--------- Meeting to order, and we'll begin with a roll call. Shoshana? Missus Hardesani? Here. Missus Hill? Here. Missus Davidson? Here. Mister Forhand? Here. Mr. Bragman? Here. Thank you. Now I'd like to hear a motion for adoption of the agenda. So moved. I second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. And now we're moving to our workshop and the wonderful presentation from Lee. So we'd like to begin with missus Reid introducing the program. Thank you so much, President Davidson.
Tonight we are very fortunate to have, an amazing school in, the boardroom with us today. As Doctor. Proehler mentioned earlier, having the family present is an annual, really just a blessing for the community, to be able to be surrounded by, a teaching staff, a principal, and parents that have supported, Lee for many, many years. And so without further ado, I welcome mister Gary Williams to the podium. How are we doing? How are we doing, family? Alright. There's Mason. Mason, come on up. Mason Wyatt's gonna lead us in the pledge of allegiance.
Yes. Please stand. Take off your hats and caps and place your right hand over your heart. Ready. Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it is stands, one nation under God, invisible, with liberty and justice for all. Alright. Let's give Mason a round of applause. Great job. He was nervous, but it didn't even show. And now let's give a big round of applause. You're Lee Choir. Oh, yeah. Where are you going?
Yes. You know, I asked some of my friends if they were going to do any actions to this patriotic song and she said, we can't tell you. We have to save some surprises for the song. So thanks for not spoiling the surprise. What what a great patriotic song. Sometimes it's so nice to see it. We have so many different versions of patriotic songs that we haven't heard. So you guys did an awesome job but now's this opportunity for family members. Please take a picture before. We'll we'll do a recess but sometimes they escape us and we don't want you to leave without getting a group picture.
I think we need our choir teacher maybe our principal in there too Feel free to stand if you need. Big smiles for the camera. Alright. One more for the wrap up. Oh, Florida. You're right. Why am I not seeing Sabrina? I know she's here. I saw her earlier. I'll I'll introduce you first.
My last time, I see. Well, except for yeah. There she is. Ready? Yeah. And you did your hair and everything. You look really good. Alright. You look very good. Well, that was absolutely wonderful. I've been around this planet a long time and that was a first for that song and I absolutely loved it. It was really fun and very very heartwarming. Loved all of the hand movements. So Mr. Willems, would you like to get started with your report? I would. Thank you madam president. I have two speakers with me today. Both of them are in fifth grade. Finn Wilcher will be our first speaker.
Followed by Sabrina Nunez. Hi. My name is Finn. I'm a fifth grader from Lee Elementary, and my teacher is mister Burnett. I want to talk about everything I'm looking forward in fifth grade. My favorite academic subject is math because it uses symbols and has so many possibilities. My academic experience has been impacted has impacted my future because all my teachers have made things easy, simple, and straightforward, really helping me to prepare for sixth grade. I the thing I look forward this year is the is OSS. The reason I pick OSS is because you stay up in the mountains for three
or four days, eat three delicious meals per day, play games in the evening, and sit at the campfire at night. Hello. My name is Sabrina Nunez, and I'm a fifth grade student council president at Lee Elementary. I've had so many amazing experiences at Lee that have made elementary school so stupendous, remarkable, spectacular even. First, the book fair. A really fun week when we turn our library into a mini bookstore. Every single kid at school can find a book that's just right for them. Next, the STEAM Fair is where we learn about creative projects that use science, technology,
engineering, art, and math. I also have to mention a yearly carnival. Parents and teachers volunteer their time to make this amazing event happen. There are fun games, cute prizes, and yummy food. I have so much fun playing games with my friends. I'm also so thankful for all the inspiring people that helped make Lee a better place, including missus Salter and all my former teachers, plus the aids that have worked in their classrooms. They helped me learn, grow, and believe in myself. Thank you for inviting me here today, and I feel so special that I get
to represent my amazing school. Leah Leopards Rock. Can we get another round of applause for Fan and Sabrina? You guys do that. You know, they they worked on that for weeks, but out of our hundred and four fifth graders, they were selected by the the teachers. And you just couldn't ask for, nicer students. And, Sabrina's brother was up here two years ago giving a similar speech. So, very proud mom. He is not shy. Announcements were a lot of fun with him. Good afternoon, board president, miss Davidson, esteemed members of the board, superintendent doctor Andrew Pulver,
executive cabinet, and our amazing family. Today, I'm excited to share all the amazing things that Lee has already accomplished this year and that we plan on doing for the remainder of the school year. This is my sixteenth year in Los Alamitos and my third year at Lee. And I have worked at three of the nine schools in Los Al, and I know that they are all great schools. But what I've also learned is what makes Lee special and what makes Lee a world class school. What makes Lee a world class school isn't just our amazing parents and community, our
students, our teachers, or our staff. The special ingredient that makes Lee a world class school is how we blend community involvement, teachers, and staff together to produce an education that creates an environment where children are not are ready to achieve socially, emotionally, and academically. No one part is more important than the other, and they all work together because we all want the same thing. Happy students who leave Lee ready to take on middle school and the world.
It is my honor this afternoon to run you through this amazing school called Richard Henry Lee. Alright. I haven't got the clicker to work. You know you have a great school when our teachers, our staff, or our community members win an award, and nobody is surprised because everybody is truly amazing. Last year, we had so many celebrations, I couldn't possibly state them all. To highlight a few, we had a rock star of the month, Suzanne McEldry, our choir teacher. We had HSA award winners.
We had two instructional aids, Terry Whisner and April Monty. Our special teacher of the year, Sunny Lee, who is a phenomenal first grade teacher, Nicole Pichardo, the director of communications, and board member Chris Papa Thoran was our golden oat. The highlight of the year was announcing that Mary Cole was our LAFE teacher of the year. Mary where is Mary? Mary, stand up. Let's give Mary a round of applause. Mary is a tremendous teacher with a passion and desire for students that is unparalleled.
Well, the picture is of Mary and her class. When we asked anyone who would like to be in the picture that had her past or present, we must have had 200 students show up. There were so many students that the picture won't fit them all on this slide. This shows what a great teacher she is and the love her students have for her. She is a dedicated, loving, and dynamic teacher who we are honored to have at Lee. We are also very grateful for the amazing community we have at Lee. Our community set a new record of raising almost a $125,000 during the leo olympic
fundraiser. Yes, I had to eat dog food. Dye my hair pink and kiss a pig. But that's what we do because it's all about our kids and their future. Think about it this way. Just over a month into this current school year, we had fully funded our media center steam lab and push an intervention teacher for grades one through five for next school year. Thank you to our family for that. At Lee, we have embraced the changes in our students and in our curriculum and use those changes for the good.
To combat learning loss, we have jumped in with both feet with new curriculum to move our students forward academically. In kindergarten, we jumped into the new programs of m class and ESGI. First grade is utilizing a mirror and ESGI. Second grade has fully implemented the use of AMERAA as well as WAGO Math. In second, third, fourth, and fifth grade, we have had professional development days understanding our data from the men's MAPS benchmark assessment and integrating WAGL math and or WAGL ELA into our classrooms.
These are programs that are gonna continue to move these students forward and ensure they continue to excel academically. Only prop I have tonight, I promise. Lee achieving academically is highlighted by the middle pitcher. Here, one of our fifth graders is teaching doctor Pulver the ins and outs of waggle math. Our theme this year is that we are leopards in action, creativity and curiosity. We don't want our students just to learn how to use these new programs from our staff. We want them to be able to teach each other how best to use the
programs to move each other forward. We wanna inspire them to learn on their own about writing, college and careers, and to explore things that we don't even teach at Lee. This necklace was made by a fifth grade student using a three d printer at home. I guess I should show you guys the necklace too. This highlights what we are trying to accomplish with our goal this year at Lee. Learning is about doing. It's about being in action at school and being in action at home.
Too heavy. Too heavy. It's real gold. Right, papa? Last year, I stood in front of the board, and I told you that based on data, Lee was projected to have reversed the learning loss of the COVID nineteen pandemic. And we are expected that our test scores would rise this year. We came very close making this a reality and our scores were within 1% of increasing last year, year to this year. In fact, if two more students had been proficient in either ELA or math, we would have shown growth this year, completely reversing the COVID nineteen pandemic learning loss.
But Lee's data that you see in front of you is great and shows significant growth in three of the six areas. This could not be more evident in our fourth grade data this year. Of our one hundred and two fourth grade students last year, eighty nine were proficient in ELA and ninety six were proficient in math. That means all but six of our fourth graders tested proficient in mathematics. In fifth grade ELA, all but 12 of our hundred and four fifth grade students were proficient in ELA. Well, we will never be happy until all our students obtain 100% proficiency.
Academics are incredibly strong at Lee and continue to trend towards our school goal of a 100% proficiency. But what a lot of people don't realize is test scores aren't just started in third, fourth, and fifth grade. They're started with our classified staff, our custodians, our front office, our instructional aids. And we start at UTK. So every staff member is, responsible for the amazing results you see. If you're a staff member of Lee, could you stand so that we can give you a round of applause for your amazing work? But Lee is much more than just academics.
Lee focuses on the whole student and connecting our students not only to Lee, but to all of Lo Sal. Our leopards have a great time at school. We have continued our cultural assemblies at Lee this year. We want students from every culture to feel like they are seen and recognized at Lee. Our first cultural assembly was in celebration of Hispanic heritage month. We thought we were getting rain on Monday, so Diwali was moved to Wednesday. And we will continue to celebrate with Native American heritage, black history, women's history, Pacific
Islander history, and more. By celebrating different cultures at Lee, we feel we can increase the educational opportunities we offer our Leos. In addition to focusing on academics and ensuring all of our Leos feel like they belong at Lee, Our focus continues to be on mental health and emotional intelligence. From saying boo to bowling, to welcome our to welcoming our Leos, we start with hello. We continue to connect our students to Lee and to produce kind, caring Leos who look out after one another.
The true power of Lee is our teachers' willingness to meet our students where they are at, see what each child needs, and and to move them forward to be fully prepared socially, emotionally, and academically for life. We could not do this without the amazing SEL Tosa and formerly principal, Laura Trotter. And she now knows why I invited her and made sure she came. Laura has worked with the Lee staff extensively to fully implement the RULER emotional intelligence program from Yale University. Well, this is the first full year of using RULER.
Our teachers fully implemented it in the second semester of last year. Emotional intelligence is the key to moving our Leos forward. When our staff at Lee feels like we have a program that will help children, they jump all in. And even though it was supposed to be a soft launch, they went full board last year to make sure they were fully prepared this year, and our students understood what RULER was. In the bottom left hand corner of the slide in front of you, you can see a moon meter where students put their picture in one of the four colors to show how they are feeling during our morning soft starts.
This is done in every classroom. And in this example, the moon meter being shown is from one of our UTK classrooms. From four years old when you enter at Lee to 11 years old when you leave Lee, we will give you the skills you need to be successful in middle school, high school and life. We do a great job at Lee connecting our students to our school. We have a lot of events. I don't know if you guys are aware of that. We have a lot of events from family night to Camp Lee, movie night, Leo Olympics, peace week, red ribbon week, teacher for a day, veterans day, fourth grade Sacramento
trip, fifth grade walk through the revolution. And really what the kids remember most about their time at Lee is in fifth grade when they participate in the color games and the Gitch. The middle picture in front of you is of miss records Wreckers' o one and only win during the Gich. She was so happy she had a plaque made so that she could always remember she won the Gich. She also may or may not have threatened students and told them, I'm coming back
on your senior visit day in seven years and you better say the best part of your time at Lee Elementary School was winning the Gitch. By focusing on the whole student, we have created the family. I wish I could take credit for this, but the family and the way our staff works hand by hand with our community started over twenty years ago. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, Lee has an amazing community. It is clear that the community feels valued, that their voices matter, and that their opinions on how to improve Lee are listened to.
This is evident by setting a new fundraising record during Leo Olympics, having over 20 PGA members at our monthly meeting, and the sheer amount of parents who join us for events during the school day, as well as our nighttime events. Over the last twenty years, because of the dedication of our staff at Lee, we have built trust within the community. During our first day staff meeting this August, we focused on trust. Last year, we had six zero eight students, and this year, we have six thirty seven students. In a time of declining enrollment in Orange County, California, and the nation as a
whole, Lee grew. Why did we grow? Because of trust. The theme of our staff meeting was what previous Lee teachers had done to build the community's trust, and how we can ensure that trust continues long into the future. Lee is in a transition right now with 11 new teachers and specialists this year alone, and with the projected retirements of some of the finest teachers in the world, it is my job to ensure the newest staff is cognizant of how Lee has been able to build and maintain community's trust, so they can keep it going in
the future. Led by our veteran teachers, we shared and discussed the prompts on the first day. What makes Lee special? What makes a great school? Why does our community trust us so much? And how are we going to continue to build and maintain the trust of the community? By having these conversations and continually finding ways to improve our community and our school, Lee will continue to be the family not just this year, but in the future years to come. We truly appreciate our community. Thanks to our partnership with the Los Alamitos Educational Foundation, better known as LATE, and
our auxiliary, Lee continues to improve and look beautiful. In the middle picture, you can see our new UTK play area between Rooms 1 And 2 in the SDC preschool in Room A. With the increasing number of students in UTK, we are having a lot of injuries during recess and lunch. By shifting the recess times for our UTK and building the play area for UTK students to play during lunch, we have transformed a formerly unused area of our campus into a beautiful play area and increased the safety of our students.
This would not have been possible without the dedication of our amazing UTK teacher, Jamie Locke. Our funding from Laith and funding from RPTA. We've also added an art storage shed by our garden, which blends in beautifully and gives our art program places to continue to add to their amazing lessons. Last but not least, you may say Gaga ball has been a part of Lee for a long time. Why is it in the picture? Because a tree fell last year and completely destroyed the Gaga ball pit.
It was traumatizing for our students. There were a lot of tears from the students. I think some teachers celebrated. But but the students, were devastated, and our auxiliary did a great job rebuilding it in a amount of time. And we thank them for that. I also want to thank all of you for coming out tonight. Can we get another big round of applause for our choir and our speakers, Sabrina and Finn? I also would like to thank the board and executive cabinet for all you do for Lee.
And we look forward to another amazing school year. So congratulations on being our student success. And and how do you keep up with your brother? That's the burning question. Right, Oliver? Congratulations. So Gary, that was a wonderful presentation. And, Mason, Sabrina, and Finn, you were fabulous. The choir was wonderful. It always is this is a joyful point in any board meeting is the workshop when we get to see the kids, hear them perform, and have them share. So when the principals decided to bring the kids into the presentations, that was really
a very happy point for all of us. Lee is a wonderful school, and it's obvious that you are all doing a fabulous job of addressing the concept of the whole child because your test scores are showing great growth academically. But a lot of that comes from a place where kids feel cared about, nurtured, and encouraged, and whose passions are doors open for their passions. And you can see that in every every corner of that campus. And I we know the families have a lot to do with that. Your staff is fabulous. And we thank you for everything that you do to make this this the great
achievements at Lee happen. You are family. It's very beautiful. I mean, Matt? Thank you so much for a wonderful presentation. I you know, the one one of the words you use to talk about Lee is the word I always use is it's a special place. It just feels different. And I know I've talked to parents. People talk about how prepared they are. We a couple of us have sixth graders about the preparation for middle school. And one of the things I hear consistently when I talk to formerly parents or students have moved on to middle school is how prepared they are and what a special experience the students had that is carried in the middle school. They still continue to be leopards.
They still take a lot of pride in their experience they had. So I appreciate that. I also just go back to, you know, I don't think I get to share this because you'd presented before, we were there last year. But I remember being on campus on a Friday with doctor Pulver walking around with you in the STEM lab. And the STEM teacher was out, but those kids didn't miss a beat. And they were so proud to show off the creations they were doing. And that's something that leaves a lasting memory. As a former teacher, you think about what's happening when I'm not there. And that class was so proud to keep doing their work and show it off and wouldn't let us leave, to be honest. We might not have had a tour if we'd stayed in that STEM lab all day. So I think that's also a testament to how well rounded is, but also just
to soon to take pride in the accomplishments they're doing at your school. So keep up the good work. Thank you to the teachers and communities for for creating this environment that's just it's a special place. Thank you. Mister Foorhan? Yes. As Liam and Shane now are Oak lions, I thought, oh dear. But once a Leo, I'm always a Leo. So watching this Gary just makes me reflect on everything you did for my grandchildren at Lee's school. So thank you staff and parents. Wonderful. Missus Gil? Thank you. Finn? I have a Finn too. I love that name.
I have a grandchild named well, Finley Finn. So, I just wanna say, Gary, that I really appreciate your presentation. And the thing that really struck me when you talked about your data is that I really felt that you knew who those students are that need a little extra something to get to proficient. And to be able to do that and identify that and have a staff that knows that and identifies it and cares that much is tremendous. And you guys have a great culture, and I just really appreciate that you came
and shared with us all the wonderful things that you're doing at Lee. Thank you, Gary. Thank you. And staff. I'd like to ditto that. You took the words right out of my mouth. I thought that was very impressive that you had a, clear understanding of what who are those students and where are they that need a little extra support. So thank you. And I love the fact that you dedicated a whole slide to trust. And I really feel like the trust that you have as a community, that starts from the custodial staff all the way up to the admin level, I I believe
that that's really one of the key differentiators of your success. And, I appreciate that you and the teachers have created such an environment and the families that are here supporting the students, it really shows. So thank you for that. And lastly, I wanna know more about that three d metal that you were wearing. I'd like to understand how that was made, who made it. It's pretty cool. And that is pretty awesome. So kudos to all of you. Thank you. Doctor Culver? Well, you know, there's a little bit of ounce of bias that I that I
have with, with Lee Elementary. It is such joy to be part of the Lee family myself, where I got to spend, deep connections over five years, working alongside with such an exceptional staff. And I think, Gary, you hit it on the head about really, building talking about the trust that that the staff at the community collectively staff from from certificated to classified to our instructional aids to those that work in the media center and the STEM lab that just go above and beyond. I think you hit it on the head when you said that the staff at
Lee meet students exactly where they are. And I think that's really when we we often talk about what makes school so powerful is when when the adults stretch their arms out the most to the kids that need them the most. And I don't know a group of collective staff who do that more, than than our Lee, staff to collectively. So I think that's super impressive and also you if you didn't have trust within that community, you wouldn't see your enrollment growing. You talked about, you know, when when we see declining enrollment across, California, across the state, and to see that the school at Lee Elementary is growing and enrollment, that
is also evident of of trust, nor would you see our families being able to really contribute, and it takes many efforts of our families to contribute record breaking. I think you said a $125,000, or more and that was just one fundraiser. I know that they have, many and I think it's because we have such amazing parents who give above and beyond for that. And so I love that you shouted out, our parents as well. But I wanted to highlight briefly and since it's already has, I won't need to do too much what, Mrs. Salem, Mrs. Partesani just talked about.
Is, you know, sometimes we talk about data and I and and it's just a percentage. But the more that we can, extrapolate that down to students. And when you when you're talking about it's 12 students or it's x number of students that we just and I know the teachers that lead know exactly who those individuals are. Because our goal none of those no parent says, oh, I hope my child's below grade level. That's why we have a goal of a 100% because every parent wants their child to be at grade level. And so we're relentless at trying to work hard to find what can we do to get those extra, those students to to to cross that finish line as well.
And so it's an imperfect work. It's work we'll probably, always struggle at trying to make sure that we ensure, but it's the right work to do on behalf of our kids. So thank you and thank the staff and the community for all that you do to make Lee such a magical place. Thank you. And now I know you have a very special hero of the heart presentation. Look forward to it. We are very excited to give our hero of the heart to the garden ladies. Nope. Just seemed like a fit. Yeah. Before I before I get speaking about how amazing, these three are, Sue couldn't be
with us tonight. She had a family obligation. But let's give one more round of applause for Jennifer, Donna, and Kathy. It is with great pleasure that I announce Lee Elementary School's 02/2026 hero of the heart, the garden ladies. We have four of the most incredible people that have made a major impact on Lee Elementary School, not just this year, but for many years. Jennifer, Sue, Kathy, and Donna have been the driving force for Lee's amazing garden. Our second and third graders all get to maintain and learn how to prepare soil,
plant various types of fruit and vegetables, maintain the soil so that it grows, and watch as it transforms seeds to produce or beautiful plants. In addition, they lead the Junior Master Gardening Club for our fourth and fifth grade students. This popular club shows how important the garden is to our student body. They leave with more gardening skills than a majority of adults, me included, have about gardening. Fourth and fifth grade junior master gardeners who stay in the club for two years receive a special award for their time, hard work, and dedication at our annual fifth
grade awards night. The gardening ladies run much more than a club. Students eyes light up when it is their time to learn about gardening and help in the garden. Even students who never join the gardening club have forever been impacted by their experience in second and third grade. In addition, the gardening ladies mean much more to our community than just a beautiful garden. That is the envy of any school or community. They truly impact our students' lives at Lee and for the rest of their life. I've heard from multiple families at Lee.
They now have a garden in their front and or backyards because of the garden, ladies. In Los Alamitos and at Lee, we talk about how we wanna create well rounded children who are connected to their sites. At Lee, this could not be highlighted more than with the garden ladies. Their dedication, passion, and desire to help our Leo's makes them an easy choice for our 2025, 2026 hero of the heart. Please join me in thanking Jennifer, Sue, Kathy, and Donna, our hero of the heart.
Hold on there. Guess what? What? Judicial Board of Education, you make a difference. You're awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. And we're missing one. Yes. Who's who can we trust to get it? Donna. Donna. You don't need to know the rest. That's alright. Congratulations, and thank you on behalf of the whole team so much. Alright. We couldn't do it without, the teachers that. I mean, you guys send your kids out and we have them choked up. Anyway, they are really the heroes.
But, at the end of the year, we get these. And I picked some because they're some are funny and some are heartwarming. I'm just gonna read a few. Thank you for teaching me all about the garden. Thank you for letting me pick a carrot. If you need a boost in life, come to Lee's Open House. We pull carrots. And if you've ever seen a kid pull a carrot and go, it's great.
Now I know and love gardening. Thank you for everything you've done for us. I learned the worms help the environment and taught me the right time to pick vegetables. And, you know, you just go, love this. And this guy says, thank you for letting me try salad. And and they're decorated too. This one says, okay. This is for all of us. You are the best gardener ever. And then this one, you are prettier than a flower.
So if you wonder why we do this, that's why. Thank you. What? Hi. I just wanted to say I absolutely stand in amazement. It's a gift that has totally eluded me. Any seed that sees me runs the other direction. But I if you ever thank you for what you do for our children. I can't imagine how inspired and how much peace and heart they get from all of that. If you ever decide to do a senior citizen extension course, sign me up. Thank you. If you write thank you, no.
Though. Alright. Oh, I will. I'll do that. Yes. And you've never lived I'm at Lee a lot. But when you go by the garden and see kids tilling the compost, I mean, mixing it all up, and they're keeping it neat. They're not getting it all dirty in their hands. It's a marvelous program, and thank you. That's Kathy. The compost slate. Yeah. Yeah. I I just wanted to add, you know, one of the things that we always say makes the difference here. I think the secret sauce in low cell is, having such amazing adults who volunteer
and give of their time selfishly to really enhance, the opportunities for our students. And I think the three of you really the four of you, I know, not all are here today, epitomize that. It is such joy when I get to, go out to Lee. And I'm several times, you guys are there out in the garden. And the strawberries and the carrots are the best strawberries and carrots you have ever tasted if they let you taste one. Because they also wanna make sure they're there for the students. But the the other thing I think that's so impressive is that our students, you know, we talked about trust.
It's also really important to have a sense of pride. And our students have such pride in that garden. They take care of that garden as well. They make sure that others don't cause damage to it or or anything else. And I think when you have this sense of pride that just comes through with that. And I know that that's instilled through you. And there are I don't know if people know this, but there's a lot of hours one has to go through to be considered a master gardener. I have a neighbor who's a master gardener. My spouse wants to be one, when they retire, and give and part part of being a master gardener from what I understand is to be able to give back to the community and put in these volunteer hours.
So thank you. The normally, our hero of the heart, the school only gets to recommend one individual. And so Gary asked, could we please have an exception or recommend all fourth as our hero of the heart? And so normally we have these jackets that people want to earn as, as our symbol of being the hero of the heart, but we thought we'd do a little bit something different for our master gardeners at Lee Elementary. And so we have some hero of the heart gardening aprons for all of you. That's personified. So I'll let Mr.
Wellens give them to all of you. They're great. I'll put it on. Apron. Tada. Thank you. Mhmm. These are nice aprons. Thank you. And when you're there, you see they are always wearing an apron when they're gardening. So we thought that would be perfect. Yeah. We always look like this when we're gardening. Right. Exactly. Let's give our heroes of the heart one more round of applause. I'll take you. Do you wanna take Kathy's? Okay. Yeah. Let me take that. You can give it you're gonna they're gonna do a picture. Oh, well. I'm gonna get my apron.
Go to recess so we can take pictures. So don't take those aprons off. Gotta keep your apron on. We'll take pictures of our students who presented. So parents, I know it's hard to get the picture over there off to the side. So, Mason, Sabrina, and Finn, all of Lee's staff would love to take a picture, of you and then obviously our heroes of the heart. So let's start with Lee Staff. And there are cookies in the back foyer. Hopefully, there's still some. Part: 2
We're we had the workshop in the afternoon, and now we are here in open session. And we will begin with an ex report on closed session items, which in what no. That's sorry. I'm looking at the wrong thing. Okay. We in closed session, we discussed employee issues, and negotiations, and we there was no action taken. And doctor Wiesbreich, would you like to lead us in the pledge? Absolutely. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all. Thank you. Thank you. And and missus Reed, would you like we had no, summarize the workshops. Okay? You have No no problem, president Davidson. Tonight, we were really fortunate. We were really graced with the presence of Lee Elementary School. And so they showed up in full force with a choir who sang a lovely rendition of a patriotic song. I don't think many of us had heard previously. And they had a beautiful fourth and fifth grade choir, lots of staff and community members that came. Principal Williams really spoke to, an overarching theme that they kicked their school year off
with this year, which was really about the trust that the community has in their school and the perpetuation of how to continue trust as they have 11 new staff members on-site at Lee Elementary School this year. He had two wonderful student speakers as well as the opportunity to, recognize their hero of the heart, which is for lovely ladies that are, master gardeners that are the gardening ladies of Lee Elementary School. And so we had a wonderful start to our meeting earlier this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Now we're moving on to reports and we've got our student board member. Brynn, would you like to share for us? Good evening, madam president, superintendent Pulver, executive cabinet, members of the Los Alamitos community. My name is Brent Schmidt, and I'm honored to serve as your student representative to the Board of Education from Los Alamitos High School. Here is my report. Activities. The first event I'd like to highlight is something celebrated not only at La Salle, but nationwide: Red Ribbon Week. This week emphasizes the importance of living a drug free life and making choices that
lead to long term health, happiness, and success. At LaSalle, we recognize Red Ribbon Week to raise awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol use while empowering students to advocate for themselves and their futures. Through themed activities, educational messaging, and campus involvement, we encourage Gryphons to take pride in making healthy decisions and supporting one another. It is an opportunity for our school community to reaffirm our shared commitment to safety, wellness, and respect. Values that help every student thrive in and out of the classroom.
To make the week fun and engaging, ASB and various clubs on campus hosted a variety of events. ASB organized spill your guts or fill your guts, a trivia game focused on red ribbon week topics and facts. Students who answered correctly received candy, while incorrect answers meant tasting a condiment packet. Another highlight was the OC health care table, where students wrote what they are grateful for and why they choose to live drug free life on puzzle pieces, which were then assembled into a mural displayed on campus.
Academics. At La Salle, students learn academics and life skills not only in the classroom, but also through many clubs and organizations that enrich our campus. One such example is our outstanding Model United Nations, or MUN, program. The LaSalle High School MUN program offers offers students an exceptional opportunity to engage with global issues while developing strong leadership and communication skills. As delegates, students research and represent countries debating real world topics ranging from international security to human rights and environmental sustainability.
Through conferences and simulations, MUN members learn diplomacy, negotiation, collaboration, and public speaking. Skills that prepare them for success in college and beyond. MUN also fosters a community of informed, curious, and globally minded students who are passionate about making a positive impact. The team even travels out of state to compete at high level conferences, which is an incredible experience for our delegates. Overall, the program builds essential life skills and keeps students connected to world events, something that is especially important for our generation.
Athletics. The Los Alamitos High School varsity boys water polo team exemplifies Griffin pride through dedication, teamwork, and competitive spirit both in and out of the pool. Led by coach Rob Graley and captains Noah Garrison and Sebastian Mach, these the team balances rigorous academics with the demands of a challenging sport. Their early morning practices, intense games, and strong camaraderie, they push each other to excel while demonstrating perseverance, sportsmanship, and the true Griffin spirit. The team finished with a strong record and a league title, showcasing a successful season
with a final record of eight to 11 overall, with a perfect three to o league record. One of their most intense games was their first round of CIF against La Habra, where they went into multiple overtimes and eventually came out on top with a win of 15 to 13. We are so proud of our team this year, and the hard work they put in both on and off the pool deck. Arts. The Los Alamitos High School performing arts program delivered an outstanding production of The Addams Family, musical showcasing the talent, dedication, and creativity of our students.
From sharp comedic timing to powerful vocals and polished choreography, every element reflected the countless hours the cast and crew invested in bringing this beloved story to life. The students built sets, detailed costumes, and professional level lighting and sound design elevated the production, creating a truly memorable experience. Beyond the performances, what stood out most was the teamwork and collaboration behind the scenes. Students supporting one another, stepping into leadership roles, and working together to achieve something greater
than any individual contribution. The Addams Family was not just a performance, it was a celebration of the arts at LaSalle, and a reminder of the extraordinary opportunities our district provides for students to learn, grow, and shine. Community. On November 5, our community hosted the second annual Pals of La Salle Youth Sports Day at Oak Middle School. The event brought together 18 students of all abilities for an inclusive and energetic afternoon featuring multiple sports stations, including football, track and field, soccer, and volleyball.
This year, nine ASB students, including myself, were able to attend, support the sports stations, and cheer on participants. We partnered with the Los Alamitos Police Department and the Orange County Fire Authority, whose presence made the day even more special. I had the opportunity to attend last year as well, and while that experience was meaningful, this year's event was truly the highlight of my month. Running around with the kids, encouraging them, and seeing their joy reminded me why events like this matter. We are incredibly grateful for our community partners who make opportunities like this possible, and
I can't wait to see more students participate next year. Student spotlight. To close out my report, I want to shine a spotlight on an exceptional Gryphon, Tara West. Tara is a deeply involved on campus, and truly represents the best of LaSalle. She's a well rounded leader. She's a part of Soundtracks, a Head VMC, a swing for multiple choirs over the years, and a key leader for Extravaganza, our LaSalle hosted choir competition. Academically, she challenges herself with the demanding course load including Advanced SportsMed, AP Bio, AP
Calc BC, AP Psych, and ASL for honors. What really stands out though is her internship with our athletic trainer, Tyler, through SportsMed. Tara attends games, supports injured athletes, and puts her training into action after completing both anatomy and SportsMed courses. Her kindness, leadership, and dedication make her an incredible role model for our Griffin community, and I am proud to feature her in this month's student spotlight. With that, I would like to open the floor to any questions or comments from the board. Go ahead. Chris? Brynn, I think it's great how you, highlighted the model United Nations.
And what I think is even more special now is they've reached out to the two middle schools. And on Tuesday and Thursday, one of their members works with the middle school kids who are gonna be ready for the high school experience right away. So thank you. Matt? Yeah. I also really appreciate you highlighting the Red Ribbon Week. I think that's something we see so much of the elementary school and people are focused on. It's something I know. We grew up with Red Ribbon Week. It's a it's a memory that I have as a child. But to see it at the high school and having been on campus during that week, to see the activities, to see it coming to life, and to see students
that are really probably the most prone to to finding their way into these issues, having fun while also being educated and learning, it really was a a great way to unite the students around a really key issue. So I I appreciate you highlight that. Also, it's really fun that the high school students are engaged in it. Because I think so many people think of Red Ribbon Week as this little kid, and it's cutesy, but these are the students that really need to be doing the most education. So thank you. Well, I think you're gonna get a lot of appreciation from us. So, one of the things I I planned on talking about in communication, but since you already highlighted it, was really, and I appreciated the way you highlighted, the theater
production and what was done with the Addams Family and all of the, theater tech that was that went on behind it and that everything is student run and student produced. And that to me is just phenomenal and great amount of opportunities for our, for your classmates and for our students. So I really appreciate you showcasing that as well. Yes. I love everything you highlight every month, so thank you. Thank you for, you know, bringing that the student perspective to us.
I really love hearing that you were part of the PELs of LaSalle and that this was your second year because to me, this was I I this was the first time I had heard about it. And I I think that it is something that I'd like to make sure we communicate more broadly and get more of our students, like you said, to participate and to make sure that that is something that is on our all of our radar because it is such a huge testament to our community. So thank you. Thanks, Bryn. You've done a phenomenal job. It's really incredible in the amount of time that you allot yourself, how you cover
such a breadth of activities and such diversity of activities, which really showcases all the opportunities for our students. And I wish we could just send your, reports to the middle school so they can get really excited about everything ahead of them. They're really excellent. Doctor Pulver? Thank you so much. And now we'll turn it over to our superintendent for his report. Thank you, madam president. I think I I figured no sense because I always can't help but to comment before I go into mine, after our amazing student report. And I too, really appreciated how you talked about, our drama program, our production of
Adam's Family. I happened to attend, the production, and it was incredible, beyond inspirational. I when I got there and looked at the set, you would have thought it was a set, a Disneyland set. And as missus Hill was alluding or really sharing was that entire set is student main. And so just our theater tech program is just, extremely, talented, and that takes some of our classified employees too. You know, Ty Peterson as well who who really supports that. So very, very impressive. The arts were alive as well.
I think I went to the gas lab and saw our jazz program performing, since the last board meeting as well. And you you you would think you're in New Orleans. Our our jazz, three three levels just did a phenomenal job and such a great way for our parents to come out and to see our kids be on on a stage. In a professional stage, was really, an opportunity for them as well. And then the dance program last week was spectacular. The aerial shots, the the the thoughts, the the the way that our, missus Jones, Ricky Jones creates the storyline, etcetera.
It just our our kids are their talent is endless. It really is spectacular and and and exciting. And so tonight, I wanted to highlight a few things in my, report. First, I wanted to just give a big thank you to the ongoing partnership and impact that having a district ed foundation can make on behalf of our students and this community. So LATHE, has donated, through a program of innovation grants over a $150,000, really over a $154,000, to all staff who they competed against these grants.
And I'll just give you a quick, highlight of what some of these grants are, and I probably just lost my notes for a second. But at our adult transition program, they did now I'm going off of memory because I don't have them in front of me. Here it is. Raised beds. And so what I love is they touched every aspects of of, of the district. So for our raised bed gardens, because our ATP kids are gonna learn how to garden, doing some of that. Really popular, throughout many of our elementary schools were three d printers. Many grade levels, did things like that.
Sensory light tables, at some of our early, grades, TKK, some UTK hands on learning tools. I love it. We heard missus Padilla talk about it at her LAE report, about having some some challenges with student behaviors. And so she came up with this concept to use conflict resolution through basketball. And so some of the students who are having some challenges behaviorally, and they're really creating, and piloting a program there that Laith, has funded, as well. They're doing some enhanced playground materials, sandboxes, pretend play areas for SDC, incubator for egg
hatching, frog dissections, at the middle school, Ozobots, engineering, aspects in in curriculum, VR headsets and social studies at the the middle school's VR headsets was also I think I was seeing that at the at the high school. Listen to this. UV goggles sanitizer cabinets for the safety goggles that students wear every single day, and that was mister Maya who, wrote wrote that.
Maya rather. So just, over a 154,000, blooming abilities. So for our life skills class at the high school, they, ours our life skills students sell, flowers, that pair students and teachers can can, but it's created them a a business for them to be able to help support some of their other programs, and more VR headsets. And, and then even this one, I think our assistant principal at the high school in athletics trying to work, did a a podcast and video production. So to be able to have some of our athletes be able to learn how
to, kind of market and and, take a look at that. So just, all aspects of the four a's, all aspects throughout our campus, and I think that really is the power of a district wide ed foundation. So thank you, Leigh, for your ongoing generous support, and I didn't think it would do justice to just say the amount. I think sometimes it helps to hear what some of those innovative things, are. And so congratulations are in order. I have a lot of congratulations of employees who we've recognized. I love that our human resources and our PIO, department coordinate each month to celebrate
our rock stars of the month. And so, we have our September rock stars of the month month was Chantal Gonzalez, who's an instructional aide, in our special education SDC preschool, I believe. It might actually be UTK, at Weaver Elementary, and Chantal just goes above and beyond. It was so evident when we went to surprise her, the connection she has with students, and the impact that she's making with students who really need additional support. She just does a phenomenal job. And then our district nurse, Jessica Contina, Catania rather, who is exceptional.
And as you know, we had our our lead nurse, retire, and we did not refill as our enrollment has gone down a little bit. And so, Jessica has just done an exceptional job of taking on and working, throughout all of our school sites and providing, amazing support. She is a, wants what's what what she would want for her kids, and so she makes sure she has that parent lens as well to to make sure that our students with, health challenges that they still have access and opportunities to, the four a's, throughout our campus. So she does a great work for us.
And then just this month, and we always do it at the end of the month, so sometimes we feel like it's, at the end of the month. Regina Brown, who's our attendance clerk, she was a classified employer of the year a few years ago, but she just continues to do an exceptional job at Oak Middle School, but has really stepped up. We've had the office coordinator has been out on medical, or on a leave of absence, and, Regina has just, filled in, an exorbitant amount of extra duties to be able to help make sure, Oak Middle School is seamless and runs flawlessly, so she
did a great job there. And then Christine Morris, who's a school psychologist at Los Alamitos High School, but, really, she helps support a myriad of, our interventions. One of the key players in how our hundred percent graduation rate over the past few years, we achieved that for two years because putting in systems in place to really target, needs of individual students starting the, part of starting the program of our student mentor program at Los Alamitos High School as well, which supports, so she just does, and as well as supporting, a myriad of other areas.
So just, really proud to be able to recognize Christine Morris as our rock star of the month this last month. And then we had some state, and some county recognitions that, we have communicated in the past, but the state recognition was just this past, two weeks ago up in San Francisco. So, Angelina, who was, just graduated, I believe, from Los Alamitos High School, last year, was our every student succeeding. And in in order to get that achievement, it's students who have had unique challenges in life, and they've overcome different odds, and have been successful.
And and usually, the part of the success is really with the team of adults that also help, and that's what this recognition is by the California, School Administrators Association. She represented all of Orange. She was our district access student, every student succeeding, then she was the Orange County, representative for the every student succeeding, and she was recognized in San Francisco, over the November, and got the state recognition as well. It's a wonderful recognition for her. And then we had our beloved teacher of the year, miss Lori Avalos, who is
teacher at McAuliffe Middle School, who got recognized as part of the Orange County Teachers of the Year ceremony. They hold it, every year at the Disneyland Hotel. And so our board president and our assistant sup of HR, doctor Wieschwright, were there, to be part of that celebration to recognize Laurie. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there because we had so many employees being recognized. That same day, that same night, we had miss Caraviana, our assistant principal at Los Alamitos High School, who was receiving the state co administrator of the year.
And so she I joined her along with, principal Christina Kraus, up at San Francisco at the same event where, Angelina, our student, was was was recognized. So statewide, they only choose one assistant principal at the high school level to be the administrator of the year, and no other than yours truly, miss Caraviano. And so it was a a a pleasure to be able to be part of that recognition, for her. And then, lastly, before I thought I would really I wanted to be able to share, our board meeting was in October was before right before Peace Week.
Remember, we had to bifurcate Peace Week with some of our schools. But our FOCUS studio students, our students at Los Alamitos High School, remember the more that we our commitment to career technical education is always about trying to find hands on opportunities and real world experiences for students, to take these skills with them. And so for our focus studios, and our film pathway, our students create a multitude of videos. In fact, we're already planning to maybe utilize them for our holiday video, but, you will see that hopefully in December before winter break.
But they came together and collaborated and worked with our schools to really talk about what is peace week. And it's really this week that we attribute to really trying to get our our students and our and our community to to acknowledge and recognize about people exhibiting acceptance and compassion for everyone. So I'm gonna highlight, the video that, this is the first debut. After tonight, we'll be able to publish it, on YouTube, but they were just putting the final touches on it like this after, like, at in class today, I think they have class at eleven something.
And they were making the final. So nothing like a deadline. They knew I wanted to share it tonight at at the board meeting. So without further ado, here is the, debut of Focus Studio's Pete Sweet video. Pete stands for people exhibiting appreciation and compassion for everyone. It's more than a word. It's a way of being, recognizing each individual, valuing differences, extending kindness, and fostering understanding. During this week, we bring focus to how we treat one another, to raise awareness of the everyday power of appreciation and compassion, to build habits of kindness and to strengthen the bonds of our community.
It's a chance for everyone, students, teachers, staff, to pause, reflect, learn, and act with intention. Peace means to me being calm, being kind to others. Working together, creating like a environment that helps others. If somebody's being mean to somebody to like stand stand up for them and if somebody's being mean to you to stand up for yourself. Including people in certain things that you wouldn't necessarily do or showing compassion a piece
at school every single day by telling them hello. Beginning with a hello matters. It's a small gesture, yet it opens doors, initiates connection, breaks through distance, and sets a foundation for mutual respect. Hello is a simple spark that can be led to trust, to listening, to empathy. My favorite thing from Peace Week was when we did our Peace Week pledge, and we got to spin the wheel. We got to see so many kids excited to participate in during peace week. My favorite activity is probably the kickball event.
It brings together the teachers and other students that work together as a team. One thing that always stands out to me during peace week is just watching our fifth grade leaders, our ambassadors, really take the leadership role and lead the week. They they set the tone for the week. They pick the spirit days. They're the kids who greet all the rest of the campus as they walk in, and it's just it's pretty pretty incredible. Now that I think about it, there's a kid who was a new student last year who I know was greeted with enthusiasm as he started here as a as
a new student. And now he's an ambassador second year, and you can see him just reflecting it right back at the community that welcomed him first. Some things that I've learned are kindness can be little and big, like, you can help out just a friend or a teacher, and it can make their day. You can help people through so many different things, especially during hard times. I hope that students experience in their safe bubble of school the fun activities and all the little programs that we have going on during peace week and then that
instills in them the confidence to bring that outside of the classroom and into their families and their sports and other parts of their community. I'm hoping that by the end of their time here, it's a learned behavior so that when they're out on their own, they're the one extending the branch and starting with a loan. Here at Los Alamitos Unified School District, we commit to making our district a place where appreciation and compassion are lived, not just spoken, where everyone is seen and heard, where kindness is a habit, where our actions reflect the peace we want to be.
We're gonna keep the credits. We gotta give them credit. Credits. We gotta give them credit. So just a a big thank you to our Focus Studio students who always find, creative ways and really go out. As you as you know, they also helped us with the for good video, that we've shared out with with with families as well. So, just wanna say thank you to them, and we look forward to be able to sharing that with all families, later this week. And then lastly, I just wanted to, as we are wrapping up the school week
before many, people are getting ready to leave or perhaps the some hopefully, some safe travels. Just wanna, wish our family, our staff, and this amazing community a very happy Thanksgiving. We have so much so much to be grateful for. I'm very blessed to be in this community, being part of a a place that, adults continue to find ways to just ensure that all of our students in the in our in our youth, thrive. So, to all of you, we wish you a well deserved time to to rest,
to be with your family, and to recharge and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you, doctor Pulver. That was wonderful. I love peace week. Love peace week. So now we're moving on to board member comments. And missus Partizani, would you like to begin? Sure. Thank you. Well, good evening. This month, my focus was really on innovation, career readiness, and staying accessible to our students and staff. A major priority for our district, as you know, is building a responsible roadmap for how AI will support teaching and learning.
I've met with and helped connect some AI experts with our executive cabinet, and I'm just really excited to see where that goes and how that's gonna help prepare both our staff and our students for the future. I also attended the skilled trades fair, which was put on by our college and career center, and that's where students came together to explore different pathways. There were organizations ranging from carpentry to fire science to, even drone piloting, which I
found really interesting. And it was a great reminder that success comes in many forms, and it goes beyond the traditional four year, college path. I really enjoyed that. And finally, board accessibility is really important to me, whether it's I do walk throughs, attend performances or athletic events. I really value hearing from our students and our staff. It's those conversations that really make me a better representative, for you to our community.
So I just wanted to put it out there that, you know, don't hesitate to reach out to me to come out. And when you see me at the different events, I do have three kiddos and, I happen to be at a lot of different places. So, please keep those, keep those comments and conversations going. And with that, I will turn it back to you. Missus Hill. Thank you so much. Just a couple of things. I, I also went to the trade fair and one of the things that I just, I just so appreciative of staff that put it on and just really gave
opportunities for our students. And I love that they come through in classes, so they don't, they're there at lunch as well, but they come through and they actually bring their classes through. And the engagement that I saw with so many of them talking to things they may not have ever thought of doing before. But I was also just, really intrigued that just, there was one gentleman, and I heard him over talking, and he was from Cypress College. And he was talking to some students, and I believe it was, electrician.
And he was talking about how it's also a way to be able to, create a trade and a job for yourself, but you can also get college credits and that you can really have a job that can be more flexible if you wanted to go higher into college and just giving all of the different resources and and and thought processes to our students. So I thought that was really well done, and I just was so appreciative of the Sabbath High School for, that great work that they did.
I also was able to attend a couple of our Los Al football games and really what I came away with, I saw a loss at San Clemente and then I saw, a win in the rain at, at Feds Stadium was how the resiliency of them and them never giving up. And, and I think that that program, you know, we say, oh yes, we talk about football, but football all, I believe all of our athletics activities and our arts are so much more than just that particular.
Activity. It's not just about football. It's about the lessons that are learned through each and every one of them. And, I believe the coaching staff does just a great job of being very positive and really showing our students that they have more resiliency than, than they realize. And then I just wanted to end. I had, it it was, about a month and a half ago, but we haven't had communication. I had the opportunity to attend a celebration of life for a Melinda Breedlove. And, I knew her because, our sons played, baseball together.
But at her, I also knew that she had worked, in the district. But when I was there and listening to people share and I heard her brother talk about how she would get up at 04:30 in the morning, take care of her family, feed her family, and then go to feed the students of our district and how much that meant to her, and how important what an important part of, of her life that was. It was just really I really wanted to make sure that we honored that and
honored her and let her family know that we know that they, it's painful, but that she will always have, had touched so many students they will never know never know of, and that, I want them to know that we acknowledge that. Thank you. Thank thank you. Mister Goran? Yes. My most of mine today is quickly on shout outs, Peace Week. It was unbelievable, that production. Thank you.
But it's shout outs to our support groups. The PTAs at Rossmore provide million word reader medals that they get to kids who read a certain number of words. The PTA at Oak for lion pride, where they recognize excellent students. The kindness club at LAHS did Halloween crafts for the life skills kids. Red Ribbon Week, Matt already spoke to it. It's great to see the high school involved. Veterans day throughout our district was celebrated at every school site.
And then the booster clubs, and doctor Pulver is right. The drama and the dance and music and choir, they wouldn't do, I think, as much without the booster parents providing such great support. And then equally are the sports boosters club is because they too support the kids all year long. And I was really impressed with our district PTA as another support group. Doctor Pulver spoke so eloquently this keeping them up to date, but it was their
questions and their discussion that they are a very competent, wonderful group of ladies who are thinking about the best for kids. I wanna shout out Jen Laterno at McCullough. She provided she has a link crew at the middle school level, and, similar to what the link crew does at the high school. But she provide had the kids and the link crew provide lunch for all the new sixth graders at McCullough, making that connection that's so important. And then just a celebration today, I walked in to read it LAE, and the
teachers were doing, I think Jenny called it a underground celebration of six seven. Because today is the sixty seventh day of school. So immediately, I had to figure out, okay, I got masking tape taped on six seven to my shirt so I could go in and be part of the celebration. But it's those activities that make school fun. It's great. Thank you. Mister Gradman? If we got through a board meeting, that's in six seven at some point. That would have been disappointing. I know I'm gonna talk about some things that we've already talked about, but I
I appreciate, board members focus on a certain thing, whether it's one of our core values or things in our mission statement. I wanna focus on the arts today. And so over the past month, I've had the privilege of seeing the arts really come to life. It's one of our four a's in the district. It's in our logo. It's so important. And to see the incredible creativity, talent, and collaborations happening really across all grade levels. So I know we've talked about the Admis family a ton. It was amazing. It was truly astounding. I didn't know what I was walking into. The singing, the acting, the set, everything about it was just phenomenal. And I love that we talked for the theater tech piece because I'm sitting there
with my daughter. We had a a really fun daddy daughter day at the Adams family. And I said, like, do you realize that everything here was built by students? Like, art is in so many different forms and so many restaurants only thing. The stage is the star. The people that are up there that are singing are the star, but it's the people that built the tree, the people that built this two story set. I mean, it was it was the other staircase. Unbelievable. A truly unbelievable set. And so just to call the attention that the it was an unbelievable event to happen around Halloween was great. It was just fun. It was great. So that was, one of the first things I got to to see in in
this long month since we had a board meeting. I know we talked about the dance production, the blind tiger. If People didn't go this weekend. You were transported to the Plymouth Club in the 1920. It was a murder mystery. It was acting. It was singing. It was dancing. We had jazz, band open up with a choir singer doing a solo. It was another place where we saw all of the arts at our high school come together. And so it was phenomenal. Again, the set design with this two story scaffold and fluorescent lights, the costumes were mind blowing. And then the second act, I think maybe the third or fourth song, middle school dance.
The middle school dance program, it is just unbelievable to see middle schoolers from Oak and McAuliffe come together to dance. You saw students from sixth to eighth grade doing this really cool medley of songs that we could sing along to. We had jump around. Other songs of the kind of frog themed performance in the middle of the nineteen twenties. It was just really unbelievable to see. So those were two amazing things that happened in the pack. Going back to football, actually, over the past month or so and really throughout the entire year, football has brought together the arts. You see the marching band, you see the color guard, you see the cheer song and cheer.
And so it was an unbelievable opportunity to go and see them and and release it all come together at the St. Jude fundraiser that we have every year. If you were at Artesia High School for the game against Mission Viejo, it was a huge game because it was against one of the top teams in the country, but it was also a huge game because we raised I don't know how much money for St. Jude. And we saw the middle school band perform with with our high school band. We saw the kindergarten through eighth graders cheering along with our high school Cheersong and Cheer Band who are now representing The USA in in a world competition. It really has been an amazing month and start to this school year when it
comes to our arts. It's been fun. I only got to see one of our middle school choir performances, but McAuliffe's choir performance, big time Broadway show. I'm looking at miss Reed because I now know miss Reed is a Broadway fanatic. It was unbelievable to see the Broadway acts from Mamma Mia and Hamilton. There were solos. It Seussical. It was just really cool. I know Oak. I think mister Forehand was able to go to Oaks. It was equally good from the clips I saw. So the arts are truly alive. Even things like Griffin News at the high school, another form of the arts. It's just really, really it's electric. So I think a lot of times people think about some of these days kind of are bigger than one another, and truly it's a balance in this district.
And it makes us really proud. I'm gonna go off off queue here for a second. Just unrelated to school business, but I'm up here and I know I've got a silly mustache and some people are asking why I have a mustache. Every year I participate in in a, fundraiser called Movember, and it's mental health awareness month. And it's around raising awareness around men's mental health, preventing suicide, testicular cancer, prostate cancer, raising awareness for how people can be safer and raise awareness around how to change the face of men's health. So that's why I do this. It's important. So if you know a man or woman, check and see how they're doing, like,
ask. And we know that this is an important time. I know, someone close to us just had a suicide in their family and so we wanna make sure that we're taking care of each other. So the mustache is a conversation starter, is the idea. That's why I do it and I hope other people will participate or just make sure to check on people. Check on your friends, check on your family. And when it comes to actual physical health for men, there are certain things we can do to make sure we're living longer lives for our kids and our families. So that's the that's the reason for the silly mustache. Not related, but it is related because we wanna make sure we have good healthy people around our schools and their district. So So with that, miss Davidson.
Thank you, Matt. The one part about well, it might be more than one part about surrendering the presidency next month, is, that I won't go last on pair on the public on our comments because everything is sad except I do have a couple of things that will take a little bit of time. First of all, I wanna say today, we at Rotary, doctor Polvor and I were at the Rotary meeting and went the Internet club student of the month for LaSalle was Nicole or, Noel Rosen. And she's a part of the EMT r ROP program at the high school.
And I just cannot begin to articulate how well spoken she was to the club about what she's gained through the program, how she was a quiet kind of, reclusive person before and how it's brought out leadership qualities, confidence, and she plans to go into nursing next year. So the ROP programs are alive and well in in our schools. We also had four of our star football players speak. Coach Fenton came and he deferred to the students to speak and it was really evident why.
And these four young men were incredibly bright and respectful. They talked about the leadership that they had learned, how they were a family. He talked about how, someone asked what happens when you mess up on the field and one of the players said that coach Benton always taught them, you know, you ask forgiveness and now you ask forgiveness, you say you're sorry, and then you then you figure out how you can make things better. And I thought, what a great lesson in life because we do all have our regrets. But to not just get forgiveness, but to be encouraged to go on then and
and do what you do and make it better was really powerful. I'm so proud, so proud to be a part of Los Als and listening to the kids. And, Brynn, you're right there with them with your ability to lead and to speak. It's really wonderful. At our at the I'm on the ROP board of trustees. And at the last meeting, Russell Harrison, who is the r North Norcroft representative for about four campuses, He did a presentation on each ROP program from the campus. And when he got to mine, it was a PowerPoint. He looked at when he got to La Salle, he looked at me and said,
Los Alamitos, it was disastrous. And I thought I I don't know anything about it. Nobody told me it should have been in weekend review. But it turned out what he was talking about was that our ROP program, the, EMTs and those in fire science participated in in the great shakeout by triaging. And it was phenomenal the pictures they showed of the kids, taking these mock these people who were, mocking injury and and deter triaging them in terms of seriousness, determining
where they were gonna go, treating them with the equipment that ROP has helped to provide for us. And once again, it was a really proud moment for me to be sitting there seeing the results of a program and the impact on students' lives. And every single one of them including was Camden the is the football player? Camden? Camden spoke today and he's going to Boise State to play football, but he's been a Beckham. Okay. Beckham. And he's going to Boise State, and he, is has been a part of the fire science program. He's going to go through college, and then it's his intention to come back and
be a firefighter in our community. So these programs make a huge difference, and we should be very proud of what's going on. I also wanna acknowledge ed ed services and, Matt because Matt, brought the carpenter's union to the attention of ed services. They would like to work with us in in perhaps an ROP or or a CTE pathway. Well, we're not in a position to really do a whole carpentry pathway. But ad services, just brilliant what you did to work with them.
They're providing curriculum and opportunities for, our students to work and learn more about carpentry. And it will be part of the technical theater pathway in which in in the stage building. And then the, gentleman who was, who I I spoke with said that they will also be allowed in the summer have opportunities for internships. They will show their skills, before employers and maybe even get job opportunities. So there's a lot happening out there for our CTE program, and I'm really excited
about the business pathway that will start up next year. This part is just another thank you I have. For the for the last five or six years of my career as an educator in this district before joining the board, I focused on my position as a facilitator for professional development as well as curriculum development. This position gave me keen insights into the innovative inner workings of our district when it came to creation and support for opportunities to build and enhance instructional practices. And I can't I don't think anybody rivals what what is accomplished here.
As a board member, I see that same mixture of professionalism and heart every single day. After the successful implementation of a strong mental health support system a couple of years ago, the board sought to return to a focus that prioritized academic needs. The reason I'm bringing this up is because I want to acknowledge and thank missus Reed, her team, site administrators, and especially our teachers for the incredible work they are doing today to enhance academic instruction and growth. Many times and at the PTA meeting yesterday, one of the parents, one of the
members asked, you know, what are we doing to support, and the needs that have emerged from from, the results of test scores? That's what's happening and that's what you that they're that's what they've been doing and I'm so proud. We see evidence of this work in classrooms across the district, in small group instruction, use of intervention teachers, carefully selected instructional programs and curriculum, after school and summer programs, and much more. Tonight though, I want to honor one particular action that taken that exemplifies the dedication,
commitment, and tireless determination of our leadership and staff. That is the willingness of everyone from the district office to the classroom, to sports fields, to every corner of our district to pivot. When preliminary CAASPP results came out in June, it was decided that focus would continue continue to be more effective approach to, I'm sorry. That focus would continue to be the more effective approach to addressing a decline in success, I mean, of scores. Drilling down often means identifying students who need additional support then developing and implementing that
support system across the district. However, when final scores came were recently released, a different picture emerged. For instance, our math scores indicated that the need for a more effective approach than separate intervention model for specific students was needed. We must seek to strengthen content delivery, lesson design, and instructional clarity for all students in every classroom. The goal truly became proof of math math proficiency was necessary for every student. Andre and her team did what I've seen them do time and time again.
They pivoted to address the true need. I doubt that any of us relish stopping what's already in in the works. However, that's exactly what missus Reed and her team chose to do. Evidence of what the pivot has meant in a short amount of time includes acknowledging a desire to determine best practices that's led her to partner with Orange County Department of Education and explore participation in the engaging all students in productive Mass Struggle County cohort. In addition, she's reaching out to other districts who have demonstrated measurable growth.
All the while, she and her team continue to dialogue with teachers to develop a pathway to best instructional practices in our classrooms that will impact every one of our students. Pivoting takes energy, curiosity, humility, creativity, and passion for doing what truly will make a difference. These examples of of having the foresight to pivot in order to address academic needs are evidence why I know that we are on a powerful path to bring all our students to proficient and advanced standings in core academic areas.
I've seen it for years and I see it now. For that, I'm deeply grateful. Thank you. And that that is it for our board reports. And we're moving on now to, public comment. Do we have any cards? No? So we will move on to information and presentation. Missus Reed, would you like to do presentation of a textbook? Thank you so much, president Davidson. Tonight, we're bringing forward college algebra and trigonometry, Pearson publishing seventh edition, which is going to be going on preview and education services until the next board meeting, which will
be replacing our current textbook inside our algebra two trigonometry classes. Thank you. And the joke is I won't be asking for one of those books to preview. Yeah. And now presentation of supplemental materials. Thank you so much, president Davidson. Coming forward tonight is a compilation of six supplemental materials that will be used to support a history social science class at Los Angeles High School entitled history of the future. These six supplemental materials will also be on public preview and education services through the next school board meeting. Thank you. And now we have a presentation from you on dashboard local indicators.
Thank you so much, president Davis. And I'm actually gonna be welcoming our director of education services, missus Melissa Davis, to the podium. As you know, Melissa spearheads our LCAP, which is a a very lengthy document. It's very time consuming. I'm I'm very fortunate that she digs in every year and updates this through your document. And part of that relates to our dashboard and indicators that have to be updated on compliance. And so she does have a compliance piece to present to the board this evening. Good evening, president Davidson, cap cabinet. Sorry, Board of Education and Community. Tonight I'm gonna be presenting just a couple slides to you on the teaching assignment
monitoring outcomes, which is called TAMO, is how we refer to it. So the teaching assignment monitoring outcomes are officially released annually, but reflect data that's almost two years old at the time of release. So districts are required to share with the board and include the district's local indicators data once it's released. So what that means is every June in alignment with the LCAP, you guys approve the local indicators for us. The TAMO data is in the local indicators under priority one and we report data that we have at the time so our best estimate of what we think the
data is going to be. We then submit data to CALPADS and the following summer you get the actual data. So tonight what I'm doing is presenting to you the data that has been released to us, and as Mrs. Reid said this really is a reporting piece to be compliant, to make sure that we've met that priority one requirement which then gets reported on the dashboard. And so here you'll see that the 2324 data, it's kinda hard to see it's small I apologize, but it is our district data that was released in July for the 2324 school year. You can see there that they just report the total teaching full time employees, Clear,
meaning everyone has all the requirements, based off of memory. I'm gonna do my best. The out of field, I believe, is, our limited term assignment permits that we have. Interns, anyone that's on an intern. Intern, I apologize. Ineffective, is our provisional interns. Our incomplete is just, information when it gets uploaded to CALPADS. Sometimes there's pieces that are off. It's not uncommon. Unknown is just any insufficient information, which for us was 0%. And then NA is just gonna be anything that's not required to be reported, but there's no authorization. So that's just basically it's reporting on our teaching assignment piece.
Are there any questions? Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for the great work you're doing. Yay. Thank you. Okay. Missus Partizani has a question. That's right. For Andrea. Oh, for Andrea. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Melissa. Appreciate the work. I I just wanted to go back to the presentation of the supplemental materials. And so you said it's for a a there's about six or seven items, and it's for one class. Yes. And, the class is the history Of the future. Of the future. And so I went through those supplemental materials, and I just I wanna commend this
teacher because the the variety and the caliber of the supplemental educational materials that she's, pulled and curated for her class are things that I'd loved. I mean, this has now been added to my reading list, so I was just really impressed that one teacher has gone through and kind of vetted these, materials. I mean, there are things around artificial intelligence, the social dilemma, which talks about the impacts of, you know, social media. So anyway, I'm not gonna bore you with that.
But for those people who are interested, I mean, it is a really excellent list. And so thank you to the teacher. We'll give a big thank you to missus Bigley. Yes. Thank you to her. And, this class sounds wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. That was great. So moving on to consent items. We can we can do 10 a through a r and approve them together. Do I have a motion for approval? To approve 10 a through a r. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero.
K. And we are flipping through pages here and moving to Yeah. The action items. So we have 18 board policies to approve for first reading. We can also entertain a different motion. I have two polls. So we have 11 a through l, n, and p through r that we can approve in one motion. Do we also want to approve them at and not go to a second reading? Go to a second reading. But I think also, I just we'll discuss after we make that motion.
Okay. So Okay. I'll I'll make a motion to approve 11 a Through l. L n. And p and p through You can figure it out. There's a missing letter p through q. Twice p p through y? R. R. It's a final r. Oh, there it is. I'm sorry. With a waiving of the second reading. Is there any discussion? Yes. Cecile? Yes. Oh, okay. So Go ahead. Okay. Well, what is the benefit of, omitting the second reading?
Do Do you want me to answer why? But my my reason Why are we suggesting that? I think when I when looking at these motions, or or these agenda items, there's nothing that's going to change them from now till the second reading. So I think there are some that I know that we pulled for some discussion. But if these are just going to stay and we can put them in action and not have them on another agenda, it expedites their getting approved. And so my thought process is is that if we didn't have questions or concerns
about changing anything within the policy and the language, that we should forego the second reading because there's 18 that came forward, and we've pulled two. So we're gonna have more discussion on those. There's no reason to have a second reading. Typically, we have a second reading when we discuss that policy and want changes or want further information from staff related to those. Mhmm. And and and but if in the event that the community needs more time to
review and they have questions, how does that work? Because I don't understand that. In this Is the one month for us or is it for It's for us. The my understanding is always that it's for us. So I think an example would be going back to when we passed our immigration policy last spring, that we passed the first reading then gathered feedback because we had our own questions on what the language was. Were there tweaks that we wanted to make because we actually were asking for changes. When looking at these policies, I didn't see anything that at least personally in making the motion, I didn't see anything that I would propose any sort of change.
It's Or that I would expect any feedback from from community. Community did have the opportunity to see the board agenda, and if they had questions or comments on them now, they could have come. And if they wanted to come before the second meeting, I guess, they could if we did that. But that that would be my reason for the motion. But we can also still we can pull other ones for if there's other ones that Well, and I and and I also, believe that these are our standard. And we've taken these are policies that we've been given either law changes from or
EdClow changes or have come down with. It's not necessarily what I would consider us choosing to create a new policy and wanting and asking. These are policies that have been in effect in our district for a long period of time. They're just changes because they are, most of them, And maybe doctor Pulver can respond even better to that mostly because of either a law change, ed code change, or
specific or language change that CSBA recommends that we update. Like, it's no longer an app. One of the policies, that are on tonight and even the past few that we've done the last few meetings are part of, one of the benefits that you belong to CSBA is, you pay for an additional benefit to have them to use their board policies, and then you get to make decisions on whether to adopt their language, make changes to the language based upon our own community. Maybe they have a policy on something that we don't wanna have a policy on
or or things of that sort. But all of these are not policies, that we have initiated, because of a change. If you think about a few years ago when we took a look at our homework policy, our grading policy, where we went through a thoughtful I don't know if that was a six month year long process to collaborate and get, because we wanted to make, some we had the our own vision to make changes to those policies, then then we've gone through a different process. But all of these are from CSBA. They provide a quarterly update to districts who subscribe to them, and it's basically reflective
of law changes or recent court legislation, changes as well. And so much of, any board policy is really just almost sometimes read you the law, which in some ways, why do I need the policy if the law is also we're compelled to follow the law? But it seems that school districts do. So yes, every single one of these here I can say are ones that were on the CSBA quarterly update. We just got a new one with 18 more board policies, that we have not sent out to Cabana yet because we wanted to get the ones from the summer,
processed first. And so those that's really the reasons for that they're presented. But the the process for a first and a second reading is really at the desire of the, of the board. And we've done this several other meetings, haven't we? Yeah. We yeah. Undo them. Two or three meetings ago, we because we've had so many of these updated policies, we started waiving that second reading if we didn't come with any Yes. I it it was something I had shared with the board as an option.
You know, one of the things we talk about is is we learn from other districts. It was something observed that other, school boards have done is they will waive their second reading if they felt that there was it was repetition or really just changes in the law, etcetera, and didn't have comment on. And so I had shared with all of you, I think, here from the dias, that that could be an option if you wanted to to consider. But I think it's unique to each, board. Okay. I've had questions before. But then in talking with doctor Pulver, realizing that my questions were based a lot
on the laws that are written into this, I have a question about the law. Well, it can't make any changes about that. That part I have to accept it. And if I really want anything changed in terms of the law that CSBA is basing the policy on, I have to go to Sacramento. So it's and that's frustrating. That can be frustrating. I do think it's also good. I because I think it's always good to and and this part is something you're really good about sharing even with community, like, what our procedures look like. Also, for the community to understand that we the the board agenda is public seven at least seventy two hours in advance. We also get at the same time, and then we have an opportunity to ask
questions to doctor Pulver, who shares them with executive cabinet. And so that when we have questions, just so that the community knows, when we have questions in advance, many of them are answered in advance of this or can come to these meetings so that we can have them address. And so that allows us to have the insight in into these readings or to have those questions answered while we're sitting here at the base. And the difference that I would just, share. So as I shared earlier, the grading policy, the homework policy. Another policy that we're working on, and we'll be spending multiple months on is on an AI policy. And really the some of the other aspects that, you know, CSBA even recommends not
having an omnibus c AI policy that there's gonna be tentacles of AI in many different aspects. And so we're forming, AI committees that will be working with teachers at the elementary level, at the secondary level. And so one of the byproducts of that committee work will be informing and producing, an AI policy, but that will be more because we're inducing that. We're we're generating that, and so we'll have more time as opposed to and we do get sample policies from CSBA on that. Don't get me wrong. But that's one that we would wanna take much more time and thought because it's
not necessarily law. It's really trying to guide our practice and our guidelines and things of that. So so so many policies are legal, and law changes and court changes and others maybe they're really things that we want to be really thoughtful about and spend more time on. And to me, I look at it as the difference between and and I know this is an action item, but it to me, it's more like a consent item because it it really isn't something that we've had these they have been in in effect for a very long time in this district, and we're just making those revisions
to it. And if we don't have issues with those revisions, then why would that be something we felt like we had to come back for Mhmm. A second time? Mhmm. So for the items that we do have question on or are seeking further clarification, we pull those items like I did. Right. And then we will come back to them next time. Correct. Okay. That sounds good. So I I still had Oh, no. No. No. Sorry. So I I did want to say that I just really do appreciate that, in
all of that discussion, there were two things that really, in these policies, to me, was very clear, is that one, I do really appreciate that we are mindful and, to the best of our ability within the law and what we can do, match to our community. And I think that's really important, and I think that that is the work of staff. And I think staff has a very good handle on on what this community, is is looking for.
And then the other thing is is that, you'll see in several of these policies, and it it has been a practice in Los Alamos for a long time, and it's been in many of our policies for a long time. But it's just something I feel strongly that I wanna point out is that the that we have opportunities for parents to make sure that they know that if there is something that they want their child to be opted out of, they have that right and ability to be able to do that. And I am a really strong proponent of that because I believe that a parent
is the one that has that jurisdiction over their over over their students. I believe we have amazing professionals and teachers that are doing phenomenal work in this district, but I also believe that every family's values are different and that that's something that needs to be respected. So I really appreciate all of the work that went into, making some of these changes that are are very routine. But I I am appreciative and know there's a lot of work that goes involved
in that. Thank you. And thank you for the summaries that you provided for us on them too. So any further discussion? Just, I'd like to get clarity for our minutes. Which policies are you lumping together right now? And Can Can we do the ones that we're not the two that we're taking out is that I can I can read the letters again if you want? Sure. But I believe that we had recorded there were three polls, and I'm only hearing two polls. So it's two polls. We have 11 m, o, and r to be pulled. I don't know if that still is accurate or not up until so that's what
I was trying to sorry. It's letters a through l, n like Nancy No. You're right. There is a pull. And r. And q. So okay. So through Q. That made that now we got them. So 11 a through l and p through Q. And my staple was right over the pole. That's why that's why I was stroking the first time because of the letter. Yeah. But that's exactly right the way we have it. So those three are the polls. So the polls are I don't and I know this isn't for the record, but the polls that we're ignoring are m, o, and r, and we'll come back to
those. And then I wanna clarify that the current motion is to approve those policies and waive the second reading is is what I believe is on the table. That that that's the motion I made. Correct. And it was seconded by by mister Foran. Any previous discussion? Minutes purposes is why I I No. That was good clarity because r was not included. So Yeah. Okay. So do is there any further discussion? No? All those in favor, say aye.
Aye. Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero. And now we will go to m 11 m, our first pull, and that was pulled by missus Partizani. Would you like to speak to that? Sure. And and this is, goes along with, what doctor Polvor just explained in that we are, this is a policy regarding, just to set the stage for you, is, policy number 5131, and it's around No. We need a motion. I'm sorry. You need to make a motion about what you want to do. Okay. I'd like to make a motion about pulling item, number, approve.
Approve. It's been approved. Approval. Approving it. Approving. And then we'll it'll be the first reading. Okay. So I'd like to approve item number m, and, and And there's a second. I'll second. And I will keep it as a first reading, so we'll come back to it. Right? Yeah. And now we can discuss it. Okay. Okay. Oh. Sorry. Was your motion to approve, item n for a first reading? Yes. For a first reading. Item n is the approval of first reading revised board policy fifty one thirty one conduct.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Second by missus Hill. By second. Alright. Now we can have discussion. Okay. So as I was reviewing this policy, it is around, conduct for students. And, there is an item in there around plagiarism. And in the, to sort of continue on what doctor Pulver was just talking about in that we are in the process of devising a policy around AI and the use of AI for, our students. And, I just wanted to kinda keep this on our radar because the definition of
plagiarism may change based on the work that we're doing. So I thought that at this moment, since we don't have that policy slash road map that we're in the process of creating around the use of AI, we can go ahead and approve this, but knowing that we will have to come back to it and update it. So then I think we need so are we approving it for the first reading and waiving the second or just approving it for the first reading and bringing it back next time? I thought we were bringing it back. Yeah. Bringing it back. Bringing it back next meeting.
Yes. At at a future time. Is it does it have to be the next meeting? Yes. Is there is there or does Doesn't it does not have to be. Just none of the changes that the board in the first reading would take effect until, a formalized second reading. So you could, in theory, I believe I'll get legal clarification, but everything I understand is you could, in theory, not bring the second reading back until March and maybe have made some changes. Yes. And at that point, you might choose if you made that many substantial changes, maybe you'd wanna have an additional reading.
Do you do you know what I mean? We're saying we're gonna bring it back as a first reading. Another first reading. Yeah. And there will be policies as CSBA has talked about with AI. Part of the reason they recommend not having just an omnibus single AI policy is that it's gonna affect academic honesty. It's gonna affect makeup homework. It's gonna have its tentacles in attendance, perhaps, all all sorts of different, avenues. And CSBA does have, AI task force as well who has been working on that to then also then work on some of their policies as well.
It's possible that that they may have already still working on that update too with AI. So we'll we'll continue to monitor it. I can't imagine a policy. I I it's still ever evolving. It'll be constant we'll be constantly revisiting it. And just as you know, any board policy can be con as you saw, one of the board members earlier asked why are we bringing the immigration one again? We just approved that a few months ago, and we did bring it forward because there was a correction. The legislature passed a a a bill. And if there was, you know, ICE was to come onto a campus, we have
to include, and notify families, and it has to be embedded within our safety plan. That was a new law that was passed in June. So there could be times where something that was just passed a few months ago would still be revised and updated. There is no adopt. Mhmm. Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. And now we go to eleven o. And missus Partizani, okay, I need to make a motion. Yes. I would like to make a motion to approve the first reading of the revised
board policy five one four one point five around mental health. I believe correct me if I'm wrong. I this is one that we might be considering, moving to table. Yes. To table. So not to approve. Not to approve. Yes. So, pardon. I will revise that. So, I would like to make a motion to move, board policy five one four five one four one point five around mental health to, to be put on the table for now. I will second tabling that item.
Any discussion? Do you wanna say I think the main reason in as, you know, you guys get the board agenda, on Friday, you can submit questions to staff before so that we can give you the information you need to make a thoughtful any of the items that are in front of you. And there were a lot of questions from the board that wants staff to seek a little bit more clarification on some of the wording and the language. And so, I I think my recommendation to all of you, because I can't you guys can't have one on one conversations, prior to the board meeting was to maybe
we table it and we will work on the answers, the questions, and we we take a look at this policy and maybe bring it back at a later time. Further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. And now we're turning to the elusive 11 r. Well, yeah, I will make a motion to approve item r, which is board policy six one five eight for a first reading. I'll second. And missus Partizani, did you want to comment on that one? Or you know, I just had a question around, independent study.
I think that, I had posed a question to doctor Pulver. There's some information that I learned that another district has put in play, policy to retroactively be able to collect ADA for a short term independent study. And I thought it's really interesting, and maybe we wanna look into that. So that's that's where I'm at. So it it was more time. More time. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yes. And thank you. The the question came about and so did ask, our director of student services. She did reach back out and said she's looked everything with we're aware of.
You can't retroactive. It still has to be either even one day or prior. But we will consult with that, school district to see if they found a creative solution Yeah. That maybe we we we should. I will say, it will probably have a blessing and a curse. It could help us with attendance, but I think it would it could push some of our staff over the edge because, already, our staff feel inundated with the amount and the volume of independent study request. So we would wanna find a thoughtful way to balance the needs of securing funding
without pushing putting more on the plates of of our staff. But I do think either way, we should at least check-in with that school district to see, how are they, how how do they get creative with that? Yes. So, missus Garcia will, will will continue to to research that. So thank you for that. Because I missed the keyword that was retroactive. Retroactive. And I appreciate that. I I will say I requested independent study recently for my for my daughter. We're board members are parents too sometimes, but I requested it too late. And so it was denied. But we had actually already requested all the work and gotten work from teachers.
So in every way possible, it should have been independent study, but I screwed up and didn't do the formal on time. That's my fault. But I would have loved to be able to do that both for our daughter's attendance because she was doing all the work while she was gone and for the district for ADA. So I think that I love that we're asking that. I don't wanna inundate our teachers. I don't wanna cause more work, but it was a situation where my own screw up, lost my daughter attendance days. So Mhmm. Great. And then and then you just did many of our staff probably still provided you work. And so all the work was there that work was provided, and yet we're not
receiving the funding. I think that's what missus Partizani is trying to get to, not necessarily put more work on staff, but on these opportunities where these are these occasions, which our staff go above and beyond in so many ways, that if there's a way that we could benefit from it, we'll research it from that, see if that school district is or if they just wrote and they really don't have any teeth behind it because it's highly audited. So we'll we'll check both from that school district and check with our auditors as well. And that's part of the reason I wanna say it because I appreciate it's a compliment really to our staff to say it didn't follow the timeline.
It has to be requested at a certain time. It's denied. And I appreciate that that was I wasn't actually really I should have read the policy before I asked, but I asked, and I was told no. So I appreciate that they were sticking to the rules. Thank you. Did we vote yet? No? Yeah. We haven't voted on that one. Okay. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero. And now we're moving on to adoptions. The first adoption is for a resolution in 2025, 2026 on board compensation for missed meeting. If if a board member misses a meeting, we we don't get paid unless there's
a resolution to, overturn that. And we believe that every board member, like every employee sitting here, is here if at all possible, and we're very dedicated, and we put in a lot of extra hours. So when there's a missed meeting, we believe I I it's this opportunity to restore the pay. Yeah. It's really a silly thing in in in, I don't know if it's Ed Code or which which law that it is about how board members are compensated, and they
tie it to attendance. Perhaps that's the only thing. And yet, as you all know, the bulk of your work is not here at the two to three hour meeting. Well, four hour meeting with the board workshop starting, once a week. It is as you hear from your board communication, etcetera, everything that you do throughout, the month. And so it's, a very whopping, very small stipend. But missus Partesani was being a mother and attending to a school event for her child. And so we want those opportunities, a parent not to miss a very important, event
for their child. And it's a school event, a district event. So, but, yes, we do have to formally bring it forward, so that there's we can move forward with with compensation. So do I have a second? Aye. Okay. Any more further discussion? Okay. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Thank you. Oh, roll call. Sorry. Shoshana Dasani? Oh, do I You can't move your You have to do a second. You can't vote for your own money. I would like to abstain on this one. There you go. Missus Hill. Aye. Missus Davidson. Aye. Mister Forham.
Aye. Mister Bragman. Aye. The motion carries four zero with one abstention. So now we move on to adoption of resolution by the Board of Education for to authorize closing funds. And, missus Schnur, would you like to address that for us? Absolutely. Thank you, madam president. As you know, we have finalized spending every penny that we had from the bond funds. So as we had five issuance of bond funds, we had to create different, funds for each one of those issuances.
So it was fund 2129 all the way to 2133. So we are requesting the county office of education and county treasurer's office to close those funds. Any residual interest will go into our facilities funds, fund 40. Thank you. Do I have a second? So moved. Did you move it? Well, the resolution is The resolution. So do I have a second? I second it. K. Any discussion? No. We didn't have That's our that's We didn't have a first. I make the motion to to adopt that. Thank you. So I'll go ahead and see it tomorrow. Thank you.
We just asked her to explain it before we did that. Okay. Any, is there any discussion? Thank you for the very hard work. And when we think about the funds being gone, it hurts our hearts until we look at what it what the funds did, and that's pretty amazing. So this is a roll call. Missus Partesani. Aye. Missus missus Davidson. Aye. Mister Forehand. Aye. Mister Bregman. So the motion carries five zero. Now adoption of resolution twenty five twenty six dash seven, I'm gonna let you explain that, missus Schnur. Yes. Thank you, madam president.
As we said goodbye to our bond funds, we are now applying for additional funds, hopefully, from the CTEFP, career technical education facilities program. This is the seventh round of, state funding that's available for school districts to apply. We are requesting we are gonna submit two applications. One is under the sector of health science and medical technology using the pathway of sports medicine. We hope that we could, receive new construction funds using the new weight room in
the gym. Hopefully, we can get some funds as well as a second application we are submitting for the sector under arts, media and entertainment from the CTE facilities program using the pathway of technical theater using the PAC renovation program project. So, this is authorization to submit the applications, and those applications are due December 1. Thank you. Do I have a motion for approval? So moved. I'll second. Discussion? Do we have any, ballpark figure of what we are applying for, missus Schmeer?
The maximum we can get under new construction is $3,500,000. Under re modernization or or renovation is 1,500,000.0. Okay. So 5 are we doing 5,000,000 altogether? Okay. Hopefully. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you. Further discussion? Okay. Roll call. Missus Partesani? Aye. Missus Hill? Aye. Missus Davidson? Aye. Mister Forehand? Aye. Mister Bragman? Aye. K. So, now we're looking at adoption of resolution twenty five twenty six dash eight. And, mister Schmoyer, you're on again.
Thank you, madam president. Lady. We are. This resolution is a procurement of technology equipment pursuant to public contract code, allowing us to use e rate discounts when we purchase technology items, particularly for, Wi Fi connectivity, and we could potentially get anywhere between 20 to 90 percent discount on some of these expenditures. Thank you. Motion for approval? I shall move. Second. Any discussion? Thank you for all the hard work you do to save money and get money.
Thank you. Roll call? Missus Partesani. Aye. Missus Hill. Aye. Missus Davidson. Aye. Mister Forehand. Aye. Mister Bragman. Aye. Motion carries five zero. Now we're on to w, approval to, terminate architectural services. Missus Schneer? Thank you, madam president. As we've mentioned in weekend review multiple times, we've kept the board pretty, informed of our decision to terminate, our architectural services with Rackland, doing business as Huckabee that we
brought forward back in December 2024, and from the PAC project that we are kind of behind, and we decided to move forward and try to get a new con new contract with a new architect. Thank you. Doctor Pulver? I'll I'll I'll move to approve item w. K. And doctor Pulver? Yes. I I just wanted to provide more more context as well. And so as, miss Galicia share miss Schnur gosh. I I know I'm gonna continue to do that. No. I apologize. And miss Schnurr, shared, we are moving in a different direction.
So the PAC has gotten behind schedule. Last April, we had presented a workshop to the board with hopes that the PAC could be submitted to DSA by early October, maybe the September, and that has not happened. There are some other, structural and others reports that needed to be done, but we just aren't satisfied with, some of the with the delays. And, really, I felt like we needed to move in a different direction to get this project back on track.
And so we have shared this with our performing arts group because, we were ed services was already looking to look at we were anticipating construction starting in early summer at the end of the school year and taking one school year to, disrupt the performing arts center and find alternative spaces for all of the venues that use the PAC, the performing groups. And so we've talked with them and they have shared with us. The feedback is if it's the way that our last architect was progressing is contract
we're probably wouldn't get through DSA and construction would start till mid next school year. And then that could potentially have a timeline that would implement that would, go over two school years. And all of our performing arts teachers have said they do not want it to to take over two school years, like a year, to And so, we are moving forward. The next contract you'll see, we've we've moved fast and swift to get a new architect, and so we're optimistic that our new architect along with, we're bringing on board a construction manager to help move Jim, to help things move along.
Our construction manager is optimistic that it's possible that we could have the timeline back up to have construction possibly start in August. And so we're gonna do everything we can. We've told our user groups right now we're operating on two timelines. We're gonna try to operate on that timeline first. But if not, we if we can't have construction start in August, then we probably need to delay, so that we don't interrupt, the season, of of a school year for performances. And so, you'll see at the December meeting too, we're gonna try to get the lease leaseback contractors up in place so that we can get a contractor and our
architects working at the same time simultaneously before we submit the DSA to get this project moving as fast as possible. So we are pivoting. I earlier missus Davidson, you talked about pivoting. We are pivoting to try to get this project back on track, because our students on this community really deserve an opportunity to enhance and modernize our our performing arts center. Good news in this this, is we've also expanded the budget. You know? A few years ago, it was an $8,000,000 budget. Then we went to 12,000,000. And as we receive more of these matching funds, we've now been able to allocate
up to million. And I'm optimistic if we needed a little bit more, through other matching funds that we may receive, we'll be able to provide that. So, we appreciate the work that our previous architect did, but we are gonna, turn the corner and and try to get us back on track. Thank you. Thank you. And I just thought it was really important to share all of that information, good or bad, but this is the work that we're we're we're we're taking decisive action to move forward because it's pretty uncommon, to to move midstream, with an architect, but
we felt it was important. That's great. Do I have any further discussion? We need a motion. Oh, I thought It was been moved. Moved and seconded. Okay. So we'd alright. Further discussion? Yes. I just wanna say thank you. I think it's not always easy to, realize that a change needs to happen and that you all keep the main thing the main thing, which is our students and moving things as quickly as possible for this community and our students, and that you're
on top of it. I I just am very, very appreciative of that. I agree. And I I do appreciate the the willingness to pivot. It takes courage and, foresight. And I I do believe that when you've got so many students dependent on that PAC, that to put it off is is just an incredible disservice. So it was my I thank you. Matt, did you wanna say something? Any other discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye.
Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero. Now we're moving on to 11 x, which is approval of architectural services with West Group. And, missus Schneur, would you like to explain that? Yes. Absolutely. Thank you, madam president. We did submit, we proposed submitted four proposals to four firms, for request for proposals for the performing arts center And West Group, we feel that West Group is the, most adequate, architectural firm to, like, doctor Pogba mentioned, put us back on track.
And they're very confident that they can deliver. Excellent. Do I have a motion for approval? I'll second. Any discussion? I just would share. I would just share that West Group is the same architect that did the STEM Building, the same architect that did the gym building, so they know our campus very well. And mister Schnur was very astute and provided a very tight timeline, to West Group, if if we can get on track to have construction start in August as part of this contract. And West, WestGroup has agreed to trying to to to meet that timeline.
So thank you, mister Schnurra, for making sure you put a very tight timeline in there to make this possible. Mhmm. And we talked about trust, and and there's a lot of trust with WestGroup. So thank you. Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. Approval to hold annual organizational meeting on 12/16/2025. Doctor Pover, would you like to explain that one? Yes. Thank you, madam president. The organizational meeting for the school board is, annually, where you each, approve who will
be the new board president, vice president, the officers, and various committee assignments, by by Edco, by law that it needs to occur between 12/01/2025 and 12/20/2025. It's not an election year. During an election year, that window gets even smaller because you have to wait for this election to be certified. And so we are proposing to hold it on December 16. Just note that is one day. Technically, the the first interim, I believe, has to be passed around December 15.
We have, sought clarity through the county that it would be fine, because our board meetings are on Tuesday rather than Mondays to be able to still hold the board meeting on the sixteenth, and we would meet the obligation of passing that the first interim, timely. Thank you for that explanation. Do I have a motion for approval? So moved. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. I have another staple here. Alright. So now we are on to approval of warrants. Warrants are the bills that we pay every month, and we get a list of
them. Literally, we know how many erasers were purchased. So you do an incredible job in your department keeping track of bills way better than I do at home. So, do I have a motion for approval? I'll second. 72 pages. Yeah. With how many on each page? Yeah. 70. 40. So any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. Now the joyful moment when we get to look at acceptance of donations. What? So oh, six, seven. Oh my goodness. These are, all the wonderful donations we've gotten this month from PTAs, Project Leap, even
Scooter's Italian Ice. That's very nice. Do I have a motion for approval? I'll second. And the $22,284.33 for a total of $260,491.50. And that's not since January. That's since this school year began. Right? Yep. Yeah. That is since, July 1 is our concern here. That's that's very impressive. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero. Now doctor Wacewright, you're going to talk with us about approval of rate increases?
Yes. Thank you, madam president. Tonight, we're bringing forward, a rate increase for classified substitute positions to match the minimum wage that goes into effect January 1. And so we're recommending two increases, to $16.90, which will be the new California minimum wage. Do I have a motion for approval? So moved. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. The motion carries five zero. And doctor Wace Wright, consideration approval of student supervision assistant salary schedule. Yeah.
That's the same one to match the, California minimum wage. So moved. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero. Our personnel reports doctor Waisright. Thank you, madam president. The classified and certificated personnel reports, reflect the changes since our last meeting. We recommend approval as submitted. Thank you. Do I have a motion for approval? I'll second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. Motion carries five zero. And we will adjourn this part of the session, but we will be going back
into closed session, and we will report out afterwards. Susana.