Good afternoon, I believe. Still, I'm calling the march 11th, 2025 meeting of the board
of education. Per government code section 54950 at sequitur and education code section 35140
executor at 4:31 p.m. We will be adjourning to closed session for the purpose of discussing the
following matters. 3.1 public employee. Discipline, dismissal. Suspension, release, leave
assignment and non reelection. Non reappointment. Reassignment. Reinstatement pursuant to
government code 54957. Resolution number 24.15 and resolution number 24, dash 16
3.2 personal matters, public employee appointments, employment pursuant to
government code 54957. Acting superintendent contract 3.3 conference with labor
negotiations. Doctor alan serino, acting superintendent joan velasco, interim assistant
superintendent. Administrative services. Oh my gosh, that's a lot, a lot. You guys have a lot
of titles, yolanda mendoza, acting assistant superintendent, human resources. With csc, apple
and plum. 3.4 conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation terry tao from tao
rossini apc conference with legal counsel. Existing litigation pursuant to
government code section 54956. 9d1. Magnolia science academy, orange county versus
placentia-yorba linda unified school district. 3.6 conference with legal counsel, anticipated
litigation, significant exposure to litigation pursuant to paragraph d two of government
code section 54956.9, prop 39 requests for district facilities from the california republic
leadership academy 3.7 conference with legal counsel. Existing litigation radlauer
versus board of trustees for the placentia-yorba linda unified school district. And we have two
people wishing to speak. We do. Madam president, would you like me to invite them up or. Okay.
our first speaker will be dave. He's going by dave tonight. Dave, welcome. Please approach
the podium. Wow, I didn't know I didn't recognize my name. Okay. Tonight's closed session agenda
includes a discussion about my lawsuit. Instead of first participating in that
discussion, miss blades chose to take to social media in a lame attempt to discredit me and make
wild allegations of collusion. Do you really want to make this personal, leandra? Sorry, I just
don't roll that way. But if you want to continue to play keyboard cowboy, you go right
ahead. And if it amuses you, what I want to do is present the entire picture. Unlike your
performative rant, when we were in court back in november, the judge did deny my ex party
request to keep the board from voting on what I still believe are a series of unlawful
contract amendments. What you failed to mention to your friends on social media is that
the judge made no ruling, and offered no opinion about the lawfulness of the contract
amendments. Instead, he concluded that he would allow the vote to go forward. But if
but if the amendments were passed, the board may have to face the consequences of their
actions. The next phase of that same case is what is on the agenda tonight. I had no
intention of speaking on this, even though I although I, unlike you, am not prohibited from
discussing items on the closed session agenda. But in light of your most recent actions, I feel
compelled to set the record straight before the board's deliberation. What comes before
the board tonight is an opportunity to return this district to normal operating
order. The amendments passed by the former majority were a naked attempt to grab power from the
incoming and duly elected board. The attempt was so brazen that the amendments were explicitly
written to expire at the end of the current board term. In other words, they were specifically
designed to target incoming and duly elected trustee tricia quintero. Your repeated attempts
to divide this community violate the sanctity of the closed session. Rant on social media,
ignore the mandates of the brown act and the education code are disgraceful. With regard to my
lawsuit, why race to social media prior to the closed session? Why not do a little
more listening before attempting to stoke division? In closing, I ask that you imagine how you
would feel if in the future, outgoing board attempted to do the same thing to you. I for one
would join in what I'm guessing would be your apoplectic outrage. It's not about loyalty,
it's about following the rules. Whoever wields the gavel. The rules exist to allow the will of
the people to decide the direction and elected body will take within the bounds of the
law. All sides must be heard with an open mind. But minority control stands in stark contrast
to the principles of our representative school district. Routine employment decisions are
simply not the sort of decisions the legislature intended to be made by anything other than a
simple majority. Have some courage. Do the right thing and return order to the operation of
this board. Thank you for your attention. Our next speaker is linda cohn. Please approach the
podium. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm in an interesting position tonight. I
know a little bit more than I knew when I wrote this speech. I begin by saying, mr. Radler, I
believe I'm saying that correctly in a public comment. February the 11th really got my
attention when he made the following statement. Marilyn. Marilyn. Marilyn, thank you for
what you do. We'll get through this together. And my question is, who exactly is this, mr.
radlauer? And exactly what does he mean? Marilyn? We'll get through this together. Is this
the same mr. Radlauer who went to court? I guess it is to prevent the former board from
giving supermajority protection to doctor chernus and gates. Former superintendents elsasser
and matthews had that same supermajority protection, but not chernus and gates, say mr.
radlauer, who played a major role in the union campaign to elect mrs. Anderson again and
miss quintero to join trustee buck, who does this new majority represent? Do they represent the
parents, the children and the community, which we normally expect a board to do, or the
union that paid for their campaign? Is this the same mr. Radlauer ever present with union
campaigners, who claim t $1.9 million was somehow pirated from the valencia cafeteria fund? It
wasn't true back in june, and it's not true now. Is this the same mr. Radlauer who joined
you, mrs. Anderson, to claim that developer funds simply could have been used to repair
the cafeteria? Again, they could not. And your claim is not true. Say, mr. Radlauer, who joined
the crowd to claim that usc was just a fancy $3 million gym for rich kids. Let me point out
something. Mrs. Anderson, listen carefully, please. An elite athlete is not necessarily a
rich kid. In fact, why do you want to deny the disadvantaged kids in your area who may be
highly skilled athletes but don't have the money to attend other institutes that cost
money? Our institute is free. And yet, on february the 11th, you yourself said, inexplicably,
usc is very. Unequal. Valencia doesn't participate, and the reason they don't is because you
told them not to. You told them this was an elitist, rich kid institution. Not true. Finally,
is this the same mr. Radlauer who joined the union in claiming that chernus and gates are
corrupt and incompetent, and your investigation will prove it? Thank you. And now he's
suing you. How will you get through this? Your time together. Thank you for your
time. Thank you, mrs. Anderson. That concludes our comments. Okay. We will now adjourn to
closed session we're good. Good evening. We'll go ahead and reconvene at 630
for. Thank you so much for your patience. We really appreciate it. And we have nothing to
report out of closed session. And I'm going to ask mrs. Buck if she'll lead us in the pledge
of allegiance. Everybody, please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. Ready? Begin. I
pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. We will.
all board members are present, including our student board member, layla. Glad you're back
after your big exciting award night at the last meeting. I'm sure we'll hear more about that.
okay, I need a motion to approve the agenda, as amended. I'll make a motion that we approve
the march 11th, 2025 board of education agenda, as amended. So, second. Okay, we have a
motion by mrs. Buck, a second, by mr. Frazier. Any comments? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye.
okay. Motion carries five zero. Public comment cards are available in the foyer. Cards
must be completed and turned in prior to the designated time for public comment. Provided a
maximum of three minutes per person. If translation is needed, an additional three
minutes will be given. Please let us know. If we know ahead of time, we can ensure we are
prepared and reminding everybody of our civility policy. Education code 220 prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression,
nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is
contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in section 422.55 of the penal code,
including immigration status. So I need a motion for the minutes for the february 19th meeting,
I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of the special meeting of february 19th, 2025.
second, I have a motion by mr. Frazier, a second by mrs. Blades. Any questions or
corrections? Okay. All in favor? Aye, aye. Okay. And then 10.2. Can I get a motion? I'll make a
motion. We approve the minutes of the regular meeting of february 11th, 2025. Second, I
have a motion by mrs. Buck. Second, by mr. Frazier. Any comments? Okay. All in favor?
aye. Five zero. Okay. Now we are ready for our recognitions, so we're going to turn the time
over to doctor young. Thank you, thank you. Good evening, president anderson. Members of
the board, executive cabinet and acting superintendent, doctor alan serino. Tonight we have the
privilege of celebrating the incredible artistic talent of our students as we recognize the
top five winners of this year's artworks poster contest. At this time, I would like to invite our
outstanding student artists. Olivia southwell, isabel parker, vincent brown, and shachar and
annie liu to please join me at the lectern. And each year, our work showcases the creativity
and talent of students across our district. As part of this year's exhibition, all pylusd
students were invited to participate in the artworks poster contest centered around
the inspiring theme, endangered species and nature conservation. Winners received a $50 blick art
materials gift card, and their artwork will be prominently displayed throughout the district, raising awareness about our annual district art first, we recognize olivia
southwell, a talented third grade student from bryant ranch school. Libby, if you could
raise your hand and wave. Thank you. Take a look at her. Design is on the screen before you. Her
piece, titled animals deserve protection too, beautifully captures the heart of this
year's theme. When asked about the inspiration behind her work, olivia shared, the heart shaped
earth in my art represents how much I care about endangered habitats. I sculpted a tiger, a
monarch butterfly and a panda, all of which are at risk of extinction if we don't take
action to protect them. I love these animals and that's why I chose them for this conservation
art piece. Olivia, we are in awe of your creativity and your passion for conservation. Here
is your certificate of recognition of your incredible work and a special thank you as
well to her teacher, mrs. Lindsey clark, for encouraging and guiding olivia throughout
this artistic journey. Let's give olivia one more round of applause. Next, we recognize
vincent brown, a seventh grade student at parkview school. Vincent, if you could. Thank
you. Raise your hand. Vincent's piece is titled the protector, and it is a powerful depiction
of the responsibility we all share in safeguarding nature. When asked about his
inspiration, vincent shared, just like a mother protects her young, we should protect the
most vulnerable in nature. Like the giant panda. I created this painting because I love pandas
and I don't want them to become extinct. Vincent, thank you for using your artistic talents to
remind us of our role in protecting wildlife. I have a certificate of recognition of
your outstanding work. Congratulations. Now we honor annie liu, an eighth grade
student from yorba linda middle school. Annie, if you could wave. Okay. Annie's piece is
titled bird bro, and it's a detailed. I knew I was going to get some laughs from that one.
it is a detailed and playful take on nature conservation. When asked about her
inspiration, annie shared, bird bro is a nature conservation themed artwork featuring a cute
bird in the wild perched on a piece of wood. Like all wildlife, this bird is not just
a part of nature. It's also our bro, a companion in the world we share. Annie, your unique
perspective and artistic artistic style have brought this theme to life in such a
meaningful way. We are honored to present you with this certificate of recognition. We would also like to extend our appreciation to miss leanne tangney, whose guidance helped
nurture your artistic vision. Next, we recognize isabelle parker, an 11th grade student
from esperanza high school. If you could please wave. Thank you. Her artwork is titled
beneath the stripes, which showcases her incredible skill and deep understanding of this
year's theme. Isabelle shared the inspiration behind my artwork had mostly to do with
addressing the alarming rate of habitat destruction for many land animals, especially the
tiger. The bones and reconstruction of the tiger is supposed to symbolize the strength and vulnerability of the animal. My artwork is meant to be an homage to the apex
predator that is known for its beauty and strength, while it is simultaneously one of the most
vulnerable animals of our time. Isabelle, your piece is beautiful. We are thrilled to
recognize you with this certificate for your lovely contribution and a heartfelt thank you as well to your art teacher, miss lynn magnan, for providing support along the way.
thank. All right. Last but certainly not least, we celebrate sua cha, an 11th grade
student from el dorado high school. I know by process of elimination we figured it out.
her piece is titled the shared breath, and it is a profound and thought provoking reflection on
the connection between humans and nature. When asked about her artwork, sawa shared, my piece
explores the vital connection between humans and nature, symbolizing the interweaving of
life and death. It highlights how humans are part of the natural world, even though our
actions may sometimes harm it. The artwork conveys the theme of interconnectedness and suggests
that in the end, humans return to nature, continuing the cycle of life. So while your work is
both moving and visually stunning, and we're honored to recognize you with a certificate
and a heartfelt thank you to your art teacher, mr. Kyle thomas, for providing guidance and inspiration to you along the way. On the opening night of artworks will be monday, march
31st, and it will be held this year at the nixon library and museum. The exhibition will run
through the entire month of april, and we invite all community members to visit. To
conclude, we would like to invite our amazing poster winners to shake hands with our board members and join us for a group photo at this time if you want to. Great job, great job.
yeah. So, john. Yeah. So they're free. Yeah. Yeah, sure. I didn't know that because I didn't know
I. Was. Yeah. So. Are we even. No, it's. Almost even now. So nice to share that away. I
can't. See. Any way to go. Yeah. That's great job. Thank you. So.
okay. Tonight we are also proud to recognize three exceptional middle schools. The orange
county school of computer sciences, tuffy middle school and yorba linda middle school
for earning the distinguished honor of being named 2024 california schools to watch by
the california league of middle schools. This prestigious recognition is awarded to high
performing model middle schools that demonstrate outstanding teamwork, innovation, and a
steadfast commitment to student achievement. Additionally, we would like to honor el camino
real high school for being redesignated by the california department of education as a
2025 model continuation high school. Recognizing its unwavering commitment to student
success. At this time, I'd like to invite the incredible principals leading these schools
doctor william gray, miss sarah barton, miss paige stills, and mrs. Gina aguilar to please join
me at the lectern. I should have worn my heels. All right. This year marks the first
redesignation for both ox and tuffy middle school, and the third redesignation for yorba
linda middle school, a testament to their unwavering pursuit of excellence and continuous
improvement at their schools. At the orange county school of computer sciences, interim
principal doctor william gray expressed immense pride in this achievement, attributing this
honor to their mastery based learning model, where students gain the skills to excel as
creators, collaborators, and innovators. Additionally, our cutting edge innovation lab
offers hands on experiences in animatronics, computer science, entrepreneurship, engineering,
art, video production, esports, and gaming with dedicated teachers, and a focus on high
quality learning. We integrate c-stem through uc davis into science, math, and electives,
blending robotics and computer science into these key areas. Most recently, our teachers have
been featured on corwin's fisher and frey series. In their latest book entitled rigor unveiled.
impressively, 47% of our staff hold specialized credentials, and seven of the staff members
are distinguished award winners. There is so much to be proud of at osc's. Great job, matador
staff. At tuffy middle school principal sarah barton attributed this honor to her
school's culture and a sincere commitment among staff to stay ahead of the curve when it comes
to responding to the changing needs of our student population. She shares some of these
facetiming in this is important to every middle school has recently made recently made
significant academic gains, notably increasing their math proficiency by 9.1% and english
language arts proficiency by 7.7% in 2024. The mission statement of tuffrey is to
empower all students to be compassionate, well-rounded individuals who are prepared for
college and career pursuits. This sentiment is exemplified in 82% of students taking part in
school based extracurricular activities, and 54% of the student population taking part
in school athletics, and 41% of all students being a part of the music program. Keep up the great
work meeting your students where they are. Falcon staff. Congratulations principal
barton. At yorba linda middle school, principal paige stills reflected on the foundation of
her school's success, emphasizing its strong commitment to student success through a multi-tiered system of support. She shared examples including our pbis framework
fosters a positive school culture, while our weekly b3 intervention program provides
targeted academic support and our school wide instructional focus ensures high quality
learning for all students. Additionally, our plc professional learning community.
for those of you who don't do edu speak process promotes collaboration amongst educators
to continually enhance student achievement. We are honored for your continued strive for
excellence. Congratulations to the bobcat staff and principal stills. This past weekend, these
three outstanding schools were honored at the california schools to watch conference and celebration where they were celebrated for their dedication to excellence. Finally, tonight,
we have the distinct honor of celebrating an incredible achievement by el camino real high school for being redesignated as a model continuation high school. This
prestigious recognition is no small feat. El camino real high school is one of only six
continuation schools in orange county, and among just 74 statewide to receive this honor.
what makes el camino truly stand out is its holistic, student centered approach to education.
through innovative programs like the edge intervention period, academic support services, and
social emotional learning via school connect, students receive the tools that they need to
thrive. The schools focus on college and career readiness through find your grind, the
integration of avid strategies, and the personalized intake. Meetings with students and
families ensure that every learner is set up for success. Beyond academics, el camino
fosters a strong sense of community and belonging, with initiatives like flexible
scheduling, personalized support, and engaging campus events such as welcome week.
principal aguilar shared her pride in this achievement, stating, I'm thrilled to see the
exceptional efforts of our staff being recognized by the california department of education. As our mission emphasizes, we are committed to preparing students for future
success by maintaining high expectations in a supportive environment where each student's
unique strengths, goals, and needs are valued. The model continuation high school program
is centered around addressing the whole child, and this recognition affirms our staff's
dedication to fostering a culture focused on academic achievement, college and career
readiness, and student wellness. Congratulations to el camino real high school on this
outstanding, outstanding accomplishment and to the staff who are here tonight as well. Thank you for all that you do for our raptors. I would now like to invite our four
principals to shake hands with our board members and join us for a group photo to commemorate
this achievement. And for those of you who may not be familiar with these programs, both the
model continuation school and the schools to watch program, it is a rigorous and competitive
process. So this is a very, very proud moment for these leaders and their schools. And pil so
again, thank you for celebrating with us.
here. Wait for me. Wait. That doesn't help. Oh. Did you did you get it. Oh no. Because
sometimes what you.
here we go. Oh I literally am. I. See you shopping tomorrow for yourself I know it, you guys I.
you need a pen. I know you need a. Reflection. I was on the floor. I have to go get it. Oh,
you left your water bottle too, or someone did. Oh. Shishido, don't you? If our guests want to
leave, you're welcome to leave. If you want to stay for the excitement, you're welcome to.
oh, we've got school. Okay. Fine. School tomorrow. Tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you to the
parents. Thank you to the parents who came tonight in support of their kids and
getting them here. And to the teachers that taught these wonderful students. Thank you.
yeah. And to. I'm just seeing how far you let me go. That was it. Pencils with. Okay. We're
going to move on to our presentations and I turn the time over to miss velasco to
introduce our next presentation. Well, good evening. I'd like to ask terry tao to come to the
podium. Terry tao is a senior partner and shareholder of tao rossini apc, a professional
corporation. He practices primarily in the area of school and public works, construction
law, architectural malpractice, construction, contract administration, ada, physical
barrier claims, land use, environmental law and related matters. So I'll turn it over to
mr. Tao. Well, thank you very much. Just a little bit of quick background. I also happen to be
a licensed architect. Have been for the past 30 or so years, and facilities law for schools is
pretty much all my entire practice. So what we're going to talk about today is field act.
so in 1934, there was a major earthquake in the state of california, and that resulted in
the passage of a number of laws, the main one being called the field act. What the field act
did was it made all schools in the state of california subject to a much higher standard of
safety, a much higher structural standard. These are some pictures that I picked out that
I think are helpful to illustrate how devastating an earthquake can be, and why it
was that the state decided that they needed higher safety standards. This is a middle
school over a compton unified that was destroyed by the earthquake in 1934. This is a
poly high which still stands. If you drive past poly high today, you'll notice it doesn't have a
nice dome that fell down in 1934 because that dome did not survive the earthquake. There
was one death in 1934 because of the earthquake, and that was at poly high's because it happened
early in the morning. The legislature wanted to make sure that this did not ever happen
again in the state of california and pass the field act then. And the state has been creating
safer buildings, buildings that are safer pursuant to building code. And they regularly police
the area, which is part of the reason why I'm here today. So dsa provided the district a
notice that two of their buildings over at valencia high school, specifically the boys
locker room and the library, needed additional investigation. They're called lift slab
buildings. And those buildings are buildings that the state, over time, has identified as
needing a little bit more investigation. It doesn't mean the buildings are unsafe. It
just means that the state has identified these buildings and wants the district to look at
them and try to identify if there are any vulnerabilities, any upgrades that are necessary
with regard to the buildings. There is actually a state program that was set up to
specifically address any buildings that are subject to any seismic vulnerabilities,
called the state seismic mitigation program, which if there is a determination that
these buildings are potentially subject to or more vulnerable to earthquake forces than they
would be eligible under the state seismic mitigation program. So these are just
identification from the documents of the particular buildings. Lift slab is a form
of construction that is a little different. So I'll just briefly describe what the form of
construction is. If you've ever seen a tilt up building, what they do with the tilt up
building is they basically build the walls of the building on the ground, they pour it and then
they tilt it up. A lift slab building is much the same concept. They pour the second
floor of the building and then they lift that floor up, and then they tie it together. The
state has suddenly decided that this is not such a good methodology, and they want us to
do an investigation, which we have commissioned structural engineers to start doing that
investigation. They're working as quickly as they can to do what's called an ac 31 and an ac
41. Analysis of the buildings to determine general vulnerability vulnerabilities. So these are
some of the original applications. I just figured you would want to know. The valencia
high school dates all the way back to 1935. These buildings were built in 1962. So the slab
buildings were generally built in the late 50s, all the way up until the late 60s. There are
quite a few of them actually scattered throughout the state. They all got the same letters
from dsa, so we weren't special. There are a number of buildings that were also identified, and
let's just say I've been making this presentation up and down the state, identifying that
school district has a lift slab building that they need to do an investigation doesn't
automatically mean unsafe. It just means we have to do the investigation. So there is
something called design immunity. It's government code section eight 30.6. There's a
lawyer talk. I'm just going to tell you what it means. It just means that the state of
california, once they approve a building, it's deemed safe. It's deemed to have met all building,
department and building code criteria. So that's the standpoint that we generally
come from. Our goal is to keep design immunity on buildings, and the place where you start to
lose design immunity is if somebody identifies that there's a problem. Like, for example, if
you're driving on a freeway and you notice that there's dip that is particularly hard to
negotiate, you notice you notice the public entity, the city caltrans, that they have a
problem they're supposed to investigate, they have reasonable time to investigate, and then they're supposed to fix the problem if indeed it's causing accidents. Same concept
with regard to school buildings. We've now been identified. We have a reasonable time to
investigate. That's what we're doing. And that is prescribed by government code section eight
30.6. Here's just an example of a letter. So you could see that generally the state of
california certifies that the buildings meet building code. And they also meet these higher
standards. This is pr 803. It's to address the state funding that's available. Generally
speaking, the school district, if it's found that the building is vulnerable, will be eligible
for what's called state seismic mitigation funding. It could be potentially up to 50% of the
repair costs associated with the buildings. So we'll determine that as we're doing the
investigation on the agenda, you have a resolution. And the reason you have the resolution
is to document we've already started the study, but I did want to make sure that we
document it for everyone's awareness that we've got this notice the buildings are
generally safer than all other buildings in the state of california that were built that
same vintage, and that we are going to do this investigation. If we find that there are any
vulnerabilities, we will immediately seek state funding. And since it's only 50% state
funding, then there are other options that we'll need to discuss. If it turns out that you need to pursue this option. So that is what the resolution is for. It's to make sure that
the buildings are up to current science. So I'll give you an example. So for some of you
you're probably too young. But I'm going to just mention this. There was a there was a car
called the corvair. And let's just say that you are a young family back in the 60s and you
bought a corvair and you decided that this was the car for you and you're driving it around.
and then this guy named ralph nader comes along and he goes, hey, this car is unsafe at any
speed. You should not drive it. It's going to kill you. It's going to be really bad. Are you
then going to take that car and junk it, or are you going to drive it for a little while,
while you're very careful with it, in order to make sure that the car is not going to get you
into an accident. So I compare it to the sciences changed. It's just like the difference between
a car that has an air bag versus a car that doesn't have an air bag. Of course, a car that has
an air bag is safer. So what the state of california did was they identified for us something that
they want us to study. It would be nice if the state did it for us, but they don't. So the
district is going to spend the money that they did not plan on spending, but they are going to have to and they're going to do this investigation. They're going to pursue this until the
building is either fixed or they determine that the building is not a building that needs to go
through an upgrade. So this is so that everyone is aware of what the what the problems and
the issues are with that. There's a resolution on the agenda. Any questions. Does this
necessarily mean that the building has to be not used anymore. It's not usable. I, I
would highly not recommend closing a building down just based on a notice that you
received from dsa. In fact, I brought a little quote and I I'll read the quote for you. So
the state seismic commission actually issued a report on november 15th, 2002. And I
figured that this would be helpful for you to identify what a school building really is in
the state of california. It says public school buildings in california are the safest in the
nation. They exceed the seismic standards required for most other buildings, and have proven
to provide a level of protection that assures the safety of california public school
children. Since the passage of the field act in 1934, no school has collapsed due to a seismic
event, and there has been no loss of life. Nonetheless, the need to constantly examine
conditions in light of a better understanding of building performance is necessary to
maintain the high standards that it has that is historic in california. So what's happening
is the division of state architect has identified something they want you to
study, and your study is going to tell you if the building is something that needs to go
through an upgrade. I don't believe that you're going to get a result that says that you have
to abandon the building, but if you do, I will let you know that once the study is back. But as
of right now, you can rest assured the building is safer than all other schools and
buildings. All other buildings of that vintage. But there's a science issue that has
identified that this building needs to be studied. And the great presentation, by the way,
I think you covered lots of great points and educated all of us on how this works. Just to be
clear, this is a notification that we need to investigate, not a notification that we have a
problem. The investigation will tell us if we have a problem and then what resolutions we need to
come to correct. You are correct. It's just a notice. It's just a notice. It's nothing
to worry worry about at the moment. Correct. But we need to go through the steps. That is
correct. Yeah. I just wanted to ask about the resolution. I appreciate that we're putting
that out so that we're identifying and sharing with the community. All the steps that
we're going to be taking. Is that a requirement that we do as a result of this, or do other
districts do this as well? Some other districts do it. We recommend it. And the reason we
recommend it is there's a lot of things that happen in closed session. Generally, if you're
discussing something where you're talking about potential vulnerabilities, that typically
happens in closed session. But for this board of education, it's extremely important for
this to be transparent so that you know what it is that the board of education is doing. You
know what the board of education is thinking about. So the board felt that it was important for
the public to know that these two buildings within the valencia campus were identified,
what it is that the board is doing about it and how we're going about to both seek funding
and to fix the problem as quickly as we possibly can. That's not to say that there
won't be an earthquake tomorrow, we just don't know. But we wanted to identify it just in
case. Make sure that everyone was aware and to have some transparency. To be clear, you
said an earthquake tomorrow doesn't necessarily mean that it would be a problem, but I'm just saying, because you made that comment, I'm like, well, that doesn't mean that if there's an
earthquake, we have a problem. That just means that would be the incident that would cause us
to see a problem, correct? Potentially. That is correct. Are you sure? Layla? That is
your school and she spends an hour in the library every day. She told me. So. My son went to
that school, so I have no concerns about the school whatsoever. That's good. And I
am an architect, so I can tell you that I the school is generally going to be safer.
don't be scared of it. It's but the district is going to do a full investigation and is in the
middle of it. Sounds good. Okay, I have one question in your presentation. You said that if
we have to fix or tear it down or whatever comes, that the state could provide up to 50%,
does the state normally hit that 50% range or is it somewhere a lot lower? That is a really good
question. Having done a bunch of these, just generally figure the state figure some way to not
give you the true 50%. They calculate 50% based on this formula that is actually out
somewhere. As far as I can tell. It looks like the formula is coming somewhere out of fresno.
so it really works out to be about 50% of about 70% of the cost. So it will for sure come
up short. Just as a quick aside, I don't usually make the board run out and find as much funding
as possible in order to replace or repair buildings, but we try to do it in a very organized
fashion. It takes a little while for dsa to do these evaluations generally, so there will be
plenty of time to figure out where you're going to find the funding, if you're going to find
the funding, if you're going to seek a bond, for example, in order to try to make up the
shortfall, you're right. The state pretends like they fund 50%. It's going to be like 20%
or 25%. Okay. Thank you. That's what I was afraid of. So there's no need to do a district car
wash this weekend to start fundraising. We're okay. The car wash will come. Box tops. I'll
be there. All right. Okay. Very good. Is there any other questions? So how many? I mean,
this is all an estimation. How many of these situations are going on right now at school
districts in the state of california? And how many typically happen in a year, like, is this an annual thing or is this every once in a while, the lift slabs are actually
relatively new. They're I looked at the list. It looks like it's probably about 25 schools. I
didn't count, but it looks like there are about 25 schools both in southern and northern
california. Seems like a couple more in southern california than in northern california. They're
they're all well-known districts. So you've probably heard some of these
presentations elsewhere. There's also another program that's going on. Interestingly, you've
already done a lot of this program in the early 2000, there was a program called ab 300,
which was buildings that the building code changed in 1978. So there are a bunch of code
changes. In 1978, there was all the code changes from sylmar earthquake, which was side to
side motions. Then in 2000, there were all the changes from the 1994 northridge earthquake,
which was an up and down motion. And those those changes resulted in ab 300. And there are a
number of districts that have done the ab 300. I think you've done a bunch of them. Fullerton
high, for example, did all of theirs in the early 2000. So a lot of districts did have been
doing these upgrades over the years. Okay. One question about timeline. When should we hear
something back and when should the public expect to hear something back about these
buildings, about the investigation? I was going to check with the structural
engineer after we were done today. I wanted them to get a applicant their application in
as soon as possible. So I would say you will probably give an update within the next six
months or so, and then give you an idea as to eligibility for state funding. You're what
you've authorized right now is what's called phase one. And they're under that pr that I put
up. There's also a phase two, which is a you'll love this state makes you do a theoretical
set of plans even for buildings that you're going to tear down. So we're going to have to do
that theoretical set of plans. And then after we do the theoretical set of plans and dsa
approves those, then they will approve you for funding. So it's a little bit of a process. I
don't know why the state makes it so difficult, but it will take it'll take a little bit of
time. Not a lot, but it'll take a little time. Any chance we can do theoretical theoretical
plans? That's exactly what they make you do. So any other questions? Thank you very much.
thank you. Thank you terry. Thank you very much. Okay. I'm going to turn the time over now
to mrs. Renee gray for the california youth behavior health initiative. Okay. Thank you very
much. Good evening, president anderson. Trustees and superintendent reno, as we
continue to prioritize the well-being of our students, I'm pleased to introduce an
opportunity that aligns directly with our mission to support their mental and behavioral
health. The california youth behavioral act capacity grant provides critical resources to
strengthen the systems that serve our students, ensuring that they have access to the care and support that they need to thrive, both academically and personally. Our district has
already made significant strides in expanding wellness initiatives, and this grant
presents an opportunity to build upon that foundation. Tonight, our director of student services
will share how we plan to leverage this funding to enhance services, improve access to
behavioral health support, and ultimately create a more resilient and well-supported
student community. So with that, I'll turn it over to our director of student services,
doctor baldwin pedraza, who will walk us through the plan. Thank you very much, miss gray. All
right. Well, good evening, board president anderson. Doctor serino, board of trustees. Today, I wanted to take an opportunity to provide you an overview of the children, youth
and behavioral health initiative, which I'm going to refer to as cbe and the school
based behavioral health incentive program, which we all call sb hip, two initiatives
that are designed to expand the mental health services for students. I'll focus on how
these programs impact pylusd, particularly in terms of funding opportunities, sustainability,
student support, and alignment with our existing efforts. So student mental health challenges
have been rising for over a decade. With the pandemic further intensifying the crisis,
schools have become critical access points for support as research shows that addressing
students mental health needs help thrive. Help students thrive academically, socially,
and emotionally. We see the impact firsthand. Mental health struggles can lead to chronic
absenteeism, lower academic achievement, and overall well-being concerns. However,
with access to school based mental health services, they are more likely to stay engaged,
attend regularly, and succeed. Despite this growing need, schools often lack sustainable
funding to provide these services at scale. That's where cbe and sb hip come in. These
initiatives create a funding pathway for schools to expand behavioral health services by allowing districts to bill insurance providers, including medi-cal and private insurers
for school based care. This ensures more students receive the support they need, when and
where they need it. California is taking a bold action to address our nation's growing
mental health crisis among children and youth. So at the heart of this effort is the
children and youth behavioral health initiative, a historic $4.7 billion investment that is
part of the state's master plan for kids mental health. This initiative takes a whole child
approach, recognizing that mental health is shaped by a variety of factors education,
health care access, social, social supports, and community resources. Cbe is built around
four key strategic areas workforce training and capacity. Expanding the strengthening the
behavioral health workforce to ensure that children and youth have access to the supports that
they need. Public awareness reducing stigma and increasing understanding of mental health
by providing resources and information to families, educators and communities.
coverage pathways improving access to care by simplifying and expanding behavioral health
coverage for children and youth. Behavioral a behavioral health ecosystem infrastructure
transforming the way mental health services are delivered by integrating care across schools,
community agencies, and healthcare providers. By investing in these areas,
california is working to build a comprehensive, youth centered system of care, one that ensures
all children and young people from birth through age 25 receive the mental health
supports that they need to thrive. The children and youth behavioral health initiative is
a transformative, cross-agency effort in california aimed at enhancing those services for
children and the youth. Led by the california health and human services agency, cbe brings
together multiple state departments and local partners to create a more coordinated and
effective system of care. These entities collaborate to implement a range of programs
and services, ensuring that young people across the state have access to the behavioral health support they need. Some of the state departments include the california department of
social services, state of california, office of the surgeon of surgeon surgeon
general, and some of our local partners include the orange county health care agency, as well as the orange county department of education. This initiative is focused on
building sustainable funding for school linked student behavioral services, and ensuring that
students under the age of 26 at all public schools, colleges and universities can access these
services. The goal is to improve the availability of school based behavioral health services. One
of the exciting aspects of this program is that it allows local education agencies, along with
their contracted or affiliated providers, to obtain reimbursement from a variety of
funding sources, including medi-cal managed care plans, medi-cal fee for service,
commercial health health care plans, and disability insurers. These entities are obligated by
the state law to reimburse eligible providers, such as those with pupil personnel
services credentials, for their services. Ultimately, this program will increase access to
mental health services, ensuring that students statewide can receive the care and support
they need no matter where they are. As part of the ongoing commitment to student wellness,
pylusd is leveraging the cbi capacity grant to expand and enhance behavioral health
services across our schools. This funding will allow us to strengthen mental health
support, increase accessibility for students, and improve our ability to track and coordinate
the care through integrated electronic health care health records system. As you can see
here, pylusd allocation for the capacity grant is a little over $1.1 million. We know that
mental health plays a critical role in students success. When students receive the support that they need, they are more engaged and perform better academically and develop
essential coping skills for their future. By utilizing this grant, we are taking a proactive
approach to ensuring every student in pylusd has the resources they need to succeed.
the sebagai capacity grant provides funding to strengthen behavioral health services for
students and families, and how these funds can be used. 70% of these grant funds must be used
to build operational readiness. So first medi-cal enrollment. This includes outreach efforts
to help eligible students and families enroll in medi-cal, ensuring they have access to
covered behavioral health services. Next service delivery infrastructure and capacity
building. This means expanding provider networks, hiring staff, and investing in technology to
increase the availability of mental health services. Then data collection and
documentation funding can support systems that track services, measure outcomes and
improve coordination between providers. Finally, billing infrastructure. This helps
streamline billing processes, ensuring accurate documentation and timely reimbursement for
those services that are provided by investing in these key areas. The grant supports a more
sustainable, efficient, and accessible behavioral health care system for our students and
families. The cbe fee schedule program is designed to standardize those reimbursement
rates for mental health and behavioral health services. Under the cbe initiative. This
program ensures that providers receive consistent and transparent ■compensation for
services delivered to children, youth, and families, making behavioral health care more
accessible and sustainable. The fee schedule outlines specific rates for different types of
services, including individual therapy, group therapy, crisis intervention and case
management. So here are some key steps involved in the cbe service provision process, from
delivering care to reimbursement. First step in the process is the services
provision by pylusd service or contracted providers. Once a service is provided,
documentation is crucial. Service providers login services into our ehr or electronic
health record system. This ensures accurate recording, continuity of care and proper
claims processing. Next, carol on behavioral behavioral health services serves as a third party
administrator for cbe and oversees claims processing and ensuring that all submitted
claims meet program requirements before moving forward into the billing cycle. After
documentation, we must submit claims through our ehr integrated billing system, and this allows for a streamlined process, reducing manual errors and ensuring timely submissions
of our service claims. Once a claim is submitted, carillion reviews it for accuracy and
compliance with sebi guidelines. If the claim meets all requirements, carillion
facilitates reimbursement based on the cbe fee schedule rates. This ensures that providers
receive appropriate payment for those services delivered. This essentially, this process has
been known to take about 4 to 6 weeks as we're seeing right now. So let's talk a little bit about
who can provide those services through the cbe fee schedule in our district. Mental health
specialists. Those includes both licensed, both licensed and associate clinicians who are
either employed or contracted by pylusd. These specialists will play a vital role in delivering
mental health services for our students. Next, we have rps credentialed practitioners,
which includes school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and registered school nurses. These professionals are also employed by pylusd are trained and
credentialed to provide the crucial behavioral health support within the school setting. Additionally, community based organizations that are designated by pylusd can also
deliver behavioral health care services. These organizations are critical partners in
expanding the network of support available to our students. Together, these groups of
professionals will help ensure that our students have access to the mental health and behavioral
services they need, both in school and through our community partnerships. As part of that
fee schedule. So pylusd actually currently already participates in a reimbursement program for
special education services. So our district already utilizes the la medi-cal billing option
program of the known as bop, which allows us to receive reimbursement for special
education services provided to eligible students. This program has been instrumental in
supporting the health related services we deliver through individualized education programs and individualized family service plans. This program helps fund health
related services that are delivered to students as part of their ieps and ipsps. As we move
forward with exploring the cbe fee schedule program, our goal is to expand access to school
based mental health services, not just for students in special education, but for all students
across the district. By building on the foundation of programs like the bop, we aim to enhance
our ability to meet the diverse needs of all of our students, making mental health and
behavioral services more widely accessible. There are many significant benefits for pills,
pill usd's participation in the cbe fee schedule, which further supports and aligns and enhances
our existing initiatives. One of the key benefits is the increased funding for behavioral
health services through participation in the fee schedule. With this additional funding through reimbursement, it will help us enhance our current efforts and ensure more
students have access to the support that they need. With cbe, we will see expanded school
based mental health support, which is crucial in providing timely on site care for
students. This helps reduce barriers to care and ensures students are supported within
the school environment. This program will also improve student access to care. This
broadens the reach of our mental health services, ensuring more students and families can take
advantage of the support that is available. There will be no cost to families, no co-pays, and
those receiving these services will not affect the students or families coverage under their health plan or insurer. Cbe also supports the long term sustainability of our district
employed service providers. This ensures that we can continue to retain and invest in high
quality, quality professionals, securing consistent and reliable support for our students. And
most importantly, this is. This program is aligned with our existing initiatives such as multi-tiered systems of support and our family resource centers. By expanding access to mental
health services, cbe enhances our ability to implement mtss effectively, ensuring that
students at every tier, whether in need of universal, targeted or intensive support, receive
the right level of care. And additionally, this program will complement work with our family
resource centers, allowing us to provide more holistic support to families and ensure that our
students, regardless of their background, have access to the services that they need. So
let's dive into the student behavioral health incentive program, or sb hip, as I had
mentioned earlier, which is an important component of cbe, this is a 389 million program,
million dollar program, and spread over a three year period and is designed to incentivize
and support school districts in expanding and enhancing their behavioral health services. For
students. With cbe expanding mental health services district wide, sb hip specifically
focuses on addressing access barriers for medi-cal students and improving school based
interventions by working together. Cbe, sb, hip, and cbe help build a more integrated,
accessible and sustainable mental health system for students. Sb hip provides
funding to schools and districts to improve access to mental health resources, implementing
new programs, and then strengthening their existing support systems for students
behavioral health needs. This funding can be used to support a variety of initiatives, such as
increasing the number of mental health professionals on campuses, providing training for
staff, and creating systems of better coordination of care for our students. In relation to
cbe, sb hip serves as one of the financial mechanisms that help schools implement the broader
goals of cbe, which include improving young mental health services, reducing barriers to
care, and increasing the availability of behavioral health resources. So next steps
for pylusd. Following the identification of targeted initiatives in collaboration
with districts representatives, the next step in the process involves implementing strategies
that align with these priorities. These initiatives are designed to improve access
to the quality of behavioral health services for our students. Behavioral health risk
factors or indicators, and referrals. Our focus will be on creating standardized processes for measuring behavioral health risk factors and indicators, ensuring timely referral for
those services. Building stronger partnerships to increase access to medi-cal
services, we aim to strengthen those partnerships with medi-cal providers to help our families
access the mental health services they need it. Enhancements for behavioral
health services as part of the program, will invest in technology upgrades to enhance
the delivery and tracking of those services, ensuring more efficient and data driven
interventions, and then technical assistance support for contracts. So we'll provide
ongoing technical assistance to help district teams to help with navigating the complexities of
behavioral health contracts, ensuring compliance and maximizing the use of our
available resources. All right. Thank you so much I appreciate it. Any questions? I know that
was a lot I have some questions. What is the age that a the children are seen, and are the
parents notified when their child is seen at school? Yes, the age of students. So we have
services that are available to all of our students. And of course, any student that's going to be seen on a consistent basis would would need to get consent by the parents in order to be
seen no matter what age. So no matter what age. Yeah. So if a 17 year old has to be seen, you
tell the parents we work to work with our parents to get consent for those services. Yes. Okay.
and so can the families opt out if they choose to do so. Yes. The families can opt out if they
choose to do so. And then what? Who determines if the child needs services? And is there any
medication that is given? No, there's no we don't do medicine or medicine management or
anything in that regards. That would be something they would get from a doctor. So okay, so I
know the answers to these questions, but these are questions that have been asked
to me. So I'm kind of asking for the community. And so when the counselor if a child goes to
like the normal counselor, is that an automatic billing? Because I've been hearing that,
like through this other program that we've been using for special education, that
sometimes even our sped testing is billed. So like if something's wrong with the kid and they go see the counselor the first time, would we bill that? Like, you know, for the
counselor, is that automatically billed or is this for over like, kids are going to go see a certain counselor. It's going to be like more of a, you know, more than a one time thing. And
that's when it starts billing. Or is it just every initial visit? It could be an initial visit, but there's the fee. Schedule gives a different types of services that are available
and then time limits on those. So it just would depend on the level of what that service looks
like, whether or not it would be billable or not. Okay. Yeah. And then I think that was it. I had
another question about it. How is it going in? How is it going in our special ed education? How
is that program going? How are we seeing any enhancements, any, you know, are we losing funding?
you know how like it seems like funding gets lost or not going, you know, where it's supposed to
be? Actually, we're doing very, very well. So we have quite a few special educators like our
our nurses are part of the billing, our school psychologists, our speech and
language pathologists. We only have one audiologist, but that person could bill two. So all of
these different providers are able to bill and we meet with paradigm is our ehr. You would
call them. And they just met with us this week. And they give us data on how well we're doing.
and we're up to almost $1 million this year. We'll probably hit a million. And so
that goes back to I mean, it funds a lot of stuff actually. And so to me, this program
really is the answer because we know budget constraints the way they are. This is one answer for
getting the behavioral health services that we need. So we weren't we're obviously it's
been working well for us with special education. So it would just be this would be on our
mental health side. So there's nothing like waste, fraud, abuse any of that that we need to worry about or anything that like we're going to be, you know, culpable for. Because
obviously this is billing now out of a school district. You know, our school sites. Does the school site bill or do they send it over to the district office and then the district office
bills? It goes all through the district office, and a lot of district offices are even building, you know, a infrastructure for billing. We kind of have a few people in
special ed that are already doing it because they're familiar, and they'll talk to the person at paradigm and work with them. So the way we envision this is something of
that nature would happen in general. Ed so just so everyone understands what has been going
on with special education, can you just explain like what the process would be like? So if you
test a child or whatever happens and then how the process goes through and then how we get
paid. So we do assessments, which is the testing. We'll do what we call treatments, which is the if a speech and language pathologist works with a student, let's say, on our
problem. And all of those things are billed, and so they go into paradigm and it's actually an
online system. And they used to do this I mean way back in the day I'm aging myself, but on,
you know, pen and paper now. And then they started to do it online. Now they just go
straight to the paradigm system. And it's their way of documenting and it's much easier. So what we would do is build the capacity for the other, what we call pupil
personnel service credential folks, to be able to build that same way once they bill it. I
mean, once they put their particular treatment or assessment, it goes into the
system and they do nothing else except we just keep track. And then we meet quarterly with
these people and they tell us how much money we're generating. And then it's kind of back build
and they'll tell us we have this what's called a crc's audit. And we're always waiting to see how
much money we're going to get from that. We meet again, and then they tell us, oh, now
you're going to get 500 and something thousand for that. And then they tell us the money
we're bringing in. And we know that special ed always has a large local contribution. So
we're we're really trying to get extra funding for special ed because we're an underfunded mandate. Right, right. So if I'm a parent at home and I hear about this program, I'm not
going to be concerned that for the district to be making money, they're going to be pulling our kids into the counselor's office willy nilly and billing. No, in fact, this is really a way to
bill for and I think this is critically important for existing services, these
services, our counselors are working like crazy and we need to fund them. We need to fund
more of them. Yes, we need them at the elementary level. And we don't have an answer to this.
and I think this could be I don't want to make all these empty promises, but this could
be potentially one of the ways to do that. And so this is a way to get our staff back up because
we're getting the money. And then now we can fund the positions. Yes. So you saw it
was 1.1 million. And then the sb hip is 220,000. So do the math. So we get all that and then we
start now because we already have it. We receive the money. Then we start building and we say okay who's going to help with this. What office? Or you know, what is this going to look
like? And we bring a team together and we ensure that special education is there with
us. And then we build this system and then we start billing. I'm just we're crossing
our fingers in 25, 26 and then we start generating. And the more you know all the services
we're already doing, we turn it. Then we get and we'll report out what we're getting. And then we
can look at adding more staff. And so another question would be is why did the state start
giving us the money back when we've been doing this for years with no compensation? What what
was the change? Yeah, it's really interesting. It's a $4.7 billion investment from the
state. And I think it has to do with with mental health of our youth. I mean, I'm just I'm
looking right here at all this data. It's kind of alarming. I don't want to talk about it. But
the suicide rates and we have a lot of data in our office. And at the end of the year we'll be
presenting this to you. But it's pretty much transforming the way that california supports
children, youth and families within the school system. But not only that, remember the cross agency description he gave also with schools and colleges and also with homes and
communities. So this investment is to kind of making a triad out of all those things and saying,
we all have to invest in our students mental health, right? Okay. I think that's all the
questions. Thank you. Is this going to work similarly to the current way we do ieps? Now, how
the parent has to check the box during when they write their when they sign their paperwork,
there's that little box that says we can bill. If they don't then we don't. Bill. Yes.
correct. Is it going to work the same way where the parent has to agree to? One of the things I
know we've talked about before, that the efficiencies of billing is a bit of a problem, right.
and I noticed that we can do billing infrastructure with this. Iss with all of our billing infrastructure for these special services, for sped and for the mental health? Can we.
yeah we could. And so we that was the discussion yesterday. But I was trying to wheel and
deal yesterday. And I asked them, how much are you going to charge us. And we heard somebody
I don't even know if I should say this publicly, but don't say that. Okay. But anyway, I said,
how what percent and they're, they're like, they told me the percent, I won't say it. And I'm
like a little too high. So we'll see. We're trying to get the percent that they will take to
help build this to be lower. But that's what we do. We will and deal. So we'll eventually get
something that we think is reasonable. Bring it to you and say, okay, this is what we think
we can we can get. And these funds are able to be used for that, to build the foundation so
that that efficiency is built in. And then that increases all of these billing, these
reimbursements. Correct? Absolutely. All of them. It's already stuff we're doing. We just need to build the we need the system. We need the system. Good. One question not to jump
ahead, joan, but is projections for the benefit of the efficiencies and billing? Is it
built into the budget or not? It is not. So we are not being optimistic and saying we're
going to include that in our budget. This is not included. That will be an additional. The
efficiencies we get here will be additional in the future. Yes, I like that we're being conservative. And by the way, we also do that with special ed. It's always a surprise. We don't
count on getting any money. But our people are so great and everybody builds. But we're like, we don't think we're going to get anything next year. We're just trying and we're always
reinforcing. But we always do because we don't want to, you know, we want to under-promise
and overdeliver. Deliver. That's right. Perfect. Good. Great. Next. We're sorry. A lot of my
questions were answered I love it. I am familiar with cal aim and what it's done for the
families experiencing homelessness in the county through cal, optima and the ecm,
which is the community supports and housing navigation. The infrastructure grant is so key
and it takes a good 9 to 12 months really to rev up and get to that point. But it is
amazing. It's done a lot for all of the shelters that the family shelters out there and the
support that they can provide, because now it's helping pay for their staff so that they can not
worry about trying to fundraise for that, but pay for their staff and then fundraise for the
actual services, that and money that they need. So it sounds very similar. I think it'll even
layer on because we have a pile, the third highest number of mckinney-vento students in all
of orange county compared to any other district. The third highest. So santa ana and
anaheim are and then us. Wow. So it's shocking actually. And capo is right around where we are
too. So this will be super beneficial because all of those students will qualify for
medi-cal. I'm curious as to you answered a little bit about the school site level. I was curious
as to what time it was going to take, but if it's going to if it's, you know, maybe, I don't
know, you could answer that if you know yet. And then the other question is related to data
sharing requirements. So do I know we're putting it all in there. And we're we're looking
at a little data that you mentioned. I'm curious as to what kind of data we can utilize
to best improve services. To be able to look at that, will we get information related to how
to improve services, not only not only just the funds that potentially we could make from
it? So, you know, I don't know if you want to answer it, but so the data sharing I think we were
careful with that. Right. So we have ferpa, we have hipaa, we have all of these regulations.
and we want to make sure parents are are aware of what's happening, that they consent to
it. But in terms of the data that we gather as a team, we do a lot of at least this past
year, we've done a lot of data gathering, data analysis, disaggregating different,
different mental health areas that we're seeing more, let's say, at one level than another.
and truly one of the things, in fact, I was talking to doctor serino about it today is coming
back and sharing with you all some of that data since we've been collecting it all year,
because it kind of informs you about, okay, what do we need to do next year as a result of what
we're finding? Because, again, I don't think we're out of the ordinary, but you can look at
the data like, I was just looking at this. It's, you know, we all know. We watch the news,
we know what's going on in society. It's somewhat shocking with our youth. You know, what we're seeing mental health wise. So we can take the data and we can look at it. But there's also
protected data as well. Great. Thank you. Okay. My question was mrs. Buck kind of asked as well.
but I don't think we got an answer. What is the timeline for the build out. Is it. Oh I was I
did timeline for build out. I was thinking staff time. Yeah. Time out timeline for the build
out before we start. Yeah. So the timeline that we're looking at being optimistic, but we can
if everything goes well and according to plan, we could be up in billing by the next school
year. 2526. Probably late fall. Early. Yeah. Late fall, early early winter. And like miss gray
had shared, we actually have a lot of our staff members that are that can participate, that
already have familiarity with billing system, and that's going to be an asset for us for sure.
yeah, yeah, yeah. And then there was one other question. You said you're going to contract with a
third party billing company. Yeah. So is that the ehr is an electronic health records.
that's who we use with paradigm. But there's a third party that's called carillion. They're
actually we don't have to we're they're already going to be embedded within and working with
paradigm to help make sure that everything goes smoothly in terms of claim processing. But
and that's a contract with the state. So the state has a contract that they just told us
about. And it's throughout the state of california and it's through carillion. So they'll work with if it's paradigm if it's healthy campus if it's liberty was one leader service
leader services. Yeah there's just different ones. Yeah okay perfect. Thank you. Anyone else
have any questions? Oh. Layla. Oh sorry. I have a question really quick. I'm not 100% sure
if you can answer this, but I heard you mention that there will be transparency with the
parents. And while I think that's great when you're having these sessions with students,
are the students aware of what will be shared and what won't be shared like? Is there a level of
privacy that the students will be having with the people that they're speaking to? Yeah, there's a that's a great question, layla. There is a level of, you know, privileged
information between, of course, you know, the counselor and students, but it'll be you bring
up an important point. It'll be good to make sure that transparency and communication with with the students and families, it's going to be important moving forward, for
sure. Yeah, yeah. So is it when you're in these meetings, is there talk about finding like
are we looking for why all the sudden there's this been this explosion over the last, you
know, however many years, five, six, seven years. Like it just feels like we're treating like we just like, keep treating this, but, like, are we looking for any root causes? Is there
like the research? Like, are we trying to find out what is actually going wrong? So like we
can kind of fix the problem as well. I guess the kids are younger or stuff because it kind
of seems like if you keep having mental illness, if you keep having, you know, sick people, if you keep, you know, you're you're just kind of just keep treating and treating and
treating. Yeah. Like but are we actually trying to find like the root cause and like trying to
weed that out or is this just kind of like we're just fixing the problems as it comes. Do you
want. And nobody may have the answer to that. But I'm just saying that is that's like the
million, million dollar, million dollar question. Yeah for sure. I'll join you with this. That's
a great question. When we think of safe schools, we think of fences and surveillance cameras
and so on. But this is how you build a safe school by identifying where the troubles
and potential behaviors are manifesting before it's too late. You know, the first thing
that comes to mind when you talk about how we could root out that, well, these cell phones
right here have really impacted schools in a big way. And many, many districts have already
moved in that successfully, have moved that way. So that's one way to address it. But, you
know, this district, as I've been meeting children and teachers and schools, you know,
pbis is a program, positive behavior intervention and supports program that's rooted
in relationships. And it's restorative in a way that once those relationships are
established, then it's a safe space for children to talk. And they're more likely to share and
more likely than for our team to be able to support that. That child. There certainly isn't a
simple solution, and I'm happy to bring back to the board of education and the community some
of the innovative strategies that are being used around the country and internationally.
really, because this isn't just a problem here in america, but it certainly has proliferated,
proliferated since covid, pretty much. Right. We could pretty much count that. Yeah. Yeah.
well good point. That's when it became right. It became evident. So anything you'd like to add.
yeah, I would say to so we because of funding we over the past year we're funding and
everybody knows this elementary counselors at the title one schools. But what we're finding with our data is we think that that's where the mental health problems are. They're not it
goes across any socioeconomic standing, period. And we when we're looking at the suicide
ideation rates, they're actually higher in our higher income areas. And so what this tells us
is there's a lot of pressure on kids. And so I, I wholeheartedly agree with you about this. I
also think that we really put a lot of pressure. And I'm going to I'm going to maybe take a
risk in saying this. But on the academics, we push so much now, it's really important. But we've
got to balance that out. And when we do that, when a lot of the students we see when I was a
counselor, it was the same thing. It there's a lot of pressure. So I think the more we can educate our families on this, the more parenting, the more community building, the
more relationships and the more bringing our parents into the fold. We're involved with ed
services and community engagement initiative, which doesn't need to just be with
certain families, it needs to be with all families. And so the more that we work together with
families and bring them in so that their opinions matter and they help us build what we want
to build, I think we'll see a difference too. Yeah. And the evidence is pretty clear when
students are connected to their school. So your children are in sports, they're in band, they're
in a variety of different programs. They have another adult that they could connect
with and get to know. So having more and more programs that serve more and more children. So
even if their clubs. But I know from my years as a teacher, keeping your room open, you
know, during lunch before and after school all the time so that children have that, that
safe space. But it certainly is a wonderful thing to continue to build a variety of
opportunities, but that takes adults to run these programs, right, and support these
programs. So another great program from the state is the extended learning opportunity
program that funds after school program. So another way to help additional time in the nine hour
day to support children, because I believe they need our support more than ever. And I'm hoping,
too, that this opens the conversation for early intervention, like in elementary
school and middle schools with coping programs such as calm classroom and things like that
that we can implement, like teachers can implement during the day of different strategies to cope with stress and anxiety and things like that. That helps, like you said, helps
mitigate the problem before it gets out of hand and hopefully helps nip it in the bud when
they're younger. You're talking about building those skills, right? Yes, building the skills, but building it into our like into a classroom day as part of part of the lessons. Yeah. Thank
you. All right. Thank you all. I appreciate your time. Thank you, thank you. Okay. Now we're going
to turn over to doctor young. Sure. That was a perfect segue. Doctor serino talking about the
expanded learning opportunity program. So good evening. Yes he did. He set it up perfectly. Hit
it out of the park. I know he's ready. On the on the consent calendar this evening, you're
going to find a proposal to purchase nine electric passenger vans, of which eight will be
utilized by the expanded learning program and purchased through the use of the expanded
learning opportunities program, or elop, which is a state led initiative providing funding for
after school summer and intersession enrichment programs for students in transitional
kindergarten through sixth grade, focusing on developing their academic, social,
emotional and physical needs. And so at this time, I'm pleased to turn it over to doctor george
lopez to share about our future plans of our growing expanded learning program and how the
approval of these vans will assist us in meeting students needs. Doctor lopez thank you,
doctor young. Good evening, board president and marilyn anderson. Board members, acting
superintendent. Doctor serino, executive cabinet. Tonight's presentation will provide a
brief timeline of our after school programs, the positive impacts of lp funding, the
future plans of our expanded learning program, and the electric vans. We seek
permission to invest in. To begin, it is important to visualize the historical
timeline of our programs then and now. The expanded learning program began in 1985, and
through 1997 we operated 16 parent paid after school programs, serving roughly 300
students, with an average of 18 students per site, with zero programs at our title one
schools. During this time, our programs were more of an after school child care to meet the
needs of working families and keeping children safe on campus. In 2000, the federal 21st
century fund helped open our title one after school programs. However, these fundings expired
after two years. 2002 proposition 49 was approved by the voters to continue to work
on the previous funding for after school programs. Today, acs is a vital help support our
families who need after school program at no cost. By 2004, all 21 elementary schools offered an
after school program between child care and acs. Today, we service over 2600 students
across 21 elementary schools and three middle schools. We are proud of our committed and hard
working classified staff, and we continue to seek solutions to fill vacancies, including
creating student supervision, assistant positions, contracting with outside vendors and we are
currently undergoing csca reclassification discussions for the child care series. We are
also working closely with our site principals and maintenance and facilities to open
classrooms to grow our program. Our enrollment has grown because of elop. Elop provides for all
students regardless of their zip codes. Elop has changed the landscape for after school of
after school programs. In many ways. For example, our parent parent paid program is designed
to be affordable for our families. 100% of our parent paid income pays for the
salaries, supplies, and snacks. This meant offering enrichment within our financial means to
keep the program fiscally sound. Our dreams of offering more enrichment, sports, academics,
and transportation for our students always fell short to funding. But dreams do come true
in 2022. Assembly bill 130 expanded learning program offered all california leas
funding for school programs. Coined elop, the funding is specific specifically for our
unduplicated pupils. The funding has helped change every aspect of our after school program for
all 21 elementary schools and middle schools. So in 2023, we got to work with ela funding. We
partnered with outside vendors offering our our students soccer, basketball, pickleball,
dance, theater, coding, and robotics. Elop funded any certificated teacher willing to
teach after school intervention in reading and math. We purchased portables for the acs
program at topaz and ruby. Last, we have upgraded classrooms and furniture, and by june we
anticipate to purchase or anticipate two large shade structures over the rio vista
rio vista playground, a need the community had been asking for many years. In 2024, we needed
to increase staffing to meet our growing student enrollment. We offered dual positions. This
offered any classified part time employee to come work with the expanded learning team, making
them full time with health benefits. We created a job opportunity named student
supervision assistant for any 11th or 12th grade student to join the expanded learning team.
great way to earn money while gaining a quality experience in 2025. The need to do more. We
will expand to all six middle schools tuffrey, kramer and yorba linda middle school set to
open this fall. Additionally, we have a waitlist of interested families to our existing
programs. Today, we are seeking the board's permission to invest in electric passenger vans to
address the waitlist and expand our programs in ways that offer students access to experiences
that many would otherwise never see. We are at the tipping point to offer more, to do more for
our families. Elop has provided access for thousands of our students to enrichment, academic
intervention, sports, the arts and much more. However, there is still one barrier our waitlist,
which is due to staffing and available facilities. In addition, elop requirements for
student to teacher ratio is 10 to 1 for tk and k and is 20 to 1 for grades one through six. To
address this, we are seeking the board's permission to consider to use ela fund funding to
purchase electric vans to transport students from a high enrollment program to a program
that has space, as mentioned earlier, funding. Funding stipulates leas must offer
transportation for any student attending a school without an lp program to a location that has a
program. The vans will help transport students from one location to another to meet the
ratio if needed. Additionally, the electric vans will help create an opportunity to offer
experiences for students to engage in elementary intramural sports through ela. So imagine
bringing bring in school spirit gathering of families. Also an opportunity for our schools to
showcase to our community why pil is a district destination, a district of destination. The
electric vans will transport groups of students from one school to another to compete for
fun, with all elementary and middle schools offering expanded learning programs. Next year,
the vans will be used also. Our focus is to provide our title one students to take yoga
classes, financial literacy classes and culinary classes at a centralized location. For
example, our aces program has partnered with yorba linda high school culinary pathway, who
have offered to teach classes. Our expanded learning vans would be used to transport students to
and from this location. This is important to our team because of the research and young students
being exposed to these opportunities. We know food choices, calming techniques such
as yoga and financial literacy are needed to help to change the trajectory of any student last
future use. We know not all families choose our programs. We see vans in our parking lot
after school from outside vendors such as karate dojo, the after school tutoring depot, and
the boys and girls club, boys and girls club coming to pick up and transport our student to
their location. Our future goal is to one day find a location and open a one stop, after
school community. A community center where we offer all enrichments to families who are
seeking outside what we offer at the school sites. Our electric vans will be used to transport
students. The expanded expanded learning vans we are proposing to purchase carry nine
passengers and the driver, and are equipped with gps and interior camera, and we will
have a custom pil branded expanded learning wrap. We will work with transportation to seek
qualified drivers. The electric vans will be in operation monday through friday, with other
district depart other district departments using them through a bill back when our department is
not using them outside of the 2 to 6 p.m. In closing, in 25 months, we created an expanded
learning program that is no longer just a childcare, but instead provides quality
enrichment, academic intervention opportunities for students. Our staff also
receives ongoing training and we collaborate with the california afterschool network to stay
current with research, state funding and policies. We serve over. We serve over 2600
students after school from tk to eighth. And if we had more classrooms and staffing
available, we can accept more students. We offer a no cost summer enrichment. We offer a no
cost academy support program for our english learners. We offer summer, winter, fall and spring
camps for our family who need a safe place for their children to spend. From 6:30 a.m. To 6 to 5
to 6 p.m. So given the permission, we can expand and offer more to our families. The
growth of our afterschool program will no longer be a dream, but a reality. The
electric passenger van will be used to change the trajectory of hundreds of students. This
concludes the presentation and I invite any questions. Thank you. I'll go first, I guess. First
question why electric, not gas? That's kind of a question I would like to invite richard
from transportation. You knew we were going to ask this question. Yes, yes. Good evening. The
state of california is really pushing us to go to ev. And in 2000, by 2035, we do have to go
completely ev. And so we've got a really good deal with this ev. And it's going to give an
opportunity for our staff to really dive deeper than our nine busses that we currently have.
but it's just the way that california is pushing us. Industrial. The ice engine, they
call it internal combustion engine, is getting harder and harder to find. We can find them
with vans right now. It's harder to find them with school busses, but it's just the way california
is really pushing us. They're really pushing us to ev. So for instance, even on a on a maintenance truck, for every one ice engine that we have to buy, we have to in california, we
have to show that we've bought another, matched it with another ev. So it's something that the
california air resources board is really pushing our transportation or even just school districts, even private companies really go to the ev. It's a requirement, or they're
recommending it's a requirement. It's a requirement for every gas or ice engine we get. So 1 to 1,
1 to 1 correct. 1 to 1 okay. So because the biggest question I had was capacity nine. That's
not a huge van. And you're talking about sports teams in the future. That's not a whole
sports team of any sport. So I'm a little bit curious as to why we wouldn't do maybe like 15
passenger if we've got to go one for one, if that's the requirement. I'm assuming that's
the requirement based on what you're saying, then why wouldn't we go 15 passenger van, 15
passenger gas, nine passenger electric unless there is more capacity in electric. So that's
a good question. So when it comes to 15 passenger van, the national highway national
transportation safety board does not recommend the utilization of 15 passenger vans because of the
once you get with that type of vehicle, with that many passengers, you have a high center of gravity. And the rollover potential is higher. Also, that requires a commercial
license. So with these vans, we're going to be able to get drivers that they still have to
meet. The new senate bill 88 that came out in october, but it doesn't require commercial
license. And so that's why we would stay with the nine passenger. If the in the cases
where there's sports teams that need a higher capacity, we can utilize the school busses. In
those cases, I don't know a sports team that has nine players, less than nine players
plus a coach. Yeah, I don't know how that would look for. Well there's multiple. We have. But I
thought two I thought that it was overturned about the evs in 2035. I heard that that was
overturned that they can't was like unlawful or unconstitutional or something in california. I have not heard that. I did hear that it was overturned. So we don't have to
go electric. Let's look into that. Let's look into that's something that we can definitely
look because that is a real thing. And not that I'm saying down with electric. I mean, I've had a tesla before, I don't any more electric. It's a good car. But my point is, until you don't
have electricity, that's right. Until you don't. But there are several things between the cost
of it up front and then just the capacity. Now, what is the maximum that you can get size
wise passengers before you have to get that? It's the nine. So nine, nine plus the driver.
anything above ten passengers or more requires a commercial license with a passenger endorsement. Okay. I think it's great for after school stuff and for elementary. I don't see many
more uses because nine is not that many people. That's my only that's my biggest concern is I
love the idea. I think it's great. I think we need transportation to get more kids involved. Absolutely, 100%. How do we do it so that it's also more beneficial in other places?
so let's look into that. So actually to piggyback on you, todd. So carlos rodriguez who
the aqmd when we did the electric busses, I guess they have more to give to us. So
maybe that's something he's looking for, somebody to email. I guess they want to offer us
more electric school busses. So I guess I can I know who to have them email now to talk about
that. Because if you're worried about the capacity, if they're willing to just give us more
busses, then that might help issues. But but but yeah I mean more busses would be great.
yeah. That south coast grant, the south coast aqmd grant is out. The deadline to apply is I
believe april 18th. We are going to apply. We're going to use we're looking to stack that with
the csp grant, which we already currently have a resolution with. And just to limit the cost, because with the grant, it's still about $100,000 out of pocket. And with the south coast
aqmd grant, the infrastructure funding isn't quite there. Like the csp, I think they're only
offering 20,000 per per charger when it comes to the busses, but it's something that we are
versus the csp, which is offering 75 000 per charger. But it's still something that we're
going to be looking into. Well, I'll let carlos know this. Yes, he needs to have a better deal
for us. Absolutely. Okay. And in addition to that, grant to we do have to crush a bus. We have to
trade a bus and it has to be matching. So for gas, for electric. Yeah. Oh, I'm a little
crazy. The crushing. That's gestapo stuff, man. Come on. I love the idea. I think it's
fantastic. Do we have a cost? Each van is approximately $90,000. It's just. That's
88,000 and change. Okay? And we. And we can afford this because I know a lot of these extra
things. You know, people are talking about. So we are having so that's almost $1 million in
vans through the yellow funding. Yes. That's how we would be purchasing the van. Okay. Is
that included in the budget. In our budget it is. Yes. No I know yes. And joan, yes it is. So
this this is included here when we get to my presentation here, it's a restricted program. And
so right now it's being funded very well by the state. And so we you know, they're looking to
continue with the different opportunities for the students. And so this is one way that we
can provide more services to more students. And it isn't already in the budgets. Good
okay. And you have to spend that money. Oh yeah. No totally agree. I just it's like
developer fees you got to spend or you lose it funds you lose it. And how how long do we have
to spend a lot funds. Is it the same way? Is it like 2 or 3 years or is it every year we
have to spend it by june 30th. So it's each year you have. So they give it to you and you have
a year to spend it or you lose it. Correct. Got it. If we if we approve it, when would this like
would this go into effect before june 30th. We buy the vans this year. Yes. Yes, we can purchase
the vans this year and we can get delivery before june 30th. And if we wait until next
meeting, I'm just I'd like to see if we can do one for one. If we can do if we can multiply how
many kids we can transport. So we have extra money right now in l.a. That we have to spend, or
we will lose it. So we don't want to push this off. We want to get the purchases in because
we don't want to send any money back. So. Oh yeah, no, I don't want any money back. I don't
want any money back to the state. How quickly can we know if we can do more? The one for
I'm just saying combustion versus electric. I'd like to see if we can. Yeah. Yeah. Can we do
can we buy with that money. Could we buy like gas, gas vehicles. It's something we can
look at. I do know the manufacturers or the vendors. They do have the ev in stock
gasoline. They might not. But it's something that we can definitely because we can get 50% more vans. That's 50% more kids. I mean, if we're potentially cost I don't know
what the cost is, but that would be interesting. I'd like to know that. I'm sorry. Oh, no, I was
just I was thinking you were asking for bigger vans because I was going to ask if we're short
any bus drivers at the moment. You're going to drive it and. No, no, no, no. Because that's
why we're going van wise rather than bus wise. Because we're probably already short bus drivers for regular busses. And so to add more busses, it's really not going to help because
we have nobody to drive them. Correct. Fortunately, we now have six subs. Two of them will
be filling the full time positions. So our trainers have been working very hard to make
sure that they've done the training and giving original classes so that we can get
drivers in. And also we've been promoting ourselves. So we've been also taking drivers from
other districts. So that's what I like to hear. Stealing people. It's great. I just my we're able
to so we're able to have drivers for the busses we have if we need to possibly use them all
between elementary and middle school and then high school sports. Yes, absolutely. I just I guess my point is I'd like to maximize this as much as possible. If we can go larger
vans, great. If we can go more vans, great. Whatever we can do to maximize this and not go out
of the budget. I think that would be important because the more kids we can get involved,
the better. And how are you guys advertising for the other districts? Are you like, you
know, how how is that happening? Because you're obviously successful. It's really word of mouth. We have a great culture within our transportation department. And so drivers,
there's no secrets with drivers ever. It's a really small community, especially in orange county. And so as the word gets out and they, you know, want to come work for us. Very good.
yeah. You shouldn't be telling that on like so that's true. We are we are recording. Let's keep
our secrets to ourselves. I have a question. What did the parents do if we are transporting their
child to another location, are we automatically bringing them back to that school site at the
end of the day? Or are those parents picking them up at that particular school site? We bring
them back to the school site. Second question. It's sort of related but not related to vans.
families that sign up for summer, the summer program. I have heard that it goes by very
fast, so the spaces fill up like crazy and by the time they fill out the application and submit
it for one kid and pivot over to their other sibling, that space is gone. And so they there's
been some glitch in the sign up for summer school so that the siblings aren't they aren't able
to do that simultaneously. So when the parents do call in and they say they're unable to get
the other sibling in, we manually put them together. Okay. So they last some someone
had that issue and so they ended up not participating altogether. So it would be really important
if we could let them know that if they have siblings to follow up with that as part of that
application process. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. And I'm for ev. And that was going to be my
question right. Because I also heard from a parent that they were able to enroll their kids,
but they were at two different sites in this. And you know, in elementary. So the parent would
have to drop off one and then go drop off the other at the other site. So if we could help do
something to make it more convenient for our families to mitigate any, you know, this
kind of frustration for our programs summer, fall and winter, those seem to be the
main issues. Is there very popular programs? So like on the soccer? Well, no. For the summer
break and fall break. Yeah. And. I was like all year. Yeah, yeah. All year. I'm just I'm just
realizing we're not voting on this, are we? This is not a vote. It's in consent. Right?
yeah. Okay. It's in consent. I'm going to pull it and talk about it again. Do we both drink
coffee tonight? Are you guys good? Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much,
doctor lopez. Thank you. Okay, we finish our presentations. This is armand.
miss armand. Cool. Can you hear me? Okay. There we go. Good evening, president anderson.
trustees. Acting superintendent, doctor mucino and executive cabinet members. I'm excited to
be here tonight to share my recent updates from our comprehensive high schools and
alternative campuses. So buena vista virtual academy student samuel nguyen and 11th grade
early graduate participated in the 26 holocaust art and writing contest in the poetry category.
he was selected as a finalist in the high school poetry division at park view school. Elise
proctor has been recognized as a national honor, honor society scholarship national
semifinalist. She has earned a $32,000 scholarship in recognition of her exemplary
dedication to the nhs, pillars of scholarship, service, leadership, and character at el
camino real high school, in alignment with its college and career readiness initiatives, el
camino students have engaged in a multiple college field trips. These visits. These include
visits to fullerton college for the male males, achieving success conference, and the
extended opportunity program. Additional upcoming events include the females achieving
success conference and an orientation session for students planning to enroll at fullerton
college in the fall. Last week, students had the opportunity to tour tour chapman university,
where they explored the dormitory, dormitory facilities and interacted with current
college students. The school is also preparing for upcoming events, including a red cross
blood drive on march 27th and prom on april 4th at the fullerton elks lodge. This
year's prom theme is moonlight on the river. At el dorado high school. Their girls water polo
team won the division five cif championship on february 22nd in dominant fashion, defeating
santa santa paula 16 to 4. This victory marks the first cif championship in the program's
history. On march 7th, el dorado hosted the eighth annual nonsense in the nest class
competition, an event that showcases the school's strong sense of spirit. During the
event, the class of 2025 narrowly secured the championship trophy,
outperforming the juniors. Students from each grade level competed in various activities
including dancing, hula hooping, three point shooting, and mattress surfing, while
accumulating spirit points throughout the night. A faculty member who attended the event
for the first time remarked that it was so enjoyable that they would never miss it again. At
esperanza high school, they celebrated two wrestling state champions at the recent
tournament in bakersfield. Olivia davis and sammy sanchez each secured first place in
their respective weight classes, marking the first time in school history that two wrestlers have
won state titles in the same year. The esperanza dance team achieved remarkable success at a
national competition in orlando orlando, florida, bringing home three national championship
trophies for their performances in palm pom pom, hip hop and jazz. This is the first time in
20 years that the team has won three titles in a single competition. Additionally, the esperanza baseball team recently received a new scoreboard, enhancing the game day
experience for players and spectators. Upcoming events at esperanza include the aztec
experience, an eighth grade parent night scheduled for wednesday, march 26th, providing
prospective students and their families an opportunity to become acquainted with the
school community. The winterguard team recently placed first in a competition at colony
high school, further showcasing the school's talent in performing arts. Additionally,
the theater department is actively rehearsing for its upcoming production of mean girls, which will premiere in may. Venture academy was recently awarded a $1,000 grant
from the placentia community foundation. The funds will be used to establish a permanent
coffee cart and acquire a high quality espresso machine for the coffee carts program. The
academy. The academy extends its gratitude to the members of the placentia community foundation
for their generous support. Additionally, the venture choir successfully presented its
concert of love performance at the performing arts center on february 20th. George key school
will celebrate saint patrick's day with engaging activities designed for both parents and
students. Looking ahead, the school is preparing for its annual walkathon, walk and roll
a thon, which will place at the end of april, followed by the highly anticipated raffle and
family barbecue in may. Valencia high school has received over 300 applications from incoming
freshmen for its esteemed academic programs, including the cambridge international
baccalaureate and valtech academies. Academy orientation night will take place on
wednesday, march 12th, followed by a new tiger orientation night on march 19th, where students
will receive guidance on academic, athletic, academic, athletic and extracurricular
opportunities. The valencia valencia academic decathlon team excelled in recent competitions,
placing first in division one super quiz and securing second place overall in division one.
the team has once again qualified for the state competition in the field of
cyber cybersecurity. Sorry. Valencia's team participated in the la ctf competition at ucla,
competing against over 700 teams nationwide. The students demonstrated expertise in cyber
photography and reverse engineering, with the top two teams tying for first place and
earning cash prizes. Yorba linda high school has an amazing spring season at, with various
athletic teams achieving promising starts. The school is particularly excited about the
launch of its inaugural beach volleyball program. The performing arts program are in
full swing with color guard, band, choir and orchestra preparing for upcoming festivals
and competitions. Meanwhile, the theater department is rehearsing for its spring musical
production, bright star. Yorba linda high school recently commenced olympics week,
featuring a variety of competitions, including a cornhole tournament for participation from both students and staff. The week long festivities will accumulate in
the olympics rally, which will include student performances, a staff performance, interactive
games and spirit building activities. That is all. Thank you very much. I just wanted to
ask you if you wanted to share about your experience. Last month during our board meeting.
it was really amazing. So I don't know if you guys know where I was, but I was getting
awarded for my scholarship to northwestern university. Thank you. Thank you. It was really
cool. I mean, it was really, really cool to see all the other people who are going to be
attending the university with me. You know, I'm really excited to get to know them, but I also
thought it was so cool. They, like, rented out a movie theater. So I never like I don't
know, I've never like, I never got to walk on the stage like it was a really cool experience.
they had it like all set up, and then I got like free popcorn and it was like. It was awesome. I
felt very special. I had like a seat with my name on it. Exactly. I was like, I feel like
I'm at a movie premiere. So it was really exciting. Thank you for sharing. Okay, now I'll ask the tough question. Okay. How has valencia high school and placentia-yorba linda unified
school district prepared you for your life beyond high school, and to get that award? That is a
very good question. So I would say that valencia and pile overall has definitely prepared
me with rigorous academic courses. As you guys know, I'm in ib. But they've also given me
a set of critical thinking skills that I think I'll take with me everywhere. Something
that I really love about this district is that, you know, they're definitely very tough on
you, but I think that it also comes with a lot of support, which I don't think can be met
anywhere else. And I think it's really helped me shape into the qualities that I will carry with
me for the rest of my life. Thank you. Thank you. I like that type of support. Okay.
okay. We're going to turn our time now over to. Doctor serena. Thank you, madam president.
members of the board of education. Lay the congratulations. No one gets into northwestern, so that is just amazing. Executive cabinet. Yes. Members of the pyle family
present and those who are watching from the luxury of their couch. The el community
forum, please join us on tuesday, march 18th. So that would be next tuesday for the
lcap community forum. This public meeting will provide an opportunity for input on the
local control accountability plan. And you know, again, local accountability plan. Now it's in
its 10th year and it's starting to finally attract more and more families and more and more
members of the community who are engaged. And so I really encourage everyone to come to
that event, if you can. Pylusd staff will present state dashboard outcomes and action
plans for the upcoming school year. Community insights and ideas regarding continuous
improvement efforts are highly valued and we welcome your participation, so we hope to see
you there from 6 to 8 p.m. The shamrock and run. So I will be there, I will run, I am a runner
and I expect to be there. Does anyone any my fellow governance team members expect to be there?
yes. Yeah. Okay. You're not running? Away. Okay. As a final reminder, our valued partners at
the reach foundation are preparing to host their annual shamrock and run five k and two
k events. Saturday, march 16th is this saturday? Sunday? Sunday? It's sunday. Right?
right. Okay, let me just let me just make that sunday. Calendar. Yeah. No I yeah no I knew it was
sunday. I just met I just messed up their. Sunday at yorba regional park in anaheim.
proceeds from this event directly support our annual middle school track meet and
other enrichment programs facilitated by the reach foundation. And I did get a
chance to meet with officials giselle and jennifer from the reach foundation. And how
wonderful that they are gifting our children with so many wonderful programs. Proceeds
from this event directly support our annual middle school track meet and other enrichment
programs. Oh, I just I just repeated myself. And all volunteer education focus 501 c3
nonprofit organization benefiting all students across our district. For more details
and a link to register, please visit the district website. The principal for a day. We look
forward to hosting our annual principal for a day on wednesday, march 19th in
collaboration with our esteemed partners at the passage and yorba linda chambers of
commerce. Guest principals will have a unique opportunity to experience a day in the life of
a school principal as they shadow site leaders on our campuses that morning. The event
will culminate here in the boardroom with a luncheon and discussion, reflecting on their
experiences. We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support of our chamber of commerce and
community partners, and we look forward to showcasing the incredible work of our students,
staff, programs, facilities, and site leaders. And in conclusion, the chapman university holocaust
art and writing contest. Finally, our middle and high school students recently
participated in the 26th annual chapman university holocaust remembrance art and writing
contest. This year's theme was what do you bring when you don't know where you are going? Each
year, students from around the world take part in this powerful contest, engaging in meaningful
research about the holocaust and world war two. As part of the experience, they listened to
firsthand testimonies from holocaust survivors and rescuer, reflecting on their motivations
for sharing their stories. Students then create original works of art, film, or writing
that honor and retell these experiences in profound and creative ways. Pil usd has long
been a proud supporter of this competition, encouraging participation across all of our
middle and high school campuses. This year was no exception, with 400 of our students taking part.
that's outstanding. Notably, three middle school students and one high school student from
travis ranch, tuffrey, and yorba linda middle schools, as well as yorba linda high school have
been named finalists. So that's wonderful. Yes, definitely. Congratulations to those
students, district and school leaders, trustees and students will attend the contest ceremony
at chapman university this coming friday to view submissions and celebrate the
achievements of all participants. Madam president, this concludes my report. My
first report. Thank you. And I don't have a tough question for you. So okay. You can relax.
thank you for that one. What's your fastest mile time? Yes. Yeah I think I think he's very
fast. What is your fastest mile time? I would I think it's very quick. Well, you mean currently
or when I was. Oh. How about how about both? How about both. Yea, I probably around 630 maybe.
have a good day. Right now. Yeah, right. Okay. He may be a winner. A shamrock winner might
be a medal around your neck. Yeah, at the end of the day. But that's not at 7 a.m. That's.
that's a different story. That's funny. Okay. That's another reason now for everyone to come
to the shamrock and run. We'll all. We'll all. Yeah. We're all going to have our stopwatches.
yep. Okay, so now it's time for our public comment. Public comment is an opportunity for
the public to provide input to the board of education during the public comment period. Board
members do not dialog with speakers or make comments regarding the information
shared. Each speaker will have three minutes tonight because we have ten speakers. We ask our
speakers to repeat their names when they come up to speak, and we will call the first four
speakers to sit in the first row. So they'll be ready for their comment. So you did so
well early. Why don't you keep going? Okay. And these are in order that we receive them. The
first four speakers. Judy, yehuda. Stephanie avital. Dawn. Kaylie and elaine o'connor. Yes.
please be seated. And good evening. I'm judy yehuda. As a northwestern alumni. I have to
congratulate you on your acceptance at northwestern. And my advice to you is to invest in
a very good coat. Speaking of mental. Speaking of mental health, our jewish students are
feeling threatened and unsafe in our classrooms and our schools, and they're afraid to speak up.
since october 7th, anti-semitism has increased by over 400%. Some of the things our students are
experiencing at the schools in orange county include bullying on campus from other students,
anti-semitic and israeli misinformation in the classroom, which includes misinformation
about israel in class assignments and in textbooks. Anti-semitic and threatening
messaging and information, is being allowed in student newspapers and yearbooks and
sometimes in the classrooms on a student or teacher bulletin boards. These are just some of
the issues that that we have seen in the past year in orange county schools. My colleagues
are going to be talking about some resources that we feel might help address these issues.
and I realize I will say, I don't have a clock here. Oh thank you. That there is an
element of social media. It's not totally a school problem, but I can't control social
media. So we will be presenting some ideas and resources that we think can help. And I'm asking,
I will be reaching out to you by email and asking that you respond to me and be willing to
set up a meeting to further the conversation and see what solutions we can achieve to help
not just our jewish students, but all students. It's not just bullying of jewish students, but
it's hate across the board. Thank you. Whoa! Sorry. Okay. Okay. Hopefully you can hear me.
my name is stephanie avital. I'm an orange county resident, and I'm here to talk to you about
resources in orange county. That can foster and enhance community and school learning in regard to
combating hate in general. I bet you didn't know there's an orange county holocaust museum
here that you don't have to go all the way to the tolerance museum in la with your students.
that cost you a lot of money and time. The orange, orange. The holocaust museum also provides
funding if needed. All of these resources I'm mentioning are free to the schools and have
funding provided. I am a docent at that museum. We encourage you as a board to go to the museum
and see it, as well as your staff and teachers. It's usually geared from seventh grade on up
through 12th grade, and it's quite a unique experience. It's not a typical holocaust museum.
it's based upon the life of one holocaust survivor who was a local resident in huntington
beach. Another source is the student to student program, where students come and speak to
your classmates, their classmates in different schools about what it means to be jewish
and what judaism is. So that's a fostering understanding and empathy and education of
knowledge. We know that knowledge reduces hate, so that's an opportunity there. That's also provided by the jewish federation. Survivors play is a play based upon a real
survivors, and it's acted out. And your students have a q&a after. So there's an engaging
conversation on that that's also funded. Hope in the holy land is a docu series film based upon a
local gentleman here who makes films and travels to israel. He is also a pastor. He's willing
to do a q&a after reviewing the docu films hope and the holy land, and the last one is an
escape room that is offered to your students. They'll come to the school and set up an escape
room with various themes. Depending on what the teachers you know choose regarding the subject of hate and discrimination against anyone. And the last thing is friendship
circle. It has to do with our special needs program and our special needs people. You have
students that volunteer and they get their high school credit hours, and they can volunteer at
friendship circle and work with people in our special needs community, fostering friendships, activities, soccer. They do tennis. They do cooking for young adults, and these
programs are offered again free to the community. And it's based out of newport beach. Thank you.
hello. Good evening. My name is dawn calli and I just wanted to talk to you tonight about the
potential for abuse with the new ethnic studies curriculum that's coming next fall to all our
schools. In general, ethnic studies can take one of two forms. It can be multicultural
ethnic studies, which focuses on the history and positive historical contributions of
minority groups. Or it can be liberated ethnic studies, which leverages race to push partizan
political arguments about identity or power, and social justice that is rooted in
critical race theory. Andunrtunl activists have been working hard to put their political bias in
the ethnic studies movements. This is just the latest example of how embedded antisemitism and
anti-semitism is in education. If it goes unchecked, it will lead to division and hate in our
high schools. And you don't have to look any further than your local college campuses to see it
in full view. Since october 7th, the country has seen how embedded and under the radar
this has been going on for decades in academia. My daughter is actually a student at ucla
and the students for justice in palestine group started marching through the ucla campus. Spewing
their hate and support for the atrocities of ten seven. On october 11th, 2023, just four
days later, nothing had, you know, started with any retaliation, but they started
marching through the school. And how does that happen if it's not organized and ready years in
advance? And by the way, they did this because the israelis were gaining the world's
sympathy as the victims of terror, and the hamas sympathizers couldn't have that.
they needed to change the narrative. We don't want to see the same kind of miseducation
and gaslighting of any minority to happen in our high schools. We don't want this hatred and
division being taught. We need to make sure the high school ethnic studies curriculum is
positive and accurate, and making students feel proud of their heritage and not feeling
attacked or unwelcome. Thank you. Hi, my name is elaine o'connor and I come with the
resource from the israeli-american council. And you may wonder, why would I sit
for 2.5 hours to bring this resource to you? It's because I think it's very, very helpful. I
feel it just deep in my heart. So as I know you all are aware, there's many challenges in the
rise of semitism and just even recognizing what it is. But not everyone knows what behaviors in
the classroom and on the school grounds make jewish students feel threatened and
marginalized. So here are some jewish students experiences said I've been bullied through jewish
and holocaust jokes simply for my being jewish. Or when I tell people I'm jewish, they
occasionally respond with, well, you don't look jewish. I've been a target of anti-semitism, but
most of the students didn't necessarily know they were being anti-semitic or at my old
school, a bunch. At my old school, a bunch of swastikas were carved into the chairs in
my religious studies class. So the question at hand is, what makes jewish students more
confident in confronting anti-semitism in school? And here's some of the answers these
students came up with. I had a teacher I could talk to or report an incident to, or an
easy place to report anti-semitism anonymously, like online, or to know that your
school administrators and teachers understand anti-semitism, or having
non-jewish students learn about anti-semitism and just themselves learning about forms
of anti-semitism and how to respond. So the american israeli-american council has a
lot of great resources. But the one I'm here to tell you about is the educational program that
includes a speaker for staff development presentations and addresses those specific issues
I've spoken about as well as related topics. So an ia specialist has given this
development presentation in both los angeles and orange county, including the fullerton school
district. And this same educational program can be presented to the placentia-yorba
linda unified school district at no cost. I encourage you to contact the israeli american
council to discuss this program, or learn about programs like this one. And thank you for your
time. Our next set of speakers. Please approach the front. Steve shapiro close. Sam mijovic.
sheri murray I think it's sherry. Sherry. Oh, it's an m. I'm sorry. Sam murray. Shani.
murray I can't blame my new york accent. I was going to try, but I'm not going to get away with
it. Shani. Thank you. And lesli. Alexander. I think you go first. Steve. Steve. I'm already. When
I think of mental health. Todd. You're better than a caffeine break. You're always good. Great
personalities. I had this presentation about ready to tear it up because a lot of things
mental health, the batteries, that sort of thing. There's 1.1 million vehicles on recall right
now that are batteries. Most people don't know. There was an equivalent of 38,000 teslas that
burned up up the coast and contaminated that entire area. So it's a very political thing.
but for three years, myself and a few other retired people from faa military have been doing
lithium battery safety and teaching lawmakers, usually one on one about what's going on and
what we're concerned about. Because my background was 13 years in hazmat and worker
protection, and I had a fire at my house, bike batteries just laying out in the heat cause
them. And I had ten people from the local fire department, sheriff and everything there,
and they're kind of hands were tied. Plus they didn't know a lot that hydrogen fluoride is
like bleach times ten. And if I do a post with that word or the words china, it's blacked out.
you can't get it. So all I was coming up here to do is maybe an e-bike safety program, because I
see these guys running down the street like crazy. All you have to do is put helmets on them.
the other one was, the other one was, if you know anybody, I was thinking about a business model
with after school shop classes, because those were the mentors that really took me there. I
raised an adhd child and he's a productive member of society. His strong points were detail,
but he certainly didn't know how to spell, and he certainly didn't know how to do english.
but you know, as I get 26 years old, they start coming down and driving company cars. So I
targeted on what he was good at, what he wasn't. And the biggest thing I had to overcome and
nothing on you is well-meaning teachers, great teachers said you're not going to be any good
unless you go to college. And he wasn't going to be able to make it at all. So having purpose and
worth and hope is the best thing for mental health. And we don't have that. And I think we can do
that with taking apart a toaster to start with, making a birdhouse, working on a car. So
I think if we can start that business model up, anybody wants to do it, we can have I don't
know, we can take care of the kids that don't have the money to go, but bike safety one I can
teach you guys about battery safety because there's a lot of fires that you don't know about.
city of new york lost 22 people last year, 400 fires. Okay. And we have problems with the supply
chain. So amazon's starting to get on board because a lot of those batteries that are made in
china and vietnam, when they're bad they don't get scrapped. They go down the street and they make them into profit. Thank you. So if you need anything, my name is sarah. I'd love to help
you. Thank you. My name is sam revich. A little bit of what I said. I was going to repeat
something that you've just talked about. The valencia academic decathlon.
congratulations to them. They placed second overall in the orange county competition and
placed first in superquiz. In addition to the team awards, individuals received $9,500 in
scholarships. Valencia score qualifies it to represent the district once again at the
california state competition next weekend in santa clara. A special shout out to the coaches
caitlyn rao, nathan vega and caitlyn reuter. This success is not just a measure of the team
and its dedicated coaches. It's also expresses the great educational opportunities
offered at valencia and the district. More broadly, the competition measures student
achievement in ten subject areas speech, essay, interview, art, economics, social science,
science, math, literature and music. Great academic decathletes are not made in the
few months leading to the competition. Their success reflects the investment of the
district over many years in our schools. The specific academic legacy of valencia developed
over decades and can be attributed to several visionary administrators, including rick
lopez, joey davis, nancy watkins and jamie york, who coached academic decathlon with me for a
few years. Over the last four years, three school board extremists drove these proven
educators out of the district. Their loss to us is tragic. Last year, the tigers gelled at the
right time. Valencia brought glory to our district, being the first pill school to finish in
the top ten at the state competition, placing seventh overall even though they were
not ranked in the top 20 going into the competition. The best schools in the nation are
represented at the california state competition. The winner of the california competition has won the national championship in all but two years. This century. Our hearts are with you, you
beautiful valencia geeks. You represent a great school in a great district. The decathlon
coaches provide another example of the dedication of our teachers. Coaches divide their
stipend three ways, measured in relationship to the amount of time they dedicate to the team.
it works out to less than $5 an hour. It must be rather insulting to them to hear that
usc coaches are compensated as independent contractors. At $50 an hour. It's not about the
money, it's about respect and fairness. Now, I got 21 seconds. That nine passenger bus would be
perfect to get them to santa clara. Hello, I'm shanae murray. I'm seeing and hearing a lot of
misinformation in the community. So I just once again, I want to thank the board for its
unanimous vote to investigate district administrators to ensure we have accountability in
pil. Thank you for making sure our administrators are treating employees fairly, acting in
fiscally responsible ways, and most importantly, prioritizing the education and safety of our
pio students. The fact that five of the seven were quickly cleared just boosts my
confidence in their abilities. While the fact that two are still out does give me cause for
concern, however, the investigation concludes I support this push for greater
accountability, and I want to thank you, renee gray, for your strong leadership as acting
superintendent and doctor serrano, welcome to the pio family. I've been part of this
district for 18 years and it truly is an amazing place. Thank you. I'm leslie alexander, a
retired teacher, a parent of two pil grads, and a member of the community. Welcome, doctor
musser, doctor serino, I practice it. I'm pleased that pil has the opportunity to
benefit from your experience and proven leadership. And thank you, mrs. Gray, for stepping in
when we needed you. Thank you also to mrs. Anderson for your leadership on this board. It is
greatly appreciated. Mr. Frazier, at the last board meeting, you indignantly
characterized the expected return of mrs. Gray to her actual position as ridiculous.
where was that outrage over the past two years, when 25 valued administrators were forced to
resign or forced out of their positions? One of those administrators was from yorba
linda middle school, where I was teaching prior to retirement. That loss was a soul crushing
loss, not just for the teachers and staff, but for the students and their parents as well. That
loss was repeated 25 times across this district. Yet you showed no outrage, no
indignation. Instead, you chose to support and enable the malfeasance and incompetence of
chernus and gates. Now that mr. Frazier is ridiculous. Mrs. Blades, I understand you have
recently post statements that are both misleading and false. In one recent post, you made it
sound as though a majority of the board voted to put chernus and gates on leave. In fact, it
was a unanimous board vote that put them on leave. You also voted for that leave. I am not
sure whose interests you are promoting when you share board business on social media, in
posts that are both false and misleading, but I'm absolutely certain those posts do not serve
the best interest of our students. Thank you. Our last two speakers for this evening,
julie suchard. I know I got the julie part right. Did you get the last part all right? Heard
it worse. And. And karen. No last name? Karen. Schneider. Okay. Good evening. My name is
julie suchard. On march 4th, trustee blades posted the following on her facebook
account. Quote the new board majority. Anderson, buck and quintero are overseeing orange
county school of computer science budget being cut in half. This is not what was
promised to our community and students. End quote I reviewed the june 2024 osc's budget. The
original budget listed $10,111,486 in revenue, $7,664,400 in expenses, and
$2,478,580 in fees and transfers, for an ending loss of 32,494. The first interim
december 2024 budget listed $9,428,656 in revenue, $8,540,279 in expenses, and
$2,260,694 in fees and transfers, for an ending loss of $1,372,317. The second interim
osc's budget was posted in this month's agenda, and it is exactly the same as december's
budget, which means that the budget was not cut in half. It was not cut at all. I do not
know why trustee blades would post such misinformation, but she owes the parents of oscs,
the community and her fellow trustees an apology for lying. She should also examine whether
or not her conduct adheres to the guidelines for pylusd trustees and consider resigning.
thank you. Have a great day. So, sam, a $90,000 van for a handful of students. I thought you
didn't like spending money on a select few. And for the other lady, the best way to clear
someone's reputation is with an investigation. Anyways, glad to see osc's being recognized as it
should be tonight, but it should be noted that beth fisher was the person who fought to bring
it to life. Despite the ongoing opposition from maryland and the teacher's union. I hope that
opposition doesn't continue. Parents and students love the school as well as usc. The staff
there has worked so hard to create an amazing learning environment. They deserve a
chance to continue on their trajectory of success. And since nothing is being said about
this, it's been three months and we've heard nothing on this endless investigation against
chernus and gates. And two times now you've had nothing to report out of closed session. Marilyn,
is this how it's going to be now that you're in charge? Didn't you campaign on transparency? So
when are we going to hear the results? Or are you just planning to keep them out until
they give up and go away? Because that's what this looks like. This is costing hundreds
of thousands of dollars, and the community deserves to know what's going on. What happens
when you find nothing? How much money are you willing to spend to get rid of them for your
personal vendetta? I'd love to see that transparency. You campaigned on, marilyn, but it
seems your entire focus is on dismantling innovative programs and destroying the reputation of
two incredibly competent administrators, with three superintendents in three months.
no offense, you seem delightful. Certain employees being targeted and harassed at their schools
for supporting doctor chernus, and what appears to be a coordinated slander campaign
against doctor chernus and the programs he helped to create. It seems you've created the very
chaos in this district that you claimed was happening before the election. How many vans could we
have bought for the amount of money you're spending on this witch hunt? What upgrades could
have been done at the valencia kitchen that you were so concerned about before? What are
your priorities, the kids or political agendas? Bring back doctor chernus and doctor gates.
enough already. Thank you. Thank you to all of our public commenters today. And that
concludes our comments. Okay, let's go ahead and take a ten minute break. So we'll we'll
come back at okay. We'll call us back into session at 916. That was her. My
chair. Sorry. Oh, somebody switched the chairs on renee. All the shuffling. Okay, so
we're going to. Action item 16.1. Can I get a motion? I'll make a motion. We approve
revisions to the public comment announcement second. Thank you. Okay. We have a motion by mrs.
buck. A second by mrs. Quintero. And mrs. Gray can help me on this, but this came up because
we were having some safety issues here while we were in closed session. There was, you
know, some fights that almost broke out and some things happened in. Since I've been
president. Yes. And yeah. And people have been followed to their cars. And so I just wanted
to reinstate what our civility policy was and to spell it out clearly. Mrs. Gray and I met
with the placentia police department because there was also some concerns from the our
police officers that were here. And so we just wanted to address all those. And one of the main
concerns was removing people without being warned. And they and they brought language to us
and they said, you need to make this very clear. And so we took their advice. We gave it to our
attorneys. And that's what prompted all of this. Do you want to add anything else, mrs.
gray? Yes. All that occurred. And so, as president anderson said, she requested that we have
this meeting and we did. And just to kind of reinforce, I think a sense of decorum is what
your desire was. So I was invited to a meeting. After the meeting with pd, I was invited
to a meeting with our board's attorney, todd robbins, and there was a discussion about the
public comment opening about whether it should be a little bit stronger, maybe, and have
some language in there just about respect and decorum and behavior. That was a little bit
more explicit. And so as a result of that, todd robbins gave us some advice. He made
some proposed revisions to that. And then in that there were clear expectations for
respectful behavior and to minimize disruptions. So I know that what's before you is a look
at those. And I think, you know, it's up for discussion about how everybody feels about it and
what what direction they want to go. If I could add to I like the adding in the language to make
it very clear and what the steps are. Our police officers that are here are here to protect the
room, but they don't just automatically intervene. That becomes the responsibility of
the board president to give that direction, because this is our meeting and it's that role. So
the even unless it breaks out in something dangerous, the police officers are going to wait. And
because first amendment rights or first amendment free speech is really important. And so we
want to make sure everybody gets heard. So I appreciate the extra language putting in the warning
actually spelling it out like what we need to say so that it's official so that we're following
the law but also protecting everybody here. So thank you. Yeah, I was pleasantly happy to
read the when I read the revision. I was excited about it. And I think like you said,
it really covers all bases and makes everybody not just us, but our public as well, feel a
little bit, hopefully safer and more comfortable. Is there any concern the bottom section is
makes sense. The warning and everything. Is there any concern about being too specific, like
because we're calling out certain areas and it's like, well, okay, this isn't one of those areas. So therefore it wouldn't apply. I would actually ask todd robbins if he could, I
was asking. Yeah, I think he should give feedback on that. Without at this time I figured
it out. It's been years. Yes. Mr. Frazier, you're pointing to which paragraph in the first
change, the individuals are reminded when it calls out locations. Oh. Is there any
concern about being too specific there and not inclusive of everything? Just saying. All
district property. Well, all district property. But I think some of the concerns that I
heard about that arose at prior meetings occurred in these locations. And so we wanted to
spell it out to be clear that while you're in this room, civility is expected when you're
in the lobby, civility is expected in the parking lot. Just to put everybody on notice,
because all district property. You're right. And I think there's a provision in there.
the next sentence, any individual who during school board meetings is, oh wait, it's
at the beginning. It is at the beginning. Yeah. It says on district property, but we could,
it could, it could including but not limited to is what I think we could do that too. That's
that was the point that I was like, yeah, I don't know if we're limiting ourselves. Yeah,
I know it says that. But yeah, I mean, and I understand too. There's other if you're
concerned about day to day operations, like at a, at a high school or at a middle school,
there are other penal code provisions that are separate and apart from the board's civility
policy that would apply, that would give the district the ability to keep somebody off of
the property for a period of time. Yeah, this is not for school sites. This is
specifically for board meetings. Correct? I just was curious because, I mean, you're a lawyer, people are litigious. And if they find some loophole that they can get around if
something happens. Sure, sure, sure. Yeah. So if, if, if we don't have we can add the but
not limited to that's certainly that would be helpful. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just wondering if in
closed session we can talk about what has been occurring that because I mean there's been a
lot of meetings and I don't think I mean, I know I didn't know about this. And so, you
know, it would be nice to have some context and to know that we've been meeting with
attorneys and that there's things that are happening in the boardroom or whatever's going on. Not tonight. Right? No, no, no, no, I don't want closed session later. No, no no. There
there is a closed session agenda item that allows for threats to public safety. We can look at
that closed session item to see if it would be appropriate for that type of discussion, or even
to even if it doesn't have to be in closed session. If we can just get an email that just
outlines, you know, the things that were happening because like, we're kind of in the dark.
I mean, I don't dispute that it's probably happening or something happened, but it'd just be one of those things where it would be nice for everybody to know what's going
on. Yeah. And we don't need to call a special meeting about it. No no no no no. That's my only
addition. Okay. Thank you. Any any other comments? Okay. So do we need to amend the. Is this
not the motion to add the additional language. We could bring it back as a second
reading which would be consistent with your board bylaws. Let's do that. Which
means we don't need to vote. You actually close the item though. We have to. We have to vote. So
sorry. What was the motion to approve revisions, approve revisions, approve revisions? I
would even say that with this being so. I mean, unless you guys can think of something
else, I would even say we just waive the second read because this would get this kind of an
like, like technically the next board meeting it would be in. I know, that's why I'm thinking if
we just amend it to add to say, I like the idea of doing the second read, we kind of got away
from that, but bringing it back is always good. Just to clarify that it's been put in there. It
doesn't change anything. Yeah. If we were going to do the second reading, though, we would
need somebody to propose an amended motion to does it have to be who made the motion initially doesn't necessarily have to be. So here's how it works. If anybody wants a quick
robert's rules of order. So we have a motion on the table that's been seconded. Somebody
can propose an amended motion. There has to be first a vote on whether to accept the amended
motion. You're not approving that amended motion. You're just accepting it as the thing that's
going to be on the table once. If that gets approved, then the next vote would be to approve
and adopt the amended motion. So, for example, in this case, somebody could make a motion, an
amended motion, propose an amended motion to accept the public comment announcement
revisions as a first reading, for example, and bring it back as a second reading. At a
subsequent meeting. Another option would be to accept the proposed revisions, with the
change proposed by mr. Frazier, and if that amended motion got accepted and the board voted on
that tonight, we'd be done with this. So it's completely up to the board how they want to
proceed. So I've made the motion. So why don't I try to amend that. Good luck. Okay. So
I make a motion that we're going to amend the revision to include but not limited to but not
limited to including but not limited to and for the public comment announcement and for
clarity, to approve it tonight to. Yes. With the change. Yes. With the change. With the with
the second approval tonight. We don't need a second reading. Okay. So second second does
somebody second that okay. Somebody should second that real fast. So all so the first vote
is to approve the amended motion made by trustee buck and seconded by miss quintero. Yeah.
yes, the amended motion. But we're not adopting that motion yet. We're just we're just
approving it to become the new motion that we vote on. Isn't this crazy? Don't we love
robert's rules of order? Aren't they great? I know, all right, so. So this vote doesn't approve
this yet. It just approves the amended motion. Approves? The amended motion would be crazy if we all just voted no. Well, then we'd then we'd vote on the original motion original. Yeah,
yeah. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't do that. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Okay. So now now you
vote on. I can make a motion that we approve the amended motion that we just submitted.
right. Okay. Second. Okay, so we have mrs. Buck making a motion to approve the amended motion we
just voted on, and mrs. Quintero seconded any discussion? I think we just confused. I just had it.
I'm holding my discussion for consent. Geez. Okay. All in favor? Aye. I also, and I. So
motion passes, five zero. Okay. All right. Moving on. 16.2 approved. I'll make a motion. We
approve revisions to board policy 1315 as they relate to the distribution of materials
and schools. First reading second. Okay. We have a motion by mrs. Buck, a second by mrs.
blades, and we'll turn it over to doctor young. Thank you. This evening we are proposing a
revision to board policy 1315 distribution of materials in schools. You'll see that one
word has been struck through, and that word is nonprofit in order to bring it in alignment
with board policy. 1325 advertising and promotion, which allows for distribution of
promotional materials of a commercial nature to students or parents and guardians. This will
be a first reading of the revision, and we welcome your consideration and feedback at
this time. Okay, anyone have any? Oh I'm sorry. So it was to match the wording in 1325, which
is why we had the typo in the initial. That makes sense. Okay. And the purpose is just simply
because that is not a it's a different. Yeah, it's used to be limited okay. But now we allow
commercial advertisements. Okay. Does it sound like there's any other questions. It doesn't mean
that nonprofits can't correct it. It just means that it's not only correct, not limited to who
wants to advertise. Okay. All in favor? Aye. All right. Okay. Motion passes five zero. Okay.
17.1. I need a motion pursuant to government code 54953 to approve the employment contract
for alan serino as acting superintendent of schools, providing one a term beginning
february 24th, 2025, and employees appointment as acting superintendent may be terminated
by either the board or employee at any time for any reason, and two the acting superintendent
shall be required to render up to 49 days of work. Three the acting superintendent salaries
should be paid a daily rate of $1,518.22. The acting superintendent is not entitled
to any additional compensation or fringe benefits, and for the employees appointment as acting
superintendent shall be terminated upon the effective date of the board, taking action
to either reinstate the current superintendent or upon another individual appointed being
appointed as superintendent. So moved. In second. Second. Okay, we have a motion by mrs. Buck, a
second by mrs. Quintero. Any questions? Okay. All in favor? Aye, aye. Any opposed? Okay.
motion passes five zero. Okay. This one, we may just keep moving on. Yep. 1717 two. I make
a motion. We adopt resolution 24 point or 2415 authorizing elimination of classified
management positions. I'll second. Okay. We have a motion by mrs. Buck, a second by
myself, and I'm going to turn it over to mrs. Mendoza. We're adopting resolution 2415,
authorizing the elimination of classified. Sorry, authorizing the elimination of classified
management positions in accordance with ed 45114 ec 45117 ec 45298, and ec 45308.
classified employees shall be subject to layoff for lack of work when there has been a
reduction or elimination of services, affected employees shall be given notice of layoff
no less than 45 days prior to the effective date of layoff. Laid off employees must also be
informed of their displacement and reemployment rights. The assistant superintendent of
human resources recommends approval of resolution 2415. After such approval, the
assistant superintendent of human resources will notify the affected employees listed on the
attachment a that will be released from their administrative positions effective at the end of 2425 school year. Any questions? I just don't feel comfortable with
the lack of institutional knowledge of the unique location and the new model that's there,
so I I'm not going to approve this personally. I just think there's more information that
needs to be found. I'm in the same boat. I'm really uncomfortable with not making
phone calls or gathering information from the people who may have the knowledge on this,
you know, to do some fact finding. And I just don't I just don't think that hack jobs or
what appear to be hack jobs, saying this respectfully, I just don't think it should be
occurring. Mrs. Mendoza, you did the research on this and you feel comfortable with this, is
this correct? Yes, I do okay. Any other comments? Okay. All in favor. Aye aye aye. Any opposed?
no. No okay. Motion carries three two. With blades and frazier objecting. Okay. I'll
make a motion for 17.3 that we adopt resolution 24 dash 16 release reassignment of
certificated administrative employees second. Is that you, mrs. Blades? Okay, so motion by
mrs. Buck, a second by mrs. Blades. Turn it back over to mrs. Mendoza. Education code
44951. Authorizes the district to provide notice on or before march 15th of any certificated
employee holding a position requiring an administrative or supervisory credential that may
be released from their position for the following school year. If the superintendent or
designee recommends that the release and reassignment go forward, the board is required
to take action and the employee must receive final notification on or before june 30th, 2025. On
or before march 15th, 2025, the superintendent or designee notified the employees listed on
the attachment a that they may be released from their administrative positions effective at the end of the 2425 school year and reassigned for the 2526 school year. The
superintendent or designee may recommend that the board approve the resolution to finalize the
release and the reassignment of these employees. After such approval, the superintendent or
designee will notify the affected employees of their reassignment for the ensuing school year. Any questions or comments? Okay. We'll vote. All in favor? Aye, aye. Any opposed?
okay. Motion carries five zero. Oh, okay. 1801 18 01i make a motion to adopt resolution
number 2414 to hire a structural engineer for preparation of a seismic evaluation at valencia
high school. Project number 155708. I'll second. Okay. We have a motion by mrs. Blades, a
second by mr. Frazier. Are there any questions or comments? No. I think terry did a really good
job of making it very clear. Yeah, yeah, I think we're good on that one. Okay. So we'll move
for the vote. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries five zero. I'll make a motion to
approve the 2425 second interim report with a positive certification. A positive certification indicates that based upon current projections, the district will meet its
financial obligations for the current fiscal year and subsequent two fiscal years. So
we're good for three years. Second, okay. Second, we have a motion by mr. Frazier, a second
by mrs. Blades, and I will turn the time over to mrs. Velasquez. Good. Thank you. We'll go ahead
and get started on this is the presentation for our second interim report. And to go over
this just a little bit, this is required. The governor requires us to do a budget update a
couple of times a year. This includes assumptions and changes since the first interim. And
this is our second interim financial report. We're going to talk a little bit about some
budget challenges that we're facing, and what our next steps in the budgeting process will
be. So this is basically an update. And this is as of january 31st of 2025. So even
though we're in march, we're going back to january. It does include projections for the two
out years for 2526 and 2627. And it's a mid-year check of where the district's fiscal health is.
so what is the second interim report? What is it that the board is looking to approve? So
there are three assignments that every report is given. If it's a positive assignment, it means
theet its financial obligations for the current year and two years out.
if it's a qualified assignment, that means it may not meet those financial obligations. And if
it's a negative assignment, it means the district will not meet. So we're going to get into
that in a few minutes. When we start going through all of the numbers. So here is we went to
the governor's january report. And it was interesting because he talked a lot. They talked a
lot about california economy currently is projected to grow and it seems to be doing well.
but there are some mixed signals that we need to kind of keep our eyes on. So what are the risks
moving forward that could affect our budget? So we have the states being very vulnerable to
the impacts of the uncertainty of receiving federal funding. What the tariffs are going to do
to the state of california's economy, and how the district is so tied into how well california
does, and changes in the immigration policy. So those are things that we just have to keep
monitoring as we move forward. Assumptions. So we take a look. And how do we build our budgets
and monitor our budgets. So salaries are always depending on our negotiation process. Our
statutory cola for this year is only 1.07, which is low for next year. It's 2.43 and for the year
following 3.52. So it's headed in the right direction. But we'll see how it goes. Our
enrollment for 2425 is at 22,700. We're projecting a drop in the out years of 70, which is
a 0.3 percentage. So it's very small. But based on those things that we were just talking about
and looking at some of the data, we might be declining in those out years, again, we'll monitor
this and change it as we move forward. The attendance rate, we have a very high attendance rate
here, which is wonderful. It's being budgeted at 95%. Our health and welfare increase this
year was 5.3%. And for out years we're projecting it at 6%. And the k-3 class size reduction is
again negotiated language. So I wanted to talk a little bit here about what else do we need to
take our, you know, keep our eyes on here. We had a lot of one time grant money. And you
can see overall we went ahead and listed what these are. And we had $57 million of one time
grants. And as we move into the following years, all that's left is 20 million. So that's
definitely going to be affecting our budgets. Some of those items will be going away. Others might
need to be absorbed back into the unrestricted general fund. Luckily, we still have some
ongoing grants. We talked tonight about the expanded learning opportunities program,
which is roughly $9 million a year, which is wonderful. We have prop 28 arts and music in
our schools, three 3 million. So I'm glad that at least we're keeping those. What are the
changes since first interim? So the cola didn't change. It's 1.07. But what did change was
the 2526 projection for next year, because it dropped by 0.5%. What that really means is
that the district lost 1.3 million in the lcff base funding year after year, and then in our
supplemental funding, we're losing 120,000. So even though it seems like a really small
percentage decrease, it it is a lot of money. And then for 26, 27 was projected at 3.08 at
first interim. And that looks like it's going up to 3.52. So I'm I'm hopeful that it'll stay
that way. Our calpers employer rates and first interim. It didn't change a whole lot. So we
just monitored those as we move forward. And the calstrs isn't changing at all. So our
enrollment we go through and we certify our cow pads numbers. So the differences between first
interim and second interim is a drop of 26. And then with the projection for going down 70
next year, that's why you're seeing a -96. And then the following year the -166 because
it's cumulative cumulative on the funded ada. That's basically taking the enrollment numbers at
the 95% and adjusting for those figures. And that is what we actually get our money on. So
let's take a look. I wanted to talk a little bit about what is the unrestricted fund because we
have the general fund, but it's really broken up into two different sections. So for the
unrestricted revenue that is in our general fund, and it's used for all general educational
purposes, it includes our local control funding formula, our state lottery monies, our local
revenues like interest income, donations, unrestricted revenue is spent on items that keep the
district running, such as our salaries and benefits. It indirectly supports the general
education classrooms through the books, supplies, transportation costs and so on. The goal with
the unrestricted revenue is to have a balanced budget. So you want the expenditures to be at
or below the revenue. And what's interesting is when you go ahead and you look at restricted
revenue, that's different. So we find that in our general fund and in all the other funds that
the district has. So you can see here we listed the earmarked for specific programs. So we just
talked a little bit about the general fund. And what we receive have to be spent on
those programs. Our specific other funds like childcare and nutrition and deferred
maintenance and so on that we've listed here very specifically states what it is that we can
spend this money on. So these funds, it's okay if we go negative in the out years,
because we might receive the revenue this year, and they'll give us the opportunity to spend
over the next few years. So when we get to the actual data, you'll see the differences here.
so on the unrestricted general fund overall, could I ask a question before we. Oh I'm sorry
please. Sorry. On going back. Just the one slide. The restricted revenue, the special
reserve fund for capital outlay projects are 40 over 40 fund. Thank you for all of the backup
information. I completely appreciate that. What you mentioned in there. I just want
to clarify, you said that we have the balloon payment that's outstanding as we pay off our
debt. That is coming up in 2030, 32. And that is fully covered. Covered. That money is sitting
there in the bank waiting for that. So that's not going to hit any of our taxpayers. No, thank
you very much. Not at all. Wait. Hold on a second. So we're paying that off right now. Is it
already coming out of our property taxes. And it's sitting over at the orange county,
because I know that there's been a big dispute. There's a big dispute, I guess, today with the
orange county board of supervisors about the person who's handling it and all the stuff. So when they say that we start paying it off in 2032, have we been collecting property
taxes? And it's sitting in the thing and it starts getting paid off in 2032. Is that what
happens? Or do our property taxes raise in 2032. Because that's where the bonds come
from. Is our property taxes correct. So we're talking two different things okay. So we've
got our bonds which is in fund 51. And we only show that at the end of the year. So for bonds we
collect the property taxes is held at the county assessor's office. And they actually make
the payments on the bonds. Okay. So it's not even under our control. What this is, is our
cop payments. And so that is something that the district it's like personal debt for the
district. Right. And so every year we have to pay on that debt. Right. And so right now in
that fund 40, because we received some money from the settlement from the city of
yorba linda, that money is being kept in there so that we can pay the annual debt on the cop, not
the bonds. Okay. So the cab bonds that we start paying that back in 2032, no, 2032 is only
our cops. Okay. So when does the cab bond start? Because there's all this dispute that we're
supposed to pay the cab back. When do we start paying that back? And are we already like as
our property taxes have increased or are they already taking it from our property
taxes? They're already taking it from our property taxes, okay. And all of our bond debt is paid
over multiple years as we move forward. And then I know that we have I think tonight it's on the
consent calendar where we bring in our financial expert that will come in and take a look at
the bonds and find out. Are the interest rates good for the district where we maybe can
refund it? We try to refund bonds when it's good for the district and that's what drops
the property taxes for our community. But the cab bonds, you're not allowed to. You can't
change the change that. No. That one we have to hold on to. So it's already collecting all the
property taxes we're paying. They're already collecting a bunch of money so we could pay
off the cop and then also to the cab. And so the cab, we start paying that in 2032. No. So the
cabs, I think they're already. Well, they're already paying for all of the cabs in fund 51.
that's all being held on the outside. So we call the county assessor collects the property
tax. Okay. Then they turn around and they pay all of the bond debt which is including the
caps. So that's already all being done. Okay then in fund 40 that's the cops certificate of
participation. That's another loan. That's like a like a private loan for the district.
and we have the money in there to pay that debt off, and that debt will be paid off. The last
payment is in 2032. Okay. So that separate things. So it's two separate yes things. So you
have cop and then you have cab. Yes. And it all comes from our property taxes. No only the
bonds payments come from property taxes. The cop payment is coming from the settlement
for the city of yorba linda. That's the money that we're using to pay off the cop debt.
we used to have redevelopment fees. And there something happened with the state and that was taken away. And then we ended up having to sue the city of yorba linda to get some of
that back. So that was put away in the bank to pay for the last payment. Okay, okay. And so I
think a presentation on the cab bonds would be helpful. Yeah, I just kind of lay that out. The
community has a lot of questions about it. So I think that would be really good for us to do.
sure. But also to so this other thing when we take out like if, if it hit like with the building
for valencia. So for some reason if we had to take out a loan, we would this is how we would pay
that loan back. If for some reason, like we had hundreds of millions of dollars in like
valencia property stuff, allegedly, that's how we would start. We could take a loan out
in that same manner. We could take out another cop. But we currently, right now have no
revenues to pay that got it, got it. So we would have to go out for a bond. So we'd have to do a
bond. Okay. Yeah. I'm not saying that there's $100 million either. I'm just saying what ifs. We understand playing the what if game, right? Yes. Sorry to derail your presentation.
whatever you guys want to know, you're doing great. Thank you. But the cab presentation, I think would be helpful. Sure. No problem. Okay. So moving forward, here is our
unrestricted general fund. And I like to put pictures in just because I'm a visual person. And
so you can see the green part of this is the majority of the district's money is coming from
lcff, which is money we receive from the state. Then we get a little bit of special funds from
the state, $10 million. We have some local revenue coming in of $11 million. We transfer in
500,000 from the child development fund to support the expenses that we're paying out
of the unrestricted for that program, and then we contribute to restricted maintenance,
around $11 million to support all of our facility upkeep. And then we contribute to support
our students with special needs of 34 million. So overall, for our unrestricted general fund
revenue, we have $254.9 million. And here's where we spend it. So overall, you can see and I'll
give you the numbers on this one in a second. But the majority of our money is going for salaries
and benefits. And then you'll see a smaller amount. 2% goes for books and supplies. Our
services are around 6% and so on. So overall we're spending $266.3 million. So here's what
this looks like. Putting the numbers in here for the current year for second interim. And
then for the projections for the two out years. You can see our revenues for this year is 254.9.
next year's going to 251.9 following year, 250 9.2 the expenditures, because of those
assumptions that we talked about with step and column and so forth, 266 million this year,
pretty similar for the following year, going up just a little bit. And then the year after
that, 268 so when you take your revenues minus your expenditures, you're either
going to have a surplus. So we have we come out ahead or we have a deficit. So for this
current year we have a deficit of $11.4 million. So I always kind of think of that top part
as like the checkbook. So the money's going in, the money's going out. And then we have our
savings account. So our savings account, we started with the beginning balance of 72.9
million. And after we absorb that loss of 11.4, we're anticipating the ending balance
of being about $61 million. So when you look at that and you take our ending balance and
divide it by our total expenditures, it's 23%. And that basically covers almost three
months of expenditures for the district. And then as we go out for our out years, you can see
the ending. Ending balance is going down 46.9 and then going down to 37.9. And you can see
those percentages dropping as we move forward. And again this is all the information we have as
of january 31st. So one question back to that. Sure. I'm assuming you're going to get to it. But
the first interim we showed a deficit of 12.4. Now we're showing 11.4. So we're better by
a million. Yes we're better by a little bit. Yes. That's good. Yeah I like even even yeah. Got
to be positive. Yeah. Just because especially in the first slide when we're talking about
based on the changes in cola, we're talking about a $1.3 million difference for next year
for next year. Right, right. Which is part of the 112 million for next year went to 14
million. Yeah okay okay. And so this is off of january correct january 30th for you todd. So
yeah, you kind of jump back. So I guess my question is so this was in january, have you seen
any like projection coming from the state like that. Anything would be different. Like we're finding more money because I mean, I remember one time we were in a deficit, you know,
first we were in we had a ton of money and then all of a sudden we were in a deficit. So, I
mean, so these numbers potentially in 3 or 4 months, we could change and we could be at
a $11 million surplus. No, no, I wish darn it, if we find that kind of money, we gotta. Yeah.
there's that's so another question I was I was I was kidding on the last one. But I
know I know the so I have a question. When we have our savings account is it are we
able to put like money in like you know there's some savings accounts where you can gather
like 4 or 5% interest. Do they do any type? I mean, huge accounts like this do. Are we in
that or is there like, you know, any ways that they. So orange county I mean, they went through
a bankruptcy many years ago and they're very tight on how we invest our money. And so we have
to stay in their investment pools. It's just we're required to do that. And so there's it's
like a safe investment. Right. And I could find out what the interest rate is that we're well
I wasn't really talking about like the investment. I just know that there's like some savings accounts that like, you know, you put your money in there, you put x amount of dollars in there
and they'll give you just the four, 4 or 5% in some of them, you know, versus like sometimes
you're at chase. Yes. And you know, you're only getting like 0.5% on your I was just curious if that was applicable to school districts. We can't we can't we can't invest money on our own.
districts are not really allowed to invest money to make money. We actually get in trouble if we
do something like that. So that's why our our bank account is with the county assessor's
office, and they monitor all of that, which is I mean, because the point of the district is not
to be some global billion dollar company, it's to spend money for the benefit of the students.
right? Absolutely. So yeah. Okay. So because of the deficit spending, this statement is
being put in here in preparing the 2425 second interim budget, the board acknowledges its
fiduciary responsibility to maintain fiscal solvency for the current year and the two
subsequent fiscal years. District staff will be preparing a budget stabilization plan for
board review. Prior to the adoption of the 2526 school year budget. This plan will include
established timelines for ongoing budget planning and actions. Reductions presented
may include tighter staffing at school sites, position reductions, and non-personnel
cost reductions. Under these assumptions, the board projects the need for an $11.4 million in
budget reductions in 2526, in order to maintain fiscal solvency. So this statement is
required. Orange county department of ed actually looks at this, and you'll see in a
minute we're going to go with a positive certification. But even if we present a positive
certification and we don't do this and we don't start working on our budget reductions, the
county could come in and make us qualified and we don't want that. So the statement is in
here and they actually get this presentation and they look for the statement. This is the cya
statement. Yes, sir. Yeah. So sorry. Back to that. Back. Well no we're we're continuing I'll
talk later okay. So now let's talk about our restricted money. And again this is okay. We're
going to receive this money and we're going to spend it on what it is that it's telling us to
spend it on. So overall you can see a federal money is 13.7 million, state is 57.2. Our
locals 2.6. And then that contribution that I just talked about on unrestricted is in
here. So our restricted revenue is $119 million. And here's our expenditures. Again 70% of it's
going for salaries and benefits 10% books and supplies, 12% is services and other operating and
so on. So the restricted expenditures are $143.3 million. And when we look at those and if
you noticed, I didn't make the deficit read because I'm not concerned about this. This is
overall for 2425. There's 119 million in revenue. We're spending 143. So it is a deficit
of 23 million. But it's okay because we want to spend this money in these out years. We
started with 71 million and we're ending up with 47. And then as you move over to these
out years, you can see these are the anticipated revenues and expenditures that are coming in,
continuing with the deficit spending. But that's okay because we want to spend all this money. We want to get it down to zero. So at the end of 2627, the ending balance is $19
million. Okay. So then we have to take a look at what is that. Components of ending fund
balance. What are we what are we doing with our savings account. So we have our unrestricted and
our restricted. And I'll just talk for a second. The restricted you can see the $47
million. It's kind of the orange column. We're just going to put it all into a restricted
carryover, because we have no choice on what to do with this money. If you go back to the
green, the ending fund balance is 61 million. We have revolving cash in our stores and our
prepaid expenditures 275,000. Not not a large dollar amount. We are committing a $5 million
for textbook adoptions. We're putting in $10 million for declining enrollment. We'll keep
an eye on that one. And then because we are in deficit, it's a deficit mitigation for 5.2
million. We have a contingency reserve of 20 million and a reserve for economic
uncertainties for five, a 5% for another 20 million. So that's how we're assigning the
unrestricted money. And then you just total them up. And that's the blue column. And again I put
on here we are filing because of the ending fund balances. We are filing a positive certification
question about the reserves. There is a maximum that we're allowed to hold. Correct. So
okay so there's a couple of things. Sorry to open that. No no no it's okay. So they go
about 10%. There was there was a law that came out that said a school district should have, you
know, a 10% reserve level. Well, our 10% are those two bottom numbers right there because the
contingency reserve is 5%. And our reserve for economic uncertainties is 5%. But with
that, there was a lot of flexibility for school districts. That said, if you're
going to have higher than 2%, you need to tell us what you're going to spend it on. But that
law did not go fully into effect because they could have come and said, that's it. Start sending
in your plan on what you're going to spend your other money on, and work that percentage
down to 10%. But then they held off on that. They like the fact that the districts are having
enough money in here to get through a couple of bad years, because the state also knows
that their funding levels go up and down, depending on lots of things, too. So they didn't
actually incorporate that law. But that's, I think, what you're talking about with the 10%.
yeah, the maximum 10%. The minimum of 2%. That's for us because of our our enrollment
numbers, we're 3% okay. So our minimum is 3%. Our minimum is three. The maximum is ten with a
plan. So my point is from a reserve standpoint we're extremely healthy. We are
healthy right now except for the fact that we're deficit spending. So if I go back here
what I'm saying we can't. Yes. Right. We go back to the let me just show you real quick because
I what I'm worried about is this one. So when we come back again with the estimated actuals and
the adopted budget for next year, then I have to push this out to 2728. So if we hit
another $10 million, if we don't do anything, we're basically eating up our reserves, our, our
savings account. And so that 2627 when we're at a 14% here, we're getting really close to
that 10%. And then we go out one more year. Now we're in trouble. So if we do nothing, we can last
here until 2728. You're going to go qualified. And if you ever let this go negative, they come
in and they remove the board and the state comes in and takes over. So we don't want that at
all. We're very far from that happening. But I agree with you. I mean four years, four years.
well four years before it gets to the threshold. Right. And then there's lots of things that
happen in four years. Absolutely right. For better or for worse. So many different things. For
better, for worse. Absolutely. I guess my point is looking at those numbers and seeing the deficit spending and knowing what we're investing in our district because of the things
that we've done by building preschools, the money we've spent on new programs, the money
we spent on air conditioning and gyms, like we have done a lot of capital improvements over the
last, really the last 18 months very heavily that I think are going to, in my opinion. And
based on the decisions that we've made the past year and a half are going to affect that.
in a positive note, I know we have to be conservative, and I appreciate this and I think this
is good, but I'm thinking that some of these investments will come back to us in student,
well, intentionally or potentially in enrollment growth. But I like that we're
being conservative. That's a good thing. Qualified still a ways away. We want to stay away
from qualified okay. So then because of the charter school that we have, even though it's a
dependent charter, it also has a requirement to show what their numbers look like. And so these
numbers this budget is actually the same as first interim. It hasn't really changed at all.
and so 9.4 million in revenue. Our expenditures are totaling 10.8. So they have an ending
fund balance of 1.3 a negative. They're just starting off. It's a brand new school year. And so
this will change as we move forward I'm sure. So. Okay. Then we also need to look quickly
over all of our other funds. And so you can see all of this money will be spent for their specific
purpose. And they're all ending with certain fund balances here with the child development at
4.4 million, our cafeteria is healthy at 15.8, cafeteria actually has a plan of what
they're spending their money on, because the state doesn't like it when that ending balance is
too high, but because of the free meals, you know, we've been able to have a higher ending
fund balance. And I know she has a lot of plans for that money, too. Deferred maintenance. We're
ending with 2.3. Our capital facilities is 77.9. Our fund 35 is actually closed up. That was
money from a long time ago. That was just a little bit left in there. And it's all spent now
again, fund 40. The capital outlay. That's the cop payments we just talked about. And that's
where you can see that ending fund balance of 16 million. It's going to keep carrying over. And
that's going to pay every year our cop payments until it's paid off. The bond interest is fund
51. And that's left empty because we only report out at the end of the year. And we
actually get those that information from the county assessor's office. And then we'll put it in here. And then our self-insurance is what pays for all of the medical workers
comp property and liability for the district. And that has an ending balance of $17 million.
so our challenges and our next steps, so the challenges ahead is projected low cola for the
next three years. That's going to go up and down depending on what happens in the state. With
the state's economy, we are losing a lot of one time revenue. And so we have to be
careful with that. We have rising health and welfare benefit premiums, annual step
and column adjustments have to be made. And the last point here is the state's vulnerability,
again to the impacts of uncertain receipt of federal funding, the tariffs and the changes in the immigration policy. So you can see we've completed the first three
reports here by by the conclusion of tonight and then upcoming. We'll come back again
in june. And we'll talk about a public hearing for the lcap and the budget and adopt the lcap
and the budget for next year. So any questions? I just wanted to say it again, the money that we
talked about coming in from the additional billings from special ed and the mental health that is
not included in this. So that's our surprise bonus at the end of the year. Well, it's not
included in here, but keep it, keep in mind that's restricted. So totally get it. Yeah yeah
yeah. But it's not in here because this was january 31st. Yep. Okay. Good. No that's great
okay. I don't have any questions specific to this, but I asked for a lot of backup information.
and I so appreciate that I've gotten part of the way through it. Not all the way through it
yet, but it's very informative and I really appreciate it. Thank you. No problem. Can I got
some of the stuff to my printer. Didn't print all of it, but the fun. 2545 what is what is that
consist of? Because I was going through it today and I was obviously looking. There's a lot
of things. So we have so in fund 25, there's two sub funds, 25, 25 is our developer fees. So
when people are, you know, building something new or whatever, we'll get that money
in. And then 2545 is some redevelopment monies that we are still receiving. It's not a lot
anymore but it's something okay. So the redevelopment fees, do we lose them or or what does that
come out of. Does that come out of our general fund or what fund does that come out of. So that's
fund 25 which is totally separate from the general fund, which is fun. One okay. That
revenue will continue. We'll have to see. I'll have to pull some reports to see for this
district. I don't know, off the top of my head. I'd have to get back to you. Okay. It's not a
large amount of money. Redevelopment money used to be really high. If you're in an area where they were redeveloping, you know, projects or, you know, whatever that they
wanted to work on, there would always be some money that would come back to the school
district. But then they stopped this redevelopment. And so this is kind of paying off. The last
of those final projects. So it's going to be dwindling down over time. But I I'd have to look it
up and find out when it, when it's all gone. Okay. Because I was just when I was looking
through it, it said like our revenues total was like four, 4 million, 656 for 2324. But then
it went down 2425 to 2,000,631. But I thought it was interesting. I was just, you
know, because if you start looking through this with all this backup material we're
getting, you know, we're paying for playgrounds at glenview for like $109,000 tines, 50,000
morse, 50,000 for playgrounds. We had some hydration stations, which weren't super expensive,
but, you know, we had to pay dsa for the classrooms, 19,000 each for glenview, morrison, tines,
esperanza, you know, they had a lighting in their theater. 387,000 el dorado material label
for the men and women's staff. Restrooms, 43,000 valencia high school material for improvements
and remodeling the wood shop at valencia, 51,000 shade structures at esperanza 71,000.
valencia high school had two marquees for $100,000. So I was just, you know, going through
here because you always, you know, it kind of seems like certain things are singled out.
but then I was wondering, well, where is this fund? Like, where does it go to? Because, I mean,
we're paying for a lot of stuff, you know, the intercom systems, travis ranch and kramer, it's
176,000 to replace our intercom. So, I mean, it is like if you look through this stuff and if
people. Yeah, I mean, this is it's expensive to run a school district and like replacing an
intercom system is shocking. That's 176,000. So I was wondering I was I was grateful
for this because it does show how much we spend at all the school sites. Yep. So yeah. So I
was I, you know, when my printer will print again I'll be looking, you know, more at the
other things. But that's where I was wondering, you know, like where this comes, you know,
where this comes from. And like, how are we paying for, you know, we're using all these different
ways to pay for these things, like the developer fees, we use certain things. And then this
and for this fund 25, it can only be spent on capital improvements for the for the
district. That's why you're seeing all the different purchases right. Yeah. But I thought that was you know, I think people don't realize how much stuff is being spent behind
the scenes to make everything new and keep it going. So I was appreciative of that. Yeah. The
invest, seeing the actual things that we're investing in is pretty great. Yeah. We talked a
little bit earlier before about doing a facilities study. We've we've kind of looked at that
before as we plan where we're going to spend our money over the five year facilities plan.
we haven't not that I recall. I haven't seen it in a little while, but maybe that's
something that we look at again and start to project where we're going to put. Actually, we've
been working on that because I was curious too. I wanted to see what it looked like. And for the
money reasons, we can we have always have so many different projects. There's a lot of needs
in a school district, and when you have bond money, that's great. We don't have bond money
anymore. You can see what our fiscal situation is. So that's definitely something we are
pulling together and can bring back to the board. Thank you. Because we have to do all these
improvements, but we plan to do at when. At what point do we do that. So thank you. Lots of car
washes. You need to organize every parking lot of every school. I'm going to breed the
labradors and do the chicken and the eggs sales. Okay. Perfect. Perfect. Okay I have a couple
questions. I have one for about orange county school of computer science. It's been posted all
over social media that that school's budget has been cut by 50%. Can you? So no. So I think
we just had it in the presentation I think. What. Yeah, it was it was in here.
just one slide. So I think that comment was geared more towards staffing. And so we have
temporary teachers. And so every year school district with temporary teachers, they're
basically notified, you know, your contract is going to end june 30th. And that school
actually had predominantly temporary teachers. And so I would say probably half of their
staff received that notice. But that doesn't mean that we've cut their budget, because we have to
make sure that that school is staffed and they have everything that they need. So I will say
this, I was the person who brought this up. And so what was said was the leadership at oc
says they met with district leadership, and they were told that, you know, they needed to
cut their budget. And they said, you know, oc said, hey, we were assured by chernus and gates and
everyone in stein that we would have a $10 million working budget to get our school off the
ground for three years. And so the response that they got was, well, that's a wag. And they
said, what does that mean? And they said, that's a wild guess. He says sometimes people choose
to carry up start up funds in multiple years. And at this point they knew what they said.
they wanted to make the oc six budget right side up. So they said they were looking at
projected decline in enrollment of up to 150 kids. And they had a number of the six hundreds.
and so they told them to prepare a budget for $5.2 million. And then they told the principal at
the time that she needed to give them what her budget cuts would be to cut the budget in half.
and so when people say, oh, no, these were her budgets, she didn't want to cut anything.
this was what she was told by the district. She had to cut. So as you see, there was the 22
temps and they don't know if they're coming back. There was an orchestra teacher. There are
41 teachers at this site. They've cut a dean. They've cut a college and career technician,
apparently. I mean, I don't know if I can say whatever. There's a few more positions that were
going to be cut. And so what her recommendation to the district was to cut the dla program. She
said to cut the pe teachers because they have 36 kids in pe and they have two teachers, she
says. The kids that are taking pe as a mini elective there, there's 80 kids that are
electing to go into usc to do their mini electives. And so she was talking about pe. She said
that she was forced to fill a library position by the csc. And so there was a lot of things
that she recommended to cut. So I think when people are sitting here saying, well, no, nobody
was told to cut, we have 22 temps that are worried, you know, at ocs, there's 22 of the
41 teachers. And then you're you go over there and you say, give us the budget cuts, because now
your budget's only going to be $5.2 million. So I have never said that. Well, I'm not saying
you did. I'm not saying you did. I know who said it, but I'm not saying that you did. And I think
where this is going and we'll be bringing probably back in april, if not before that, the budget
stabilization plan. We are looking district wide, not at one specific school, at our
staffing ratios. Are we overstaffed because people are the most you saw people are the
most expensive. Yes they are. So we are looking district wide at what can we do to try to get
this deficit spending down. So they have to have teachers to run that school. If they have
that enrollment, they're going to have their teachers. It probably won't be those specific
teachers. I can't tell you right now until we finish doing the work that we're working on, and
we can bring it back to the board at that time. But we are not cutting that budget in half.
okay, so whoever gave that message that freaked everybody there out and said that they
need to go to $5.2 million was incorrect. I can't speak to that because I don't know. I don't
know what was said before I got here, okay. Because they were told all of these cuts that had
to be made. So these were the cuts that they said that they told the district, because, you
know, I you know, you make you get told by the parent advisory committee, you get told by the
leadership over there. You get told by all these people that this is what the district is
telling them and that they're saying, either you tell us what cuts to make or we're going to do it for you. So they have to start making the hard decisions about what to cut at the school
and what type of budget to have. And the only thing that I could possibly think of is that, and I
don't know, I can't speak for anybody else, but. And it wasn't you they didn't name you at all.
well that's fine, I would know what I said to somebody, so of course, but we're trying to
bring everything into alignment district wide. So if we're looking at, you know, that school we're going to be looking at, okay, what is how many students are you going to have.
what are our staffing ratios. Are you overstaffed? Definitely. And we're also having that conversation with every other school in the district. Right. So. Right. So yeah. Well, I mean
it's fine. But I mean, when, when they get told that they have to do this and to cut the
programs, I mean, when you're looking at when you're looking at telling the district, okay, we'll cut our dla program because something's going to open up at tue-fri, we'll cut
pe, we'll cut this, we'll cut that. You know, even talking about, you know, did they have
there was even discussion like, do they have to cut their music program and just start going
because you know, obviously they're a district charter so they can have the opportunity to do before school and after school things with like prop 28, things like that. And so, you
know, when they're having to do these cuts and then the parents start freaking out, like, are we
going to have dla next year here? Because this is a proposed cut. Are we going to have, you
know, music? Are we going to have these things? And then you have this going on. And so and
this is what the message that ocs is getting from our district then. So we'll be bringing back
the budget stabilization stabilization act in april. And I think we'll have quite a few
details that are in there that will be more specific to the items that you're talking about.
okay. And we'll talk about it then. Is there any additional like we're talking about cutting
costs. What about increased revenue. Like are we looking at options there. It's tough to
increase revenue in a school district. I mean we really are available grants and I mean that
kind of stuff. Grant writers. And really I'm looking to like add services and so on. So they
go out for all the grants that they possibly can get. The grants are restricted. So what
we need is unrestricted money and that comes from the state. If we can get the cola up, if
you know the state does extremely well and next year they give us more cola than what
they told us, that's awesome. Enrollments and enrollment can go up. But that trend has not
been in attendance. That's right. Yeah 1% is 2.5 million. That's right. Because we're at
95 right now. We've held at 95 for a long time. I'm beginning to lose hope. No we're up from
last year. Well it was 92 last year right. But we've been we've been stable at 95 for a while
now. No we're up we're up, we're up. We need to get next year 96. We're at 94.88. Is that correct
94.88. And our goal, which we started a little late this year, is to go up to 95.88 by the end
of this year. And we are doing major stuff throughout the district to reinforce. And I
mean, I'm talking short of sending somebody on a trip on a yacht somewhere. I mean, that's
hey, but I'll go to school for that. There are a lot of reinforcers that were take the
vans. Yeah. The vans. Here we go. Hey, hey, get get him to school. Right. And if I, if I
may to your point, trustee frazier, when it comes to the unique needs of each school. So
in some schools, there's specific training that teachers have had. Like obviously if you
have a dli program or another type of program and it might be costly to move teachers out,
even though that might necessarily that might be based on vacancy and seniority and,
and other factors, something you have to really sit down with your association and talk about
how to ensure that, you know, we don't have to take someone who's trained already in a particular
program and have them go somewhere else, and then have someone else come in and they
have to get retrained. So but like as we discussed, just the unique needs of the schools,
that's why it's important that all these meetings are held with the ed services and, and
business team so that we truly know exactly how to support those those schools that also
are going to be cost effective. But but the reality is cuts. Yeah. Will will need to happen
to some degree. Yes. Thank you joan. That's great okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank
you for your presentation. That's a. Picture exit. Now get your exit. Now. That's a lot of
work. Another one okay. We still have to vote. We still have to vote. So all in favor. Aye aye
aye. Okay. Motion carries five zero. Moving on, 18.3. I'll make a motion. We approve the orange
county school of computer science charter school 2425 second interim report second.
okay. We have a motion by mrs. Burke. Second by mr. Frazier. So in that presentation, there was
a slide that discussed the charter school. So basically it is you've already seen the
presentation. It's the same. It's the same thing. Yeah. Okay. Any other further questions
okay. All in favor I, I, I. Okay. Any opposed I think we're good. I'll make a motion for
this one. My daughter actually took this class so I saw the old book. I'm glad we have a new
book. Okay. Before we start, do we want to do all these textbooks as a block? Yeah, that
would be totally fine. Yes. If you guys agree, then make a motion that we move them all to
the other. Yeah. Okay. Let's whole agenda. We're getting. We're getting close. I'm down.
okay. So textbooks I'll make a motion that we approve ap human geography. Psychology. Give me
liberty. An american history and sociology. Down to earth and higher level chemistry. Second.
okay. We have a motion by mrs. Buck to approve all the textbooks from 9.2 down to 9.5.
and a second by mr. Frazier. Is there any. I'd like to invite mr. Young to the lectern to give
a brief introduction of the process used. Do we need it? All right. Thank you. As you well
know, our curriculum council meets four times a year to review textbooks. It actually
starts way before that, when the teachers actually get together to review new materials that
have come their direction. And a lot of the textbooks that we're adopting in social science have
have been long since overdue, some of them 20 years, as you saw in the report. So we wanted
to make sure that our students had the access to the most updated curriculum and materials
as is laid out in our board policy and our resolutions. So a lot of teachers took a lot of
time meeting with the publishers, reviewing many different versions of every textbook available, and then finalizing and coming to consensus on what would be the
best textbook for our students. And they did that for every subject area listed. And then they submitted that to curriculum council for review and recommendation. And then it
went on a 30 day display for the public in our lobby over here. No comments were made by any of
the public that reviewed any of the textbooks that were on display. And so we humbly bring
it before you guys for approval so that we can make the purchase and get these textbooks in our
students hands next school year. Thank you. Is there any questions or comments? No, I
said I'm saving everything for consent. Okay. This is the first time I've looked at a sociology
book. I've never taken it before. Really fascinating reading. I learned a lot and so
I thank you guys for doing such a great job. And I know these