]
resolution for you to consider.
[51:55]
And I mentioned the tax rates, I won't belabor that. So if we go on the next slide.
[52:00]
So we're going to talk about public outreach because that's
[52:04]
certainly an important component.
[52:06]
And
[52:07]
the best way to look at this is
[52:10]
we're running two different races.
[52:13]
One race is run by the school district.
[52:15]
That is in your role as a public
[52:19]
agency,
[52:21]
providing information to your community about what their needs are.
[52:26]
There is a separate budget that's typically used for
[52:30]
district outreach that is just neutral, informational.
[52:35]
So we're going to talk about that. Then there's this campaign advocacy.
[52:38]
Now, I'm talking about campaign advocacy tonight because it's
[52:42]
something that you don't find a lot of public information on this.
[52:46]
Being why? Because that's not run by the school district.
[52:49]
So while the school district is not making a decision based on
[52:54]
forming a campaign committee, because that's not what we're going to be doing, we
[52:57]
still think it's beneficial to have a conversation
[53:01]
for those who may not be as familiar as to what the campaign committee
[53:05]
can do, where they pick up the steam.
[53:09]
So we'll talk about that. But
[53:12]
really our focus for you is district
[53:15]
outreach.
[53:17]
Go the next slide.
[53:19]
So again, we've got two different paths.
[53:21]
And just to give you a sense of what the organizational structure is, I'm not going
[53:25]
to go through and take you through it, but you see there's an independent campaign
[53:28]
committee. Usually, you have an outreach firm
[53:32]
that handles campaigns,
[53:35]
get organized this. They do the
[53:38]
fundraising. They get Excuse me. They get
[53:41]
endorsements. They advocate for the bond.
[53:45]
Your block leaders, they organize walks.
[53:50]
And the district roles, of course, are different.
[53:53]
And that gives public outreach. It's saying like, "Hey, we
[53:57]
have a leaky roof. We're not telling you to vote yes to fix
[54:01]
that, but this is the status of what's happening." And you've done a lot of
[54:05]
that good work. It's in your locations.
[54:08]
So you can talk about that.
[54:12]
On the next slide.
[54:14]
So I'm going to talk about communications.
[54:16]
And then I think the easiest way to do the communications, whether it's digital
[54:20]
or mail or print,
[54:22]
is just look at it first through the lens of, is this
[54:26]
neutral? Is it just educational, factual information,
[54:31]
or am I actually doing advocacy? Because you can
[54:35]
have the different mediums, whether it be digital, mail,
[54:38]
print, in-person meetings.
[54:40]
Sometimes it could be advocacy, sometimes it could be
[54:44]
informational. I think that it is very wise,
[54:49]
particularly after you call the election, to work closely with your bond
[54:53]
counsel to make sure-... that the
[54:57]
nature, so sometimes information can look factual on its
[55:01]
face, but perhaps due to the timing of that information or
[55:05]
the tones of how that's delivered, it could be construed
[55:08]
as being advocacy, particularly as you get towards
[55:13]
the full campaign mode, which I would classify as after
[55:17]
Labor Day. So these are just
[55:21]
digital communication strategies. I won't go through them all.
[55:24]
It's the modern way of communicating.
[55:26]
Life is held in your palm of your hand in many
[55:30]
information. So it's what type of information am I getting?
[55:34]
Is it just neutral, factual information or is it, "Vote yes
[55:37]
on
[55:39]
new money?"
[55:40]
Next slide.
[55:42]
So in-person meetings.
[55:45]
Personally, I do like the in-person meetings because that's where I
[55:49]
think a lot of the real connection with people comes in, but it's
[55:52]
the same thing. You've got to think about, am I going to ask for an
[55:56]
endorsement
[55:58]
or am I sitting down to the voting booth?
[56:02]
And I'm speaking about what's happening at the district
[56:06]
and the fact that we have it on and why
[56:10]
we have it, what is the need, to talk about the need.
[56:15]
So you can see the various segments of in-person
[56:19]
communication.
[56:21]
When the information gets really targeted, like, "Hey, we're going to go talk to
[56:24]
seniors."
[56:26]
Well, at that point, that's a really big question to raise to your council, because
[56:29]
when it gets really targeted, that's when we think about, okay, well, what is
[56:33]
the timing? What is the tenor of that communication?
[56:36]
Am I providing just neutral information or is this going to look
[56:41]
like leading into a more of a fuzzy area?
[56:44]
Most importantly, and I think the district does this on the natural very well, you
[56:48]
engage well with your community because you listen to your community.
[56:52]
So whoever is running your campaign or doing your
[56:56]
outreach should listen to where you are,
[57:00]
what are the messages you want to present, how best can we present
[57:04]
those, and how do we present those in a way where this is
[57:08]
educational, neutral information that
[57:12]
community needs to hear. So the next-
[57:16]
Print media. I've just labeled some examples of
[57:21]
frequently asked questions. Well, of course that's not advocacy.
[57:25]
It would be common, you might have a page on your website that just
[57:29]
has some frequently asked questions. It might have your budget listed.
[57:32]
It can have
[57:34]
information, right?
[57:38]
But when you get close to the campaign and there's people coming out and putting up
[57:41]
door hangers, "Vote yes on the school's measure,"
[57:45]
of course that's advocacy.
[57:48]
There's some activities that you do on the natural right
[57:52]
now. You should continue to do those.
[57:56]
Newsletters, emails, you communicate, and
[58:02]
that's totally fair to continue to do that and occasionally
[58:06]
raise the issue of we have some league groups
[58:10]
where we have pictures
[58:13]
of students playing in the field or being taught.
[58:17]
There are things that you can do, but again, you just want to be very
[58:20]
sensitive,
[58:22]
particularly as you get
[58:24]
into more of a campaign rather than just
[58:28]
talking about what those needs are.
[58:32]
This is here really just for context of
[58:36]
what would a campaign look like. It's not necessarily something-- You're not going
[58:40]
to control it as a board, but here's some
[58:43]
activities that could take place and some
[58:47]
timing.
[58:49]
It's meant to be a menu.
[58:52]
Not everything needs to be done. These are things that can be done.
[58:56]
Next slide, please.
[58:58]
And here you go. These are campaign
[59:01]
activities.
[59:04]
The campaign committee will have a finance committee.
[59:07]
They will be filing forms with the
[59:09]
Political Practice Commission. These are some of the line items
[59:13]
that you might see
[59:15]
on
[59:16]
filings of how money is spent on a campaign.
[59:19]
And really the only way for public transparency when it comes to the
[59:23]
campaign is through the forms that you fill out as to
[59:27]
how much money do you have and who gave it to you and where it was spent.
[59:31]
But again,
[59:33]
in a lot of ways, that's the suit. That, of course, is
[59:37]
advocacy. That's not just an informational mailer.
[59:41]
Go on the next slide.
[59:47]
I know you know me, and I talk a lot about compliance, and I tend to be very
[59:50]
conservative, so it wouldn't be a right and just
[59:54]
presentation without some accountability and legal compliance.
[59:59]
I'm not going to review them all. I know you've looked at those, but they are
[1:00:02]
there
[1:00:05]
for the record.
[1:00:07]
Next.
[1:00:08]
Okay. So,
[1:00:10]
I'd like to turn it back over to the board to talk about the
[1:00:14]
bond amount and whether or not you'd like us to
[1:00:18]
return on June 8th for the fall of the election.
[1:00:22]
And if so, what that outreach budget is
[1:00:26]
for that. In the agenda packet, there was sample
[1:00:31]
outreach budget. Again, it's just a menu of things.
[1:00:34]
It's not my budget.
[1:00:38]
I prepared it, but it's meant to be a sample.
[1:00:40]
And what I mean by that is,
[1:00:43]
will it cost $10,000 a month? Not necessarily, but
[1:00:47]
that's a budgeted amount.
[1:00:50]
There's other items on here that you may or may not do.
[1:00:54]
But again, it's here to give you a sense of what can be
[1:00:58]
doneAnd at the end of the day,
[1:01:02]
knowing what can be done, I'm very confident that you will make the best decision
[1:01:06]
that is in the best interest of your district.
[1:01:11]
With that, happy to take any questions you might have.
[1:01:20]
A question. This is incredibly helpful and very prescriptive.
[1:01:23]
I really appreciate you putting all of this together.
[1:01:26]
I had just a question about,
[1:01:29]
I guess it's twofold. One
[1:01:32]
is
[1:01:34]
if we work with a
[1:01:38]
committee, a campaign committee,
[1:01:41]
to help,
[1:01:43]
are there certain tasks? Does the campaign committee, are they able to touch
[1:01:47]
both the informational
[1:01:49]
and/or out
[1:01:52]
voting yes or pushing favorability towards one?
[1:01:56]
Do they handle both of that or are they really just help?
[1:01:59]
Which roles, because they have to be kind of divided in terms of
[1:02:03]
information versus actual promotion.
[1:02:06]
So a campaign-
[1:02:07]
Yeah
[1:02:08]
... I think you're not talking about a volunteer.
[1:02:09]
You're talking about-
[1:02:11]
No, sorry, if you were to hire someone-
[1:02:13]
Yes
[1:02:13]
... to help with that, can
[1:02:16]
run the program, I guess, or how.
[1:02:18]
So-
[1:02:18]
Do they do everything or how?
[1:02:19]
There are typically firms that do outreach,
[1:02:24]
also run a campaign.
[1:02:26]
So they'll
[1:02:27]
transition.
[1:02:29]
You might do a contract with an outreach firm.
[1:02:32]
That outreach firm
[1:02:34]
may, in all likelihood, end up contracting with
[1:02:38]
an independent committee that they would help form and
[1:02:42]
organize. We know that volunteers don't have that-
[1:02:50]
Experience or leader-
[1:02:52]
Yeah. It's not necessarily that turnkey, unless you're in business to do that kind
[1:02:56]
of work.
[1:02:57]
Right. Okay.
[1:02:57]
So yeah, they can help with both.
[1:02:58]
They can help with that group.
[1:03:00]
100%.
[1:03:02]
Yes.
[1:03:03]
Okay. Thank you.
[1:03:08]
Just along the lines of the ...
[1:03:12]
Sarah, can you go back to the page of the, just so that I... Yes.
[1:03:15]
To approve the educational outreach budget.
[1:03:18]
Dr. McGrath, do we have a sense of how much our contract was
[1:03:23]
for the work we did for our parcel tax
[1:03:27]
campaign? I know parcel tax and that bond, but
[1:03:31]
it was a similar type of educational outreach.
[1:03:35]
Do you have a sense of how much that was?
[1:03:36]
We'll have to dig into it to look for it.
[1:03:38]
Okay.
[1:03:38]
Yeah. Just give us a little time, but I can get back to you on that.
[1:03:49]
Another question. Sorry. So there's the
[1:03:53]
informational role that the district plays, and then
[1:03:57]
I'm looking at the accountability and legal compliance component.
[1:04:00]
It says board members can have personal participation.
[1:04:04]
Mm-hmm.
[1:04:07]
Is it still just informational?
[1:04:10]
You don't want to cross a line, or do you...
[1:04:13]
I'm just curious as a board member and the role we play together
[1:04:17]
supporting the district or just informing the community.
[1:04:20]
And you have First Amendment right to advocate as an
[1:04:24]
individual. So you would be joining that committee as an
[1:04:28]
individual, not as a board member.
[1:04:33]
Okay.
[1:04:34]
Yes.
[1:04:34]
So she could have a lawn sign in the
[1:04:38]
lawn.
[1:04:39]
Mm-hmm.
[1:04:43]
Okay.
[1:04:45]
What if we all had lawns?
[1:04:47]
How about it-
[1:04:48]
Individually.
[1:04:49]
Okay. Individually we could? All right. I'm just curious. Thank you.
[1:04:52]
And a board member who's running for re-election or someone who's
[1:04:56]
running for election could also be advocating the bond as
[1:05:00]
part of that campaign as well, right?
[1:05:01]
100%.
[1:05:03]
And we don't control our spouses.
[1:05:05]
That's true.
[1:05:07]
Well,
[1:05:10]
I'm controlled by my spouse, but-
[1:05:13]
... that is some personal information.
[1:05:20]
Any other questions for Jeff?
[1:05:23]
Thank you. All right. Thank you very much.
[1:05:26]
Any public comment?
[1:05:30]
Seeing none, I believe that brings us to board deliberation.
[1:05:34]
We have a lot to discuss, but what I heard is that we need to do-
[1:05:38]
What are we doing?
[1:05:38]
... to provide direction on two things.
[1:05:40]
First is bond amount, and second is outreach budget.
[1:05:46]
My suggestion would be that we start with bond amount.
[1:05:49]
Agreed.
[1:05:49]
Mm-hmm.
[1:05:51]
Does anyone want to kick us off?
[1:05:53]
I can.
[1:05:55]
Based on the information that we have learned the last time,
[1:06:03]
there are two ways of looking at it, bottom up and top down.
[1:06:05]
What we need, what can we do with the number?
[1:06:08]
And
[1:06:10]
what's palatable? What's possible?
[1:06:13]
And I think both, for me, based on whatever we have heard and learned
[1:06:17]
in the last couple of presentations,
[1:06:20]
both the answers are pointing to 115, 30.
[1:06:27]
Sarah, do you mind pulling up the chart that shows
[1:06:32]
the comparisons of different districts and the... Thank you.
[1:06:43]
This one?
[1:06:44]
Yeah.
[1:06:45]
This one?
[1:06:45]
Yes. Thank you.
[1:06:51]
This is the 115, 30 version, right?
[1:06:54]
Mm-hmm.
[1:06:56]
125-
[1:06:56]
Mm-hmm.
[1:06:57]
That's the max. Oh, yeah.
[1:07:01]
You can see that the blue portion would be 30 total, and still
[1:07:05]
keeping Reed at the bottom four.
[1:07:19]
No, I'm in agreement. I think this is a helpful slide because it shows
[1:07:23]
where
[1:07:24]
Reed falls comparative to the other districts that are also
[1:07:28]
going out for
[1:07:31]
bond, and also where we are with our existing bond.
[1:07:34]
It's
[1:07:35]
smaller, but it's also going to be retiring.
[1:07:37]
So I just think this is incredibly insightful to see
[1:07:41]
how it compares and that
[1:07:43]
it's in the bottom third, really-
[1:07:47]
Right
[1:07:47]
... in terms of-
[1:07:48]
I do want to point out that we are a smaller school district, so this
[1:07:52]
is not per capita number here.
[1:07:56]
For example, Mill Valley has more schools, right?
[1:08:01]
So that being said,
[1:08:04]
this looks, at least to my eyes,
[1:08:07]
reasonable.
[1:08:09]
Well, and a lot of the ones who are very similar size populations to us, like
[1:08:13]
Larkspur, Corte Madera-
[1:08:15]
And Kentfield
[1:08:15]
... well above us. Kent Field's well above us.
[1:08:18]
Ross and Suston-
[1:08:19]
Ross, just-
[1:08:21]
... are similar
[1:08:21]
Yeah. Well above us.
[1:08:27]
What was most interesting to me was when we ran the survey.
[1:08:30]
Mm-hmm.
[1:08:31]
And you would expect that when you ask the question, "Are
[1:08:35]
you more interested in a lower bond amount, lower tax
[1:08:39]
amount?" Our voters actually didn't care.
[1:08:41]
And what that said to me was they were saying to us if you
[1:08:45]
have the need, which we know we do, we know we have more than 110 million in
[1:08:49]
need, that if you have the need, we will pay for it.
[1:08:53]
If you have the need, and we believe you have the need.
[1:08:55]
Yeah. Yeah.
[1:08:56]
And we agree with your version of the need.
[1:08:58]
Yes. If they believe that we have the need, then it wasn't a
[1:09:02]
price question, it was a
[1:09:05]
need question. And,
[1:09:08]
I'm very confident that we have the need.
[1:09:10]
Yes.
[1:09:11]
And I'm very confident that we have more than 115
[1:09:15]
million in need.
[1:09:19]
So, for me, I just found that answer to be really
[1:09:22]
interesting. It wasn't what I was expecting at all.
[1:09:25]
It didn't change the outcome.
[1:09:26]
Yeah. It didn't move the needle at all.
[1:09:28]
Yeah, that was fascinating to see.
[1:09:30]
Yeah. It was really fascinating for me.
[1:09:32]
And then I agree with everyone else who said this
[1:09:36]
chart where it shows. And I think maybe it
[1:09:40]
helps explain that too. People don't know these numbers, but they feel
[1:09:44]
it when they
[1:09:46]
pay their taxes.
[1:09:49]
When I'm putting
[1:09:50]
my individual board hat on and saying, "Okay, what is my role here?
[1:09:54]
What am I trying to do?" It is to think about whether,
[1:09:58]
okay, do we as a district need $115
[1:10:02]
million
[1:10:03]
for real
[1:10:07]
improvements? And the answer is absolutely yes.
[1:10:11]
And the second piece of the puzzle for me with a board hat on
[1:10:14]
is that
[1:10:17]
am I supporting spending a lot of money towards
[1:10:21]
something that
[1:10:23]
has community support or not?
[1:10:26]
And again, the answer seems to be yes.
[1:10:30]
So that is where I'm coming from.
[1:10:35]
I appreciate that. I think that is very
[1:10:39]
similar to where I'm coming from as well.
[1:10:43]
Yeah. So are we ready at this point to provide direction?
[1:10:46]
Yes. I am.
[1:10:48]
Then I think I'm hearing, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm hearing
[1:10:52]
unanimous consensus for proceeding at 115 million.
[1:10:55]
Correct.
[1:10:56]
Seeing nods of yes.
[1:10:58]
Okay. So I think that brings us to the second question that we were asked for
[1:11:02]
direction on, which is
[1:11:04]
around the budget.
[1:11:08]
And
[1:11:09]
anyone want to kick us off on that one?
[1:11:13]
I appreciate the sample
[1:11:16]
budget that was provided.
[1:11:19]
Do you mind... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.
[1:11:21]
But do you mind pulling it up? It was a separate attachment.
[1:11:23]
It's a PDF file.
[1:11:28]
would like to just have more information.
[1:11:32]
know that it was
[1:11:37]
at least six or seven years ago when we did the parcel tax
[1:11:40]
campaign, but it's a similar thing.
[1:11:43]
I'd just like to have a little bit more information before I go
[1:11:47]
ahead and approve
[1:11:49]
a budget. And even just when I'm looking
[1:11:53]
through the list,
[1:11:57]
need a little bit more information and also,
[1:12:01]
maybe it's a helpful discussion of we could talk about
[1:12:03]
do something not to exceed
[1:12:07]
or come back to us if it... Because we don't know what we don't own.
[1:12:11]
We do know that the community
[1:12:15]
does need education. And so
[1:12:19]
maybe we start off with something, and then it can come back to us
[1:12:23]
if whoever we hire says, "Actually,
[1:12:27]
we need..."
[1:12:28]
But right now, off the bat,
[1:12:32]
approving or giving direction to go up to almost
[1:12:35]
71,000, I'm not ready for that.
[1:12:37]
Yeah.
[1:12:39]
My perspective is slightly different.
[1:12:41]
I appreciate what you're saying around wanting to have some sense of
[1:12:45]
comparison.
[1:12:45]
Mm-hmm.
[1:12:46]
Just some sort of a sanity check if you're coming at it from outside.
[1:12:50]
That makes sense.
[1:12:53]
I've
[1:12:54]
seen these budgets over before.
[1:12:58]
The concern, I guess, is it's a three-month long budget.
[1:13:02]
And
[1:13:04]
if I was
[1:13:06]
running this-Without having to come
[1:13:10]
back for approvals within three months.
[1:13:13]
And it would almost seem like it'll be hard to strip that
[1:13:17]
down to bits and pieces.
[1:13:19]
That's just my understanding.
[1:13:23]
And just looking at it seems reasonable to me,
[1:13:26]
but that's just my point of view.
[1:13:31]
Yeah, I think based on our size of district, this
[1:13:34]
is an example. I think if you have a not
[1:13:38]
to exceed and-
[1:13:40]
I agree
[1:13:41]
... if
[1:13:44]
we're able to engage with a professional services partner who's been able to help
[1:13:48]
the outreach and the district and kind of control the
[1:13:52]
budget, not have the budget be in silos where some are paying for
[1:13:55]
mail. I feel like if it's under one domain and there's some oversight
[1:14:00]
into how it gets, I feel much better about that, knowing and kind of feeling
[1:14:03]
comfortable saying, "This is recommended for our size district." We say a
[1:14:07]
not to exceed.
[1:14:10]
Maybe we don't have to spend that much.
[1:14:11]
Maybe we do feel comfortable we've gotten everything accomplished in three months'
[1:14:15]
time. It's not that much time to really actually go and...
[1:14:19]
We do want it to be focused.
[1:14:22]
I feel comfortable with that. As long as there aren't other
[1:14:25]
budgets that are sort of in tandem running, and we're not sure where the money is.
[1:14:29]
I feel like it fits nicely.
[1:14:32]
I just want to ask a question, and maybe it's a fair-paying question.
[1:14:35]
So if the same firm is working with the district to do the
[1:14:39]
education piece, and then would that same firm be
[1:14:43]
working with the
[1:14:45]
advocacy committee that would be forming separate from us?
[1:14:50]
Am I understanding that correctly?
[1:14:51]
But then we have to be very clear that the money that's coming from our general
[1:14:55]
fund to go into the education is not being
[1:14:59]
spent on any material that is...
[1:15:03]
That committee has to fund
[1:15:06]
themselves, right?
[1:15:07]
Right.
[1:15:07]
I just want to make sure I'm really clear on that.
[1:15:10]
So, if we say $70,000-
[1:15:13]
Just get-
[1:15:13]
... only for education, it can't be for any flyers or
[1:15:17]
any-
[1:15:18]
Advocacy work
[1:15:18]
... anything for that. So...
[1:15:21]
Could be flyers, but education-only flyers. Couldn't be any advocacy flyers.
[1:15:25]
So you're thinking correctly.
[1:15:27]
Right. And so then I guess the question is, what's the difference between an
[1:15:30]
education flyer and an advocacy
[1:15:34]
flyer?
[1:15:35]
The education flyer shows a leaky roof, a failing
[1:15:38]
pipe, a
[1:15:41]
terracotta thing that needs adjustment, a
[1:15:45]
classroom that needs new lighting, et cetera.
[1:15:48]
Where advocacy flyer says, "Vote yes on
[1:15:52]
R."
[1:15:54]
And are the architectural sketches that we
[1:15:58]
have, that's
[1:16:01]
money we have already spent and can be used for education?
[1:16:05]
Yes.
[1:16:06]
Okay.
[1:16:08]
And we have already spent that money
[1:16:11]
on that?
[1:16:12]
Way under what you budgeted, but yes, we have spent some.
[1:16:15]
Okay.
[1:16:18]
So that's helpful. I guess I didn't realize that.
[1:16:21]
So,
[1:16:22]
the online paid PSA package, video production, all of
[1:16:26]
this is just educational. There's no promotional in it.
[1:16:30]
It seems-
[1:16:30]
A lot of educational
[1:16:32]
... I was going to say-
[1:16:34]
I thought they were both... Sorry, I was misreading that.
[1:16:36]
Yeah. I would say, for the size of our voter population,
[1:16:41]
some of this seems
[1:16:43]
too much, and I would be very interested
[1:16:47]
in having Dr. McGrath think about what
[1:16:51]
actually she thought made sense for our
[1:16:55]
voters.
[1:16:59]
I don't know that we need to be doing paid social media
[1:17:03]
and things like that. I don't know. I just don't know.
[1:17:07]
I think that Austine asked a good question earlier to know
[1:17:11]
what we did with our parcel tax in the past.
[1:17:17]
I guess my view is
[1:17:20]
if we are going to embark on the bond campaign, we need to do it
[1:17:23]
successfully. So if that requires spending this money,
[1:17:27]
then we should spend it.
[1:17:30]
And I don't necessarily think it's too much, but
[1:17:34]
I do think that there is maybe a little
[1:17:37]
more work we could do for
[1:17:41]
next week to make sure that this is really a
[1:17:45]
prudent dollar amount for us to authorize.
[1:17:48]
That's sort of where I'm landing.
[1:17:50]
I agree.
[1:17:51]
So this is an estimate, right?
[1:17:54]
Sample.
[1:17:55]
Yeah.
[1:17:56]
So,
[1:17:58]
I know I'm not allowed to ask any questions, but I'm curious whether
[1:18:02]
it's a general sample or a sample based on ground
[1:18:06]
realities for our district, specifically.
[1:18:09]
How tuned is it to us and our needs?
[1:18:14]
I'm happy to bring that back when I bring it back, ensuring that
[1:18:18]
it's relative to our size and our type of voters, et cetera.
[1:18:29]
I think it would be interesting to know what some of our neighboring
[1:18:33]
districts have spent, because they are dealing with very
[1:18:36]
similar populations that we are.
[1:18:40]
And like-
[1:18:41]
I wonder if it's possible to get that information.
[1:18:43]
Well, we're going to approve it in public open session.
[1:18:46]
Go dig into it, then.
[1:18:48]
So it might be helpful to know what our other neighboring
[1:18:52]
districts approved.
[1:18:54]
Mm-hmm.
[1:18:55]
Because if they approved 20,000 and we approve 70,000,
[1:18:59]
that's going to seem off. But if they approved 80,000 and we
[1:19:03]
approved 70,000,
[1:19:05]
seems about right.
[1:19:08]
That would be helpful information.
[1:19:10]
It's also, I guess,
[1:19:13]
I would-- not assuming anything here, but we do need to put
[1:19:17]
a filter on
[1:19:19]
how many points the needle needs to move.
[1:19:22]
There is a correlation to how much we need to educate based on
[1:19:26]
what kind of movement are we looking for versus what they need to look for.
[1:19:29]
So you just need to put that in perspective.
[1:19:31]
Yeah. It's hard to know.
[1:19:33]
We do have to put that in perspective, but it's--
[1:19:36]
and we know from our polling that we are polling above where we would
[1:19:41]
need to hit, but we obviously need to have
[1:19:45]
cushion.
[1:19:46]
Cushion. Yes. Agreed.
[1:19:49]
So do you have direction on what should be brought
[1:19:53]
back?
[1:19:54]
I have the direction. We'll bring a resolution that contains the $30 at
[1:19:57]
$115 million. We'll bring back a revised outreach
[1:20:01]
plan that has not to exceed language, looks at reducing
[1:20:05]
the adjusting for our voters,
[1:20:08]
ensuring it's related to read and comparisons to neighboring
[1:20:11]
districts. Whatever we can find. Sound good?
[1:20:15]
Great.
[1:20:15]
Great.
[1:20:16]
Another question. Will we be putting out an RFP for this?
[1:20:20]
Well, we would put an RFP out for, yes, kind of
[1:20:24]
guidance for the next steps and perhaps
[1:20:27]
we could look at
[1:20:29]
some agreements that we have in place and agreements that we want to start
[1:20:33]
new as well. So for example, on the architecture drawings, you
[1:20:37]
approved $75,000 and we've spent less than $25,000, so
[1:20:41]
we still have leeway there if we wanted to utilize some of that.
[1:20:45]
Yeah. I suspect we will use that additional
[1:20:50]
as we launch websites and things.
[1:20:59]
Anything else that we need on this item or are we ready to move on?
[1:21:01]
Okay.
[1:21:05]
Thank you.
[1:21:06]
Thank you.
[1:21:07]
Very helpful.
[1:21:08]
That brings us to item K1E, strategic
[1:21:12]
plan year two review. Dr. McGrath.
[1:21:14]
I'm so excited to bring forward this.
[1:21:17]
It's a 52-page plan, I think it is, that
[1:21:20]
demonstrates
[1:21:22]
a lot of incredible activities that have happened, things that we still need
[1:21:25]
to improve on as well, and things that we need to continue to work
[1:21:29]
on. Just to kind of translate a little, just to keep in mind, it's a six-year
[1:21:33]
plan. This is looking backwards to say, what did we
[1:21:37]
accomplish in year two? The color coding,
[1:21:41]
you'll remember that you asked on the categories on the left to
[1:21:44]
have kind of green, yellow, red. So you'll see lots of yellow things that
[1:21:49]
are in the works. Some things green and that
[1:21:53]
are complete.
[1:21:54]
Luckily, not much red. But there are things that we definitely
[1:21:58]
still need effort around and still need to improve.
[1:22:02]
Funny enough, I say in education, there is no real finish line, right?
[1:22:06]
So every kid shows up different every day, needs different things, and so
[1:22:10]
we continue to adjust and do everything we can to meet kids where they
[1:22:14]
are. So we will continue to do that.
[1:22:18]
There is an opportunity, I think, to celebrate lots of amazing things.
[1:22:21]
I also want to remind you that our year-long calendar for board items
[1:22:25]
aligns to what's in this plan. So you see
[1:22:29]
items all year long at every single board meeting based on what is here,
[1:22:33]
and we'll continue to do that and devise your board
[1:22:37]
presentation calendar based on what is here in the
[1:22:40]
coming up year three. But let me just highlight a few things.
[1:22:43]
When you look within pillar one, it starts with
[1:22:47]
integration, project-based learning, hands-on learning.
[1:22:50]
You've mentioned many of those things tonight. But just kudos to Ms.
[1:22:54]
O'Leary, to lots of the VAPA, visual and performing arts teachers,
[1:22:59]
to the WIN program, to the Whatever I Need at Bel Air that really looks at how
[1:23:03]
do we meet students where they are and help to push them
[1:23:07]
forward. Our specialists have done incredible work
[1:23:10]
around integration. When you look at things like music and math, you look at
[1:23:14]
Spanish at Bel Air,
[1:23:17]
really working on integration.
[1:23:19]
Lots of enrichment opportunities.
[1:23:21]
I want to just
[1:23:23]
commend everyone for thoughtful curriculum-aligned
[1:23:26]
opportunities.
[1:23:28]
When the board passes almost $300,000 for enrichment
[1:23:32]
opportunities, our community and students spoke
[1:23:35]
loudly that they were very important and that we want deep learning for
[1:23:39]
kids, and that is one way, as many of you have expressed tonight, that
[1:23:43]
we're able to do that.
[1:23:45]
Innovative tech was one of the areas, and you'll hear more about
[1:23:49]
an AI presentation, so I won't go into that too much tonight.
[1:23:54]
Curriculum was another area. Just big kudos to everyone
[1:23:58]
for a full math implementation with coaching and professional
[1:24:02]
development embedded,
[1:24:04]
support, people understanding the material so that they
[1:24:08]
can match students' needs when they're struggling and match students' needs when
[1:24:11]
they need a push and a challenge. We'll continue growing in
[1:24:15]
that. Health integration. You look at social emotional
[1:24:19]
learning adoption at Bel Air that will begin for next year,
[1:24:23]
a reading difficulty screener that was implemented throughout Read
[1:24:27]
and for some students that needed it at Bel Air.
[1:24:30]
So just in that first integration project-based learning
[1:24:34]
hands-on area, just so many things to be proud of.
[1:24:37]
Next, when I look at individualized learning, I look at differentiated
[1:24:40]
learning. So many great steps took place this year.
[1:24:44]
And of course, we have more and improvements to continue with
[1:24:48]
there. But lots of professional development and how to meet individual
[1:24:51]
students' needs. Understanding the math curriculum at an even deeper
[1:24:55]
level of understanding those resources and how those resources can
[1:24:59]
be utilized to match where kids are.
[1:25:03]
Even better alignment with assessments, aligning to tier two,
[1:25:07]
meaning after a full class instruction, what are those next levels of needs?
[1:25:11]
So lots of great work has taken place there, and we look forward to more work there
[1:25:15]
as well.When I look at pillar two in social emotional
[1:25:19]
learning, I think we can really celebrate that there was extensive
[1:25:22]
internal and external work. When I say external, meaning
[1:25:26]
full stakeholder groups. And
[1:25:29]
kudos to Nicole on the first section, and Brian on the second section
[1:25:33]
as well, with really teams of people that are understanding the
[1:25:37]
community's desire in moving forward with social emotional
[1:25:41]
learning. Kudos to adjustments being made, and thanks to the
[1:25:44]
board for diving into that thinking so that we now have counseling
[1:25:48]
available at every school site for next year.
[1:25:52]
There was great work done in inclusion and
[1:25:55]
heritage, ability understanding for our students and for our
[1:25:59]
parents as well.
[1:26:01]
Food service, as I talked about, lots of work diving in there,
[1:26:05]
and more work down the road for us to do, as we hope that we
[1:26:09]
continue to have a food service program that aligns closely with our
[1:26:12]
values. Just a thanks to the staff
[1:26:16]
for fully engaging in a wide variety of professional development opportunities.
[1:26:21]
Family guides were published this year.
[1:26:23]
MAP family reports were sent home this year, so you can see that
[1:26:27]
highlighted there as well. There was a lot of additional integration with the
[1:26:30]
community, and many of you mentioned those things, so I won't go
[1:26:34]
into details with that. But I think it's
[1:26:37]
a great example of what we heard through feedback in the strategic plan was,
[1:26:42]
let's utilize this amazing place that we live, and let's
[1:26:46]
work on integrating that. And I think a lot of people have really
[1:26:49]
grabbed onto that and run with that idea.
[1:26:53]
We've had great steps forward in analyzing our facility needs, as you just
[1:26:56]
heard, looking at potential bond information.
[1:27:00]
This has been years coming, and lots of work that is
[1:27:04]
needed to be really thoughtful to understand our community's
[1:27:07]
incredible support for their schools and wanting schools that
[1:27:11]
the facilities are high quality as well.
[1:27:14]
I would say the demo with ParentSquare, it's great to see that communication
[1:27:18]
platform moving forward. I'm excited about some work upcoming
[1:27:22]
when we look at standard space recording
[1:27:25]
platform there, when you look at a new student information system moving
[1:27:29]
towards Aries, when we look towards a data management system.
[1:27:33]
I think there's some really fun work coming up in that area for sure.
[1:27:37]
More work to be done there. Finance, kudos to Dr.
[1:27:41]
Kim on a budget advisory being established, really educating,
[1:27:45]
working towards a clear message that came from that group around let's work
[1:27:49]
towards revenue enhancement. And so we can take that
[1:27:53]
on next year and keep working towards that.
[1:27:56]
Lots of improvements at Granada. And then I'll just finish up with a few things of
[1:28:00]
tenant leases and getting year-long pieces
[1:28:04]
there, as well as improving the facility.
[1:28:06]
So, no way to, in a short amount of time, summarize
[1:28:10]
52 pages of an entire organization's work, but just a few
[1:28:14]
things there to highlight. Really proud of the efforts that everyone
[1:28:18]
made in year two. And then, as I mentioned in our district priorities,
[1:28:22]
some great things moving forward for year three.
[1:28:24]
So, thank you for your support and for everyone's hard work in getting
[1:28:28]
there.
[1:28:34]
I have a question. For our district priorities for next year, did we
[1:28:38]
talk about posting what those are?
[1:28:41]
This is a lot of
[1:28:45]
information
[1:28:46]
for the whole community to digest.
[1:28:47]
Correct.
[1:28:48]
But I do appreciate that the priorities are smaller and more tangible
[1:28:52]
priorities just for the year.
[1:28:54]
Yeah.
[1:28:55]
Where do we share that or how do we share that out to...
[1:28:58]
Yeah, it depends on which group. But I do love your idea of making it maybe a
[1:29:01]
little bit more prominent on the website. It could be.
[1:29:04]
It's under Plans, I believe. Sarah's making it look
[1:29:08]
beautiful, so we can get that in a more public version.
[1:29:14]
Right now it's what we call kind of accordion work.
[1:29:17]
It's been thinking through where are we in year two, and with the
[1:29:21]
staff saying, "Hey, where are the site goals, and where are we?" And kind of
[1:29:25]
getting a lot of feedback.
[1:29:28]
With parents, it would be more website kind of
[1:29:31]
front-facing and headline news through ParentSquare.
[1:29:34]
We'll put it out at the beginning of the year.
[1:29:36]
At the August kickoff, we'll go over it with staff and say, "This looks
[1:29:40]
like where we're landing and what will help guide our work this year." So kind of
[1:29:44]
depends on the group.
[1:29:46]
And then if you're asking kind of the parent side, it would be more headline news
[1:29:50]
on the website.
[1:29:51]
Yeah. It is mostly the parent community side, but
[1:29:54]
there's opportunities, I think, as we pursue those next year
[1:29:58]
to bring parents into tech-related
[1:30:02]
committee, whatever the tasks are.
[1:30:04]
Sure.
[1:30:04]
You've done so well with that throughout the...
[1:30:06]
Anyway, I was just curious where they would find out about those.
[1:30:09]
Yeah. Great point.
[1:30:14]
Any other questions?
[1:30:19]
Is there any public comment on the strategic plan review
[1:30:23]
or deliberation?
[1:30:27]
I'm just so extremely proud of where our
[1:30:31]
district is on this. And just a huge
[1:30:35]
thank you to Dr. McGrath
[1:30:37]
and to all of
[1:30:40]
our administration and teachers.
[1:30:43]
We have come a very
[1:30:47]
long way, and I know you mentioned it's a 52-page document.
[1:30:51]
And it's a living document, but
[1:30:54]
it's something we refer to at every single board meeting.
[1:30:59]
We have a question in our January workshop
[1:31:03]
of how much time
[1:31:04]
of
[1:31:09]
our agenda is spent on things like a strategic plan
[1:31:13]
or things that are specifically focused on our students,
[1:31:18]
and I think we... This is just incredible
[1:31:22]
and I'm
[1:31:24]
It's really nice to see. And I know that our board calendar says that we
[1:31:27]
will do this all throughout the year, but it's just very impressive.
[1:31:32]
And it's not just a 52-page document, it's a three-dimensional document with
[1:31:36]
links to, I think, 10 different metrics
[1:31:39]
documents that are all each 52 slides- ...
[1:31:43]
I think, Paul. It's amazing. It's
[1:31:46]
where I feel like just having a place to go where you can
[1:31:50]
access the depth of information about everything we do is really
[1:31:53]
phenomenal. And there is a lot in here, but it's
[1:31:58]
all in the right place. Thank you for maintaining it and keeping it live and living
[1:32:02]
and moving forward.
[1:32:04]
And it's easy to praise it, but it's a document
[1:32:08]
that's not just saying-- It goes into depth, and it's
[1:32:11]
saying where the district needs to pay attention to and where
[1:32:15]
we need to focus on. So it's not just saying all the great things that are
[1:32:18]
happening, but without this document and without the
[1:32:22]
work that goes into it, we won't know where we need improvements on.
[1:32:25]
And so it's really nice to have this as a guiding
[1:32:29]
document. When we go to all the CSBA
[1:32:33]
meetings, and this does not happen
[1:32:37]
in every district.
[1:32:40]
Just a strategic plan, let alone something at this level
[1:32:44]
and in this detail, so just it is
[1:32:48]
really great.
[1:32:49]
Thank you.
[1:32:52]
I will say that I think the way that you structured this with
[1:32:57]
all of the embedded links that you have,
[1:33:01]
it's a real way of documenting what we've done, but also holding people
[1:33:04]
accountable for moving forward on these progress goals
[1:33:08]
because it's very easy to lay out goals.
[1:33:11]
It's hard to execute on those goals without being
[1:33:15]
continually circling back to them.
[1:33:17]
And so the fact that you document it all, which is a huge amount of
[1:33:20]
work for you and the team, I think. And there has been a culture
[1:33:24]
shift around this sort of mentality of holding people
[1:33:28]
accountable and the district accountable to these goals.
[1:33:31]
And so,
[1:33:32]
I think that's very impressive. So thank you.
[1:33:37]
Team effort, for sure.
[1:33:40]
Thank you. Are we ready for next item?
[1:33:44]
We'll see curriculum adoption update, our coordinator of
[1:33:48]
educational services, Nicole Trickett.
[1:33:53]
Yeah. Good to see you. Well, I'm excited to kind of add
[1:33:57]
to, I think, some of the updates that Dr.
[1:33:59]
McGrath already started around the curriculum.
[1:34:02]
But this is kind of my spring curriculum update.
[1:34:04]
You'll see me referencing some things that I already discussed in the
[1:34:08]
fall. But just wanted to kind of give you progress updates on where we are and
[1:34:11]
where we're going for next year.
[1:34:14]
So the three areas I'm going to focus on are where we are with our English
[1:34:18]
language, arts, and social studies exploration year.
[1:34:22]
The next thing is health. Where in the fall I said we were going to come back with
[1:34:25]
kind of a comprehensive health framework that shows how the standards are
[1:34:29]
being addressed throughout the different grade levels.
[1:34:32]
And then I want to give a quick update on how the first year of our math
[1:34:36]
PK-5 implementation has gone and what we still need to do in year two.
[1:34:40]
It doesn't just end after one adoption year.
[1:34:48]
This is just a reminder. I shared this roadmap at the beginning
[1:34:52]
of the fall. But this was really laying out what is our roadmap for the next
[1:34:56]
two years when it comes to literacy, and our ELA and
[1:35:00]
social studies adoptions. And great to say, we are fully on track
[1:35:04]
with kind of the steps we had laid out and have got all the way
[1:35:08]
through number six and hoping to start into our fall,
[1:35:12]
and this next year with really some strategic piloting
[1:35:15]
of curriculum.
[1:35:18]
Another just kind of reminder, just saying like right now I'm focusing on
[1:35:22]
the ELA and history. A reminder of what we are currently using,
[1:35:26]
that we're going to explore here, moving into the pilot and some of the stuff that
[1:35:30]
was going on within this year when we think about what exploration looks
[1:35:34]
like.
[1:35:36]
So one of the first big things that we did, and we did this at site levels because
[1:35:39]
the needs do vary, but there is alignment, is we did SWOT analysis of
[1:35:43]
all our current ELA and social studies curriculum at Reid, at Bel Air,
[1:35:48]
and at Del Mar. So site teams, grade level chairs really dug into this
[1:35:52]
work, so that they could bring it back to a larger literacy committee
[1:35:56]
when we met.
[1:35:57]
And so we held our big district literacy committee, the first meeting,
[1:36:02]
back in January, where we had representation from all three sites,
[1:36:06]
multiple teachers at different grade levels, administrators,
[1:36:09]
our TOSAs, both our instructional TOSA and our VACA TOSA,
[1:36:13]
really wanting to think about integration. So it was a great group of people.
[1:36:17]
Still on this one. We really analyzed those
[1:36:22]
SWOTs. We looked at our district strategic plan to make sure we were aligned
[1:36:26]
with things that came up with that.
[1:36:27]
And we also looked at the California Department of Ed's ELA framework.
[1:36:31]
And using all of that information, established our own overarching kind of
[1:36:35]
district curriculum criteria that we wanted to ensure we were looking
[1:36:39]
for when we looked at all the different curriculums that are out
[1:36:42]
there. We also examined some big evaluation resources.
[1:36:46]
There's a ton out there and a few to guide and help us with that selection
[1:36:50]
process after we had identified the criteria.
[1:36:53]
So kind of a step there. At the social studies level, the middle school, they did
[1:36:57]
a large SWOT analysis and it did determine that their current TCI
[1:37:01]
curriculum continues to effectively meet their student needs.
[1:37:05]
And we did talk at the elementary. We thought about it, and most of the things that
[1:37:08]
were coming out for elementary ELA was ensuring that we had a knowledge-based
[1:37:12]
curriculum. That means it's integrating social studies standards.
[1:37:15]
It's integrating science standards into it and building that.
[1:37:19]
So we wanted to pause on doing a standalone social studies one until we really
[1:37:23]
can focus on the ELA knowledge-based curriculum.
[1:37:27]
And then we can think about what other supplemental materials, both for social
[1:37:31]
studies and then possibly science, can really be added on
[1:37:34]
after we determine our ELA
[1:37:37]
curriculum.Five.
[1:37:41]
So from that, we did at that point split the two
[1:37:45]
grades, and we looked at elementary and secondary differently because the
[1:37:48]
curriculums look a little different.
[1:37:50]
We still use those overarching criteria, and we've created our own
[1:37:54]
rubrics and evaluation tools to then examine
[1:37:58]
some curriculums.
[1:38:00]
Myself and Amy did some initial research based on those criteria
[1:38:04]
to come up with some programs to look at.
[1:38:07]
So we brought back our elementary
[1:38:10]
team, so the same literacy committee, just the elementary representatives, to take
[1:38:14]
a look at those four curriculums on the bottom.
[1:38:17]
And the middle school and middle school team had a release day, and they came
[1:38:20]
together and examined a couple other curriculums there, the two, and
[1:38:24]
their own curriculum that has been teacher-made as well.
[1:38:27]
And from that, the next steps both with elementary. So first, the elementary.
[1:38:33]
So we still are defining the scope and the professional
[1:38:37]
development needs,
[1:38:38]
site-specific logistics. But there was a selection of Amplify
[1:38:42]
CKLA as one of the pilots we plan to move forward
[1:38:46]
with. We'll be waiting until January
[1:38:50]
to pilot that. This is both because we'll be able to pilot their
[1:38:54]
newest California materials that they just sent to the state,
[1:38:58]
and that should be getting approved by November.
[1:39:01]
So we also know if for some reason they don't get approved by the state
[1:39:04]
before we pilot it, and we can figure out a strategic change.
[1:39:09]
But that we wanted to ensure we are piloting the most up-to-date
[1:39:12]
material resources. I do think that also lets
[1:39:16]
us really in the fall focus on some things that we might need to do.
[1:39:20]
First of all, around the math, what are we doing in year two?
[1:39:23]
So starting another year where we have a pilot ELA going and we're trying to start
[1:39:26]
math. Let's really think about what are the next steps with math implementation.
[1:39:30]
And then in the fall, we can also lay in some foundational
[1:39:34]
knowledge building and get the staff buy-in before the January ELA
[1:39:38]
pilot. We are still looking at one other possible pilot of
[1:39:42]
EL education.
[1:39:44]
They were sending us resources that teams could look through.
[1:39:48]
I'm not surprised this one came up.
[1:39:49]
It's CKLA,
[1:39:52]
and EL Education are the two most used curriculums in our neighboring
[1:39:55]
districts. So I'm not surprised both of them came up to the top and are the
[1:39:59]
ones our
[1:40:01]
staff were interested in reviewing.
[1:40:02]
But we'll know more about where we stand with that point when I come back in the
[1:40:06]
fall and share another update. And then
[1:40:11]
a lot of the work we did at read, we did some science of reading reading throughout
[1:40:14]
this year. And I think this next point about some targeted initiatives really
[1:40:18]
comes from that.
[1:40:20]
There's really momentum to create a foundational scope and sequence for
[1:40:24]
phonics and phonemic awareness across all grades. We were doing stuff.
[1:40:28]
We had Integrity going on. We had Orton-Gillingham, Fundations.
[1:40:31]
Different teachers were doing different things and all grounded in the science of
[1:40:34]
reading, but they were all a little different.
[1:40:36]
So really this idea to unify and have a consistent approach and a scope and
[1:40:39]
sequence. That during this kind of gap year, we're going to
[1:40:43]
be bringing in SaneSystem E. So it's a program that
[1:40:47]
really
[1:40:49]
is not a core curriculum, it's a supplemental tier one, though.
[1:40:52]
So it's for the whole class
[1:40:54]
to support phonics and phonemic awareness foundational skills.
[1:40:58]
And so we'll be using that from PK, so there's actually a pre-K program all the way
[1:41:02]
to second grade,
[1:41:04]
to just get that going. We wanted to build on that.
[1:41:07]
We wanted to use that momentum to keep going.
[1:41:11]
So we're going to do that around some collective efficacy.
[1:41:13]
And then we're still going into our year two dibels.
[1:41:15]
So our reading screener implementation with a big focus
[1:41:18]
on thinking about how do we go deeper with our data
[1:41:22]
interpretation, and what next steps are we really doing for
[1:41:26]
instruction and for targeted student response.
[1:41:30]
At the middle school level,
[1:41:32]
the Del Mar curriculum ranked highest on their
[1:41:35]
evaluation rubric, really around their critical
[1:41:39]
thinking, differentiation, their comprehensive writing
[1:41:42]
structures that they have spent a lot of time
[1:41:45]
creating and building. And that it
[1:41:49]
really does leverage a design that builds
[1:41:52]
sequentially. So from grade, they've worked
[1:41:56]
on that articulation from six, seven to eight to really
[1:41:59]
ensure it's
[1:42:02]
aligned across those things and the skills are building on each other.
[1:42:06]
And also that it's really integrated already with social studies.
[1:42:09]
Our sixth-grade team is core and they teach both, but then at the seventh and
[1:42:13]
eighth-grade level, they're working together on projects, and integrated
[1:42:17]
curriculum. So we want to leverage that and keep that going, as it's a big
[1:42:22]
priority across our district.
[1:42:25]
And then, so the thought is to spend the next sum-- or spend the summer,
[1:42:29]
spend the next year really spending time and focus on
[1:42:33]
creating a unified framework,
[1:42:36]
and a curriculum model that we can showcase to the public,
[1:42:40]
right? So actually taking the time to write out the scope
[1:42:44]
and sequence to create model lessons
[1:42:48]
that they can be showcased to the community and for public view
[1:42:52]
is kind of the next step. Some of the things they're going to be working on is
[1:42:55]
ensuring there's this rigor and relevant
[1:42:59]
differentiation
[1:43:01]
in the curriculum. So commitment to close reading, their writing strategies to
[1:43:05]
really push academic challenge for all learners.
[1:43:09]
They also wrote we had a targeted grammar pilot, so using a grammar workbook
[1:43:14]
for next year. They identified a skill gap in that way,
[1:43:18]
and also wanting to go to kind of a workbook to maybe
[1:43:22]
proactively resolve a schoolwide
[1:43:26]
concern that they're having around too much time on IXL around screen time.
[1:43:30]
So doing some homework around the grammar with a grammar
[1:43:33]
book. And then also maintaining kind of partnership with our
[1:43:37]
secondary partners at RedwoodBut I'm sure
[1:43:41]
we're really thinking of how the middle school skills
[1:43:45]
are aligned and explicitly linked to high school expectations and
[1:43:49]
beyond.
[1:43:52]
Now, moving on to health.
[1:43:54]
This is one of the attachments that you have, but there is a health framework, and
[1:43:58]
it goes over the different health topics and when they come up per grade level,
[1:44:02]
and where you're going to find them, where are they covered.
[1:44:05]
I spoke about how in health, I think back in the fall, a lot of the lessons and
[1:44:09]
a lot of the learning is already integrated.
[1:44:11]
You look at the topics or the standards in some of these lower
[1:44:14]
grades, especially around handwashing.
[1:44:16]
That's happening every day with our kindergarten kids and what they're doing.
[1:44:19]
So much of their learning, this is naturally integrated into
[1:44:23]
the classroom. But this kind of lays out where it's happening and
[1:44:27]
any curriculums or resources that are being used to help
[1:44:31]
teach those standards. So it's a large document that kind of helps
[1:44:36]
showcase that. A couple things to highlight in the next slide
[1:44:40]
around health
[1:44:41]
are at
[1:44:43]
Bel Air, Character Strong was selected as their new
[1:44:47]
SEL curriculum after a two-year
[1:44:51]
process, where they looked at three different curriculums.
[1:44:55]
And this one came up rated the highest
[1:44:58]
among staff
[1:45:00]
for ease of use and built-in solid support for social skills
[1:45:05]
and executive functioning. It also rates extremely high
[1:45:09]
for the CASEL rating and its effectiveness, especially in those grades two through
[1:45:13]
five for behavior, identity, and agency.
[1:45:16]
So the team's really excited about getting some PD at the beginning of the year and
[1:45:19]
starting to implement that. In addition, Reid and Del
[1:45:23]
Mar will be exploring it as kind of a supplemental to the stuff they're
[1:45:27]
already doing. So how can some of Character Strong
[1:45:31]
go down into the Kimochi work that's already happening down at Reid?
[1:45:34]
How can it go up into the advisory work that's already happening at Del Mar to
[1:45:38]
really strengthen both of that and make sure there's alignment across all
[1:45:42]
three schools?
[1:45:44]
In the fall, I also talked about an identified gap we were noticing around this one
[1:45:48]
health topic:
[1:45:50]
alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. And so I've been working with the district
[1:45:54]
nurse, and she's going to be working with our new school counselors across the
[1:45:58]
schools, but also with teachers to create lessons and workshops or maybe
[1:46:02]
even assemblies that address those same standards in a really unified
[1:46:05]
way across our district. So we have a planning meeting just this week,
[1:46:09]
actually, to think of what that looks like.
[1:46:11]
I'm so excited to get her involved, and really kind of close that
[1:46:15]
gap that we identified. And then with sexual health,
[1:46:20]
at the middle school level,
[1:46:22]
we've been partnering and using SuperStar Health for the past few
[1:46:25]
years, where they come in as an outside agency.
[1:46:28]
They do a week-long unit for
[1:46:32]
eighth-grade students around this.
[1:46:35]
In talking with Del Mar and their teachers, they do want to transition to an
[1:46:39]
internal delivery,
[1:46:41]
which is great. So a more sustainable internal model that's led by
[1:46:45]
our own credentialed staff members.
[1:46:47]
We do think the student engagement will increase.
[1:46:50]
A trusted staff member, PE teacher, and even in conjunction with the
[1:46:54]
district nurse or counselors,
[1:46:57]
is going to improve engagement around that.
[1:47:00]
And also, we are able to spread these lessons across the year
[1:47:04]
rather than compressing them all into one week.
[1:47:07]
To make sure we're doing this in the right way, we're looking to partner with
[1:47:10]
SuperStar Health in kind of a consulting capacity next year
[1:47:14]
to ensure a smooth and compliant rollout of what that could look like.
[1:47:19]
Finally, Amplify. It is a big thing
[1:47:23]
to adopt a curriculum and then implement it in a first year.
[1:47:26]
So kudos to all our teachers and staff
[1:47:29]
for just diving in. We had a
[1:47:33]
lot of things going on, especially at Reid.
[1:47:35]
We're at Dibbles on top of it, but it takes a lot of work.
[1:47:39]
And so really happy to say that we have successfully kind of
[1:47:43]
launched this across all our K-5 classrooms and our pre-K
[1:47:47]
team even participating in a field trial, and they were
[1:47:50]
providing feedback to Amplify to then get those materials and curriculum
[1:47:54]
up and going for next year. We've had a lot of professional,
[1:48:00]
like PD, professional development opportunities for our teachers, both from
[1:48:03]
Amplify, but also just directly for administrators, for
[1:48:07]
myself, for our instructional TOSA, who's been invaluable in this.
[1:48:12]
Ms. Fedd has become an expert in Amplify, and is always available
[1:48:16]
to coach, to mentor, to help provide
[1:48:19]
resources to our teachers.
[1:48:22]
I think we've seen a great shift in how we're using data and
[1:48:25]
assessments, and seeing data chats happening at schools,
[1:48:29]
instructional shifts, and just making sure our core classroom is
[1:48:33]
aligned to any interventions that are happening.
[1:48:36]
So our intervening teachers are using mini lessons that are
[1:48:39]
Amplify-driven. So students are getting
[1:48:43]
reteaching or pre-teaching that is directly related to the curriculum that
[1:48:47]
they're seeing in the classroom.
[1:48:49]
We've done things like Desmos newsletters.
[1:48:51]
We can use our Bible newsletters just for tips and tricks.
[1:48:55]
Curriculum's a lot, and we want to keep track of all the things that are
[1:49:00]
great to use, best practices, and then
[1:49:04]
trying to really expand how we're showcasing this new curriculum to our parents.
[1:49:08]
That back-to-school nights, but also getting newsletter updates and the principal
[1:49:12]
newsletters that go home.
[1:49:14]
But in year two, some things that we're looking at,
[1:49:17]
instead of just thinking first year, they're just getting to know the components of
[1:49:21]
a curriculum, what's out there, how to navigate the portal, how to make sure the
[1:49:25]
kids are using the resources right.
[1:49:27]
Really shifting to becoming masters of all
[1:49:31]
the components and delivering that highly kind of targeted
[1:49:34]
differentiation so we can support students that might be struggling, but also
[1:49:38]
really accelerate students that need to be pushed further.
[1:49:41]
There is a shift that there's a new-- It doesn't change too much because the
[1:49:44]
Amplify Desmos curriculum was based off the California framework, but we will be
[1:49:48]
getting a new updated California-specific
[1:49:51]
AmplifyKind of student books and
[1:49:55]
curriculum. So we want to make sure we're having a smooth transition and our
[1:49:58]
teachers are knowledgeable about what changes they might
[1:50:01]
see.
[1:50:03]
The next one is just time. I think one of the biggest things is we've provided a
[1:50:06]
lot of time to teachers for PD from Amplify, your
[1:50:10]
normal kind of PD during Wednesday time, PD during
[1:50:14]
some of the release days or staff development days.
[1:50:16]
But we need more dedicated time for teachers to sit down with the units,
[1:50:20]
with the lessons, to dive in, to talk about what's working, what's not working,
[1:50:25]
to be able to analyze all the enrichment activities that exist, and also see what
[1:50:29]
we might need to add on.
[1:50:31]
And so really prioritizing that with the
[1:50:35]
principals to make sure we're building in those grade level check-ins,
[1:50:39]
having departments that are dedicated to math so we can build that teacher
[1:50:42]
leadership at the sites,
[1:50:45]
to dive into some of the things that we're still wanting to improve with this
[1:50:48]
curriculum.
[1:50:50]
Rigor and discourse, really focusing on how we're supporting
[1:50:54]
mathematical discourse. This curriculum is built around mathematical discourse.
[1:50:57]
That's what makes it often rigorous.
[1:50:59]
That's a shift maybe from previous curriculum.
[1:51:02]
So how can we support our teachers with really becoming experts in how you
[1:51:05]
facilitate a really rigorous conversation around math in the
[1:51:09]
classrooms? And then still taking that next step around how are
[1:51:13]
we having a seamless
[1:51:15]
MTSS loop using the resources that are embedded, using the assessments,
[1:51:19]
using the intervention
[1:51:21]
lessons,
[1:51:23]
using the core instruction and connecting it to mini lessons.
[1:51:26]
All of those things are there, just making sure we're really creating systems
[1:51:31]
that are coherent, and support our students as they enter and as they
[1:51:35]
exit any kind of additional support classes they might get.
[1:51:39]
And that is my brief overview of kind of some
[1:51:43]
curriculum updates we've been working on and where we're going.
[1:51:46]
If there's any questions.
[1:51:51]
Well done.
[1:51:55]
I had a question.
[1:51:56]
Yeah.
[1:51:56]
I guess it's sort of like, what have we
[1:52:00]
learned from the Desmos
[1:52:03]
rollout, and maybe how we should be approaching curriculum
[1:52:07]
evaluation and adoption going forward?
[1:52:11]
Because it sounds like we're seeing adoption as maybe a
[1:52:15]
two-year process, not a one-year process.
[1:52:17]
It's sort of like what I'm sort of seeing some of it.
[1:52:21]
We need two years to really build-
[1:52:24]
I think it's more than two years.
[1:52:26]
I'm sure more.
[1:52:26]
I think it never ends. I think you have different
[1:52:30]
needs as you continue to dive deeper
[1:52:33]
into curriculum,
[1:52:36]
and you get more comfortable. I think first year looks a lot different than second.
[1:52:39]
Looks a lot different than third. Looks a lot different when we're looking in the
[1:52:42]
fourth, fifth, and sixth, when we're trying to maintain it, but maybe need
[1:52:44]
supplemental or other things. So I do think there's
[1:52:47]
strategic...
[1:52:49]
Now that we've seen one go through, kind of the strategic shifts, I think we can
[1:52:53]
always learn from. I think the biggest thing, and I pointed to it, is
[1:52:58]
the time maybe we weren't thinking of it upfront, to really
[1:53:01]
ensure
[1:53:03]
teachers can dive into the
[1:53:06]
materials at the level that you need to really dive into them to
[1:53:10]
become experts and comfortable. I think so
[1:53:14]
much of the time was focused on a six-hour PD just to get to know the platform,
[1:53:17]
right? And get to know how to navigate it, and that is a lot of time, but there's
[1:53:21]
so much more that you can do with just exploring a lesson
[1:53:25]
for a couple of hours and diving into all the different things and how it's aligned
[1:53:29]
and planning for all your different learners.
[1:53:32]
So I think it shifts, but I would love to be more
[1:53:35]
strategic as we go into other ones of doing that in year one a little more than we
[1:53:39]
did with Amplify Desmos.
[1:53:41]
Okay, so you think it's sort of maybe a little bit of a process change
[1:53:46]
versus a timing change?
[1:53:48]
Yeah, in terms of our curriculum map having multiple, like having...
[1:53:53]
Is that what you're-- Like an adoption?
[1:53:54]
Yeah, I guess my concern that I'm coming from
[1:53:58]
is
[1:53:59]
I don't want our teachers to sort of be overwhelmed by
[1:54:03]
requiring them to learn so many new
[1:54:06]
curriculums that we lose some of the
[1:54:10]
greatness of these new curriculums because teachers are just overwhelmed and
[1:54:14]
burned out. One, I don't want our teachers to be burned out and overwhelmed.
[1:54:19]
I want them to be able to show up and do what they do with our kids.
[1:54:22]
Yep.
[1:54:23]
And two, we have heard some
[1:54:26]
feedback. It's been limited, but a little bit of feedback.
[1:54:30]
But there hasn't been the ability for teachers to really get deep into it,
[1:54:34]
to really sort of stretch across the kids in the
[1:54:37]
classroom. And so how do we think about that going
[1:54:41]
forward so that we're really deliberate on both making sure that our
[1:54:45]
staff feels really well-supported and not overstretched, and also
[1:54:49]
really delivering the best education, because you only get to take third grade
[1:54:53]
once.
[1:54:54]
And really thinking about both of that and just taking
[1:54:58]
lessons from what we have here.
[1:55:04]
Yeah. I think it's a bit of the both.
[1:55:07]
Yes, and I think there's things that we could learn of where we need to be more
[1:55:11]
deliberate. We
[1:55:13]
had a math pilot department two years ago.
[1:55:17]
We didn't keep a math department to provide some of that strategic leadership at
[1:55:20]
either of the two sites. How can we make sure we keep a literacy and ELA
[1:55:24]
department going throughout the time to really provide some of that strategic
[1:55:28]
leadership? How do we ensure grade level meetings have dedicated time to
[1:55:32]
unpack units and look at it in a more in-depth way?
[1:55:36]
So I think those things that we have learned, or we really realized we
[1:55:39]
didn't equip our teachers with enough time with,
[1:55:43]
we want to do right.
[1:55:46]
I also think no matter what, year two does look different, and that is an
[1:55:49]
opportunity for us to take some of these steps that we hadn't, not even had, but we
[1:55:53]
realized we want to go deeper with.
[1:55:55]
So I think it's a yes and, of
[1:55:58]
both.Yeah.
[1:56:02]
I'd like to push a little more on what Shelby was saying.
[1:56:06]
In my line of work, it's always hard to look
[1:56:10]
at the mirror-
[1:56:11]
Yeah
[1:56:11]
... and see where you're at.
[1:56:13]
Yeah.
[1:56:13]
And with so much going on-
[1:56:16]
Yeah
[1:56:16]
... with each educator,
[1:56:20]
how are we making sure that nobody is being left behind, that
[1:56:23]
everybody is getting to at least a basic level
[1:56:27]
of mastery, so they get past
[1:56:31]
just understanding their way around a new curriculum,
[1:56:35]
to really
[1:56:37]
taking the best of it? Theoretically, yes.
[1:56:40]
Year one, we're going to do this, year two, we are going to do this.
[1:56:43]
But we know there's always a bell curve, right?
[1:56:45]
Yeah.
[1:56:45]
To your point, there are some people who are experts.
[1:56:48]
How are we making sure that those who are towards the tail of the bell curve, who
[1:56:51]
are finding it hard to navigate that change, are being
[1:56:54]
recognized?
[1:56:55]
Yeah. And I think that work is being done.
[1:56:59]
That work, I constantly am working or talking with principals, I'm working with
[1:57:03]
Amy, our instructional coach, on how are we supporting teachers across the board.
[1:57:08]
Or when there's questions that come up, or getting in classrooms.
[1:57:13]
So I think that that was happening this year as well, and it will continue
[1:57:17]
to happen. I think that's the resources we have with our
[1:57:20]
administrators being there, walking classrooms.
[1:57:23]
They're constantly in classrooms, checking, doing walkthroughs, knowing math is
[1:57:26]
going on. I try to get into the classrooms when math is going on, to see
[1:57:30]
where we're at, but also where we might need to make some shifts, or overall see,
[1:57:35]
to me, discourse. How can we go deeper and really make sure our teachers
[1:57:39]
know how to become experts in mathematical discourse?
[1:57:42]
So we are constantly thinking about that and being
[1:57:46]
strategic in how we're providing support, and that is only going to continue
[1:57:49]
into year two. But there are ways with instructional
[1:57:53]
walkthroughs, checks.
[1:57:55]
I think leading into having peer, I know sites are looking at peer observations.
[1:57:59]
How are we using peer observations to support focus in on curriculum
[1:58:03]
adoptions and things like that? Those are structures that exist at our schools,
[1:58:07]
but how do we then leverage some of that stuff to ensure we're all moving
[1:58:11]
forward together? So all that is happening on
[1:58:15]
that. But yeah, there is some of that work happening.
[1:58:18]
And you know what? We are a district where
[1:58:21]
I know every teacher's name. I know all our staff. I'm able to be in classroom.
[1:58:24]
That's
[1:58:26]
unique, and
[1:58:28]
I don't take that for granted. I think that also helps us really all
[1:58:31]
collectively move forward, too.
[1:58:34]
So, yeah.
[1:58:37]
Thank you.
[1:58:39]
Just one last question,
[1:58:41]
because I'm thinking about this from a governance perspective, how this happens,
[1:58:45]
how the magic happens.
[1:58:47]
It's your job.
[1:58:48]
Not ours. So,
[1:58:49]
I just want to make sure, and this is just a gut check, are we
[1:58:53]
as a board asking too much of our staff?
[1:58:57]
And that's just the question to you.
[1:58:59]
Do you think that this is manageable, or have we put too much on them?
[1:59:03]
Because that's where we sit. We sit at the, "Let's set the timelines," and you
[1:59:08]
manage the timelines, and our staff has to implement them.
[1:59:12]
So I guess the real question I want to know is,
[1:59:14]
are we asking the right level of commitment from our staff, or are we asking a
[1:59:18]
little too much? Or where do you think we're falling on that?
[1:59:23]
I think
[1:59:25]
we are asking. I think we thought about the curriculum map
[1:59:28]
back in last fall,
[1:59:32]
2024, really thoughtfully. Got feedback and alignment.
[1:59:35]
That hadn't been around, so I do think it's a shift and a change.
[1:59:39]
The cadence of it is typical
[1:59:42]
for any other districts around us.
[1:59:45]
I would also say our cadence for ELA and math and K-5 has been slower than
[1:59:49]
any of our neighboring districts.
[1:59:52]
I think that's a
[1:59:55]
good thing. I think we're being thoughtful and strategic about how we're
[1:59:58]
rolling those things out and making sure we're taking the right steps
[2:00:02]
so our teachers feel supported. I think some of the work, you'll see the pause on
[2:00:05]
social studies,
[2:00:07]
is also listening to feedback and being strategic.
[2:00:10]
We don't need to push through both ELA and social studies.
[2:00:13]
Let's really focus on ELA and then take a step.
[2:00:17]
And so that's going to adjust that timeline that we have
[2:00:20]
based on that.
[2:00:22]
So I always want to take the feedback.
[2:00:25]
I would say if a pilot, and we don't find the right ELA curriculum, I probably
[2:00:28]
would come back to you and say, "Hey, we need to have another pilot year and look
[2:00:30]
at a different one." I don't want to push through something I don't feel confident
[2:00:34]
with, or my teachers are saying
[2:00:36]
they aren't confident with or comfortable with.
[2:00:38]
So I do think
[2:00:40]
I feel comfortable coming towards you with those kind of recommendations right now.
[2:00:43]
I feel like we're taking the right steps and going at the right pace, and some of
[2:00:47]
the adjustments we already are making are in line.
[2:00:51]
And I also think when you look bigger picture about how other
[2:00:54]
districts are doing, I think the cadence is similar
[2:00:58]
if not also more strategic and thoughtful.
[2:01:00]
We're not doing an adoption, adoption, and adoption.
[2:01:03]
It's actually spaced, which is how we have these explore, pilot, adopt
[2:01:06]
years are spaced out. I don't think other districts have maybe that kind of
[2:01:10]
framework, which actually spaces them out.
[2:01:12]
But because explore and year one adoption sometimes
[2:01:16]
fall in the same year, it can feel like it is.
[2:01:20]
But I know many that adopted a math one year and adopted an ELA the next year.
[2:01:23]
And that's the cadence they chose to do, and there's been
[2:01:27]
reasons for that. But I think we thoughtfully
[2:01:30]
took some pauses and made sure there was some breaks.
[2:01:35]
But I'm always open to hearing when we need to do that some more, and wanting to
[2:01:38]
make sure. Yeah, for me, the best thing is that it's implemented, and it's
[2:01:41]
implemented well for kiddos.
[2:01:44]
So I'm constantly thinking about that for myself too.
[2:01:49]
Thank you. That was helpful.
[2:01:50]
Yeah.
[2:01:51]
Any other questions?
[2:01:52]
Just, it's a clarifying question-
[2:01:53]
Yeah
[2:01:53]
... about the health.
[2:01:54]
Yeah.
[2:01:54]
So health, the board doesn't ad-
[2:01:58]
Can you just remind me on the process?
[2:02:00]
I know health is a little bit different than the other-
[2:02:03]
Sure. SEL is a little different-
[2:02:04]
Okay
[2:02:04]
... but, guidance and health,
[2:02:07]
we don't have any new curriculum for you because it already was.
[2:02:09]
We've already been using all the curriculum, and it's more like it's all
[2:02:13]
integrated, so there's so many different things.
[2:02:15]
So that's why I brought forward a framework of showing you-
[2:02:17]
Okay
[2:02:18]
... across the different grades how the health standards are being met.
[2:02:22]
If I did have some,
[2:02:23]
there was some magic curriculum that was PK through eight or even elementary and
[2:02:27]
middle that covered all the health, maybe I would be coming forward with
[2:02:31]
something like that. But how it from our health committee that came together,
[2:02:36]
it is way more integrated and it spans
[2:02:40]
SEL curriculum happening somewhere, other things, pulling stuff from
[2:02:44]
the... Like COE provides some stuff around drug and alcohol, so we're kind of
[2:02:47]
creating more of this framework.
[2:02:49]
Okay.
[2:02:49]
And then the SEL that was adopt is, we give you information about
[2:02:53]
it, but you don't
[2:02:55]
adopt the SEL-
[2:02:56]
Okay
[2:02:57]
... piece. But it's part of health.
[2:02:58]
Though some of those standards were part of health, so I just wanted to give an
[2:03:00]
update around SEL.
[2:03:02]
That's also not just happening at
[2:03:04]
Bel Air.
[2:03:05]
Thank you.
[2:03:06]
Yeah.
[2:03:11]
Questions?
[2:03:13]
Any public comment?
[2:03:17]
Well, I move to board deliberation.
[2:03:23]
I appreciate your question, just around
[2:03:26]
making sure we're getting the full feedback loop.
[2:03:30]
Because, this is amazing work, and there's so much
[2:03:33]
being explored.
[2:03:35]
We have a framework, which I think is really helpful, but even looking at the
[2:03:38]
framework, and I appreciate them coming back saying, "Well, we're not going to
[2:03:42]
do social studies right now." We might push it, just because there's a lot going on
[2:03:45]
in '25, '26.
[2:03:48]
But I also feel confident
[2:03:51]
that because we have a framework and because we're able
[2:03:55]
to stagger it, that we'll hear
[2:03:58]
if it's
[2:04:01]
too much or, I'm hopeful that
[2:04:04]
if something didn't go well, that pilot didn't go well, but we're not going to roll
[2:04:07]
it out anyway because we had it on map to do it.
[2:04:09]
So,
[2:04:10]
this is very helpful.
[2:04:17]
just think as a board, we have to ask the questions, and
[2:04:21]
we don't know the answers as to whether it's too much.
[2:04:24]
And so I think it's important for us to ask that.
[2:04:27]
I would want our staff and our administration to tell us if they need to take a
[2:04:30]
pause and come back because they haven't found the perfect curriculum, and
[2:04:35]
need to repilot something else, and it sounds like
[2:04:38]
that's the dialogue we're having.
[2:04:40]
So, and
[2:04:42]
there's a huge amount of work that's been accomplished here, just tremendous
[2:04:45]
amounts.
[2:04:46]
Again, it's like having this plan and marching through it.
[2:04:50]
It's quite impressive to see everything that's been done
[2:04:53]
and,
[2:04:56]
yeah.
[2:04:57]
I think that the only thing that I want to make sure, and I know it's being done,
[2:05:00]
but when
[2:05:03]
you're talking about health, for example, and how it's kind
[2:05:07]
of embedded in some grade levels and some of the teachers take it
[2:05:11]
on and sometimes we outsource it, if it's tobacco and alcohol
[2:05:15]
training. Just as long as
[2:05:17]
every student at some point in their K through eight
[2:05:21]
career gets that, whether it's being piloted one place.
[2:05:26]
Ideally, in a perfect world, we're able to map, did this pilot go
[2:05:29]
through all these? And then some
[2:05:33]
did it not go through. And I know you have that. That's not something we see.
[2:05:36]
But for example, I'm just kind of COVID, and I remember during
[2:05:39]
COVID, some classes didn't get stuff because of COVID, right?
[2:05:42]
Well, we're kind of out of that now, but is there any
[2:05:46]
way that we are continuing to ensure that every class, every
[2:05:51]
student, maybe they get pulled out. I don't know.
[2:05:53]
It's just making sure they get all that health education that they
[2:05:57]
need.
[2:05:59]
All that gets impacted by pilots and whatnot.
[2:06:05]
Yeah. I just thought the health framework that was put together was a huge
[2:06:09]
lift to pull all of those different things because it is
[2:06:12]
not like a just a curriculum-
[2:06:14]
Right
[2:06:14]
... where we can say, like, "Oh, yeah, the State of California approved that, and
[2:06:17]
we know that all our kids are getting everything that they need." But like to sit
[2:06:21]
down, and I know that there was a lot of work that our staff did
[2:06:25]
to put this together to make sure we did cover everything that the kids are
[2:06:28]
needing to hit.
[2:06:29]
And it's so meaningful. I feel that these are when it's
[2:06:33]
just very helpful for our students, so thank you for all this.
[2:06:37]
Yeah. It's a huge amount of work and so
[2:06:42]
kudos to everyone who worked on it.
[2:06:44]
And I'm excited to see how Character Strong
[2:06:47]
can pull from Read. That's a great way to look at
[2:06:51]
connecting the social emotional across the schools,
[2:06:54]
to have this hub be in the Bel Air and then to be able to
[2:06:58]
carry it through. I really appreciate that, and I like that idea.
[2:07:07]
Anything else?
[2:07:10]
Okay, Nicole, that was very helpful.
[2:07:13]
And I think you're up on the next item, our AI task force
[2:07:16]
update.
[2:07:18]
Again.
[2:07:20]
Yeah.
[2:07:21]
So exciting. I get to kind of share all
[2:07:25]
the work that we did as an AI task force this year.
[2:07:30]
So excited to kind of share that. Next slide.
[2:07:34]
So what was the AI task force? Who was it?
[2:07:37]
So the really diverse group of stakeholders, as you can imagine, our community
[2:07:41]
showed up for this. We had amazing
[2:07:45]
participation and just amazing thought leadership from people in
[2:07:49]
all sorts of industries that really helped shape this work.
[2:07:52]
It was-It was fun to lead. It was fun to
[2:07:56]
learn from people that were in that room.
[2:07:59]
I'm excited to see where we've come with it, where really they were there to
[2:08:03]
listen, to learn, and provide really guidance to help shape some of the frameworks
[2:08:07]
that we developed. We met three times over the course of the year.
[2:08:11]
Like I said, it had family and community to teachers, administrators, board of
[2:08:15]
trustee members, all present in the room, doing the
[2:08:19]
work together.
[2:08:21]
So at the beginning of the year, we laid out a roadmap and
[2:08:25]
three main goals to accomplish. The first one was really thinking
[2:08:29]
big picture for what is our high-level vision for AI
[2:08:32]
integration across Green Bay Union that's connected to
[2:08:36]
our overall strategic plan.
[2:08:39]
And then how are we providing guidelines
[2:08:42]
to think about how we're using AI, data privacy,
[2:08:47]
bias, academic integrity,
[2:08:50]
just use transparency. With those guidelines, we also looked at
[2:08:54]
some policy that you will see later as well in the evening.
[2:08:58]
And then finally,
[2:08:59]
some work around how are we evaluating if we bring an AI tool to our
[2:09:03]
staff or even maybe to our students, how are we evaluating tools and creating a
[2:09:07]
multi-step framework to help us look through that and
[2:09:11]
make sure that we're, to me, always thinking about how we're innovating with
[2:09:15]
intention.
[2:09:17]
So I will not read this, but this was an iterative process
[2:09:22]
that I brought to the task force in the first meeting, and I came back in the
[2:09:25]
second with edits, and we landed on this vision
[2:09:29]
for artificial intelligence integration.
[2:09:32]
Just to point out some big things that I really think.
[2:09:36]
We thought of the technology as a way to amplify, not
[2:09:40]
substitute all the great and amazing learning and teaching that's happening in our
[2:09:44]
classrooms, the human connections.
[2:09:46]
It should never act as that substitute. It's only to amplify and enrich.
[2:09:51]
Really thinking about how we use for empowering creative problem
[2:09:54]
solvers. So thinking about personalizing the learning experience of our students,
[2:09:59]
for fostering digital well-being
[2:10:02]
are things that we really wanted to focus in on.
[2:10:04]
In that, thinking about purposeful or intentional
[2:10:07]
integration. We wanted to pull out equity and access,
[2:10:11]
safety and integrity, and evidence-based practices when we were
[2:10:15]
going through anything.
[2:10:17]
Finally, knowing that it is ever-changing technology, especially
[2:10:21]
AI, we need to make sure that we're continually
[2:10:24]
reevaluating the frameworks and practices that we're using to
[2:10:28]
ensure we're responding to opportunities, and also our
[2:10:32]
community needs.
[2:10:36]
The next big thing was looking at AI guidelines.
[2:10:38]
And so we spent a whole meeting, and I've attached a draft
[2:10:42]
two of where those have gone
[2:10:45]
in the packet. But these are the big areas that we looked
[2:10:49]
into in bullets that are around safety, data privacy, and security, equity and
[2:10:53]
access, instructional impact and support, transparency and oversight,
[2:10:57]
responsible use and academic integrity, and ongoing review and adaption.
[2:11:01]
And we spent some time going in to different bullets under each
[2:11:05]
of these, providing feedback. And so you'll see a draft
[2:11:08]
two,
[2:11:10]
where we even added new things based on feedback. We edited old things.
[2:11:13]
I like how we formatted our guidelines so we can constantly show how they're being
[2:11:17]
updated and adapted. I think it's something we will continue to do and need to do
[2:11:21]
yearly, if not more than yearly, with the stuff that is happening, and the pace
[2:11:25]
of change that is happening. Because it lives as a living
[2:11:29]
document. To me, our policy is the what.
[2:11:33]
It's going to provide that structure where you guys are going to
[2:11:36]
hopefully see and approve some of that tonight.
[2:11:39]
But this is a how, and it can be a living thing that we're able to update more
[2:11:43]
frequently, and the support for how all of our students,
[2:11:46]
how our educators are implementing AI in our district.
[2:11:51]
Some of the things that we heard
[2:11:54]
when we were
[2:11:58]
doing that, getting that feedback from across all the posters.
[2:12:01]
We did this gallery walk. But across all the posters, these were some of the big
[2:12:04]
trends that we heard everywhere. This idea, not idea, and we had already brought
[2:12:08]
it up in our vision statement, of the need for human connection.
[2:12:11]
Staying center on that. For serving that as a
[2:12:14]
key fundamental practice in our district.
[2:12:18]
Just ensuring that we're staying up to date with the pace of change.
[2:12:21]
Things are rapidly changing, and how do we make sure our policy, our
[2:12:24]
guidelines, our PD, our tools are always up to date with
[2:12:29]
the pace. Capacity and budget. This is a big undertaking, and how
[2:12:33]
are we ensuring we have the capacity, the right people, to really
[2:12:37]
lead this work. And then also plain language.
[2:12:40]
I love that this one came up. I think we are looking at the big level,
[2:12:44]
our high-picture level. We often get into acronyms, all the stuff we do in
[2:12:48]
education and the jargon, but really making sure we maybe take a look at
[2:12:52]
these guidelines or some of these frameworks and simplify and make sure the
[2:12:54]
language is really family-friendly.
[2:12:57]
Our students and our families should be able to read it, and they should be able to
[2:13:00]
act on whatever we put out. So I'm excited can we look at that next year,
[2:13:04]
with some of the work that we have planned.
[2:13:07]
The final thing we had on our
[2:13:11]
goals and our roadmap was around AI tool evaluation.
[2:13:15]
When we thought about we can't just look at tool evaluation, especially if we're
[2:13:18]
thinking of student tools. We really need to think about
[2:13:22]
how students are learning about AI before we can even put an AI tool in front of
[2:13:25]
them. So we also looked at AI literacy and developed the draft
[2:13:29]
scope and sequence. We then said, "Well, great, they're learning about how,
[2:13:33]
but if they don't know when it's appropriate to use it, we need to
[2:13:37]
go deeper into the use, the AI use framework for our students."
[2:13:41]
And so we also developed a draft around an AI student use framework and got
[2:13:45]
feedback around that. So we're refining our guidelines of
[2:13:49]
how students are interacting with AI.
[2:13:51]
And then finally, we did create an AI tool evaluation.
[2:13:55]
We even had a new sample, a use case where we used a tool that was
[2:13:59]
being piloted at Del Mar. And we shared about
[2:14:03]
how that was being done, and then that was our use case to develop a tool, if we
[2:14:06]
were ever going to look at
[2:14:09]
a different AI product. But also
[2:14:13]
thinking of how can we use the same vetting for any tech
[2:14:17]
product that we have. So really trying to create some structures and systems, to
[2:14:21]
make sure we are being purposeful with any integration that we
[2:14:23]
do.Some next steps. So excited. I
[2:14:27]
think this year was really a foundational year, a big kind of maybe
[2:14:31]
high-level visioning, guideline development.
[2:14:34]
And the shift, the focus I see where the shift is happening is we're
[2:14:38]
turning towards more of the implementation.
[2:14:41]
How are we ensuring that these frameworks actually work
[2:14:45]
with our teaching and our learning across the district?
[2:14:49]
One of the first things, and we've already talked to
[2:14:52]
Ryan Donalo, who was a part of the AI task force and has already been doing some
[2:14:56]
amazing work around AI student literacy and lessons.
[2:15:00]
He is happy to lead a student kind of council around AI,
[2:15:04]
so bringing some Del Mar students into a panel to get direct feedback about our
[2:15:08]
guidelines. But also just make sure the work we're doing is always grounded in
[2:15:12]
student voice. Staff feedback and planning. We've created this thing.
[2:15:16]
We've had staff on the team. We've had a lot of staff participation, which has been
[2:15:20]
great at all levels, from read all the way to Del Mar.
[2:15:22]
But now we need to bring these frameworks back to the entire staff, to get
[2:15:26]
more feedback, to actually try out, buy-in, implementation,
[2:15:30]
track some data. Is it working? Do these things actually...
[2:15:33]
Are they useful for you? You'll see some of the student use and
[2:15:37]
talk about,
[2:15:39]
a stoplight for the younger grades and possibly a zero to
[2:15:43]
five framework for the upper grades.
[2:15:45]
We need to actually start to try that out in real life, right? We developed it.
[2:15:49]
We have peer reviews from other
[2:15:51]
sources as well. We saw it as a good tool, but we need to actually use it to make
[2:15:55]
sure it is an implementable good tool for our students and our
[2:15:59]
staff.
[2:16:00]
We also really need to think about how this is overlapping with a big
[2:16:04]
priority that is coming up in the tech use
[2:16:07]
framework. And so ensuring there is cohesion around our
[2:16:11]
expectations district-wide. Can't be doing this AI work and then having it totally
[2:16:15]
separate from all the tech use. They go hand in hand, so making sure we're really
[2:16:18]
thinking thoughtfully about how these things overlap.
[2:16:21]
And then I am happy and excited to lead an AI Task
[2:16:25]
Force 2.0. But really kind of looking at more how this
[2:16:29]
rollout
[2:16:31]
is happening and how are we supporting the site-level execution of some of the
[2:16:34]
frameworks we developed,
[2:16:36]
and adjusting and refining our work based on the feedback we get.
[2:16:42]
Brief overview of all the work, and I know there's a lot of attachments as well,
[2:16:46]
that go into
[2:16:49]
the deliverables that we were able to accomplish this year.
[2:16:53]
But if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
[2:17:03]
I'll ask, just was there anything kind of surprising that
[2:17:07]
came out of the task force
[2:17:10]
work that you've done? It's so exciting because it's so new, and
[2:17:14]
it was
[2:17:16]
a needed thing and nope, I feel like all the districts are trying
[2:17:20]
to figure this out.
[2:17:22]
And you're trying to help set the guardrails and the policy and the vision and
[2:17:25]
everything was just... Was there anything kind of surprising that
[2:17:29]
came out of it?
[2:17:30]
Yeah.
[2:17:31]
That's a great question.
[2:17:37]
Or maybe just for 2.0 we can come back.
[2:17:40]
Yeah.
[2:17:47]
What I
[2:17:49]
loved is I think we tried to bring in
[2:17:52]
some
[2:17:53]
use cases of how we're using AI in our district.
[2:17:56]
So we had Mr. Devoto come in the second meeting and
[2:17:59]
show, it was a kind of warm-up activity we did,
[2:18:03]
but how he might use it as a teacher.
[2:18:06]
He's completely the one interacting with it, but use AI
[2:18:09]
or Snorkel.
[2:18:11]
Ms. Chase, who was here actually just a moment ago, but she came in and showcased
[2:18:15]
Snorkel, which is an AI tool. And the conversations that came out of that
[2:18:19]
from especially the community members, the family members of, "Oh, I
[2:18:23]
didn't realize you could use AI," and just providing those glimpses into how it
[2:18:27]
could be really leveraged to enhance.
[2:18:29]
Not replace critical thinking, but really enhance it.
[2:18:32]
I think were really meaningful. Those were some of my favorite parts of our
[2:18:36]
AI task force. And I don't know if that's surprising, but just I think gave
[2:18:40]
glimpses into how we're really strategically thinking about it.
[2:18:44]
Not just as some tool that's going to take away from the work, like really
[2:18:47]
intentionally how we're using it
[2:18:49]
to support writing, to support critical thinking.
[2:18:53]
And we were able to showcase that, and then hear parents saying, "Oh, wow, that's
[2:18:57]
amazing. I didn't know it could do that." Or
[2:18:59]
asking really good questions, follow questions of how...
[2:19:03]
Questioning how it's used too, and being able to have that dialogue.
[2:19:06]
So it wasn't just like positive and questions, so then we could have that dialogue
[2:19:09]
and kind of share, because we had the right people in the room and had
[2:19:14]
that. It
[2:19:15]
might not answer totally surprising, but I think that was
[2:19:19]
such an important piece of it. And when we were designing the things, I'm glad we
[2:19:22]
thought to bring some of those things in.
[2:19:25]
So it wasn't just looking at the guidelines, like really hands-on kind of
[2:19:29]
thinking about AI in the education space.
[2:19:33]
And just a little bit of a follow-up is that all this really great
[2:19:36]
work has been happening.
[2:19:38]
Yeah.
[2:19:38]
And I'm going to make an assumption that a lot of this is in the
[2:19:43]
front of the parents' mind of-
[2:19:45]
Yeah
[2:19:45]
... what's happening. So is there a thought on how
[2:19:50]
you will communicate out to the broader parent community
[2:19:54]
about the work that has been done in this task force and
[2:19:59]
the direction that the
[2:20:03]
district is heading in terms of-
[2:20:06]
Yeah
[2:20:06]
... our relationship with AI?
[2:20:08]
Yeah. To me, I think there's a great opportunity.
[2:20:11]
I would love to get a lot of these things posted to our website, right?
[2:20:14]
And actually have our vision and have that updated to have these things
[2:20:18]
there. Transparency came up throughout
[2:20:20]
our... in the past. From the first meeting all the way
[2:20:24]
in the guidelines, we talk about it.
[2:20:26]
So how are we ensuring that families and our students are
[2:20:30]
aware of that? So how can we make sure these things are
[2:20:33]
available?
[2:20:36]
So to me, we need to make some website updates, we need to share newsletters, we
[2:20:39]
need to get the communication out.
[2:20:41]
And I do see that as happening beginning of the year, when we're also bringing all
[2:20:45]
of our, again, a few updates to have, but bring all of our staff
[2:20:49]
up to speed with it as well. Showcasing and sharing with the
[2:20:52]
broader community, I think is
[2:20:56]
going to be part of that plan as we move forward.
[2:21:00]
And Doug's too.
[2:21:01]
Great. I think it's so important so that we are partnering together
[2:21:05]
with everyone.
[2:21:06]
Yeah.
[2:21:07]
Thank you.
[2:21:07]
Yeah.
[2:21:11]
Thank you. It's nice to have a guidepost
[2:21:14]
for something that is so rapidly evolving.
[2:21:16]
It's very helpful to have a starting point, and this depth of
[2:21:20]
information is fabulous. Thank you.
[2:21:24]
Any other questions?
[2:21:27]
Any public comment
[2:21:30]
or deliberation?
[2:21:35]
I think we're in a great place.
[2:21:37]
Starting the task force in the beginning of the year, and that there will be a
[2:21:41]
task force 2.0.
[2:21:45]
But I'll just reiterate, I think the importance that we communicate
[2:21:49]
this out to our parents.
[2:21:53]
And just, if they can have touch points of where they hear Ms.
[2:21:57]
Chase or Mr. Devoto, and how it's
[2:22:00]
potentially being used, it removes the scariness and the
[2:22:04]
unknown of it. And I think there's a vacuum
[2:22:08]
of information right now, and that's not a great place to be, because then it can
[2:22:12]
be filled with,
[2:22:15]
I don't know, filled with misinformation or...
[2:22:20]
But I feel like our district is being very proactive, and
[2:22:24]
we have done all this really great work, and I think now it's
[2:22:27]
imperative that this information
[2:22:31]
is out to our broader community.
[2:22:34]
For our students and our parents and the greater community to
[2:22:37]
know what we are doing, and that this is an
[2:22:40]
ever-changing,
[2:22:42]
it's not the work is done and that's it, but we
[2:22:46]
will constantly be
[2:22:50]
improving and as we learn more and as technology
[2:22:53]
changes, we'll be adjusting. But I think it's
[2:22:56]
great work.
[2:22:59]
It's great. And I agree. Nicole has this
[2:23:02]
product that she uses for the roadmap,
[2:23:06]
literally.
[2:23:06]
Mm-hmm.
[2:23:07]
And that's what this is all about. Task force 1.0
[2:23:11]
happened, and to your point now, it's time to share
[2:23:15]
so that
[2:23:16]
people are more engaged for task force 2.0.
[2:23:21]
And that's how we move forward. I think that's an important piece here.
[2:23:25]
So, I would love for that communication to
[2:23:29]
happen and for us to have a more robust task force
[2:23:32]
2.0 moving forward.
[2:23:39]
Yeah. I 100% agree. This is a huge amount of work
[2:23:43]
that has been done, and actually I was incredibly
[2:23:47]
overwhelmed by the amount that had been accomplished in a year.
[2:23:50]
I thought it was really, really impressive.
[2:23:54]
I would love to see particularly things like the student use framework
[2:23:58]
get pushed out to students. I know we ask them to sign,
[2:24:02]
families to sign tech use agreements.
[2:24:04]
It might be helpful to link things.
[2:24:06]
I'll leave that, but it's just a thought.
[2:24:09]
A way to not only make it available, but to
[2:24:12]
actively push it out to people that they understand it, and
[2:24:16]
also be clear that it's a living document.
[2:24:22]
If I could just be, because I'm not part of the task force, if I could just
[2:24:26]
propose one little thought to just hold onto
[2:24:30]
is, I love all the discussion that we're making
[2:24:33]
creative
[2:24:35]
problem solving for the kids. That's where it needs to live, in the
[2:24:39]
human brain, not in the AI brain. When I see brainstorming,
[2:24:43]
I think of that as outsourcing, and I think it's not
[2:24:47]
intentional. But I think the wording maybe needs to be
[2:24:50]
changed because when I think of brainstorming, I think of that as where the
[2:24:54]
creative work is done by our kids to come up with where they're going to
[2:24:58]
go, and we shouldn't be signaling that that should be outsourced
[2:25:01]
to AI.
[2:25:03]
Yeah.
[2:25:03]
It showed up in the student framework a little bit, sort of like a
[2:25:06]
scaffolding helper that we would say brainstorming/outlining.
[2:25:10]
And I think that that's probably just getting lost in translation.
[2:25:14]
I don't think that was the intention at all when I read it and hear the
[2:25:17]
presentation. But to me, that's how I took it.
[2:25:20]
So just a communication thought to maybe tweak that word.
[2:25:29]
But yeah.
[2:25:30]
Yeah.
[2:25:30]
I would love to see our
[2:25:33]
families and our teachers and everyone be really aware of this work, because it
[2:25:37]
was really impressive.
[2:25:38]
Yeah, and I just think having the vision articulated,
[2:25:42]
it's incredibly helpful just to see how we
[2:25:47]
view AI, how it fits into our overall
[2:25:52]
structure
[2:25:54]
for learning as well as staff professional development.
[2:25:58]
It's
[2:25:59]
very helpful to have, again, that starting point and then to have
[2:26:02]
guidelines. These are just constantly
[2:26:06]
at the forefront of the conversation when we talk about AI, so
[2:26:09]
it's very helpful. Thank you.
[2:26:13]
Thank you very much.
[2:26:17]
And I think that brings us to our physical education report.
[2:26:20]
Are you up again?
[2:26:23]
Nicole's-
[2:26:23]
I'm the last one. How was I
[2:26:26]
scared?So,
[2:26:33]
this is an annual PE board report. And within it,
[2:26:37]
there does have to be a report on the FITNESSGRAM, which is
[2:26:41]
an annual physical fitness test for a couple of our grade levels we'll get into,
[2:26:45]
and a report about the instructional minutes of PE and ensuring that we are
[2:26:50]
in alignment with any CD mandates around that.
[2:26:53]
We wanted to also take the opportunity to showcase all the amazing work that's
[2:26:57]
happening in our PE programs across the district.
[2:26:59]
So I also have some slides about just what's going on
[2:27:03]
in this update.
[2:27:05]
First, around instructional minutes.
[2:27:08]
So there is a current scheduling committee happening over at Reid to
[2:27:12]
really look at a plan for next year and best meet the developmental
[2:27:15]
needs and instructional requirements for all students at all grade
[2:27:19]
levels. You'll note that both first and second-grade students
[2:27:23]
will receive 200 minutes of PE every two weeks, which
[2:27:27]
is every 10 days. That is part of a CDE mandate that we need to
[2:27:31]
meet that threshold.
[2:27:33]
TK and pre-K and kindergarten don't have that
[2:27:37]
mandate as part of them, but our school is looking at, not our school, Reid is
[2:27:41]
looking at
[2:27:42]
developmental appropriateness.
[2:27:44]
They're looking at how recess plays in, how movement breaks play in, and they'll
[2:27:47]
land somewhere where they currently are around PE minutes.
[2:27:51]
They just haven't gotten that quite here.
[2:27:54]
So,
[2:27:55]
we'll know more even next year around that.
[2:27:57]
Bel Air, all third through fifth-grade students receive 200
[2:28:01]
minutes of PE in a two-week period, so every 10 days as well.
[2:28:05]
They structure it where there's two 50-minute instructional blocks each week for
[2:28:09]
each grade level.
[2:28:10]
At Del Mar, all sixth through eighth grade students receive 438
[2:28:14]
minutes of physical education in a two-week period, so that's every 10 days, which
[2:28:18]
exceeds the requirement. It is a mandatory class, so all of our
[2:28:22]
students are receiving PE at Del Mar.
[2:28:26]
In terms of the FITNESSGRAM,
[2:28:28]
sometimes called the FIT, or the Physical Fitness Test as well, it is given to
[2:28:32]
every fifth and seventh grader in our districts.
[2:28:35]
We are required to administer it between the months of February
[2:28:39]
and May. So we just finished up with some of this data, so this is
[2:28:43]
fresh off the press. The main goal is to just build
[2:28:46]
those lifelong habits
[2:28:48]
of regular physical activity.
[2:28:51]
I listed the components that get assessed.
[2:28:54]
And then you'll see that there is, mostly they're the same.
[2:28:57]
There's a little change where they do a PACER test for their aerobic capacity at
[2:29:01]
Bel Air, and they do the mile test at Del Mar.
[2:29:03]
There's different ways you can accomplish different components.
[2:29:07]
And then what we report on is participation rate.
[2:29:09]
That's all that's required at state.
[2:29:12]
We do have to hit above a 95% participation from our
[2:29:15]
cast. You'll see some dips. A lot of it is because students actually are
[2:29:19]
injured. Most of the not participation is because students couldn't
[2:29:23]
participate. When I talked with PE teachers about it, whether it's
[2:29:27]
injuries, anything, right? But usually, it was due to a physical injury that
[2:29:31]
led to any kind of deduction from our participation rate.
[2:29:37]
So going into the great work that's happening across our schools.
[2:29:41]
So first at Reid, where I have Mr. Kizer and Ms.
[2:29:44]
Sanjeev as his instructional aide who supports PE
[2:29:48]
there. So some fun pictures about things that they do
[2:29:53]
in the class and then a few just kind of components of the program, the
[2:29:56]
next slide. So
[2:30:00]
really the highlight, won't get into too much of it, but that
[2:30:04]
it really is about
[2:30:06]
a progression of skill development at these younger grades.
[2:30:10]
We want to build their motor skills.
[2:30:13]
We want to teach them
[2:30:15]
about teamwork,
[2:30:17]
about safety in these lessons, engagement.
[2:30:21]
They're doing a lot of different things
[2:30:24]
to
[2:30:26]
move, to dance,
[2:30:29]
to cooperate, right? For cooperative play.
[2:30:32]
He is providing consistent routines at that level.
[2:30:37]
He is constantly thinking of developmental
[2:30:41]
appropriateness. And he's also thinking of some fun stuff.
[2:30:43]
I don't know if any of you have been able to volunteer during his bowling,
[2:30:47]
but it is amazing. I got to do it with my son last year, and it was, they
[2:30:51]
created a bowling alley in the gym, which was just fun to see.
[2:30:54]
So different ways to really engage students
[2:30:56]
is great.
[2:30:58]
Integration. They also are able to apply these skills across different things that
[2:31:02]
happen, different activities. From recess, he has games on at recess.
[2:31:05]
So things they learn in PE, they also can do at recess.
[2:31:08]
They're doing stations, full-out events, dance
[2:31:12]
parties. There's opportunities with field day.
[2:31:15]
But really he wants his students to build confidence, perseverance,
[2:31:19]
and just learn real-world movement
[2:31:23]
when he's thinking about PE. And also the importance of social and emotional
[2:31:26]
development. This you'll see across all our schools.
[2:31:29]
But this really is an area where they focus on kindness,
[2:31:33]
respect, communication,
[2:31:35]
just healthy habits, and ensuring that there is an inclusive environment,
[2:31:40]
and kids are having fun
[2:31:42]
when they are there. And
[2:31:45]
I know my son said it, but PE was his favorite class last year, so.
[2:31:48]
But
[2:31:50]
it definitely is happening there.
[2:31:52]
So at Bel Air,
[2:31:54]
being Mr. Teaber and Ms. Aaron,
[2:31:56]
and he kind of had teamwork and sportsmanship was something he wanted to highlight.
[2:32:00]
Couple pictures of things going on, but also just a little picture of some
[2:32:04]
of the fun different activities he uses.
[2:32:07]
I've actually been able to play that Scoops 500 as part of Bel Air.
[2:32:13]
During their PDD, they do some warm-ups and some community time, and he live won,
[2:32:17]
and we did the 500 Scoops, and it got competitive. It was fun.
[2:32:22]
The teachers were dying for things.
[2:32:24]
So I know that game, I don't know any of them, but he's using different creative
[2:32:27]
ways to just get the kids up and moving.
[2:32:30]
He kind of talks about that. Oh, I think I've gone to that. Sorry.
[2:32:33]
Yeah, next slide. And his first thing of just the different
[2:32:37]
types of games that really try to build team building,
[2:32:41]
but also are maybe not the normalPE games you might
[2:32:45]
think of when you think of PE. It's not just basketball, it's not just soccer, it's
[2:32:49]
not just kickball, right? Really building in some other
[2:32:53]
opportunities for kids to move.
[2:32:56]
And they are often adapted from Playworks.
[2:32:58]
Bel Air's had a partnership with Playworks.
[2:33:00]
That's how we do some of our leadership during recess for
[2:33:04]
students who have been trained. So a lot of these games are adapted even from that.
[2:33:08]
He also really is focused on health, benefits of exercise, bones,
[2:33:12]
muscles, safety, what are the components of fitness.
[2:33:17]
So frequency, intensity, time, and type, and nutrition.
[2:33:19]
So he does a lot of work around that, and wanted to highlight his focus on
[2:33:23]
health. And then he also talks about social emotional learning, which again, you're
[2:33:27]
going to see across the board, but teamwork, sportsmanship, accepting differences,
[2:33:31]
fairness comes up. And I'm in third through fifth grade, this one comes up a lot
[2:33:35]
when they're playing games. So how are we teaching the rules and fairness?
[2:33:38]
And believe it or-- being able to assert yourself, but also listen and be
[2:33:42]
respectful of others. So he's constantly doing that in his PE
[2:33:45]
lessons.
[2:33:48]
Finally, at Del Mar,
[2:33:50]
we have Mr. Turn, Mr. Silva, and Ms.
[2:33:53]
Johnson teaching PE over there. A couple
[2:33:56]
pictures and some from Del Mar track, which we'll
[2:34:00]
talk a little about. But their program, on our stage,
[2:34:04]
really does focus on... There's three teachers there teaching across the grades,
[2:34:08]
but they really are focused on vertical alignment.
[2:34:12]
And they want to-- I think the one thing I liked how they laid out is that
[2:34:16]
all their units really focus on skill acquisition, then tactical
[2:34:19]
understanding, communication, and teamwork.
[2:34:22]
So they're building on each other, and they're keeping that sequence pretty routine
[2:34:26]
across it.
[2:34:28]
There always is a focus on engagement, inclusion, and success for
[2:34:32]
students across activities. And then there's expanded
[2:34:36]
learning opportunities. They can apply their learning in games and
[2:34:40]
other performance settings. And one of the biggest ones to know, and I'm sure if
[2:34:43]
you've been to the track and field, it was one of the first things that I actually
[2:34:46]
got to go to, because I started in the spring two years ago, and Brian took me to
[2:34:50]
the county track and field event. And I got to see how many of our
[2:34:54]
kids, compared to any other middle school, participate in that.
[2:34:57]
It's amazing that about half our student body is there participating in track and
[2:35:01]
field. They had never even thought about it maybe before they came to Del Mar, and
[2:35:04]
they're doing it, and they're racing, and everyone is having so much fun.
[2:35:08]
And so I think that's just a testament to them, and
[2:35:11]
that engagement that they are
[2:35:15]
really creating over there. But they really want to support
[2:35:19]
confidence and goal-setting, and just application of skills.
[2:35:22]
And again, student development culture, that is a lot around SEL as well.
[2:35:26]
They named it a little differently, but it's about cooperation, it's about
[2:35:29]
leadership, communication, making sure they're really developing
[2:35:33]
responsibility.
[2:35:34]
And they also are hopefully just becoming lifelong learners,
[2:35:38]
lifelong lovers of physical fitness, of health,
[2:35:42]
so that they can participate however they feel when they move forward.
[2:35:46]
But
[2:35:48]
there's such great work happening across the board.
[2:35:50]
It was really fun to see our three PE teachers come together on March 16th when
[2:35:53]
we had articulation time and talk about how all of our PE programs
[2:35:57]
build on each other. And we're looking forward to bringing that up more often
[2:36:01]
next year, where our PE teachers across the district can get together more
[2:36:04]
frequently and really talk about their programs and how they align.
[2:36:08]
So yeah, that's a little update about PE. Here to answer questions.
[2:36:15]
Any questions?
[2:36:18]
I have a question.
[2:36:21]
love seeing this, just before I jump in.
[2:36:23]
I feel like I don't know how often, maybe, I guess it's once a year,
[2:36:27]
but this is
[2:36:28]
so robust. I love seeing all the sites, and it makes me want to go and
[2:36:32]
volunteer at all the PEs.
[2:36:35]
But my question is,
[2:36:39]
do we have any system in place,
[2:36:43]
and I don't know how we would do this, but we've talked about this before, of
[2:36:47]
how
[2:36:49]
having PE helps with
[2:36:54]
social emotional outcomes.
[2:36:58]
There's so much in there. There's so much
[2:37:03]
built into every day when they're out there, not only getting
[2:37:07]
healthy physically, but when they get to be as a
[2:37:10]
team at a track meet, and to support their peers
[2:37:14]
and do something that's totally outside their wheelhouse, and then suddenly become
[2:37:18]
first place in that. It's just something they never would have done, and our
[2:37:22]
school just really embraces that.
[2:37:24]
But it's also climbing to the top of the rope and ringing the
[2:37:28]
bell at Reid. So
[2:37:31]
these are huge accomplishments, and they're social emotional, and I'm just
[2:37:35]
curious how...
[2:37:40]
I can imagine if it went away, everything would
[2:37:44]
be negatively impacted.
[2:37:45]
Mm-hmm.
[2:37:46]
So I
[2:37:48]
don't ever want to imagine that. But just think of now how much it's in the
[2:37:51]
opposite when it's enhanced the way it is, and how positively impacted.
[2:37:54]
Mm-hmm.
[2:37:54]
I'm just wondering how we could
[2:37:58]
link that somehow and try and find
[2:38:01]
ways. And even the after-school sports.
[2:38:04]
We talked about all the clubs, or not just sports, but all the clubs and the
[2:38:08]
other additional activities on campuses that help
[2:38:12]
influence social emotional. I don't know.
[2:38:13]
I guess my question is, how can we
[2:38:18]
measure that and make sure we're focusing on the right things when we get to...
[2:38:22]
Because we're focusing on a lot of great things.
[2:38:23]
Yeah.
[2:38:25]
Great question. I don't know if I have an answer for you.
[2:38:28]
No.
[2:38:28]
No, I love that. I always think about measurement, how are we measuring the right
[2:38:32]
things? And I do agree that, and it got brought up by all three
[2:38:36]
independently, right? I talked with all the different PE departments and worked
[2:38:40]
with their teams, and all of them brought up social emotional, or
[2:38:44]
the building of culture as a big component of their program.
[2:38:47]
So how are we? It's a harder thing to measure, but how are we?
[2:38:50]
I think it's a great question. I don't think we've thought fully, but maybe that is
[2:38:54]
something next year, as we get these-These groups together more often is something
[2:38:57]
we can look at with them. Like as they talk about the program, like how are we
[2:39:00]
actually measuring this impact? Because you're all saying it and we see it, we see
[2:39:04]
the impact kind of indirectly-
[2:39:05]
Yeah
[2:39:05]
... but like how are we maybe measuring that more strategically?
[2:39:09]
Because I don't have that right-
[2:39:11]
I-
[2:39:11]
I can't think of any way we're doing it now, but I like that concept and-
[2:39:15]
And how do we support it? How do we support dimensions
[2:39:19]
of it? Like, it came up the other day of
[2:39:23]
uniforms, like school
[2:39:26]
spirit and pride and
[2:39:29]
how do we help? Whether it's the PTA or the board, but how do we help then
[2:39:33]
continue to support it and
[2:39:36]
watch it thrive?
[2:39:37]
Beautiful.
[2:39:39]
That's it. Those are my questions for the future.
[2:39:44]
Any questions?
[2:39:47]
Public comment?
[2:39:50]
Deliberation? Lucky to have this
[2:39:54]
foundation
[2:39:55]
and have these amazing staff.
[2:39:58]
So fun to see all the great different fun things.
[2:40:02]
I wish I could take PE again. It was not that fun when I took it.
[2:40:07]
They're working really hard. I should acknowledge
[2:40:11]
Eric Kaiser. Personally, I know that because
[2:40:16]
at least one Tuesday a month, maybe more,
[2:40:19]
he is in a garage with a bunch of dads
[2:40:23]
literally building stuff up so that they can bring it to school
[2:40:27]
and create these new fabulous things.
[2:40:29]
There's a tremendous level of commitment that we should
[2:40:33]
recognize and be grateful.
[2:40:39]
Yeah.
[2:40:40]
You think about teachers and how
[2:40:44]
many ways they influence kids, and it's not just
[2:40:50]
being an academic instructor or a physical
[2:40:53]
education instructor, but it's a mentor and it's
[2:40:57]
someone you can go to and it's someone who introduces you to something you never
[2:41:00]
thought of. It's
[2:41:02]
so much more, and it's
[2:41:05]
great to see
[2:41:06]
this.
[2:41:12]
The next item,
[2:41:15]
which is F, LCAP and budget overview for parents
[2:41:19]
report. I think this is Dr. McGrath and-
[2:41:21]
All right. I'm happy to take this one.
[2:41:22]
This is our local control accountability plan that comes to you each year.
[2:41:26]
This is a three-year state required plan.
[2:41:29]
You will see this overview document in our LCAP, including
[2:41:33]
the overview budget for parents. So, two
[2:41:37]
three-year plans that fit within our six-year strategic plan.
[2:41:41]
The state's desire for this plan is to think about steps and
[2:41:46]
dollars that should go above and beyond for students that are socioeconomically
[2:41:49]
disadvantaged, our English language learners, foster and homeless youth.
[2:41:53]
So,
[2:41:54]
we create a three-year plan. This is just the annual update to that
[2:41:58]
plan. You will see the LCAP and the budget come back
[2:42:02]
at the next meeting for your full adoption.
[2:42:04]
So this is just for your perusal this time, and then there'll
[2:42:08]
be a public hearing at the end of the meeting as well.
[2:42:12]
So, no action this time. We'll look for the public hearing and your
[2:42:15]
action next time.
[2:42:17]
All right. Thank you. Any questions for Dr. McGrath or Dr. Cam about this item?
[2:42:22]
Any public comment?
[2:42:25]
Deliberation?
[2:42:28]
Great. Thank you very much for all the hard work on that.
[2:42:31]
And then that brings us to the proposed '26, '27 budget
[2:42:35]
presentation. Dr. Cam.
[2:42:39]
Thank you.
[2:42:44]
So,
[2:42:45]
bringing forward the budget for the '26, '27 fiscal year.
[2:42:50]
That's the fiscal year
[2:42:51]
ends in July 1st.
[2:42:54]
That does include updated multi-year projections that go through the fiscal
[2:42:58]
year '28, '29. So two years out.
[2:43:02]
Before I want to start, I want to just recognize
[2:43:05]
some work that's been happening behind the scenes.
[2:43:09]
Marin County is transitioning its financial systems.
[2:43:14]
That covers finance, payroll,
[2:43:18]
and position control for human resources.
[2:43:21]
So we're operating two platforms in parallel, and I wanted to recognize
[2:43:25]
the work of the business services team that have been working behind the scenes and
[2:43:29]
contributing many additional hours
[2:43:32]
to ensure that the transition is seamless.
[2:43:36]
So I'll start there.
[2:43:38]
The budget was developed in the new system while we're currently operating in
[2:43:42]
the current system, that we're going to close the year with the old
[2:43:46]
system while merging with the new.
[2:43:48]
So, that's what I mean by the parallel implementation.
[2:43:52]
The budget, there's 134 pages in it.
[2:43:54]
I'm not going to go into the granular details, but I will just note that
[2:43:58]
the way that that report is structured is there's a narrative summary, the
[2:44:02]
presentation itself, the financial summaries, and then it goes
[2:44:05]
into granular details there, follows after.
[2:44:11]
The
[2:44:12]
reason I put this calendar up here is, especially when it applies to the
[2:44:16]
budget, is that the district is bringing forward the budget proposal before
[2:44:20]
the state budget is even finalized.
[2:44:23]
And so,
[2:44:24]
there's trailer bills and budget amendments that can still change at the state
[2:44:27]
level that influences the district's budgets.
[2:44:31]
So this budget proposal is using a combination of the
[2:44:35]
governor's original proposal that may revise legislative
[2:44:39]
assumptions, local indicators, particularly as it
[2:44:42]
references to property tax rates.
[2:44:45]
And then the district has an opportunity to capture all of that and
[2:44:49]
true up in December at first interim.
[2:44:53]
If there are substantive material changes, the district
[2:44:57]
would bring that back in advance at first interim in August with a
[2:45:00]
45-day budget revise. So this is where we are,
[2:45:04]
in that we're bringing forward this budget proposal before everything is
[2:45:08]
ironed out at the state legislature and the governor's
[2:45:11]
levelAs well. Next slide, please.
[2:45:14]
So
[2:45:16]
what are the material changes here that are reflected in the budget?
[2:45:20]
As I alluded to,
[2:45:22]
and this updates revenue and expenditure assumptions for '26, '27,
[2:45:26]
starting in July, going through to June 30th of that following fiscal
[2:45:30]
year, and it provides an updated two-year forecast.
[2:45:34]
Revenue for '26, '27 is being budgeted at
[2:45:37]
33.4 million, and total expenditures at
[2:45:41]
34.6 million. You'll note that does lead to a
[2:45:45]
projected decrease in the district's general fund balance of
[2:45:49]
$1.19 million.
[2:45:53]
That outlines then a projected ending general fund balance of
[2:45:56]
$12 million and a combined unrestricted reserve
[2:46:00]
of 31.3%.
[2:46:04]
Next slide, please.
[2:46:07]
So the key variance between on the
[2:46:11]
revenue side that's reflected in the '26, '27 budget
[2:46:14]
as compared to the working budget in the current year.
[2:46:19]
Overall, it's an increase of about 4.3%.
[2:46:22]
That represents an increase of $1.3 million.
[2:46:26]
You'll note that this chart is outlining where those
[2:46:29]
increases are largely reflected.
[2:46:32]
Property taxes and LCFF funding is budgeted to increase at
[2:46:37]
4.4%.
[2:46:39]
Parcel taxes at 3%, that's voter approved.
[2:46:43]
State revenues at 9.1%. I might add, the largest
[2:46:47]
driver to that state revenue increase is a
[2:46:51]
one-time block grant associated
[2:46:55]
with the current coming '26, '27 fiscal year.
[2:47:00]
Foundation revenue is being held steady with contribution
[2:47:03]
assumptions at 1.75 million,
[2:47:07]
and with minor increases to local and other revenue sources
[2:47:11]
at 1.7%. The only decrease is on
[2:47:15]
federal revenue. That's with the current assumptions of the
[2:47:19]
IDEA funding from the federal government is currently
[2:47:22]
budgeted with a slight decrease.
[2:47:25]
Next slide, please.
[2:47:27]
On the expenditure side,
[2:47:29]
aggregated in total,
[2:47:31]
the district
[2:47:34]
combined expenditure budget is increasing by 3%
[2:47:38]
or $1.56 million. That leads to the
[2:47:42]
$34.4 million combined operating expenditures.
[2:47:46]
Certificated salaries represent
[2:47:50]
42% of the district's budget, an increase of
[2:47:53]
6.8%.
[2:47:55]
That takes into account step and column where individuals are actually
[2:47:58]
landing. Just takes into account all of the new positions that we've hired for as
[2:48:02]
well.
[2:48:05]
That also takes into account, I'll speak more to this later,
[2:48:09]
but... Well, I can speak to it now. It includes the
[2:48:12]
additional 3% increase to the salary schedules
[2:48:17]
that was
[2:48:18]
negotiated back in '20, '24, '25
[2:48:22]
fiscal year as it applies to the '26, '27
[2:48:26]
salary schedule.
[2:48:28]
Benefits are at 25% of the budget. That takes
[2:48:32]
into account the statutory benefits changes as well as health and welfare
[2:48:36]
benefits changes as well. Classified salaries at 15%,
[2:48:40]
with an increase combined in aggregate of 1.1%.
[2:48:45]
I might add, one thing that does jump out here you'll note, is that capital outlay
[2:48:49]
and other expenditures did increase by
[2:48:52]
52.6%. If you look at the actual dollar amounts, though, it's
[2:48:56]
a smaller dollar amount relative to the size of the budget.
[2:48:59]
And I just wanted to note
[2:49:01]
that the reason for that was that as we were
[2:49:05]
transitioning our financial systems and looking at the
[2:49:09]
balance sheet side of the district's financial position,
[2:49:13]
we noticed, and this is normal balance sheet reconciliation and cleanup that we
[2:49:16]
undergo on a quarterly basis, we identified that certain
[2:49:20]
special education expenditures related to the MCOE
[2:49:24]
SELPA had been recorded directly to the district's liability
[2:49:27]
account as opposed to being invoiced.
[2:49:30]
So we caught that, and we're making the adjustment to recognize those prior
[2:49:34]
liabilities, and we're also adjusting our budget to ensure that we're capturing
[2:49:38]
that expense.
[2:49:40]
Next slide, please.
[2:49:43]
So, on the revenue side, really just snapshot.
[2:49:47]
Property tax growth rate at 4%. The statutory cost of living
[2:49:51]
adjustment on the state side is budgeted currently at
[2:49:54]
2.41%. I might add that the statutory
[2:49:57]
percentage that the governors may revise is higher at 2.86%.
[2:50:02]
We opted to keep it at the 2.41 for budget for adoption as we're
[2:50:06]
looking at the statutory COLA as an area of
[2:50:09]
negotiations between what is finally adopted or not.
[2:50:14]
Voter-approved growth in our parcel tax is at 3%.
[2:50:17]
District cash that's held in the county treasury, we are budgeting at
[2:50:21]
a rate of 3.9%.
[2:50:24]
In foundation revenue, as I alluded to earlier, at 1.75%.
[2:50:29]
Key variables, we have 87 FTE on the certificated
[2:50:33]
side,
[2:50:34]
51 FTE budgeted for classified. As you can
[2:50:38]
note, the benefits rates that were applied, and that
[2:50:41]
3.08% is our California CPI
[2:50:45]
ratio that we're utilizing at this point in time.
[2:50:48]
Next slide, please.
[2:50:54]
On the revenue side, secured property tax rates are at
[2:50:58]
4% for '26, '27. We'll, of course, revisit
[2:51:01]
this. We get updates on a monthly basis as we go through
[2:51:06]
the next several months as well. For the out years, we are budgeted
[2:51:10]
in the multi-year projection at 3.85%, so a
[2:51:13]
0.15% decrease.
[2:51:16]
I noted the statutory COLAs there prior and the 10-year
[2:51:20]
treasury forecast that's applied in terms of the revenue side as
[2:51:24]
well. The last is related to the transfers in from our
[2:51:28]
Granada site. The budget for the transfers
[2:51:31]
inFrom the tenant revenue side is
[2:51:35]
$510,000 in fiscal year '26, '27. That
[2:51:38]
increase in the multi-year projection is related to the
[2:51:42]
lease terms, which points to the prior year CPI.
[2:51:46]
Next slide, please.
[2:51:52]
Contribution rates remain up at
[2:51:54]
19.1% for STRS.
[2:51:57]
The CalPERS rates have been increased, or adjusted rather,
[2:52:01]
at 26.4 up to 26.8,
[2:52:06]
and then slightly down to 25.9, which I believe is reflective
[2:52:10]
of the PERS actuarial calculations that they
[2:52:13]
do.
[2:52:15]
Health and welfare we did increase at 4%.
[2:52:18]
I might add that the district does have a cap on employee plus one
[2:52:22]
and employee family, so that increase really is
[2:52:26]
only applying on the district's cost side to the employee-only variable there.
[2:52:30]
We are budgeted for the $200,000 SERP
[2:52:34]
contribution to the post-employee retirement benefits
[2:52:38]
trust in the budget year as well.
[2:52:42]
Next slide, please.
[2:52:43]
So when you aggregate everything together, as the '26,
[2:52:47]
'27 budget
[2:52:49]
does
[2:52:52]
project a
[2:52:54]
deficit of just under $1.2 million.
[2:52:57]
In the out year, that deficit is budgeted to increase
[2:53:02]
to just under $1.5 million. This is
[2:53:06]
an improvement in terms of the district's ending fund balance
[2:53:10]
position, as compared to the March forecast that
[2:53:14]
we presented as part of second interim.
[2:53:17]
As we can see on the bottom there, that the district's projections based on our
[2:53:21]
current assumptions is for the reserve position to decrease to about
[2:53:25]
31.3%, and then into '27,
[2:53:29]
'28 for that to decrease to about 28%, which is one
[2:53:33]
percentage point higher than the board's authorized
[2:53:37]
reserve
[2:53:38]
policy. Next slide, please.
[2:53:42]
As we do as a benchmark, I'm comparing basically where the
[2:53:46]
majority of our budget is people, and so always a litmus test to
[2:53:49]
see whether there are material changes to some of these
[2:53:53]
ratios.
[2:53:54]
As you can see, based on our '26, '27 budget
[2:53:58]
as proposed, the combined percentage based on of people
[2:54:02]
expenditures remains at 82%, and it remains at 82% in the out
[2:54:06]
years as well.
[2:54:08]
Next slide, please.
[2:54:12]
This is the district's projected cash flow and fund balance.
[2:54:15]
The reason I put this up is you'll note that in the month of December, the
[2:54:19]
district's cash position comes down lower.
[2:54:22]
That's because in December, that's when the next tranche of property tax revenue
[2:54:25]
gets delivered to the district. I will be bringing
[2:54:29]
forward, on the June 8th
[2:54:32]
a board authorization for a tax anticipation note.
[2:54:35]
Basically, we don't predict that we'll need to utilize it.
[2:54:39]
However, it's an exercise in that if our cash position does go in
[2:54:43]
pass to zero in any given month, we're able to rely on a line of
[2:54:46]
credit from the Marin County Treasury.
[2:54:50]
Next slide, please.
[2:54:52]
Okay, lastly, these are snapshots of the budget as
[2:54:56]
proposed in the non-general funds.
[2:54:59]
General fund 01 position.
[2:55:02]
Fund 13 for child nutrition is reflecting a minor
[2:55:06]
deficit of $29,000. We will revisit this.
[2:55:09]
This is based on our current assumptions on our Revolution Foods contracts.
[2:55:13]
We do expect there to be an increase in the reimbursable
[2:55:17]
rate associated with our Fund 13 activities.
[2:55:20]
So,
[2:55:22]
I predict that by first interim, there'll be some adjustments to that as well.
[2:55:27]
I think another thing to point to is Fund 40 and
[2:55:31]
41. That is our capital outlay reserve that specifically has to
[2:55:35]
do with our Granada property.
[2:55:37]
So our projection is for revenues to come in at
[2:55:40]
$1.06 million,
[2:55:43]
with expenditures as currently budgeted on the property at
[2:55:45]
$321,750. That does not
[2:55:49]
include asphalt repairs, I might add.
[2:55:52]
So the net,
[2:55:54]
before transfers in, would be
[2:55:56]
$743,000. Once you account for the
[2:55:59]
$510,000 transfer into the general fund to help support
[2:56:03]
M&O activities, we foresee a change in fund
[2:56:07]
balance of $233,000, leading to an
[2:56:11]
estimated ending fund balance position of $3.2 million.
[2:56:15]
Next slide, please.
[2:56:18]
So, next steps. We're keeping a careful eye on the next several weeks.
[2:56:22]
Statutory, the governor needs to finalize the budget
[2:56:26]
by the state. Needs to finalize the budget by June 15th,
[2:56:31]
and sign off on it by June 30th.
[2:56:34]
That will inform statutory COLA, block grant funding,
[2:56:39]
additional funding, possibly per ADA for special education as
[2:56:42]
well.
[2:56:44]
And those variables will all be brought forward
[2:56:47]
back. We won't have it in time for the June 8th
[2:56:50]
board approval,
[2:56:52]
but most definitively by first interim into the next fiscal year.
[2:56:56]
And happy to take any questions that you may have.
[2:57:00]
I had one question, and this is just maybe because I'm not reading it right.
[2:57:04]
But,
[2:57:06]
on slide 12, so it's for
[2:57:10]
the capital outlay reserve fund 4041.
[2:57:14]
So
[2:57:15]
you said that is the Granada
[2:57:19]
fund?
[2:57:19]
That is correct.
[2:57:21]
And the revenue, so this revenue being one million,
[2:57:26]
is that revenue coming from the-
[2:57:29]
Tenants who are-
[2:57:30]
Tenants?
[2:57:31]
Yes. Who are paying lease to the district.
[2:57:33]
Okay, because I thought maybe on a previous slide it looked like our revenue was
[2:57:36]
only about 500,000 from tenants, but it looks like
[2:57:39]
So to clarify,
[2:57:41]
the tenants in aggregate, the budget is for
[2:57:45]
$1,065,000
[2:57:48]
to come into the district's Granada fund. Okay?
[2:57:52]
And then from that fund, there's a
[2:57:55]
contribution to the district's general fund of
[2:57:58]
$510,000. So of that $1 million, once
[2:58:02]
expenses are accounted for, then the district has budgeted a
[2:58:06]
transfer of excess revenue, in essence,
[2:58:09]
over to the district's general fund to help support our
[2:58:13]
maintenance and operations.
[2:58:15]
Got you. Okay. So that's where it's coming from.
[2:58:18]
So it's building up and then it gets transferred. Thank you.
[2:58:26]
I have a question on
[2:58:29]
salary numbers. I think it was
[2:58:33]
slide...
[2:58:37]
It might be slide four.
[2:58:40]
Yeah, that seems right.
[2:58:42]
It's
[2:58:46]
the one that says key variables, revenue,
[2:58:51]
key variables, expenditures.
[2:58:54]
Where would that be? Slide six.
[2:58:56]
Yep, slide six.
[2:58:58]
There we go.
[2:59:00]
And it says, I just wanted to clarify on certificated and classified, they
[2:59:04]
both say the same thing. We say the step and column, and that's placing
[2:59:08]
people where they are on the salary chart.
[2:59:11]
And then 3% increase for represented,
[2:59:14]
2.5% increase for non-represented.
[2:59:17]
Who are the non-represented?
[2:59:19]
So the non-represented would include district administration.
[2:59:24]
So for certificated administration, that would include
[2:59:27]
principals, for example,
[2:59:29]
and for classified administration, that would include IT,
[2:59:33]
maintenance and operations, and the chief business official.
[2:59:37]
And that's because in the last negotiation cycle, our
[2:59:41]
management and administration took lower salary
[2:59:45]
increases than our certificated and
[2:59:49]
classified union.
[2:59:51]
That's right.
[2:59:53]
That's right.
[2:59:53]
Okay.
[2:59:53]
So yeah, for historical context,
[2:59:57]
if you think back to the 24-25 fiscal year,
[3:00:01]
the district entered collective bargaining for the following two fiscal
[3:00:05]
years, which is why we're now applying that second-
[3:00:08]
Mm
[3:00:09]
... agreement to the 26-27. And that salary
[3:00:13]
schedule was also posted on our website and was board approved in
[3:00:16]
24-25.
[3:00:18]
So the 25-26, the current year,
[3:00:21]
included a 5% increase for represented
[3:00:25]
staff, and that's greater than the statutory COLA of
[3:00:29]
2.3%. Okay? And then in
[3:00:33]
26-27,
[3:00:35]
there was a 3% increase applied on top of step and column,
[3:00:41]
compared to the statutory COLA at May revise of
[3:00:44]
2.87. So just putting it out there that the district has remained above
[3:00:49]
the statutory COLAs being proposed in the state budget.
[3:00:52]
On top of that,
[3:00:54]
classified
[3:00:57]
and classified confidential staff also received a $3,000
[3:01:01]
one-time bonus in 25-26 and the current year
[3:01:05]
as well, or a one-time off schedule amount.
[3:01:09]
So to answer your question, for non-represented staff, specifically the
[3:01:13]
administrative team,
[3:01:15]
the salary schedule was increased by
[3:01:18]
3.75%,
[3:01:21]
or 1.25% less than represented staff in
[3:01:24]
25-26.
[3:01:26]
And then in 26-27, in the budget year,
[3:01:30]
the salary schedules for non-represented administration was increased
[3:01:34]
by 2.5%, which is less than the 3% that was
[3:01:38]
applied for represented staff. Hope that answers your question.
[3:01:41]
Yeah. And historically, going prior to that, was
[3:01:45]
that normal for the non-represented to get a
[3:01:49]
different salary?
[3:01:50]
Yeah.
[3:01:52]
To my knowledge, looking back at the district's records, this
[3:01:56]
is the first time that non-represented staff did not
[3:01:59]
receive a me too equal to the percentage that was settled.
[3:02:05]
Okay. So that's what that's showing.
[3:02:08]
And then I wanted to look at the service and
[3:02:12]
operating expenditures as a s-
[3:02:17]
or it shows it as a percentage. I think it's actually just the slide before, Sarah,
[3:02:21]
slide 5.
[3:02:23]
It shows that our service and operating expenditures are at about
[3:02:26]
13% of our overall budget. I was just
[3:02:30]
wondering,
[3:02:32]
do you,
[3:02:33]
basing your experience, is that M&O budget
[3:02:38]
similar, lower, higher than other sort of similar
[3:02:41]
districts? What's your-
[3:02:44]
So the services and operating expenditures
[3:02:48]
includes the maintenance and operations-
[3:02:50]
Okay
[3:02:51]
... budget for services, and other expenditures.
[3:02:55]
And,
[3:02:57]
if you were to extrapolate how much of that was specific to
[3:03:01]
M&O,
[3:03:02]
it's about 230,000 of that amount is for
[3:03:06]
maintenance and operations services,
[3:03:09]
and about 280,000 of that is for
[3:03:13]
supplies in the other category above that.
[3:03:16]
Okay.
[3:03:18]
So,
[3:03:20]
to answer your question as to whether that's above
[3:03:24]
or around normal,
[3:03:26]
the standard is about 3% of a
[3:03:30]
district's operating budget goes towards maintenance and
[3:03:34]
operations activities. In fact, that's a state standard as well.
[3:03:38]
So if you look at the district's criterion standard, or there's
[3:03:41]
a-Analysis that benchmarks that to see whether you've done
[3:03:45]
that or not. And the idea is because larger districts with
[3:03:49]
bigger budgets, with more facilities, if they fall below that,
[3:03:53]
historically, that was a sign that districts were not
[3:03:56]
investing sufficiently into their facilities.
[3:04:00]
So where does Reed stand?
[3:04:03]
The '26, '27 budget
[3:04:08]
has exactly
[3:04:11]
$1.37 million budgeted for maintenance and
[3:04:15]
operations in aggregate, which is about
[3:04:17]
$370,000 above that standard.
[3:04:21]
So the district, in other words, is spending more on facilities
[3:04:25]
maintenance and operations as compared to the standard for most
[3:04:28]
districts, in other words.
[3:04:32]
That 370, I might add, just put into context, is the
[3:04:35]
equivalent budget for every single counselor that we have just hired for '26,
[3:04:39]
'27.
[3:04:42]
And is there a reason we're above the
[3:04:45]
standard on M&O?
[3:04:49]
There are a lot of variables. Our facilities, it has been a
[3:04:53]
priority of this community as well, and of this district, to ensure that our
[3:04:57]
facilities are kept in good condition.
[3:05:00]
As you also noted, though, in Jeff Small's slide back,
[3:05:04]
in terms of where the district sits in terms of its
[3:05:09]
last general obligation bond draw, we are in the bottom
[3:05:13]
tertiary, third, in terms of
[3:05:17]
the load. Another way of
[3:05:21]
interpreting that, it's been a long time since we've had a general obligation bond,
[3:05:25]
so our facilities are requiring greater upkeep, and therefore, the
[3:05:29]
district's budget reflects that greater upkeep, in my opinion.
[3:05:33]
Do you have a view as to whether, if we are able to successfully
[3:05:38]
pass a bond, whether we would be able to decrease that
[3:05:42]
load on the district's budget going forward?
[3:05:45]
I have seen in prior iterations of district
[3:05:49]
budgets,
[3:05:51]
and having worked in districts that have passed general
[3:05:54]
obligation bonds successfully, that there is a material impact on
[3:05:58]
M&O budgets. So if you think there's less repairs needed,
[3:06:02]
and therefore because you've replaced
[3:06:05]
the part of the building that normally would require that repair.
[3:06:10]
Okay. Thank you. That was very helpful.
[3:06:14]
Any other questions?
[3:06:16]
Any public comment
[3:06:20]
or deliberation about the budget?
[3:06:25]
It's very clear. Very
[3:06:29]
thorough and very transparent and clear. Thank you, Dr. Kim.
[3:06:33]
Thank you.
[3:06:37]
Okay.
[3:06:38]
I think that brings us to action items.
[3:06:40]
So 2AA, approval of the Expanded Learning
[3:06:44]
Opportunities Program, or ELOP. Dr. McGrath?
[3:06:47]
Oh, happy to take this. So you'll remember it took a
[3:06:51]
little while for us to figure out how to follow the 13
[3:06:55]
state steps here and in order to get this, but this is real similar
[3:06:58]
to the plan that we put forward last year.
[3:07:02]
And thanks to The Ranch for their partnership, because that's really allowed us
[3:07:06]
to help get this ELOP funding across the finish line.
[3:07:10]
So we're just looking for your annual approval for the ELOP
[3:07:13]
plan, and I would recommend your passing of
[3:07:17]
this opportunity plan this evening so we can continue to
[3:07:20]
receive the state funding and move forward with the plan, which
[3:07:24]
allows some great enrichment opportunities for our students.
[3:07:29]
Thank you. Any questions for Dr. McGrath?
[3:07:32]
Any public comment?
[3:07:35]
Deliberation?
[3:07:36]
Well, I guess I have a ... It's a question. Sorry.
[3:07:39]
Yeah, you can ask a question.
[3:07:40]
All right.
[3:07:42]
The ELOP funding, do we have a sense of how long
[3:07:46]
this is going to continue on? Just because
[3:07:51]
when it was first introduced, it was definitely one time,
[3:07:55]
helping us through COVID. But is this something that you think, or
[3:07:59]
maybe it's a question to Dr. Kim, is this
[3:08:03]
something
[3:08:04]
we can imagine is going to keep
[3:08:08]
being given to districts?
[3:08:09]
I'll be curious what you say, Dr. Kim.
[3:08:11]
I'm not seeing signaling yet that it's going away, especially as
[3:08:15]
there's a lot of politics happening-
[3:08:17]
Okay
[3:08:17]
... at state and national levels. That I think this is something that
[3:08:22]
there is political energy around
[3:08:25]
continuing this program. But anything you see more specifically, Dr. Kim?
[3:08:29]
I would agree that it's in the proposal, and it is in the May
[3:08:33]
revise. And nonetheless, the
[3:08:36]
negotiations that's happening right now revolves around
[3:08:40]
98 funding, and ELOP is a counter ...
[3:08:43]
Not a counter, but rather it's a variable that
[3:08:47]
draws state resources to support schools.
[3:08:50]
Okay. Thank you.
[3:08:53]
I will say when I have sat in on various, like JLAC and
[3:08:57]
other things, it does seem to have
[3:08:59]
a fair
[3:09:01]
bit of support, particularly in the legislature, to
[3:09:05]
continue this program. Now, you see changes
[3:09:08]
potentially, maybe it'll go away, but at least I think right now
[3:09:12]
I'm hearing politically is it's going to continue.
[3:09:18]
Okay. Assuming no other questions or deliberation, can I get a
[3:09:22]
motion to approve the ELOP program for '26, '27?
[3:09:27]
Motion.
[3:09:29]
Second. All in favor? Aye.
[3:09:31]
Aye.
[3:09:33]
Okay. That brings us to 2B, first reading
[3:09:37]
of revised board policies and bylaws, and we only have two today.
[3:09:41]
I know. Y'all did such hard work in the last couple that we're down to two.
[3:09:44]
So, we purposely put these here at Nicole's suggestion that it was
[3:09:48]
a good time to have these here as well.
[3:09:50]
So one would be the District Technology Plan and the second one
[3:09:54]
being artificial intelligence.
[3:09:56]
And-They have been adjusted, I will say, from
[3:10:00]
the recommendation. And you'll remember after sitting on the state
[3:10:03]
level AI task force, these came out through that task force at a state
[3:10:07]
level. And I applaud the task force also of kind
[3:10:11]
of customizing them a little to make the vision match and that sort of thing.
[3:10:15]
So,
[3:10:16]
it's come through this interesting flow. Task force looking at that.
[3:10:20]
It's a good match to the items today and happy to take any questions on
[3:10:24]
that.
[3:10:25]
Can we pull up the AI one?
[3:10:33]
I know I had asked if we were going to, and I think maybe we're adding this,
[3:10:37]
the importance of human connection.
[3:10:40]
Did that get added to this version?
[3:10:45]
I'm just going to
[3:10:46]
look. Don't believe so.
[3:10:48]
So,
[3:10:49]
okay. Were we going to do that for second reading?
[3:10:53]
Mm-hmm. We sure can.
[3:10:55]
I think the suggestion was just adding,
[3:10:58]
I think from the
[3:11:01]
district priorities on
[3:11:03]
the importance of preserving original thought, mental space, and critical
[3:11:07]
thinking for students and teachers.
[3:11:09]
Great.
[3:11:16]
Questions on this one?
[3:11:21]
I love that it corresponds with all the work that we
[3:11:25]
did too. Vision.
[3:11:31]
Great. We will add that additional information before
[3:11:35]
second reading, and then just the reminder that at the next meeting you won't have
[3:11:39]
first readings, right? Because that would
[3:11:41]
move the second reading all the way to August, which seems odd.
[3:11:44]
So,
[3:11:46]
you'll see second reading at the next one, and then that'll wrap up policies for
[3:11:49]
this year.
[3:11:50]
Did anyone want to look at the district technology, or are we all
[3:11:53]
thumbs down? Okay. I think we're good with that.
[3:11:56]
Great. Thank you.
[3:11:58]
And we don't need a motion on that one, right?
[3:11:59]
We do not. We'll move it to second reading with the suggested
[3:12:03]
adjustments.
[3:12:04]
Okay.
[3:12:05]
And that brings us to our public hearing.
[3:12:09]
Public hearing is a procedural item which provides members of the public an
[3:12:13]
opportunity to speak to specific items
[3:12:16]
listed. So we'll call each item open, a public
[3:12:19]
hearing on it.
[3:12:22]
Okay. The first one is the proposed 26/27
[3:12:26]
Reid Union School District budget.
[3:12:28]
I'm going to gavel that public hearing open.
[3:12:33]
Is there any public comment or
[3:12:36]
hearing on this?
[3:12:38]
Seeing none, I'll gavel that closed.
[3:12:42]
Okay, and the second one is opening public hearing as to the
[3:12:45]
district's Local Control Accountability
[3:12:49]
plan, the LCAP.
[3:12:51]
I will open public hearing.
[3:12:54]
Calling for any public comment regarding the recommended
[3:12:56]
26/27 LCAP, including the budget overview for
[3:13:01]
parents.
[3:13:02]
Any comment, I will gavel it closed.
[3:13:06]
It's definitely closed.
[3:13:07]
Sorry. That was a little aggressive. Sorry.
[3:13:10]
We're all good.
[3:13:11]
Not intentional.
[3:13:15]
That brings us to Item M, future items for trustee
[3:13:18]
consideration.
[3:13:20]
I see a hand.
[3:13:21]
At some point in the new school
[3:13:25]
year, and preferably before November-
[3:13:29]
Mm-hmm
[3:13:31]
... I would like to propose that we bring our district technology plan
[3:13:35]
for review. We just passed the board policy, but I
[3:13:38]
don't believe in the recent past that
[3:13:42]
we've actually as a board and have looked at and
[3:13:46]
analyzed our
[3:13:48]
district technology plan. So I'd like to propose that we
[3:13:53]
put it on the agenda.
[3:13:55]
I think it's a great idea, especially with a few of the board priorities, right,
[3:13:59]
around tech use, around AI.
[3:14:02]
I think it would be good for the board to see that, especially where it
[3:14:06]
stands as of that, and we'll honor your timeline, so that- ...
[3:14:10]
we see.
[3:14:11]
Okay.
[3:14:13]
All in favor, thumbs up.
[3:14:16]
Being unanimous. Anything else anyone wanted to bring up?
[3:14:21]
Being none, I will bring us to the conclusion of the meeting and
[3:14:25]
close us at 9:15. Thank-