--------- Angelo? Yes. Missus Patasani? Not on. Here. Missus Davidson? Here. Missus Hill? Here. Mister Forhan? Here. Mister Bragman? Here. And I would love an emotion to approve the agenda. So my We're definitely not on. Do we need to pause before it's you to catch it? All those in favor? Aye. Wonderful. So now we get to get started for the reason we're all here this evening. We have business to do later, but let's we're gonna have some fun right now. So, we will start with our number one recognition, which is missus Reed. Well, not missus Reed, but missus Reed's going to introduce it.
Thank you so much, president Hill. I'd like to, welcome to the podium principal Christiana Kraus, to help us with our first recognition of this evening. Well, good evening, our amazing board of education and our executive cabinet. It gives me a great joy to introduce and present our twenty twenty six junior prom world champions. I'm sure I'm absolutely sure many of us, absolutely. I like that. This is such a prestigious opportunity, and I know many of us were watching, both
times that they performed. And I could not believe they could get any better from the first time we saw them. On April 24, our athletes competed in the ICU World Championships, delivering a flawless performance to claim the gold on the global stage. The victory truly is a testament of the elite standards our head coach Jen Ramirez, has had for decades. Her veteran leadership and the team's one heartbeat mentality allowed these athletes to outshine the world's best with unmatched technical precision. This honor to represent The United States will be forever a memory for our students
and our school and our community. Please join me in celebrating our world class Griffin champions and their incredible coaches. Harley Atwood. Harley Atwood. Harley Dowdell. Nalani Hart. Ayla Hennessy. Madeline Hood. Addison Humadi. Colby Letterman. Zoe Lynn. Riley Marshall. Violet Montez. Teagan Nichols. Deilani Pohl. Allison Potter. Adeline Rocha. Presley Sales. Grace Salgado. Helen Silvertooth. Amris St. Denis. Isabella Waddington. Olivia Mejia.
Olivia Mejia. And our coaches, Leo Ramirez and Jennifer Ramirez. Leslie Atwood. Leslie and Leslie Atwood. Alright. On behalf of the board of education, we know that this does not happen Ramirez. Jan Ramirez. Where's Jan over there?
Leslie Atwood, and Leah Ramirez. Ladies, ladies, you don't only make LaSalle proud, you make the whole United States proud. Thank you so much. Pictures. Yeah. And missus Krause, do you wanna get into? Well, that is a joyful way for us to be able to start our meeting. So, our next agenda item, missus Reed. Thank you. Thank you so much president Hill. I'm gonna continue have missus Krauss speak about a dedicated teacher at Los Alamitos High School that has received, a recognition very worthy of our time tonight.
Well, I know our board and our executive cabinet have had the opportunity to walk into this classroom and visit many a times, and every time you're in that classroom, it's rich with energy, excitement, and high high levels of learning. And so I it doesn't surprise me of this honor, but I'd love to call up, and read a little bit about Brandon Hart who received an incredible award. So this is Brandon Hart, everyone, Los Altos High School. For those who do not know Mr. Hart, he is a Social Science teacher at Los Alamos High School, and has been
the advisor for the California Council of Economic Education, for a number of years and he takes a group of our students to these challenges, yearly and they do quite well. He equips our students in the classroom and outside of the classroom with not only, real life experience in the classroom, but have our students really, have real world financial literacy challenges and again, have stepped up to mark to make, him proud and our community proud. This recognition dedication that he received is from from the California Council of Economic Education, which was recently presented to Brandon, with excellence in teaching award.
He was celebrated, at a recent gala with his family and some of our students. We heard there was not enough seats. The people who wanted to be there to celebrate you, you had to keep, people others wanted to go. And we just wanna celebrate his leadership and really creating these opportunities to experience as we know. It's what happens in the classroom, but the extra exclamation point is what happens outside of the classroom that our teachers commit to beyond the classroom walls. So thank you, Brandon, and congratulations. By the way, I've waited a long time to get this to know me. I've known you for a while. From the board of education, we know it happens in the classroom, and you are
an example of why it happens. Thank you. Amazing. We are so proud of our educators. And speaking of which, we get to move on to professional development cohorts. Missus Reed. Thank you so much president Hill. This is really I think, Ed Services favorite night of the year because we get to honor the work that our teachers do inside the classroom, that sometimes I think we just take for granted or expect amazing things are happening because this is Los Alamitos Unified. And I think a main attraction for families that live here is the schools, but it's an opportunity for us to really look at the time, commitment, and execution of
craft when we talk about instruction that happens within our classrooms. And so tonight, we're going to be recognizing two different cohorts of teachers. First, our cohort of a five year professional development teachers. These are teachers who when they're first hired with us, whether it's year one in the, their teaching career or maybe year 15 because they've worked in another school district before they join us, spend five years in a professional learning cohort where they receive coaching and also, attend training and district signature practices as well as in classroom coaching.
In addition to really, and that's at the secondary level, content area professional development in the lane in which they teach, whether that's mathematics, English language arts, Socratic seminar for history social science teachers. Our new teachers also attend monthly new teacher modules in their first two years with us as well. And so, we don't do this work alone. So I really want to before we recognize the teachers, talk about the team up here at the district office that dedicates a lot of time and really gratitude towards, the teaching staff as well. And so that would be our director Melissa Davis of education services, our educational technology
coordinator, mister Dan Bennett, as well as our three TOSAs who really focus k eight, Evan Grandin, our literacy trainer and coach, Jill Cruz, our CGI math trainer and coach, and then Laura Trotter, our trainer and coach of positive learning communities. And so it really is a huge team effort to be able to, usher through large classes of teachers that complete their five years with us, and so we'll be recognizing that cohort as well. And then afterwards, we're gonna be recognizing veteran teachers. These are teachers who have year after year shown up for kids and shown up
to be I'd say, like, they're evolving in their craft constantly and really wanting to make sure they're able to engage with our students in a way that's present, in a way that's current, in a way that really meets our needs. And so depending on how long they've been with us, years of service, there's a certain number of hours of professional development that they can attend that also earned them the blue jacket. And so we'll be honoring both those, cohorts of teachers tonight. And so we're gonna start with our, five year professional development plan teachers. These are teachers who have been with us now for five years and a k
12 cohort. Some of them started in TK before it became universal transitional kindergarten. And so I'm gonna ask Melissa Davis to join me. When you hear your name, teachers, please come up. We'll award you with your jacket. And if you could come to the front, then, missus Burchardo would be able to get a photo in the end. And so we'll start by, recognizing missus Tatiana Broke from Los Alamitos High School. Connor Brown, Los Alamitos High School. Lizette Caldwelliter, McCullough Middle School. Joseph Callanan, Oak Middle School, Morgan Cochran, Rossmore Elementary School, Michelle Fluke, McCullough Middle School.
Carrie Harper, Oak Middle School. Andrew Hong, Los Alamitos High School. Katelyn Katsuki, Oak Middle School. Amanda Lenhart, Hopkinson Elementary School. Rebecca Lou, McGaw Elementary School. Vincent O'Connell, McGaw Oak Middle School. Cassidy Ordaz, McGaw Elementary School. Jenny Platt, Weaver Elementary School. Aaron Shanaker, Los Alamitos High School. Lauren Trautman, Los Alamitos High School. Erica Uy, Oak Middle School. Emma Wood, Hopkinson Elementary School. Kristen Mouchon, Rossmore Elementary School.
And, you know, something I'd really love to highlight about missus Michonne is she actually has been with us much longer than five years, and she was a highly dedicated, middle school science teacher who also had a multiple subject teaching credential. And when she transferred down to the elementary level, she's such the teacher that she rejoined the five year PD program and completed another five years with elementary signature practices. So just a true testament to being a lifelong learner. Thank you so much, Kristen. Perfect. Congratulations. Five year PD cohort. And Artosas?
And Artosas, if they're here. Beautiful. Okay. I just wanna say thank you very much for what you do and that you're all willing to learn the LaSalle way. So now we're going to recognize those veteran teachers who continually show up to be lifelong learners and really rededicate their self to the craft, and the career calling that is to be an educator. And so we'll start with miss Heather Aske, Rossmore Elementary School. Jamie Kathy McCullough Middle School. Maureen Charlesworth, Rossmore Elementary School.
Jennifer Duncan. Oh, it should be McGaw Elementary School. Marlia Guardia, Los Alamitos Elementary. Julie Henshe, Rossmore. Arlene Lizarraga, Los Alamitos Elementary School. Jamie Locke, Lee Elementary School. Judith Marino, Hopkinson Elementary School. Kelly Ohtani, Weaver Elementary School. Patty Peel, Weaver Elementary School. Paula Pugh, Hopkinson Elementary School. Tracy Rinsky, Hopkinson Elementary School. Brent Thomas, Hopkinson Elementary School. And so really just a large congratulations for our veterans for really trailblazing, bringing in
our new five year PD cohorts, really being those partners in collaboration, helping them learn the low sal way, and and showing up every day for it really is extremely difficult work, and you do it all with such grace and kindness in the classroom. So just thank you for everything that you do. Thank you so much all of you. We are so grateful for the hard work that you do and that you always bring it every day and you bring it the LaSalle Way. We will now move on to our six community advisory committee award recipients. And pardon me?
Grace. Sorry, Grace. Yes. I'm here. I see you. I'm here. Thank you. No problem. Good afternoon, president Hill, esteemed board members, doctor Pulver, executive cabinet, and all of our community members and staff that are here. So it is my honor this evening to recognize our 2,026 community advisory committee award recipients this evening. So last month, we had the privilege of celebrating all of these outstanding individuals at our SELPA board meeting and CAC recognition night, but we also love to bring everyone
back to a board meeting because you're extra special. We think you get you get to be recognized more than once. So before recognizing our recipients, I'd like to just briefly share the role of the Greater Anaheim SELPA or Special Education Local Plan Area. So the SELPA is a collaborative partnership amongst our six member districts, including Los Alamitos Unified, and they work together to coordinate special education services and also ensure that students with disabilities receive the support and education they deserve in compliance with the state and
federal law. So our greater Anaheim SELPA CAC is made up of parents as well as staff. Some of them are here this evening or this afternoon, from each of our six districts, and the mission is to strengthen communication, collaboration, and understanding in order to enhance special education programs and services for students and families. Let me see. So tonight, or this afternoon I keep saying tonight because I'm so used to it being later than 03:45. The greater Anaheim SELPA and Los Alamitos Unified School District proudly recognize, the twenty twenty
five, twenty twenty six award recipients who've gone above and beyond in supporting students with special needs. These individuals were nominated not only by parents, but also staff and community members for their meaningful contribution to students' academic, social, and emotional growth. So I am going to jump in and I have a slide for each person. So I'll have you come up and join me as I speak about you. So Monica Mariano. So Monica is an instructional assistant at McAuliffe Middle School and she has been an integral part of our district since 2023.
So just a little snippet from her, recognition is that she's an exceptional paraeducator. She has supported the same student throughout his middle school journey, and she has turned challenges into milestones. When he first arrived, many functional skills were still developing. And today, thanks to Monica's ability to collaborate with specialists and implement actionable strategies, he's made great strides. Her students' remarkable growth and independence and self advocacy is a direct result of Monica's evolving mastery of instruction, feedback, and reinforcement. Watching him navigate his world with a new found confidence is a testament to her
dedication and heart and reinforcement. And congratulations, Monica. Thank you so much. Yeah. We're We're gonna have you stay there and then we'll bring everyone else up. Do you wanna give them their medals now? Or that after. Oh, okay. Perfect. And we have certificate. Yeah. Maybe I can have someone help me with that in a minute. Thank you. I can't walk back there. Our next recipient is Allison Medford. So Allison, come on up. Allison is also an instructional assistant at McAuliffe Middle School, and she's been a dedicated employee with us since 2003. So Allison, she has been a steady source of warmth and crucial support during my
child's transition to eighth grade. Early in the school year, she proactively invited my child to join the lunchtime UNO club that she cohosts for students with disabilities, creating a safe, inclusive social space twice a week. While she expertly implements my daughter's reading intervention, the most exceptional part of her work is a genuine care she she shows in truly knowing her as an individual. Small thoughtful gestures tailored to my child's unique interests have meant an immense amount to our family. Miss Mefford has been the undeniable bright spot during the challenging year with her deep
kindness and dedication supporting many families in the school community. Congratulations, Allison. And then our next two nominees I'm gonna bring up together are Laura Gillies and Andrea Mora. Come on up. Thank you. And then this is Vera. And then Andrea Mora. So both Laura Gillies and Andrea Mora are parents, at Los Alamitos Elementary School and serve as the PTA president thank you. And PTA special education chair. So as part of their nomination, Laura Gillies and Andrea Mora serving as both the PTA president and special education chair have demonstrated strong, consistent leadership and making Los Alamitos
Elementary School and its PTA events substantially more inclusive. They have made a meaningful difference for students who receive special education services by improving their access and full participation in school events. Their key efforts include providing earplugs and quiet sensory rooms at PTA events and offering front of the line passes at the school carnival for students who may otherwise struggle. This thoughtful and proactive approach has been instrumental in creating a more welcoming and supportive community. Congratulations. You got it.
And then next, I'm thrilled to recognize Jerilyn Kuhar. She loves attention. So miss Kuhar is our school psychologist at Oak Middle School. She was also recognized last year as being one of our district employees of the year, which she loves that we bring up that all the time as well. So we're happy to celebrate her this evening or this afternoon. So I'm incredibly grateful for the dedication, compassion, and expertise that miss Kuhar brings to her role as a school psychologist. She's consistently available, responsive, and deeply understanding, always taking the necessary time to fully support my daughter's academic, social, and emotional needs with individualized care.
She goes above and beyond actively ensuring my daughter and all the children on campus feel valued, genuinely supported, and fully included in every aspect of school life. Her unwavering kindness, strong advocacy, and truly And then lastly, we would also like to
present a special recognition this year on behalf of the greater Anaheim SELPA as well as the Los Alamitos Unified School District to honor the life and legacy of Jackie Dominic, a longtime parent and passionate advocate for students with special needs. And so this evening, we have her husband, mister Harville here as well as one of her sons. So thank you for being here. So Jackie, was a dedicated and engaged member of the CAC for many, many years, consistently attending meetings and offering her voice, insight, and encouragement to families, navigating the special
education process. She was deeply committed to ensuring that parents felt informed, supported, and empowered, often taking the time to help families better understand their rights and access appropriate services for their children. Although Jackie recently passed away, her compassion, advocacy, and unwavering commitment to the special education community will not be forgotten. She made a lasting difference in the lives of countless students and families throughout LaSalle, and we are honored to recognize and celebrate her enduring impact today. We are especially grateful, obviously, to have mister Harville here and one of her sons,
and we are thankful that we were able to honor her in this way. So thank you for being here. Missus Delfin, before before, Papa for him gets started, I do know that, missus Partizani has a few words. Yes. Thank you. Thank you everyone, and congratulations. Thank you for all you do for our district, our students, as parents, as staff. I do have a little something prepared for Jackie because as you know, I, knew Jackie very well. So, I wanted to share that with you if you don't mind.
I met Jackie in 2018 when we were both tapped by a former McGaugh, principal to take over the PTA executive board. She as treasurer and, me as president. Her background in accounting made her a natural fit for the job. I knew from the moment I met Jackie that she was a force. She was intelligent, organized, detail oriented, and like me, she had an appreciation for establishing standards and procedures. We became a formidable team.
What I didn't know right away and what she protected was how big her heart was. It was evident that she loved her family and her boys and would do anything for them. Her dedication to her sons is something that I have learned from as a parent, and I know that, a lot of other families would relate that she would do anything for you guys. So I'm so happy to see you here. But her dedication didn't stop at her family. She generously gave that love and protection to anyone who needed her.
She advocated for families that at times didn't have the words or the strength to advocate for themselves. I'm glad we got to honor Jackie, not because she ever sought recognition. Funny thing, I had to actually force her. I don't know, mister Harville, if you remember. I gave her an honorary service award and I had to force and beg her to show up to receive it. So not because she ever sought recognition, but because our community wants her family to know how loved and missed she is. And that same community is here for them because that's exactly what Jackie would do.
So thank you. Thank you. As president of the SELPA board, I was very taken aback when I couldn't give them medals in front of the other six districts. I didn't want to show up their boards of education because our board is very appreciative of what they do. So I saved your medal knowing you would come tonight. And thank you, you are awesome and you make a big difference for kids. So thank you. We will now move on to our Orange County teacher of the year. Doctor Leece Wright?
Thank you, madam president. I think that she is getting so used to the spotlight and attention. So I am thrilled to bring up one of our Orange County teachers of the year, missus Megan Avalos. So, Megan Avalos is a fifth grade teacher at Rossmore Elementary, and we were thrilled that last month she was officially named one of six Orange County Teachers of the Year. Representatives from the Orange County Department of Education surprised Megan in her classroom with a big old check, among other things, to celebrate this well deserved honor alongside her students, colleagues, and members of our board of education and district leadership team.
Selected from over 20,000 teachers across Orange County, this recognition highlights the extraordinary impact that Megan and educators like her make every single day. This recognition comes after, being recognized as the Los Al teacher of the year, as you all know, and then a formal application process followed by multiple interviews, conducted by a panel of educators and community members representing Orange County. Megan is now among a small group of educators selected to represent the very best in our profession. We are incredibly proud of you, Megan Avalos, and the work that you do in
representing our district. Congratulations. We'll bring her up for a picture. Oh, sorry. I'm so sorry. That's excellent. We're gonna wear that to Mark. Who do you wanna do the picture? Four. We've made missus Avelo speak enough. We're sparing her one more. Alright. Now we are gonna honor our employee of the year, and I'm gonna throw it back to doctor Reese Wright and miss Delk. Thank you, madam president. Grace, you wanna come on up and join me? Very good. So one of the best parts of HR as you know and as we just celebrated with Megan is recognizing our outstanding employees of the year. And a couple years ago, the district decided to create a category that would capture
somebody who wasn't necessarily a teacher and wasn't necessarily administrator, but was still front facing in the work that they do with students every year. And we are calling this category our employee of the year. And so this year, we are thrilled to recognize, Jenny Bain, our program specialist as our district employee of the year. Come on up, Jenny. And to tell you a little bit about Jenny, I'm going to bring up miss Delk. Here you go. Which one are you? That's fine. Perfect. Is she up here? Gotta make sure she's here. Perfect. So good afternoon again, President Hill, esteemed board members, and everyone here this evening.
It is truly my honor to recognize Jenny Bain as our Losal Unified Employee of the Year. So the for the past thirteen years, Jenny has dedicated her heart to supporting students, staff, and schools. As a program specialist in special education, she supports behavior programming, guides our instructional assistance, and serves as a trusted resource across every school site in our district. No matter the situation, people turn to Jenny because of her calm presence, compassion, and unwavering commitment to doing what's best for students.
What makes Jenny so extraordinary is not only her expertise, but who she is as a person. She leads with kindness, authenticity, and empathy, making people feel supported, valuable, and capable. Personally, I feel incredibly fortunate to work alongside her every day, and she has a way of making even the hardest moments feel manageable simply because she's there. Jenny never seeks recognition, yet the impact she has on our students and staff and district is immeasurable. Jenny, thank you for making such an extraordinary difference every day, and we're so lucky
to have you and this recognition is so deserved. Congratulations. Jenny, it is truly our shorter than Grace. It is truly our honor to give you this employee of the award employee of the year award, and we are just so grateful for all the work you've done and all the work that you do. Thank you. Do with our students and for our district. And you make a humongous difference absolutely every day. And I know you do it with such grace and joy.
Thank you very much. Thank you. We all we also have, a couple of wonderful, certificates for you for your office. And then I'll wait a while ago. But the better choice now don't be disappointed that she didn't get a Oh, wow. Oh, I'm happy to take that. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Absolutely. No. I can't. Oh, no. Absolutely. Okay. Alright. So I did prepare a few things, but it won't be as long as the last time because I spoke so much. But, okay. Good afternoon, board president Hill, board members, doctor Pulver, Grace Delk, and the community of Los Alamitos. I'm truly honored to be receiving this recognition, and I'm grateful to be a part of this amazing district. Being acknowledged for this award among so many qualified, devoted, and talented colleagues is so
humbling. The district is filled with dedicated people who deeply care about their students and go above and beyond. And I am surrounded with people who give so much of themselves each day for their students. And I am inspired by all of them and their commitment. Coming from a family of educators myself, I feel drawn to working with children in the school setting. I love my job. I love both the general and education, teams that I work with. I love the students. I love knowing, that I have the opportunity to grow and learn with so many
experts that I work with daily. In the school setting, I appreciate seeing the students cultivate relationships with peers and staff, and extremely rewarding to see them make friends, meet their goals, and succeed. To the entire board, thank you for the resources that you provide to support my role in the district. I am genuinely fortunate to work as a program specialist here because I'm blessed with the opportunity to interact with preschool programs through adult transition. And the best aspect for me is that every day is different and my position
is so fulfilling, whether it be working with staff, developing programming, or just collaborating with Grace and our phenomenal team in the office. I love you all so much. Grace, thank you especially for this acknowledgement. I appreciate your recognition and I have always admired you as a leader. Your effective intervention and ongoing support has been invaluable. I am grateful for your encouragement and guidance, watching how you lead and with so much compassion and care, navigating challenging situations with praise.
And, you make yourself available to provide me with guidance and assistance at any moment, which is so wonderful. I truly love working in our office. Our department is engaging, rewarding, and a true pleasure to be with all of you every day and all of your support. Thank you so much. I'm honored to be a part of this district, and a huge tremendous family just family. A huge tremendous thank you to my family. They are so wonderful. They're always there to support me, listen, and care, and I'm fortunate fortunate to have
their love and to have them with me at all times. I am honored to be a part of this district and work with Los Alamitos together for students that we all impact so much and it's incredible. I am inspired by everyone in this room and thank you again for the special acknowledgment. I so appreciate this, compliment, and once again, I love my job. Thank you. Thank you. I do. I do. And I have to yourself? Yes. So I my son I have a lot of family who are out of town right now, actually. But my son, Edward, is here. So if you wanna come take a picture with me or stand up, please stand
up. So you're here representing a lot of people in videotaping. So Congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. For sure? Okay. Thank you. Award. Do I do I care to hold these things? Just this one. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm just gonna stay down here for a minute or two. So our next award is our Administrator of the Year, and that's mister Dan Bennett, and I would like And I will turn it over to, missus Reed and doctor
Pulver. Thank you madam president. It is our esteemed pleasure to be able to recognize tonight doctor Dan Bennett as our district administrator of the year and last night we had the extreme pleasure as well because Dan was recognized as the Orange County administrator of the year. And, you know, sometimes in in in larger districts, the role that Dan serves would probably be served by two people. I think in Los Al, a lot of us, we serve multiple roles. He serves both as, the coordinator of, education technology, and, coordinator of career technical education,
CTE. And so, at the county level, he was received honored as the county CTE administrator of the year. But, Dan is just exceptional in every single thing that he does. He is, I think, he's spent twenty years or more, as an employee, but actually I believe it goes even beyond, were you a student here? Which is what I thought. And so just, we are so blessed to be able to have Dan's expertise, his thoughtfulness, his proactiveness, his he always is one who's willing to roll up his sleeve,
and help anybody, in in different roles. When I think about, I know we don't like to think back to covid, some of us have some traumatic, memories, from there, but, you know, as a school district, I don't know of another district that responded as quickly and as proactively when the entire nation shut down, and that's because team ed services by our deputy superintendent, Mrs. Reed, and and along with, the rest of her team, and in a large part with the heavy lifting of Dan, we got our teachers up and running within two
days on online learning, trying to train teachers. I I remember coming in on a Sunday, before trying to train, our administrators on how to how we can help do a trainer of trainers to teach teachers on Google classroom, etcetera. And that would not have been possible without the heavy lift and the ongoing support. But Dan does so many other different, aspects as well. In career technical education, Dan has helped us really expand the pathways, for our students at Los Alamitos High School.
He's helped us expand our our film, and technology pathway, our biomedical pathway, our theater tech pathway, and he and then in conjunction again with TMed Services and some of our staff at Los Alamitos High School have been helping us really explore this year about expanding another career technical education pathway at Los Alamitos High School with our business and entrepreneurship. And you know you hit the nail on the head and we really met the needs of our students and our families when there's over 280 peep students who've signed up to take the first business pathway, course for next year.
And so Dan is just, an exceptional individual. If I keep talking, Mrs. Reed won't have time to be able to talk about what an exceptional individual, and someone who is so worthy of this recognition. He's beloved by teachers and staff because he is someone who will problem solve and work alongside them on every step of the way. And sometimes these things are technical, but he makes everything look easy and never makes us feel dumb, or inadequate, when we're trying to learn new new things. So with that, I'm gonna turn it over to our deputy superintendent, missus Andrea Reid. So I have the privilege of, having Dan on my team since 2017, and I
think what makes Dan really unique is he is a true teacher at heart. And so Dan started as a biology teacher with us, and the grace, kindness, intuition, flexibility, customer service that you exemplified every day meeting the needs of your students, you've turned around and done the same things for the adults in our organization. And I think, he's done all those things doctor Pulver said, but I think what he does more than that is he brings a human connection to everything that he does that makes people feel valued, seen, worthy.
He is amazing at reflection, at wanting to get better. He truly exemplifies the Los Al way. I think it is because you're a husky at heart. So, you know, Dan started at Hopkinson Elementary School and our school district as an elementary school student and progressed his way through to a Griffin graduate, attending UCLA. Everything that you can say about Dan, I think really can be encaptured by teacher and learner. And I think that really is, the kindest gesture or words that anyone can say
to someone that you'll have impacted so many people in your time by showing up as yourself each day and working as hard as you can. And I think when we show up authentically and work incredibly hard, people are naturally drawn to us, and it makes the work easier. It makes it more digestible, and then it makes other people really wanna work just as hard. I've never worked with someone who's so humble and, pleasing. You really aim to make people proud, and I think that's a quality that we
don't talk about every day that really is essential to being just, a great teammate, a great colleague, I'm sure a great father and husband. And so I'm very proud that since 2017, you've been able to serve on the ed services team. And, just wanna say congratulations, and you're so deserving of district administrator of the year. Dan, I had the honor last night with sitting with you at the Orange County, the Orange County awards dinner, ACSA Mhmm. Awards dinner last night, and getting an opportunity to sit with your family.
And I know as a parent that if my children are proud of me, there is nothing better in the world. And I want you to know that, we all feel that way about you. And I remember when you came to the district office and what a huge difference it's made, and I'm just really appreciative of you. We have this lovely plaque for you. So and some more certificates. But also we have papa. So give us a minute. Thank you, Dan. Thank you. If you can already receive this medal that he can put this in his office
and you remind yourself, you're the best. So congratulations. I also realized we have a card from Laith. And a gift card. A gift card from Laith. Let me take those from you. You wanna say a few words? Thank you. President Hill, board, executive cabinet, doctor Pover, and the community, Yeah. Twenty years plus. I think I I shared a lot of thank yous last night at the at the dinner, but it really goes back to, the the team. There's tons of support here.
I am so grateful for all the support that the board, gives to, CTE as well as, just growing the pathways and and really finding new opportunities for students. I'm so grateful for the support and trust that I get from the ed services team, and really just the relationships. The fact that, teachers, have built a rapport and and trust there really makes this job easier to explore opportunities and to ask, you know, how we can serve students
better. So, twenty years and and I do as as, Jenny Bain said, I love my job too, and I'm honored to serve in this role. Thank you. And doctor Reese Wright? Don't don't we owe, doctor Bennett something? I I'm It was the that he was gonna No. I thought we owed him a twenty I thought we owed you a twenty year pin. We do owe you a twenty year pin. Thank you. I know what I'm talking about. And I'm gonna get that to you as soon as this picture's over. I will make sure. I gotcha. He really wanted his pen.
I know it's important. Alright. We are gonna move on to our last recognition, this part of our meeting, And that is the, pleasure that we get to do for our hero of the heart and I am gonna start with doctor Poehler. Thank you. Well, it is my esteemed pleasure. I have known this incredible individual who brings such love and light and passion. I think if anybody ever described her that one of the words they would use is passion, dedication, and devotion to Los Alamitos Unified.
And so it's our esteemed pleasure as a district. We only get to recognize one individual each year as our hero of the heart, and it's our pleasure to recognize miss Virginia Wilson as our 2026 Hero of the High Nicole's filming that for you too, so I know, right?
But she always makes everyone look look the best and good. Like, come stand next to me. Or you can sit too, but sit. Well, it's really hard to be able to summarize the depths of the impact that Virginia has had on this district. And quite honestly, I think when we think about the depths, it is lifelong, and and the ripple effect will be, permanent and lasting. Virginia has been a school board member that has represented this community, I believe, for over twenty nine years.
She started off when we were an elementary school district. She was a board member for two years, and she had the force and, vision along with other individuals in the community at that time, to really push to get this district unified. And so this year when we started, when we launched our theme both at the state of the district, and our welcome back staff meeting about, for good, and the lasting impact that that, that we as individuals in this district has had on others, and others have had on the district. Virginia is significant in that role.
She worked tirelessly to get this, community, which you cannot have happen I think anyway anytime now, to get three communities, three different districts, part of Anaheim Union, Seal Beach, and Los Alamitos Elementary to unify into a unified school district, and so in '7 '19 not 1790, I'm sorry. In 1979, that became came forward to the ballot, and they they successfully passed to be able to unify this district, and Virginia was a board member who then had
to, spend a year to figure out how to get how okay, now what? How do we unify a school district? And so she spent that time, and then a couple years later, the Seal Beach, annexed with with Los Alamitos Unified. A total of, I think it was twenty seven years as a board member for the Los Alamitos Unified School District. She was board president, for six years. But everything that Virginia does, she can, I, you know, our colors, I think our district colors are blue, yellow, and red? Maybe I'm forgetting the color, and I know some of you might think those are
UCLA or USC colors, and she probably bleeds some of those colors as well. But nothing nothing more true than than Losal. She has supported countless other individuals as they were running for the board, or serving on on the board to give them counsel. Another significant impact that Virginia, got involved in earlier in her service as a board member to this district was, as as many of you may or may not know, 40% 47% of our district community property, is made up by military bases.
And so, as a community, there is an unfair advantage, relative to other school districts, and the taxation, and and, the bond, or the, bonding capacity that districts have. And so, Virginia, just as a board member, was back at, Washington D. C. Was at a conference called NAFIS, National, oh goodness, Federal Impacted Schools, and, was part of a group who was taking a look at suing, the Department of Education to
ensure that, federal land, districts and other that were impacted by federal land also got recognized by NAFIS. And so she got, I think it was 200 districts across the school, across the nation. 2,000. 200. 200, districts across the nation to really join part of this. And it's something we now take for granted every every year, but for our district we receive, you know close to $4,000,000 or more depending upon the year that comes directly to our budget and that would not have been possible without the exceptional leadership
and dedication and tenacity and force of Virginia. But her her her love and passion doesn't stop there. She has, is always really someone who will go above and beyond for, this school. She's had to do some really tough things as a board member. She's closed schools, which is for any board member that's one of the hardest things to do. How about with your children? With your children in the you're gonna get the mic in a minute. I was so lucky. I'll never forget we had great, interactions when I was first hired as a teacher
at McAuliffe Middle School and then assistant principal and just, the camaraderie that I think even from a board member that I think that continues with all of our board members with staff that they've gotten to get to know staff along the way. That's probably the buzzer saying I'm talking too long, but I I'm gonna have to keep talking. Additionally, you know just recently she's she continues to find ways to give back to LaSalle. She's part of different philanthropy organizations and and earlier this year we received a donation from a group that she has been a part of, donating to the district, and then it didn't stop there, she made sure that that same group got a donation
to LAIF, as well as others. And then the last eight years, if that wasn't enough, she has volunteered, I say volunteer, because it's a labor of love and commitment on our personnel commission, which helps oversee the merit system of our school district, for our classified service, and she's been a personnel commissioner for eight years. And, through that role, she's done an exceptional job. They the personnel commission has revamped every single job description in our district, under under while she's been there. They've also, think they've updated every single one, or they're almost completed all of their
rules and regulations, which for a personnel commission, that's kind of like the board's policies, as well. And so, just Virginia, I don't think there's another individual who goes above and beyond and who just has the deepest and widest heart for this district. And, so we are just so grateful, and honored to be able to recognize you as our 2026 hero of the heart. And I'm gonna turn it over to our board president, missus Diana Hill. You just sit down. I need to do that. Thank you. So, I just have a few words about legacy.
And your legacy is just in it will be in this district for forever, and it is in so many different places, and that you continue to come back and share with us a history. And that's so important because I think for all of us, we learn from those who went before us and from the things that happened. It may helps us make sense of why certain things are certain ways. And sometimes they need to change, but knowing that and knowing that history makes such
a huge difference. And to be able to have that, that you share with us, you share your wisdom with us, You share your love for this district with us. And, and I know that you and I have had a few moments, but one thing I've always known about you Virginia is that you only want the best for this community and how you see that. And I have a great deal of respect for you for that. So thank you very much. And I think we have papa. We have papa. Just wait wait for her.
Okay, Virginia. Megan, don't be disappointed. You get not only the MVP award as well, but yours has jewels on it. Wow. Because you are truly a gift and a jewel to this district. Thank you very much. Thank you. But before we give you the mic, I know that Mrs. Davidson had a few things she wanted to add. So, Virginia, we go all the way back to when I was actually young. And that was a very long time ago in the in the early eighties when
my husband and I moved back here, and we were going to enroll Stephanie in about 1985 into Hopkinson. You were the force that I heard about when Donna Artukovich recruited me into the PTA, and you've been a force ever since. I think, you know, when I taught American history and we talk about founding fathers, but in this district, there were founding women. There were women and PTA presidents, school board members in roles that absolutely changed the course of this district. And, I I can't begin to thank you for the mentorship, for the leadership, for
for the bar you set so high for the rest of us because you touched so many hearts. And doctor Pulver shared so much about what you did, but I remembered your trips to DC to fight for the money at a time when our superintendent, Mike Miller, kept saying my hair is falling out. We're losing all this money. My hair is falling out. I can't do this. And you were fighting for every penny when we wanted to when we were discussing, we had a year long committee to to decide whether to close sell oak. And we knew that our that the district was in great hands with leaders like
you, and we held on to it. And can you imagine the transformation or the lack of growth we would have had if we were down to one middle school? There were so many decisions along the way as this district was becoming what it is today that you were involved in and you continue to be involved in. You held our feet to the fire so many times over the years, and you set such a high standard. I thank you with all my heart for your leadership and for you being the kind of woman that that brings the community along, and it's a great role model for everyone who follows. So thank you. Thank you, As I walked in and I passed the pictures, my great aunt was
the first teacher in this district. And so when you look at pictures, they're ones I've been able to get through my family, which but had nothing to do with me running. I didn't even know at that time. Interesting how history and the other thing, when Andrew called, I was the first honoree of this for the district when we started this, and I tried to weigh up on a somewhere to figure out what date it was back in early two thousand something. We started this, and I'm so proud you continued.
And I really thank you for this honor. This represents so many. And I look at this board, and I look at Tina. I think of your mother-in-law, Linda. What a blessing to our district. I look at Marlys, and I think it's Stephanie, what we went through. I look at Andrew. I remember your April Fools' welcome. Early in Los Al. It was shocking. Yeah. Literally. It was shocking, Ken. My journey started fifty years ago. I dreamed of a unified school district. I loved my years as a board member and the opportunity to make a difference,
starting with unification, the annexation of Seal Beach Elementary District, and I'm proud of gaining federal impact aid for our district. When called to consider the personnel commission, I welcome the opportunity to again be part of the Los Al family. Since joining the commission, we have accomplished many things. We've gone through all job descriptions and updated them, all policies.
The list goes on. And I thank Ryan for all the hard work that he has done and for sure. And putting up with my pushing in order to get things done. I thank fellow commissioners, Dave and Travis. I thank the school board, for you have supported the commission in allowing and sup and passing the ability for us to go to workshops and to expand our knowledge
of being commissioners. But most of all, I think one person. I think my husband, doctor Robert Wilson. We've been married almost sixty four years. You shared in a dream, and you've supported my journey. Our children, Steven was four years old, and Peter was a first grader. My journey began. You have shared highs and lows, and I thank each of you for this honor.
Thank you. A picture? Yep. A picture. And as you're walking up there, the other thing that our heroes of the heart get, you saw earlier this evening, our teachers earn a blue jacket. It is a badge of honor. Every single one of our heroes of the heart get a similar version, but it's a black jacket. And so Virginia got, we got her size, and they'll get embroidered. It'll say her name and the district hero of the heart. Let's get all the board members since this is the district hero of the heart to be taking a picture with, missus Wilson. Do the family one first.
Sure. Yep. Alright. I just wanna make sure. There's nobody here from robotics. Correct? We did? Okay. Great. Yeah. We go back the long way. Congratulations. So I'd like to go ahead and we are gonna go into closed session. Thank you. Part: 2
to have you all here this evening with us. Uh we just came out of close session and there is nothing uh to report. No action was taken and so we would love to start our meeting with the pledge of allegiance. And I ask Mrs. Low if she
would lead us in the pledge. >> Please stand. 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 stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you so much. U Mrs. Reid, would you mind giving us a summary of our workshops? >> Thank you so much, President Hill. Well, we had a a a jammed pack um earlier session. We started by recognizing the
Los Almeida's high school song team who represented team USA and brought home the go the gold in the world championships. We recognized Losia's high school teacher Brandon Hart who received the CCE excellence and teaching award. We recognized two cohorts of
amazing teachers 5-year PD recipients as well as our veteran distinguished educators who have completed um a certain number of coaching and professional development hours. Um Mrs. Delk uh recognized our six community advisory committee award recipients and
their work for impacting the special education community. We were able to recognize Megan Ovalos Rossmore Elementary teacher who has been named one of the Orange County teachers of the year. We recognized two of our district employers employees sorry Jennifer Bane
employee of the year as well as Dan Bennett our administrator of the year. And we closed out by with a very special recognition of our district care of the heart Mrs. Virginia Wilson, who previously has spent uh close to three decades serving as a schoolboard member and has most recently been serving as a
member of the personnel commission. >> Thank you, Mrs. Reid. That was amazing. And so, um, one of our favorite parts of our meeting is the opportunity to hear from our school our school board members. So, Brent, I believe this is going to be your last meeting and but
we're very excited to hear your report. Good evening, Madame President, Superintendent Pulver, Executive Cabinet, members of the Los Alamos community. My name is Bren Schmidt, and I have been honored to serve as your student representative to the board of education from Los Alamos High School.
Here is my final report. Activities. One of the most entertaining and spirited moments of the Griffin games this year was the teacher cannonball contest. Eight teachers proudly represented both of the red and blue teams, bringing incredible energy
and school spirit as they competed in a series of jumps into the pool. The larger and more creative the cannonball, the more points were earned for their team, which kept students cheering and fully engaged throughout the event. Beyond the competition itself, it was exciting to see teachers and staff
willing to participate along students and create such a fun, memorable atmosphere for our campus community. After an exciting showdown filled with laughter and school pride, the red team ultimately came away with the victory. Academics.
Over the course of the last week and continuing through this week, students across Los Alamos High School have been participating in AP testing. This year, 1,149 students are taking a total of 2,526 AP exams across 31 different subjects,
reflecting the strong commitment our students have to academic excellence and challenging themselves through college level coursework. With a wide variety of advanced placement courses offered on campus, students have the opportunity to explore rigorous academics in many different fields while preparing for
futures beyond high school. The dedication, preparation, and perseverance required for these exams is truly is truly amazing. And I am incredibly proud of all the students who have already completed their tests and those who continue testing throughout the rest of this week. A good luck to everyone taking AP physics, AP Lang, and
AP Spanish literature tomorrow. Athletics. Recently, the Los Altos High School celebrated athletic signing day, recognizing our 46 senior student athletes who have committed to continuing both their academic and athletic careers at a college level.
During lunch, students gathered alongside family, friends, coaches, and staff as these athletes officially signed and were honored for their years of dedication and hard work. Students represented 21 programs that were recognized. It was truly inspiring to see so many Griffins pursue
opportunities at the at the next level and our entire school community is incredibly proud of each and every student who committed. We are excited to see all they accomplish in college and know they will continue to to thrive both on and off the field, court, pool, and stage.
Arts. The final senior improv show was a fantastic celebration of the creativity, humor, and dedication that our senior performers have brought to campus throughout the year. Eight seniors took the stage and competed against four teachers in a series of improv games to determine who truly was the funniest on
campus. Watching these students perform is always incredible as they constantly amaze the audience with how quick they are on their feet and how naturally they are able to make people laugh. Throughout the night, performers competed in games such as Fourquare, Forward Reverse, Sound Effects, Spelling Bee, Double Header, Talk Show, and the
crowd favorite, Chain Murder. The energy in the room was unforgettable and in the end the seniors came out victorious, proving once again why they have become such an important and entertaining part of the Los Altos High School community. Student life Griffin Games has always
been a fan favorite at Los Alamos High School and this year once again showed exactly why students look forward to it. ASB spent about a month preparing for the event, creating posters and decorations to transform the school into red and blue and build excitement throughout the week. Students participated in lunchtime activities and
dress up days to earn points for their teams leading to an leading up to an all school assembly that brought everyone together. This assembly featured performances from girls softball, boys baseball, and boys lacrosse as they competed for the title of lip sync champion along with games like hamster
ball, the bungee game, and a sound meter challenge. It was so much fun to watch students compete, cheer each other on, and show their school spirit. Even though unfortunately for us, the blue team, sophomores and juniors, came out on top. Hopefully next year the seniors will be able to avenge us and bring the victory back.
Student spotlight. To close out my report, I would like to highlight an exceptional Griffin. Violet Murphy. Violet began her journey in this district as a Rossmore Knight, then became an Oak Lion, and is now a proud senior at Los Alamos High School. She is highly involved on campus taking rigorous courses including AP
literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics, AP Psychology, AP Econ, and AP Gov. She's also a part of multiple clubs including challenge success club and biolympiad along with being on varsity water polo and swim. In the fall, she will be attending Yale University.
Violet's favorite part about being a Griffin is the community. She has made so many unforgettable friends throughout high school, and she wouldn't have been able to be where she is today without them. Outside of school, Violet is a part of club, sports, and participating in an internship over the summer. Violet's kindness, leadership, and
dedication make her an outstanding role model, and I am proud to feature her in this month's student spotlight. Before I close out my report, I would before I open the floor to any questions or comments from the board, I would like to take into I would like to take a second to thank everyone. Mrs. Pardo,
Mrs. Dingello, Dr. Pver, Mr. Bragman, Papa Forhan, Mrs. Hill, Mrs. Davidson, Mrs. Partardisani, Mrs. Sher, Mrs. Dr. Whisight, Mrs. Reed, my parents, Mrs. Lavash, Mrs. Shaniker, and all of ASB.
Thank you all for teaching me valuable lessons. Thank you all for teaching me such valuable lessons and supporting me my senior year. I would not be the person I am today without you all of you. With that, I would like to open the floor to any questions or comments from the board. Thank you all for joining me in
my last student board report. Bren, I know that we have some recognitions for you, but I do have a question about your presentation. So when you were showing us the Griffin games in the gym, you said that was an all school assembly. So everybody and
the whole campus was all in that gym at one point at one time. >> Yes. >> That's really amazing. Thank you very Thank you very much. And I think we are going to move on to our Oh, we're moving on to Dr. Pulver's report and then recognition. Oh, well, you're just going
to have to wait around because it we're we're coming back to you. >> Sit Come sit down. >> Sit. You've got time. >> We Yes. Take a deep breath, have some water, and then we'll get back to recognizing you. So, thank you very much for your report, and it it really does
make my heart so incredibly full to think that our whole campus could be in that in the gym at one time celebrating. So, um we will now move on to our superintendent report. Dr. over. You still get to follow her.
>> I I do. You know, I I love I'm a keeper of tradition and been able to follow your report all year long and so I'm I'm pleased and honored. Uh I'm sure that my heart wasn't the only one that dropped. I saw your mom's heart drop a little bit in there when you said this is my final
report to the board. Uh and I'm like ah it hit. Uh so Bren Jen such an excellent job and we'll uh we love having our students and ASB be part of the board uh and to be able to see you both here at board meeting but to see the connections
we make with make with our ASB kids um through so many activities and events and athletics throughout the year uh is just so fun. So it's great to see so many of them in the room tonight as well. Um, with that, I'm going to begin uh my report. Uh, and I wanted to just
highlight and be grateful uh for our amazing partnership with Laith. Uh, Laith uh extends the opportunity as a district when we participate in the teacher of the year program. Our district our size, we only get to select one teacher of the year to move forward
at the county level. And so, and as you heard earlier, Mrs. Reed shared our workshop, our teacher of the year was recognized as the Orange County teacher, one of six Orange County teachers of the year. Um, and so LA really gives us an opportunity to recognize exceptional
teaching and the craft of these individuals at every single school site and they put on a beautiful dinner to honor our teachers of the year from each school site. uh it was at Old Ranch and we got to hear our principles speak about the amazing impact that these teachers have and then the teachers got
to share uh as well. So just thank you to Lelay for recognizing the the critical role that our teachers play and the impact that they have. I think for many of us it's always one of our favorite nights u because it's just you leave the room so uplifted. Uh, and it kind of really does tie in with our
theme this year of for good because one of the things we realize even our teachers here, as much as they we we talk about the difference they're making in the lives of kids, every single one of those teachers and I see one or two in the back of the room right there um also uh talked about how the students
have impacted them as teachers and made their lives um uh richer and and deeper. So, thank you Lei for being able to allow us to recognize our teachers of the year. I won't read all the names, but they've been up there for everyone to to see. Um, and then May is a month
that we have traditionally held as employee appreciation month. And we do a uh we cannot accomplish this without amazing partners. PTA and and friends of groups and different parent groups do such a wonderful job of spoiling and really showing their love and attention
to our staff at each of the school sites. And the district, we try to do that as well. Being a public institution, finances are a little bit harder for us to be able to give guatches or other monetary uh gifts to really show our appreciation. But you can see um there's so many days
throughout the year. Uh you got to get some some glasses or be able to read uh some fine print from National Counseling Week all the way down to special the special education day. From a calendar standpoint, these are the various days. We try to lump them all within the month of May. And then we send out baskets of
candy. Uh, and while candy doesn't show appreciation enough, it's just the actual gesture to show let them know that we are so grateful for all the work um that our employees do. We also been celebrating the spring with our longevity pins at each ceremonies at each of our schools. And kind of full
circle, tomorrow we're doing our retirement ceremony at the district office. So, um, just interesting. So thankful to our employees. One of the things I've said for so many years, uh, in different roles that I've had is that the hallmark of this district are the people. And I could not uh believe that
more with every inch and fiber of who I am. And we're so lucky to have an exceptional team that goes above and beyond for our students and our families. And then really excited. I don't recall that this has happened to Los Alamos uh unified um in in my time
and I'm only eight year starting my eth year in this role. Uh but we have one of our students um PTA Reflections is a national winner. Um, so as you I think a couple uh board meetings ago, it might have even been the last, I presented
about our students who from from our district went on to fourth district council, which is basically Orange County. Um, who then went on to the state and then one of our students actually did receive the national recognition. And what a beautiful piece of art from Vivian Shaw, who's a second
grade student at Lee Elementary Lee Elementary School. I know it's beyond impressive. Um, and I love what what the student wrote regarding the artwork. And so I'm just going to draw attention to it. And it and the student these are the
students words as in the submission. I drew a picture of different people from different cultures uh in little parts. I've always been bullied and people have hurt my feelings because of where and what culture I come from. Drawing this picture helps me express that no matter
what culture and background we come from, we are all one. and each piece plays a different part in our lives. And that's from a second grade student. Um, so such depth and such amazing artwork. Um, and I can see why it's a national
winner. >> I know. Drop the mic. Right. Pretty impressive. Um, so big shout out to PTA uh and for all that they do to help really organize the reflections. and so nice to see that one of our students received this this recognition. So, I
wanted to highlight um I wanted to highlight that. Also, as we know, this is our last board meeting uh before all of the end of the year school activities. So, we still meet in the summer, which I'll talk about a little bit later, but I did want to make sure
the community is aware of the various end of the year activities and and have the dates and promotions that are that are coming on. And so, um, lots of, uh, things winding up as the year winds down, the intensity continues. So, we have our fifth grade award nights at our
elementary schools. You'll see them over in the lefth hand column um, at various locations, dates, and times, but between May 12th and May 28th at different times, again, you'll be able to see that there. Look for your school if if you're there. Our eighth grade awards night for
McAuliffe and Oak Middle School are both on May 19th, both at 5:00 pm. Senior awards night is at the uh performing arts center on May 21st. Uh coming up next weekend is the senior car parade. Uh so we're excited about that at the
shops at Rossmore. One of the things that I think is unique when you're part of a one high school town and district is that all of our seniors um can come back and visit the elementary schools. And what I love too is some of our seniors, they didn't go to school at our elementary schools. And so um they will
go and visit a school if they want or even some of our students who attended our elementary schools, but maybe they went on to a private school or somewhere else. We invite them to come back and still say hello um uh to their to the teachers and staff. But really, it's the impact and the impression that those
seniors have on the elementary students. And so that's always an exciting day. Balora, that's a uh promotional graduation activity put on by students for students. And so that's on June 2nd at 6:30 p.m. on the on our football
field, the John's Barn Field. Uh graduation will be at Dignity Health uh Stadium, Tennis Stadium on June 4th. and all of our other promotion dates are also up here. So, our elementary schools are spreading it out between three days
between June 2nd and June 4th at different times. You can see there both Mclliff and Oak uh do their uh eighth grade promotions on the John's Barn football field at Los Alamos High School on June 3rd. One's at 4:30 and the next
one's at 7:30. and they rotate that every other year. So, they both no one gets a desired time each time. Uh, our adult transition program is having their uh promotion ceremony on June 1st at 11:30. That's here at the district
office in uh right outside the patio outside of their rooms. Um, so that's always a highlight for us as well. And again, I already mentioned it, but since I wanted to put all the promotions back, you'll see the high school graduation is on June 4th. And with that, I thought uh since this
is the last board meeting when school's in session, um we do do a little things differently in the summer. We do not meet in July. We have two meetings in June. So, we will have a board meeting June 9th and June 23rd. Uh but during the school year, we traditionally start with a workshop at 4 and then we carry
on into the business portion of the meeting at 6 PM and in the summer we will just do plow through our meetings starting at 4 and and uh going through so that they actually might end before 6:00 p.m. uh or 700 p.m. instead. So for anybody or the community who wants to
come um please make note of the of the time changes. And then August 4th um is still the board meeting in August before school starts. School doesn't start until about the 13th 15th um of of the of the month unless you're at Weaver. Um
and that board meeting will also be at 400 p.m. And then I wanted to just spend uh the last portion of my superintendence is to just do a spotlight. sometimes different programs it's nice to highlight and I don't know a lot of us a lot of people
think of our district as uh UTK or transitional kindergarten through 12th grade uh and they may not know that we actually have a robust uh preschool program child development center along with I highlighted earlier our adult transition program uh um here at the
district office. So I want to highlight our preschool program. Our preschool program uh currently serves students who are just under three years old, two years and 9 months through 5 years old. Um we have eight full day parent paid um preschool classrooms across all six of
our elementary school sites. And then we have three um partial day uh programs uh that are at Rossmore and LE. And we also run a state preschool program that are embedded within over at Rossmore and LE. And for families who need um both uh
schooling or child care uh during those ages, um the program is from 7 am available to families until 6:00 p.m. And the part-time program is a 3-hour AM or PM session depending uh and only Rosmer Elementary has has the PM. And
next year, we are expanding our preschool program. So, we're going to be opening a new part-time and it's a collaborative preschool classroom at Lee Elementary. And so this classroom really is an inclusive learning environment. It serves both general education students and special education preschool students
through a co-e model. And we've heard a lot of co-e models um throughout. And this is a general education teacher and an ed specialist. And so the program is going to offer a three-hour am preschool option. There is some tuition based enrollment that's that's there as well as our state preschool um for families
that qualify for pre uh for for families that qualify for free preschool. But this expansion reflects our commitment to inclusion and meeting the growing community needs for additional part-time preschool opportunities. So next year the three-hour preschool programs in addition to full day programs will be
offered at Macau LE Lee and Rossmore. And then the full programs are at every school site. Um but the we've expanding our part-time um programs. So if you're a parent or a community member who has interest uh in attending our preschools, it's never too late to get on a wait
list. We do have a really strong enrollment um at all of our sites. Uh right now Hopkinson and LE Rossmore and Weaver um have two preschool classrooms that currently have openings along with
we have some availability at MAGA. And we want to encourage families to get on the wait list even if your preferred site is full because you never know when parents change their mind or things of that sort or new opportunities arise or somebody moves out of out of the area. Um and so it's great to get on that
list. And so there is uh a little information or a link for you if if you have information. But I think what really says it better than I than me reading to all of you and kind of talking through our slides is this exceptional uh video u that really talks
about our preschool program that uh our PIO Nicole Petardo worked with Nadia Williams who oversees our preschool program, our child development center. And I think you're in for a treat cuz you cannot help but to smile after you watch as you're watching this video.
Welcome to the Los Alamidos Unified Child Development C Center's preschool program, where curiosity grows, friendships begin, and the love of learning starts early. Our mission is to provide a nurturing and educational environment where every child can
thrive. Through play, exploration, and hands-on learning, children build the foundational skills they need for lifelong success. In our classrooms, learning is guided by an emergent curriculum, meaning lessons grow from the interests and ideas of the children
themselves. Our teachers observe, listen, and create engaging experiences that spark curiosity and encourage creativity, problem solving, and confidence. Our program aligns with the California Preschool and Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations,
supporting the development of language, thinking, physical skills, and social growth in children ages 3 through 5. We also support children's social and emotional development through the Ruler program developed by Yale University. Children learn to recognize, understand,
and manage their emotions while building positive relationships with others. We take a whole child approach supporting cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development through meaningful learning experiences. We value strong partnerships with families and work
together to create a community where every child feels safe, supported, and inspired to learn. At Los Alamos Unified Child Development Cent's preschool program, we're not just preparing children for TK or kindergarten. We're helping them build the confidence, curiosity, and skills for a lifetime of
learning. And we're enrolling now. You can enroll your child today by visiting www.loal.org/cdc. >> Dr. Po, before you go on, I do have a question. >> Yes. So, if we can go back. I didn't know we had a Baby Griffin logo.
>> Baby Griff. >> Baby Griff. I was unaware of Baby Griff. I am absolutely loving it. Thank you. >> It is. Yes, Mrs. Williams. I think our preschool program has really uh been tying that in. And Baby Griff is right
there. Yeah. >> Thank you, Not that we're gonna we don't need to watch it again, but really as the as I know we can. Uh but as the school year is is wrapping up, I just want to be able to uh extend uh my my gratitude to
uh this entire community, our staff, our families, our students, um our administrators. We just want to wish everyone a safe and wonderful and restful summer recess as we won't be meeting again um publicly here at the
district through a through a board meeting until after um the school year ends. >> Thank you so much Dr. Pulver. That was wonderful. Thank you for sharing so much to celebrate. We're looking really looking forward to it. So now um I would
like a motion um for an adoption of resolution. Mr. Forham, >> I move adoption of resolution 2025-2026-22 in recognition of our student board member Bin Smith. Whereas Brenn has served as the Los Alamidos student
representative to the school board for the 202526 school year and is a valued member of the Los Alamos High School ASB. Whereas Brenn has been attending Los Alamos schools at all three levels. First at
Lee, then Oak, and finally at Losal High School. Whereas Bren has been involved in multiple school activities including including senior class council, link crew, choir, track, cross country and
ASB. Whereas Bin has also dedicated her time to activities beyond the school community including working as a summer camp counselor at Los Altos Unified Methodist Church, United Methodist
Church. Additionally, Bin values spending quality time with her family and friends above all else. She also enjoys connecting with the diverse people of Loal, learning more about her community, and
contributing in meaningful ways that make a positive impact on the lives of others. Whereas Bin has received leadership recognition for her participation in the Los Alamos ASB and she will be attending San Diego State
University in the fall majoring in history. Now therefore, be it resolved by the board of education that Bin Smith is for recognized, excuse me, be recognized and publicly commended for
her outstanding representation and service to the Los Salamidos Unified School District. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Forham. And do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> And I do believe it's a roll call. Mrs. Dingelo.
>> Correct. >> Mrs. Pisani. >> I. >> Mrs. Davidson. >> Absolutely. >> Mrs. Hill. >> I. >> Mr. Forehand. >> I. >> Mr. Bman. >> I. >> Wonderful. So now it has been resolved that we are recognizing you. And I
believe we are going to go forward with a a recognition. And um I'm going to turn it over to Papa for him. behalf of the board of education outside the first ever great
behalf. Thank you. So you have done just an extraordinary job time not just telling us about what's going on at the high school but also bringing us a real flavor of it and really sharing with us the joy and the
accomplishments of all your classmates and I really appreciate that and appreciate you giving us such a flavor for what's been going on. And we know that you have amazing things in front of you and glad that you have spent this
last nine months with us. And so to that you have the lovely resolution that was just written. And then somewhere in your dorm room or maybe you leave it at home, uh we do have an honor to your service of the board of education, Los Alamos
Unified. And it says you are the student board rep for 2025 2026. Thank you. >> Would you like to Would you like to introduce your family? >> I would. There's Here's my dad. Stand
up. Stand up. There's my dad. And here is my mom. and you have had one if not both of them at every meeting. I do believe so. Um you have very supportive and wonderful parents and a great community and we look forward to seeing great things come
out of you. Open it. Thank you. >> Wonderful. Um, so we will move on and our next item is um I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Reid. It is the Los Alamidos High School Associated Student
Body Recognition. >> Thank you so much, President Hill. And to help me out with this, I'm going to welcome to the podium our Los High School activities director, Mrs. Lauren Lash. >> Good evening, Madame President, Superintendent Pulver, esteemed board members, executive cabinet, and the Los
Alamos community. Um it is my honor this evening to um present on behalf of ASB. It is my pleasure to introduce Oh yeah. Um it's my pleasure to to introduce our new uh student representative to the board of education
for the 2026 2027 school year, Emma Himenez. As a proud um Hopkinson Husky, Oak Lion, and now Los Almeido Scriffin, Emma is a passionate, ambitious, and thoughtful student who truly embodies the 4 A's. Throughout her time at Loel, Emma has
challenged herself through rigorous coursework while also participating in both soccer and the cross country program. One of Emma's greatest passions is promoting inclusion through kindness through her involvement in the Best Buddies Club. Through events like abilities awareness week and leadership
and um opportunities such as the youth summit, Emma has demonstrated a commitment to advoc advocacy, connection, and ensuring every student feels valued. Emma's passion for service and school culture is also what inspired her to become a member of ASB. She
believes ASB plays a critical role in building the character and culture of a school while creating opportunities for students to collaborate, be creative, and make a positive impact on others. Emma values the opportunity to help create meaningful experiences for her
peers and strives to foster an environment where every Griffin feels included, supported, and connected. Please join me in welcoming Emma Himenez. Okay, we I would also um like to take a moment to recognize and thank our
amazing 18 seniors who have been with us this year. These students um sorry have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to create meaningful events, build school spirit, support their fellow students, and strengthen the culture of our campus.
Their passion, creativity, and commitment have left a lasting impact on our school community. And we are incredibly grateful for all you have given to Loal and to ASB. We are proud to recognize each of them right now. As I call your name, if you could come up,
please. >> Huh? Yeah. Okay. Aiden Lee, Bren Schmidt, Kiara Baldini, Colobby Letterman, Dasha Fallon, President Ella Partisani, Emma Fo,
Jordan Jackson, Leica Zaba here, Lexi Kerakos, Isla Nash, Vice President Izzy Leon Huber, >> Maddie Hernandez, Magnus Hennessy, >> Noie Hart, Sophia Mason,
Serena Foresight and last but not least, Trent Massie. >> Thank you all so much truly for your dedication creating such a positive and family culture in ASB. It is through your leadership that we have truly had
such a successful year. So, thank you guys. You want two line We want our friends. >> Awesome. We are um extremely proud of your leadership and all that you do uh for the high school. And I believe Mrs.
Parson Partisani has a few words to say. Yes. Well, I'll be honest. Um, I come to this one personally. Uh, my own kids are involved in ASB, so I've seen up close what this actually looks like. The late
nights, the behind the scenes hustle, the details nobody sees, but everybody feels. These students under the leadership of Mrs. Lavos and Mrs. Shanner are the ones making sure every kid feels
like they belong here. They build this spirit, but they hold the culture and they show up for the school with one goal to make everybody shine. They even visit our elementary schools, giving younger kids something bigger to to
dream about and want to be part of something bigger. In academia, we talk about what drives academic success and belonging always comes at the top and in ASB
that they make it real every single day. And so honestly, genuinely, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our school such a place that's inclusive, that's thriving, and where everybody feels seen and feels
like they belong. So, thank you ASB. Our next piece of business is I am looking for a motion to approve the appointment of student representative. >> So, move. I second. >> Wonderful. Um, all those in favor >> I
>> I >> just want to be clear. Who are we? >> Emma. Let's make sure she gets her due >> time. So, we're appointing Emma Jimenez to the board for the 26 27 school year.
>> Thank you. Emma, it was um an absolute pleasure to interview you and when I look at your resume and you talk about your your skills of your strong public speaking skills and your communication, your
leadership and your collaboration, those came through loud and clear and we are just really really honored to have you serve with us next year. Thank you very much. And I don't believe we voted. We did vote. We did not vote. I We did not
vote. Thank you. So all of those in favor I opposed passes 5. Thank you so much. >> Um >> just a reminder to stay because we want to do pictures and we do the passing of the gavl but that will be at the recess time.
>> Okay. Um and then we are moving on to our next item which I am um it's the Los Alamidos Education Foundation report and community presentation and I would love
uh Mrs. Low to come to the podium. >> Good evening to the school board cabinet and everyone who's here. I am Carrie Log and I'm the executive director of Lif. Lif is the Los Alamidos Education Foundation and we are the nonprofit partner of the whole school district
which includes Seal Beach, Rossmore, Los Alamidos and two small parts of Long Beach and Cypress if I have that correct. All six elementaryaries, both middle schools and Losel High School. Our mission is to prepare every child in
our district for college and beyond. And our tagline is we enhance educational excellence. Just since there's so many ASB students in the room, have any of you ever taken a Lif after school class like elementary, middle? Okay,
we do a lot of them. So, um, LEF was established back in 1982. I started my career in education as a history teacher. So, I think it's important that we look back. Um, it was the Friends of the Seal Beach School District before Losal even unified and that 501c3 was
reestablished in 1985 to reflect our district's unification. In 1989, fundraising under LEF built the performing arts center at Louisal High School with $250,000 raised back then, which was a lot of money. And then from
1998 through 2005, more funds were raised really to support technology infrastructure across the district during those rapidly changing times. In 2009, work began to establish a more formal sustainable LEFE. U so Diana Hill
was a part of that as well as Andrea Reid, two folks at the dis. So thank you for your initial work to establish SLA's strong foundation. The summer of 2010 brought our first summer enrichment institute and from there after school classes followed
shortly thereafter. Our King and Queen of Hearts campaign was our big fundraising signature event and campaign that lasted from November 2013 through February 2024. Back in the fall of 2014, we partnered with our superintendent to bring the
state of the district breakfast to the community, which continues to this day, and our major donor group, the LOSAL leadership circle, was established in 2018. Over the past year and a half or so, we switched our major fundraising event to LA Night Out, which debuted in February
of 2025, and we had another successful event this past February. Lif is a big team. I am part of six office staff. We hire at least a hundred enrichment teachers and instructors throughout the year. We have s six
campus coordinators that serve at our elementary schools, classroom assistants, as well as our volunteer board of directors, which also includes five board adviserss. Thank you to our superintendent, Dr. Pulver, for serving as an adviser. And we have 10 ammeritus
board members who graduate from regular board membership and stick around and keep supporting life. So those programs, we are really well known across the community for our afterchool and summer enrichment. Summer enrichment institute is back this summer. We have four glorious weeks
planned at Rossar Elementary School with over 200 classes offered across two twoe sessions and it's pretty full. I would say sign up now, but we are really really low on space in those classes thanks to the huge outpouring of support through registration in our community.
Middle School SEI is back for the first time since 2022. So students going into sixth, seventh, and eighth grade are invited to join us at McAuliffe Middle School for a two-eek session. And we continue to offer high school offerings. Um, one I want to point out especially
is our college application workshop series. So for juniors out there that are wondering how they can plan for what's next after high school, I invite you to join those fantastic workshops. Our afterchool classes take place in a
spring and fall session every year. This year we had over 500 classes offered across all nine schools and that includes free Spanish for students in TK through third grade. We also partner with our coaches and directors at Losal High School to
provide summer camps and clinics. Those many are available right now on our website and you can find out the details there. And we support our steam fairs across all school campuses. And Lif provides a teacher stipen to coordinate that event as well as a budget for the
expenses. And already mentioned was our teacher of the year dinner that just happened. So, thank you Dr. Pulver for mentioning that. It's it truly is a beautiful celebration. I kind of joke about how many tears I will cry because it's just this beautiful heartwarming event that
truly brings everyone to tears when we stop and reflect on the impact of these amazing educators and we're very fortunate um to have all of these folks in Los that we could celebrate this year. um state of the district I already mentioned as well as the steam fairs and griff friends which is coming up later
this month are events that LAF is proud to sponsor in partnership with the district. So in addition to all those programs we raise money to give to Lowell kids. So our steam and innovation grants have now reached 846,000 in direct donations. Student wellness is at
over 720,000 that built our well spaces across the district and supports our interns that work out of the well spaces to bring additional support. Scholarships are important to us because we are for all LOSAL kids. So we give 75%
off of our program fees for any family that has a need and we will do far more than that so that every kid has access. Those scholarships are up to 324,000. And coming up, senior awards night for the seniors in the room. Lif is really
honored to partner with so many different folks in the community that um bring uh scholarships to graduating seniors. We also give our own scholarship and we have many memorial funds that Leif um supports in memory of of many educators that served in our
community. Moving on from there, something I don't talk about too much is something called love grants. Um, this is something where when we hear about a tragedy in our community, we go into their registration account for life and we like to put a couple thousand dollars in there and
it's just because families go through hard times and what we want is for them to not have to worry about paying for some fun classes or camps for their kids. So, that's something we do behind the scenes that I thought might be fun to share out. We also uh within about
the last three or four years started providing staff members to um aid students with special needs in our afterchool classes to again just make efforts to reduce the barriers so that all kids can have access to our enrichment education. During the school
day we partner with project seek and the administration at MGA to bring the staff member for the art program as well as the teacher at Rossmore in the STEM lab. So that's Ana Kapon and Melissa Blue Yacht who are employees of LEF little known fact and we're glad to have those
partnerships and bring those instructional moments into the school day. In addition, we pay a facilities use fee for all of our classes and camps that operate. Another little known fact, uh this year it was $130,000 and since 2011 it's 1.375 million in
direct funding to the district for our facilities use. So that brings our total since 2013 to 3.65. 65 I'll round up million in direct dollars directly to the district and our schools. So I think that deserves a little applause.
>> And we can't do what we do without the involvement of our amazing generous community. So how can you support LA? Enroll a child in one of our classes or camps. That's a great way to do it. Donate. We have we will take any donation. Uh we especially love folks
who support at $24 a month to give kids access to our classes that can't afford it. And if you'd like to be a part of our major donor group, the LOSAL leadership circle that starts at $1,000 annually, which breaks down to $84 a month. And Lace Night Out is coming back
for the third year, Saturday, February 28th. Never too early to mark your calendar. And if you don't want to come to the event, you can shop the online auction. If you know a business that might want to sponsor, there's lots of ways to get involved and support Loal kids. And I um have been with LY for 12 and a
half years and I recently announced that I am moving on professionally. So I will be serving full-time through the end of the month and then will continue at quarter time with LA until my replacement is in place. And um it's
just been a complete honor to spend these years. I'm going to cry because it's what I do. Um I I will share that I'm I'm going to be moving into nonprofit consulting. So I will still be serving the nonprofit sector and um working with other organizations, lots
of organizations in our community. And it was something that happened quite suddenly. It really um just fell in my lap. and and so it it just has been such an honor to be a part of LA for these last 12 and a half years. Um I'm really
proud of how much we've grown. I put a note up there about our annual income growing um from about 300,000 when I joined to 2.8 million as of last year. We're at 19 million in revenue generated during my time with LAF. And that's not something I can own on my own. I'm
honored to be the leader of our staff and to interface with our amazing volunteer board of directors and all the community members that join our leadership circle. It's just phenomenal the way Losal steps up and just rallies around our kids as we always say. So, I cannot take the credit alone certainly,
but I am proud of um the leadership that I've brought to the organization and the way we've grown. So, um but I'll still be here. I'm a proud Lowell parent. I'm a Seal Beach resident. I'm committed to continue as a personal LA donor and leadership circle member and like I mentioned I'm going to be around until
my replacement is um ready to take to the next level which is what I really know will happen. I'm proud of where we are now and I I'm even more excited to see where Leif blossoms to under new leadership and so
um so follow us on Instagram. We have a really good page. Yeah, if you don't yet. >> So Carrie, amazing presentation. Thank you so much. We had talked I think a year or so ago and said, you know, I think it's really important that we have an opportunity for the whole community
to hear about what life does because I see I think they see several little pieces of it, but they don't see it all together. And so I just think it's so incredibly um apppropo that you should be making that first presentation to the board and unfortunately it'll be your
last. But we're very um we're just really eternally grateful for all you've done and all that you have um led to and it has been amazing. And so we we want to do some recognition of you. So that means you can't move at this point in
time because um we need to um um this is not a vote but we need to uh work on recognizing you and I think Papa and um Dr. Pver are coming to the podium and then I think a um couple board members
will want to say a thing or two. Okay. So, as Mrs. Hill shared, yes, the seems kind of interesting timing. We had planned this a year almost a year ago to have LA present after all of our school reports and our high schools was just last uh board meeting and so we invited
Leif to present tonight. But it is with uh my esteemed pleasure and heartfelt uh gratitude um to really recognize the exceptional service and role that Carrie uh has served uh as the executive
director for LA for the past 12 and a half years. You know, one of the I think any uh really successful district is lucky to be able to have an ed foundation to really help support the work um that a school district does. and not very many districts have it. I've
had other districts reach out to me to ask how can they form an ed foundation um to be able to help support the ongoing work that districts try to try to do. Um and it's not from the role of the superintendent, it's really the role of the community and so many others who
have stepped up. And I think that is just uh paramount to um I I think to the leadership that Carrie has done over the tw 12 and a half years. I think all of us now kind of whenever we think of LA, we think of Carrie because you have
really built uh LA and yes, we had some exceptional uh key leaders who did laid the early foundations for it including Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Reid and even uh Evelyn Garcia who I see uh in in the back and some of it uh early days. Um,
but really Carrie, you've taken it from uh an organization I think of maybe did you guys have one maybe two staff members um to as you just shared a a staff of six. And so that is really impressive when we think about all of the opportunities. They provide really
rich and awarding uh extracurricular uh programs and our community ravishes it. Um, and so you're providing such a quality program for our students to go after school uh in the summer, your focus on mental health. When we were looking at building well spaces at our
two middle schools with a partnership with Chalk and the county, they were only going to do middle schools. And that wasn't going to suffice for us here um in Loal. And so we knew that the mental health needs of our students um were were growing and magnifying
throughout the community as well. And so we we really had a vision um to be able to open a wealth space at Los Altos High School. Um and those those were times um when funds were were very bleak. And so Laith just championed it. The entire
community of Laith made their whole um fundraising effort, the February campaign to to donate I think what was it over 250,000 almost $250,000 to build the wealth space at Los Alles High School. that would not have been possible without uh Lace leadership and
the generous donors to support LA. And then from there uh through some of that and actually through the state of the district, a very generous family, the Sethis um said, "We want to get involved in that." And so they helped uh spearhead some of the donations and partnered with the district and with LA.
So then it was kind of a three-part partnership to create the Oasis Wealth Space. Um and then it became so mission central to Lif that LA wanted to support uh how we can make this at our elementary schools and how providing funding for interns uh wellness uh
counselor interns um so that we can increase the number of bodies servicing our students whether it be the innovation grants at at our at our uh elementary schools our middle school and high school you just come alongside uh and I think I was talking to a few board members from LA who said Carrie you're
like the you were like perfect unicorn um for for life and to be able to serve in that role um for 12 and a half years and you have you have seen it grow. You have seen it evolve and that's thanks to your leadership. You have life has not been stagnant. It has changed as you saw just the fundraising efforts, the
leadership circle really was uh came out of your exceptional uh leadership and the role of the board and she's always been extremely focused on inclusivity um and and how LA can continue to be you know in LOSA we want to make sure all doors are open to all kids uh and
sometimes some of the afterchool programs were not um as well open to some of our students with with unique challenges or special needs and so LA provided funding to make sure that students with special needs if they needed an instructional aid or some additional assistance to be
able to access the afterchool program or the summer program that they provide those opportunities and that was mission central with with their support of Griff Friends. Uh and it just carries on and carries on and so uh Carrie it's going to be really hard to to fill your shoes.
Uh it's always hard to fill this uh the role of somebody when they've done exceptional work, but I know that that individual is out there because as Carrie would say as well, life is bigger than any one individual. Uh any leader does not want to see an organization fall apart after they leave. They hope
that they put really strong systems uh in place to really just make sure that the organization expands and continues to blossom. And I think you and your exceptional board and your staff continue to do that. Um, and when you when you get Carrie as the executive director for LA, it's a family affair. I
mean, we've seen her husband, her her parents, um, and her children uh, child uh, in so many of the of the LAF events. And so, thank you to your family as well because it takes time away um, from family to put in all of these extra efforts. And the beautiful thing is it's
not just impacting her child, it's impacting um 8,800ish uh kids and and then some because there are community people outside our community who come to us in the summer to take advantage of our amazing program. So with that, I want to turn it
over to um our president, Mrs. Hill, to further extend our appreciation. We have a small gift for you and a certificate of apprec It is very heavy. Uh that's because she has put in some heavy work these last 12 and a half years.
>> So yes, you do have to >> hold this. >> Hold that. >> It's pretty gorgeous. And um and then we do have we do have a certificate um from the Los Alamitos Unified School Board of Education and Administration
congratulating and condem not condemning >> commending you for exceptional leadership, partnership and lasting contributions to Los Alamidos Unified and the greater community through the Los Alamidos Education Foundation. and
we could not um we know how lucky we have been to have you the last 12 and a half years Carrie and we hope that you are able to take all that you learned here and um go on and help many others um accomplish great things. So um I do
know we have some board members who also want to say something. So you feel free to put that down. Papa. >> Okay. On behalf of the board of education, we had it specially minted just for you.
>> Thank you. >> It is the you make a difference medal with a wonderful thank you on the back. >> You are a gift to all of us and the board of education appreciates it. Mrs. Praosani, I believe you had a few
words you wanted to share. >> Yes. Yes, I would love to. Well, Carrie, what you have built at Lei for the past 12 and a half years is really worthy of a pause and a celebration again.
Um, and you know, as a former uh, Lif board member, I had the privilege of having a front row seat to many of the hard work and really um, initi uh, innovations that you put in
place. You know, you challenged the board to rise to the moment. You raised the bar on what LAF can do and can be. You built the team, the fundraising. It was your idea to come up with the leadership circle that is going to help
make all of this last. And you know, Leif is stronger and more capable today because of the foundation that you laid. And that's what great leaders do. You know, they make sure the mission lives beyond them. And you've done that.
Carrie, as a lowal parent and a Seal Beach resident, you poured your heart into this community and this community is better for it. The kids who found their passion in an afterchool program, the teachers energized by the innovation
grant that Leif gave out, and the students who walked into a wellness center on a day that they just had a bad day. You know, they felt your work even if they didn't know your name. So, thank you for that. I think that's what
really real legacy is all about and that's what you've left behind. So, thank you, >> Mrs. Davidson. >> So, everybody's approached it from all of your accomplishments, which are so many, and I just want to take it from two different angles. Um the first one
is like probably a little less emotional for me than the second one. As a former teacher, um the teachers out there know that teachers every year in September, well now it's August, um are very busy gathering supplies and using their own
money to build their classrooms and and because it's really it's hard to fund everything. Leif has made that possible in gigantic ways whereas we were maybe trying to get wipe off boards and things like that back in the old days. Now you
help fund technology in class in classrooms in ways that are advancing our kids' knowledge but also inspiring them to do great things and pursue their dreams and and have curiosity about possibilities. what what life does for
us on our campuses is gigantic, but it's also very personal. And I I'm so grateful for the way that you've made a difference in every teacher's life and enabled many of our educators to do things that really we wouldn't be necessarily be able to do. And then the
second one, I thank you on behalf of my husband and me. Um when we lost our daughter, we started a scholarship and uh it was challenging to know the legalities and the ways what you know how we had to account for what you know how we were writing checks and all of
that and we're pulling together the funds and you came along and Leif came along and took over stepped in and said we can handle the banking and the legalities and all of that aspect of it. You just you just work with the counselors and find the kids. I think
probably we wouldn't. Stephanie passed away in 1998. She was in ASB. She loved it. Head cheerleader. Loved Lasowl with all her heart. And I I believe that we might not have been able to keep going just because of the whole structure of it. And neither of us were probably, you
know, educated in that way. Um, and but because of Leif, we were able to keep doing it and we've given over a hundred scholarships and we do that with our daughter's memory and her love for Los Alen mind and I thank you with all my heart for so gracefully stepping in and
doing that and helping us every single year. Thank you, >> Mr. Braman. Carrie, I I'll be pretty quick, but I I just want to thank you and we're all thank you from different places, but it's been fun to see you as a part of the leadership circle and as a life supporter, but as a dad that works
and has too many jobs, I being able to have my daughter in those enrichment classes after school and having her in the summer classes as a dad allowed me to be able to do my job to my best ability while I knew she was having the best experiences. So when she was in STEM class, when she was doing cheer or dance and doing all these different
things, that made me feel so safe to know my daughter was somewhere else while I was working and that as a parent is all you could ever ask for. So I appreciate that from the bottom of my heart. It's it has made when we came into Los I think she she was in second grade and right away it was she's going to be in LA classes and I became a LA leazison. I got to be around it a little
bit in the afternoons and it was I it made me feel like this something every single student should have an opportunity to have. So I appreciate that. I know that you're leaving us in good hands. We'll miss you, but again, you're going to be around and so we'll continue to hit you up for everything we can. But thank you again as a dad. Yeah.
>> So, Carrie, would you like to introduce your family quickly? >> My husband Daniel, daughter Anakah, and my parents Paul and Linda. And I know that you have a lot of people that are supporting you and that are here for you that are in the audience
because you have impacted so so many. So um I need to do one quick bit of business. Um I would love a motion to move recess before board comments. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor?
>> I. So, we're going to go ahead and now go into recess so we can take photos. Thank you so much. Um I would also um like uh to propose that we have a motion to move public comments on open session
up before our board comments. >> Second. >> You move we have a movement with Mr. Forham, a second with Mrs. Davidson. All of those in favor? I I all right wonderful. So I do get to read this
lovely thing. Um public comments open session items non-aggendaized. Persons wishing to address the board should complete a speaker request card to um uh request card prior to the start of the meeting. Speaker cards may be submitted
to the district office beginning at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting and will also be accepted um at the start of the meeting. This is an opportunity for community members to address the board regarding agenda item items or matters that are not on the agenda. Each speaker
is limited to three minutes for a total um public comments limited to 30 minutes. Speakers may not relinquish or transfer their time to another. When addressing the board, speakers are requested to come to the podium, state their name, and adhere to the um
established time limits. In accordance with the Brown Act, the board may not discuss or take action on items not listed on the posted agenda and cannot immediately respond to public comments. Speakers are reminded that comments that are made during public meetings remain
subject to applicable laws regarding um deflam deflaminate deflamatory or and false statements. So with that lovely thing being read, we may now move to our
public comments. And I believe that all of our public comments are coming from our robotics team. And I do want to know if there was any order in which you would like to speak. >> Yes, >> you have an order. Okay. So, why don't
you take initiative and come to the podium, whoever wants to be first, and then I will make sure that that is the first person that we record. >> Um, Hos Harmon >> and your name is >> Hos Harmon. >> Oh, thank you.
Thank you, Hos. Okay. Good evening. I'd like to begin by thanking you all for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Hos Harmon Harman and I'm a current junior at Los Alamos High School and captain of the Los Robotics team. I joined the team in my freshman year during that year's summer camp. The mission of Los Robotics
or as we call ourselves the Golden Griffins is to provide a gold standard for hands-on STEM and business education within the LOS community. Our vision for the team is to serve as a community hub, enabling students across the district to get the best hands-on experience in
engineering, problem solving, collaboration, and leadership. In recent years, Los Robotics has come far towards this goal in large part thanks to the support of this school board, the community, and organizations like LAF. From showing up to cheer on the team at competitions to providing critical
resources that enable our mission, we sincerely thank you for your support. Our goal tonight is to showcase the many ways in which your continued support has enabled our team to make a positive impact on our community and provide a transformative experiences for our students.
As a first robotics competition or FRC team, competing is a core component of our activities, enabling our members to get experience making technical decisions in a fun, competitive, and collaborative environment. Our team was founded in 2016 for that expressed purpose. Back then, we had only 10 team
members, no permanent space on campus, and zero knowledge of how to compete. Over the years, we worked hard to record the lessons our team learns every season, with teams across the world, and connected with mentors to help maintain the long-term continuity of the team,
and provide professional knowledge for our students to learn from. This year, our team saw a great deal of competitive success, finishing third and fifth at the LA and OC District tournaments and attending the Southern California State Championship. We've performed well in events before, but this season was
especially satisfying. It was consistently our own team's work that pushed us to higher levels as opposed to relying primarily on the success of others as we often had in previous years. Many factors contributed to our performance this season, but some of the most prominent were the changes we were
able to make to our design process due to the resources we had access to. For one, having a permanent space on campus for the past 2 years has enabled us to finally settle down and look towards new ways of expanding our presence at school and within our community. Having an increased budget made possible by the
financial support of the school board, LEF, PTSA, and many new sponsors has allowed us to invest more in our prototyping process. Iterating and experimenting with new designs, giving us the chance to try out more ideas before settling. And having access to both a testing room and outdoor practice
field at LHS enabled us to see how our ideas worked in the real world and build on them, a key part of the engineering design process. Thank you so much for all of your support this season and I look forward to our continued collaboration in the future. >> Thank you, Hos. Our next speaker will be
Tyu. >> Can I start? >> Thank you. >> Okay. Well, hello. I'm Tyu. Uh, give me a sec. Uh I'm the business documentation and outreach lead for our amazing team, the Golden Griffins, uh which to perfectly described, but now I'm going
to be talking about some of our specific programs and I'm excited to share them. So one of our most impactful initiatives is the Lakes Robotics Summer Camp where we provide over 40 students with not just technical skills in programming, manufacturing, and design, but also
collaboration, perseverance, and critical thinking skills. Not just this, but our flagship project in this program allows students to construct their own robot from scratch, which we use to compete during our offseason, allowing the next generation of engineers to witness their own project being used in
competition. This year, we expand this program with the help of LA and other organizations to reach even more people and expand the impact of this initiative. We continue our mission to inspire our community through short showcases across the Los Alio's Unified School District that reach hundreds of
curious students. At elementary schools such as Weaver and Macau, we allow the youth community to drive our robot and play many games to spread awareness and interest in in robotics. And as we all know, kids learn best through play. Being able to witness ordinary children figure out the controls of the robot
discovering, "Oh, that button makes the intake work or oh no, that robot is going the wrong direction when I uh move the control." And ultimately, it would it was an ultimate it was ultimately incredible to watch, especially when they completed the game through their
adapt adaptation and problem solving skills. This serves as our catalyst for our campaign to spread curiosity for our next generation of youth members of next generation of engineers programs and ultimately problem solvers who make up our community tomorrow. These programs
support our the voices of the youth community was which was only made possible through this help of organizations like you who are dedicated to making the loss community engaged and educated. We want to extend our deep gratitude and showcase the direct
product of your support. Thank you. >> Oh, I know Jonathan. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> Um, just for I guess formality, my full name is Jonathan Q or QU. >> Thank you very much.
>> Right. Good evening, distinguished board. My name is Jonathan Q and I currently serve as device captain and design lead of robotics team 6220. But I'm not here to talk about my title. I'm here to talk about how robotics has
allowed us to grow, not just materially or physically, but personally. For some background, me and a lot of my fellow peers first joined robotics in our freshman summer for the robotics summer camp. We were students with plenty of curiosity and drive, but
simply didn't know where to start. So, robotics provided the opportunity to direct that passion into something real. From learning how to drill to professional computerized design. But besides learning the technical skills of engineering, we grew to know
the very foundation of it, which was failure. I mean, it's easy to talk about engineering problem solving in the abstract. It's another thing though to be going through your fifth iteration of pulley and belts or your fourth attempt at trying to get these front arms to
work to perfectly function fold intake all within strict size restrictions. And if that sounds a lot, it was. I mean, if we had a coin for every time there was a miscalculation, a weekong setback, a silly engineering mishap that happened,
we would have enough money to build a new robot. Slight exaggeration, but you get the point. We fail a lot. But those setbacks weren't wasted time because on the contrary, they were our most valuable lessons. In a classroom, a mistake is a
grade. But in our workshop, a mistake is an invitation to improve. For me personally, it's been two years of constant failures and mistakes. And for the students who will follow in our footsteps, I doubt no less. But they
will grow from it. I mean, take a look at us for our past 2 years alone. Because we have grown to be more than just students who know how to use the drill or rewire a robot. We have grown to become engineers who know how to project every problem with logic and the grit to try again when we fail. We have
grown to be leaders knowing to take that extra step, that initiative, not just for ourselves, but for the people who believed in us. And most importantly, we've grown as a team because we've grown to understand that people are going to be intrinsically different in their perspectives, their habits, their
willingness to clean up the room. And that's okay because true teamwork starts when you start trying to make everyone the same, but rather try to truly understand each other so we can work together.
It is the failures and the constant commitment to try again despite it to grow despite it. That is what made our robot and our team success this year so much more possible. And while the robots we built will be deassembled year after year. The engineers, the leaders, and
the team you have helped us become, we're just getting started. Thank you. I think I have this figured out. Jessica Joyce. >> Um, good evening. I'm My name is Jessica Joyce. I'm currently a junior and I've been a member of this team since my
freshman year. Over the past three years, I've had the opportunity to serve as a marketing lead, representing our team at events across the district and helping to strengthen the connection between robotics and the community around us. Through robotics, I've learned that our team is much more than about building robots. While I
originally joined because my interest in STEM, I quickly discovered how much collaboration and communication are involved in everything we do. Working on the business side of the team teaches us how to organize outreach events, speak with sponsors and community members, and advocate for the importance of STEM education. At the same time, being
involved technically has allowed me to develop hands-on engineering and problem solving skills that I never imagined I'd gain in high school. The opportunities this team has given me both in business and engineering are what inspired me to pursue a career in civil engineering. For me, one of the most meaningful experiences has been volunteering and
mentoring younger students through our summer programs and outreach events. Watching elementary and middle school students become excited about robots for the first time is incredibly rewarding. Whether it's teaching students how to use simple tools, guiding them through small engineering challenges, or simply encouraging them to ask questions, I've
seen how impactful these experiences can be. And it's inspiring to watch these students realize their potential. As a team, we are committed to becoming a center for STEM and business within the Los Almeidas community. Looking ahead, we hope to continue expanding our impact by continuing to lead events at the high school such as Club Rush and STEM fairs
while also bringing hands-on STEM experiences to younger students through the summer camps, showcases, and outreach programs that Tai mentioned. Building these strong connections across all grade levels, we hope will create a lasting pipeline that inspires curiosity and confidence in younger students while strengthening opportunities for those
already involved. Thank you for your time and your continued support. We're excited to continue making a lasting impact in our community. Dr. Pver, would you like to address the team? >> I would be honored. Uh so, thank you uh for our amazing students for educating
us each and every single day uh tonight included. Um exceptional conversations and speeches and enlightening um perspectives. And I love, you know, we talk about how it's a powerful way to learn is to make mistakes. uh and and
that really is the design engineering um aspect and a formal science teacher in me is really excited about that. But what I also love is, you know, when when you guys invited many of us and the community when you had an open house earlier this year to really take a look
at all that this robotics team uh does. And I think through that my lens and my eyes got even broader. Um because you really showed me how many different teams and subset of teams are involved um in the in the various uh layers uh
within that. And so it made us really think and then the the amount of time and energy that these students put in and quite honestly our our amazing parents and community who really volunteer. Um some of these individuals they're working past 9:00 at night uh in in the lab space and maybe that's even a
conservative time. Uh but I might not want to say later than that uh on our campus and sometimes we think about athletics and performing arts and how much time that they put on the practice on stage or on the field or on the court. But I would say that uh these engineering students also put that much
time if not more on weekends and after schools and and so I'm so glad when Mrs. Vienna, Mrs. Krauss really advocated as we were modernizing some of the rooms uh on the campus that we could find uh a dedicated space and I know our director at the time of facilities Mr. Nolan
really prioritized how we could take a look at trying to provide that appropriate space. And then I want to thank the board because I think in that too we started a new um idea of providing up to $10,000 for innovation material seed funds for some of our
student clubs or groups that don't have as much support. And so this year our board was able to really through the initiative of our engineering. So, I think that the ripple effect of of of our robotics team, um, they were granted $5,000 this year to help carry on the
work that they're doing. Um, that didn't even cover the entrance to the first competition. I think the entrance to the first competition was over $6,000 if I recall seeing a a PO for that. Um, and so it's really takes parents in the community who also give in so many
different ways to make extraordinary opportunities for our students to learn. um lessons that we uh can probably continue to learn from all of you. So, thank you for coming today and continuing to share your passion. Uh and I can't wait to see when is the uh LA
class that you guys will be uh doing in the summer for the for the youth? >> July 6th through 24th. >> So, July 6th through the 24th. If there's any community members out there, these are some exceptional kids. you would absolutely want to have your kids be a part of such a hands-on and um
knowing that it's okay to fail, that that's just really part of the process. So, don't be scared and intimidated. Uh and it just be fun. So, so thank you so much for coming tonight. We appreciate and support you in in all of your endeavors. >> Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing.
I'm going study. >> I I read it. I read it before, but I just want you to understand we can't address the comments that you've made. That's why >> that's why Dr. Pulver did. So, I just wanted I didn't want you to think we were being rude. >> No, thank you. We appreciate it.
>> Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. We are going to move on. And now we're going to move on to board comments and communication. And um I am going to start with Papa for him. I'm mixing it up. I'm mixing it up every time.
>> Okay. Thank you, President Hill. Again, this month I want to focus on our third our number three goal, fostering collaboration, partnerships, and shared responsibilities among all students, family, staff, and
the community to champion unlimited possibilities. Or I take this to mean it takes a village and we have the best village to reach unlimited possibilities. Our village of support extends into our community where the youth center of Los Alamidos and our
Rotary Club celebrate our students who make a difference volunteering for the many of our community support groups like Rotary Summer Harvest, National League of Young Men, the Rossmore Women's Club, and many more. The Night Among the Stars event demonstrated the
countless hours of volunteering our students do. The Lelay Foundation, if you heard tonight, is huge and it greatly supports our village as a village supporter. But I want to specifically share why we say that.
Renee, the drama teacher at McAuliffe, shared her grant at a recent leadership circle meeting uh event. Her grant from LA was to build a theater program for every student. The up and running theater tech class at McAuliff teaches
our kids the technical side of theater with theater and set design, marketing and ticket sales, and stage management. This is only one of the many, many, many funded innovation teacher grants totaling $154,264
just for this year. and Leif certainly supports our village. Our awesome wellness counselors not only take good care of our kids while at school, but they extend themselves to parents and provide parented like last week's parented workshop, emotions, peer
pressure, school work, now what? The wellness counselors make our village stronger for all. Our college and career center at Losal High provides tremendous support to our students as they explore careers and manage the sometimes
difficult college applications, including financial aid. Griffin's students, Tina, Dne, and Aria, certainly shared how valuable the college and career center is to our families and students in Nicole's video last week.
Lastly, across our district, many many many efforts are being made to provide our students with very special needs inclusion in regular school activities in CLA regular classroom. A recent email from a Los Alamos High School parent
with an autistic child could not say enough about the support her son receives at the high school for to participate in JV diving, fire safety tech class, adaptive PE, and yes,
instrumental music. The parent also gave a shout out to the LE third grader who as their next door neighbor at home provides support to this to their son as well. This as well as all that I
mentioned exemplifies caring for others but committing to make a difference for all students in our village. Thank you. >> Thank you very much Mr. Forham. Mrs. Davidson.
>> So, tonight I would like to focus on a meeting of our safety and wellness committee as well as honoring those celebrated at the LA teacher of the year dinner. As board representatives for the safety and wellness committee, Matt and I participated in a Zoom meeting led by
our director, Evelyn Garcia. At this meeting, members were informed about all that has been accomplished, work that is underway, and plans for the future. These are just a few highlights of what was shared. The district is engaged in an ongoing evaluation of all emergency
preparedness efforts, including a review of all our systems, supplies, emergency equipment, and trainings across the district that are the means by which we keep our students and staff safe in every emergency situation. our internet safety initiatives,
including gaggle and monitoring systems, a five-star student program at middle schools, our highly successful mobile device policy implemented this past year, and parent night opportunities related to online safety and citizen and
digital citizenship all were a topic of conversation. Clinical safety in infrastructure on campuses was addressed as updates on AED uh maintenance, Narcan availability, EpiPen standing orders and staff
training for CPR, AED and Narcan was shared. It's not that we it's a one-time training. It's not that it's a one-time check. This is an ongoing process that that's very diligently upheld by this by this uh group. Reflecting upon the
well-received parent night called social media I AI and your child what parents need to know. We discussed potentially relevant topics for future parent education nights the frequency at which these nights should be held and the importance of providing experts from
relevant fields to present on the subject matter when appropriate. Attendance updates were given that's been a priority including an overall increase in the attendance rate to 97.88%. 88% almost 98%
of of our students are regularly attending which is an outstanding reflection of this priority given across the district to increase regular attendance by our students. All of this is related to mental health in that being at school having a safe
environment knowing that you're cared for is all part of of engaging our students. We this committee also deeply cares about what's happening in our wellspace centers. the uh the director and her team support our meal our mental
health counselors and and our cat um CRT is it C no cat team that goes out for in a crisis situation and we're always updating what needs to be done in those areas on behalf of the board I want to express our s sincere gratitude to
Evelyn and our student services and wellness teams who work with her to make sure every issue of safety and wellness from mental health to emergency mergency preparedness to physical well-being to parent education is thoroughly researched, addressed, and constantly
revisited in order to create the safest, healthiest environment for students, staff, and community. On April 22nd, LAF, as Dr. Pver shared, hosted a dinner that celebrated one teacher from every campus chosen to be the school the school's teacher of the
year. And this is very special to me, having been a former teacher in our district. The room was filled with outstanding educators being honored for the incredible work that they do every day in their classrooms. Recognized by their administrators and peers as exceptional in their passion,
creativity, spirit of collaboration, and most of all, dedication and love for their students. These students, these teachers stand tall in a profession that requires tireless energy, insatiable curiosity, a drive to a drive to evolve and always learn, and a passion for
elevating every student. In Lassal, their dedication is not unique. The teachers honored this table are stellar examples of dedicated educators at every school um who know what what truly matters. We celebrate every one of these honores
and thank you for giving your hearts to our ch the children of our community. Thank you to Carrie Log and her team for another fabulous evening of celebration. And finally um I want to share um about a very special person that we lost
yesterday. So I when I started teaching I was at LE as a student teacher new to the profession just learning and I Betsy Graada was a teacher on campus at LE who reached out mentored and befriended me and she went on she was an outstanding
loving person dedicated to her fellow teachers union advocate but she went on to Laurel because our continuation school was where she saw the students who really needed her and for years she gave her heart to those kids. Um Betsy
passed away yesterday. It's Betsy Gra. Losing Betsy Grada in the world is a giant loss. We're fortunate because her granddaughter is a Hopkinson Husky and the Grada legacy continues. But I know that Betsy will be remembered by all the
students and the families that she touched. And and I just want to say it was an honor to have known her, been mentored by her, and I will deeply miss her. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Davidson.
Mr. Bragman, >> did not know which way you were going to go. I appreciate this. This is fun. >> I'm keeping you on your toes. >> Good evening. I want to start by recognizing celebrating some of the incredible events and school visits I've had the opportunity to attend over the past few weeks. Uh, first, I attended
the eighth grade athletics information night along with Miss Davidson. It was incredible to see more than 400 families fill our brand new Griffin Center as incoming students and parents learned about the many athletic opportunities available at Los High Loel High. I I don't know I'd say to Miss Reed probably a thousand people. We were overflow
standing room only with one side of the bleachers. It was amazing to see that turnout. Um following an opening presentation that was facilitated by our athletic director Nathan Berger and our assistant principal Blake Hypoc, families participated in individual meetings. So families went to individual rooms where they learned about sports
specifics. They were able to go to three different sports so they could learn if they're interested in multiports which was very much encouraged if they're interested in learning about any of them. Uh they also had specific sessions at the end of the evening focusing on booster clubs and supporting the wellness for our student athletes. It was an overall amazing night. I heard
lots of feedback from parents and community members who just enjoyed the opportunity to go and learn and feel supported and the openness to have students go into sports that they maybe never even thought of but just to hear and listen to coaches and be able to start to understand what opportunities there were to be connected at Losell High School. also shared which sports
are cut programs, which ones are non-cut programs, which ones you require a certain amount of abilities so that people have a sense of what what should I be looking for as I'm as I'm trying to make that leap from 8th grade into high school. So, great job to them and an amazing night I cannot wait to see again in the future. Um, two other amazing
events I got to visit. Um, first was Mclliff Middle School's uh choir concert last week. Again, Miss Davidson and I were there. It was a concert on the green. The evening began in the NPR. the students produced music videos um which were amazing and fun and it was a really great use of seeing our prop 28 funds in
action. So we saw them using brand new LCD projector and sound system. We saw um the results of the upgrades to their studio that is in the choir room. And so to see that and then watch them go outside and perform in the concert in the green. I heard one parent say it was like our own little Hollywood Bowl. It was such an amazing performance. Um
great performances. Each each group did two songs with love as kind of a theme. You heard songs in Portuguese and in Italian and Hebrew. Um you heard pop songs from Justin Bieber. It was it was just a fun night. And so parents picked and ate and there was food trucks there.
Um eighth graders were in tears like it was the end of their educational experience. But it was amazing to see. Um and knowing that many of those students will continue on in our high school. So it was really great and I appreciate, you know, a huge shout out to Miss uh Kylie and Miss Wallace. Uh they even had a student teacher there who helped facilitate it and Miss Wallace, I know, gave her a big shout
out. I'd like to shout out our student teacher that was there because there had been a death in the family and she covered to make sure that that choir performance went on without without skipping a beat. So amazing night of choir which led into another amazing choir performance this weekend um for those of us that were able to go to the Los Alamos High School choir pop show. I
think most of the board was able to attend that. Um administrators, teachers, parents, students, everyone in the world seemed to be there. Um it's truly spectacular. If people have not had the opportunity to go to the choir pop show at the end of the year, it's a final performance for our seniors. I know I went along with I think on
Saturday alone Miss Parisani, Miss Davidson and Mr. Forham. We were all there on that night. The final performance for seniors is moving. Um tears from students, tears from parents, tears from their friends, tears from people like me in the crowd that are just fans of music and seeing them in action. Uh it was extraordinary. We saw
sound effects and sound tracks perform their national champion winning um sets. We got to see all the seniors do their solo performances. Sometimes they brought up their siblings. We saw one student bring up his younger sibling and his sibling who graduated to do his solo together. Um really special evening that
just shows the energy, the excitement, the professionalism of our choir, but also the family that it is. It's really just a special group of students. And I know it's like that year in year out. And so also shout out to um Cara Jennings and um Miss uh Miss Derland, Mr. Davis, and all the guest
choreographers. You don't even realize how many other people support that program and make it successful. So, huge shout out to them, the Boosters, the kids, and everyone for just a really amazing show. Um, and then lastly, I since the last meeting, I was able I I was a little late to the game on visiting some schools, but was able to
visit Weaver and Rossmore. Um, and and won't go into a lot of detail on them, but it's always just fun actually to see it's actually kind of really engaging to see students at the end of the year and to see them closer to the end of the year and see how much they continue to work so hard. Dr. Dr. P and I walked in to Rossmore, excuse me, to Rossmore, you
know, a day where kids had their first day of testing and even after testing, they were engaged and they were learning. Even the ones that were going to be start testing later in the day were engaged and learning. And same thing at Weaver. We saw them, you know, day after um I think they had been on a break and students were just so engaged.
But we saw debates going on in classrooms between students on should you go to outer space and should you explore the bottom of the ocean and just to see the way students are engaging in creating arguments in fourth and fifth grade. we know how those are going to develop into amazing students as they as they grow into middle school and high school and beyond. And so love seeing
the engagement at our schools and I love knowing that like really through June 4th I know that they're going to keep learning and they're having fun doing it at the same time too to see teachers flex and learn while also really making enjoyable for students. So um I appreciate our teachers, our staff, our administrators, our parents, our community for everything as we head into
summer. I I will say this year like I won't be at our next board meeting and so I won't get to have a recap after the end of the school year. Um, but I really shout everyone out for for an amazing school year and everything we've seen and I'm so appreciative to be a board member here in Losel. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Bragman. I bet you know who's next. So, Mrs. Bardani. >> Hi. Well, um, I love going last because, uh, I don't have much to say, but I, um, just to kind of piggyback on what, uh, Mr. Bragman was saying is that this time
of year brings so many final performances and I got to witness a few of them. uh the senior's last improv show, the last all school assembly where about 3,000 students were all entertained and played in games and and we they got to honor all the spring
sports um and the choir's final concert um of the year. You know, what really stood out to me that I just want to share is the confidence and the artistry and the joy that is in those rooms. You know, whenever I walk away from one of those performances, I really feel like
I'm just on cloud nine. Like, I feel like it's so good for my soul. I could have a really bad day. And I walk out of those feeling like, oh my gosh, you know, the world's going to be fine. It's in their hands. So, it's just a it's a wonderful feeling. And um and you know,
uh I just want to take another moment to say that that it's the what they're learning is really the the skills that don't show up on a report card. you know that it's about creativity, it's about courage, it's about helping each other shine. You know, that's the thing about
performance or being on stage is that it's not just about the person performing. It's really what you see as a collaborative effort. And I just love that. And I want to give a shout out to Mr. Barker, um, as you said, Mrs. Derlin, Mr. um, Davis, and a countless
of others that make that happen. And in that same spirit, something you may not know, it it, you know, in our film program under the leadership of uh Mr. Connor Brown, there was um a film festival. It was uh it's
called it's an award ceremony and it was called directing change. Um in Orange County and um a few of our film students got to compete were nominated um their films were nominated in three different
categories. The categories were culture, mental health and substance use uh prevention and they took first place in all of those categories. So, it's phenomenal the work that's being done in every corner of our high school, you
know. Um, it's just when I heard about that, I told Mr. Brown, I said, I I have to um at least mention it, and I'd love to spotlight it, but then I also talked to Dr. Pver about perhaps finding a way where we can really um recognize those students and their films um through some
more creative way because I think they all deserve to have their names uh announced. And um one of those films in the category of mental health is uh is called superhero that's going to move on to compete at the state level with over 1,300
top student films. And you know what u Mr. Brown told me was um last year we took home first place in that award too. So it's pretty fantastic. And lastly, I was at the PTA honorary service award breakfast, which was a good reminder of
something we know, but we don't always say it out loud, and is that the people here in our district, the volunteers, the staff, the parents who show up are the reason that our students thrive. And it just it's a wonderful thing that our
PTA we do a good job as a district recognizing people, but that the PTA also goes through every school and recognizes those staff leaders, parent volunteers. It was a real honor to be in that room. So, with that said, I'm going
to pass it back to you. >> Thank you very much. Um, I really it's it's wonderful to hear all of um the board and how engaged the board is and how many things I learn from other board members because we can only be in so
many places at one time. But um we are very very engaged board because we take the job that we do seriously and because it it truly is a joy. Um, and I get to I get to just finish talking about um
about staff and about the people that really make a difference um and hold everything together and and keep things moving forward. So, I had the opportunity to go to the Hopkinson
longevity um celebration. For those of you who don't know, we celebrate 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35. Is that the highest we go, Dr. Pulver? I think that might be the highest we go. Um, of years of longevity in the district.
>> We do have one teacher at the high school who we've had to get a special Oh, because our pins only go to 35. So, we've had to get some special trophies to I think 40 or 45 years now. >> Yeah. >> Oh my goodness. So, um but that that's a really special
moment to really honor the time that people um spend in our district and it's always something that um we truly enjoy. I also and I believe my other fellow board members have had the opportunity to um sit in in a chapter meeting with
um CSEA and um that's really wonderful to be able to sit in um with our um staff and our employees and really hear what's on their mind and um and answer any questions they have. And they I said
just what questions do you have? And they there were several different questions that came forward. Um, and it was really great to have that and that that transparency and that understanding. And I think that sometimes um when we are we have
negotiating bodies, right? And um we're very good in this district. We do something called IBB inner um inner in interest bargaining. And that means that we find out what are the most important things to both people and that or both
groups. and that's what we work towards. Um, but I think it's also that human touch and when we have that human touch, it makes a big difference. So, I really enjoyed my time there. Um, and we had wonderful conversation about popcorn, but you know, there's there are
important things in the world that one needs to they have a popcorn machine at the auxiliary and so I was fascinated. And then um we had and we um talked about it a little earlier and honored him earlier today, but um at that um
Association of School um administrators dinner last night, they honored I think somewhere around 20 educators throughout the county in um and we were very very fortunate to have um Dan Bennett and
honored as the um career technical education administrator of the year and he did an extraordinary job up on stage and really represented Lassel very well and just the openings or the opening
that he has continu continued to um move um career technical education even more and more forward in our district is just um amazing and we're very grateful to him. So I really got the opportunity
to spend a lot of time with our our extraordinary staff and um as Dr. Pver already said always says is that the people are the hallmark of our district and uh that could not be more true right
now. So that is our completion of our board communication and now we will move on to in our agenda. I have to double check because we moved all kinds of things all over the place. >> 10. So we're talking on uh we're to do a
10 which is information and presentations recognition and we will start with 10A and um Dr. Reese Wright. >> Yes, thank you Madam President. Um we are very fortunate as you know to have great partners um as you just mentioned
in your comments uh with our association. And so tonight we have lead negotiator from LAA Mrs. is Lori Avalos who has hung in with us um so that she can sunshine the articles um for consideration for negotiation for the 2627 school year. So I'd like to welcome
up Mrs. Avalos >> uh the Los Alamos Education Association LEA initial proposal for the 2026 2027 to Los Alamos Unified School District. The Los Alamidos Education Association proposes to open negotiations for the
2026 2027 school year on article 5 hours of employment and duties as well as salary and benefits. LEA reserves the right to discuss all articles of the collective bargaining agreement between the Los Alamidos Unified School District
and the Los Alamos Education Association for the purposes of discussion and modification. Thank you very much, Mrs. Aos. And I believe now we will move on to a 10B, which is the Los Alamidos Unified School
District initial proposal for 2026 2027. Um to the Los Alamidos Education Association and Dr. Ree Wright. >> Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, Mrs. Avalos. Um the Los Alamos Unified School District proposes to open
negotiations for the 2026 2027 uh with the Los Alamos Education Association LEA also on article 5 hours of employment and duties as well as salary and benefits. Los Alamos Unified School District reserves the right to discuss all articles of the collective bargaining agreement between the Los
Alamos Education Association and Los Alamos Unified School District for the purposes of discussion and modification. And now we will move on to a public hearing of the Los Alamidos Education Association LEA initial proposal for
2026 2027 school year to the Los Alamidos Unified School District and the Los Alamos Unified School District initial proposal for 2026 2027 to the Los Alamos Education. I didn't know you could put Los Alamos in a sentence that
many times. um uh association, LAA. And so I will gabble into this I will gabble out of our meeting. I gabble into the public meeting. It is now open to anybody who would like to discuss either
one of these items that we put forth. >> Um yes, absolutely. Your public >> No, the microphone doesn't want me to speak. That's not I understand. Um I just want to say uh thank you to Lori Avalos for her outstanding leadership.
Um it can get really tough in negotiations and she's got she's so smart and has a peaceful heart and she's just an outstanding leader who absolutely is taking this to her last day because she's retiring and so thank you for being so diligent all the way to
the end and so such a wonderful leader. So thanks Lori. >> Thank you Mrs. Davidson. And now that we did have public comment in our public hearing, I will now ahead go ahead and I will gavvel out of the public hearing and I'm going to gave
back into our um our school board meeting. So, thank you very much. Um we closed negotiations, we're back open again. So, um we are now going to move on to consent items. And it appears that I have no polls this evening and it's
just consent items 11 A through X. Is that correct? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. All those in favor? >> I I opposed. Passes 50. Perfect. Thank you so much. We're now going to move on
to action items. And this is the adoption of um retirement resolutions. Good thing we're going to do this before the celebration tomorrow. Dr. Reese Wright, >> don't leave. >> Thank you, Madam President. Yes, very timely. Um, tonight we're bringing forward two additional retirement
resolutions for Candace Hamilton and Kimberly Ericson. >> Thank you very much. And this is a roll call. >> Yes, >> we'll need a motion. Oh, that's a good idea. >> So, so moved. >> Okay. And second. Now we can roll call.
Mrs. Pisani. I >> Mrs. Davidson. I Mrs. Mrs. Hill. I Mr. Forehand. Hi. >> Mr. Bragman. I >> we will allow those people to retire. Um we are now going to move on to the
adoption of resolution 2526-23 um and order of B by annual trustee election and specifications for election order. Dr. Pver. >> Yes, Madame President. As you may or may
not, the community may not know, we actually do have to um declare that we have an election cycle for two of the positions. It's Mrs. Hill's position and Mrs. Davidson's uh trustee areas that will be up for election on the November ballot. And so this is us uh filing that
with the the register of voters. And then the next item will be um >> what that looks like the statement and the number of words because of course we contribute to a portion of that payment uh that gets printed out to all the voters within the community. >> Great. So I need a motion
>> a second. >> Great. Thank you. We can vote for um trustees. That's wonderful. As soon as we vote Mrs. >> Thank you. I >> Mrs. Davidson I >> Mrs. Hill I >> Mr. Forehand. Hi. >> Mr. Bragman. I
>> perfect. We will now move on to action item 12 C and that is the approval of the number of words um to be contained in the governing board member candidate statement. >> Dr. P Oh, Dr. Pver, did you want to go
any further into that? No, just that as has been our um what we've selected the past several elections is that they can contain no more than 200 words. >> Thank you very much. So, I'll take a motion. I think Mrs. Partisani >> so moved. >> Great.
>> And Mr. Forham. Okay. The this is not a roll call. All those in favor? >> I I opposed. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Um we're moving on to D declaration of need for fully qualified educators. That sounds like a very reasonable thing that a school district
should do. Um, so Dr. Reese Wright, >> thank you, Madam President. Yes, annually we bring forward this declaration of need for fully qualified educators, it must be on file with the California Commission on Teacher Credentiing before any emergency permits will be issued for service within our district. Um, if a suitable, fully
prepared teacher candidate is not available, the district is able to hire a qualified teacher candidate who is not completely finished with their accreditation program in the following areas. for us resource specialist and CLAD, that's teachers um supporting English learners. The new education code requirement mandates that school
districts itemize anticipated needs for emergency permits. Based on the previous year's actual needs and projections of enrollment, we estimate and identify the areas that we may need to staff for the 2627 school year. Um clad, those are applicants that hold a teaching credential, but they have not completed
their EL certification for and resource specialist 2. >> Thank you very much. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I opposed passes. 5-0. Approval of warrants. Um the warrants are the
checkbook of the district and so um this board uh looks at every one of those. I think it was 42 pages and I think the font is like four um and um for approval. So I would look for a motion to approve the warrants.
>> So move. >> Second. Any discussion? We are if we have questions about anything specifically, we are given um those answers before the board meeting. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Passes. 5-0. Um acceptance of
donations. This is our very generous community opportunity to say thank you. Um so, oh one and it's big. Uh so we have um total uh yeartodate
donations of $972,46645 and um that we haven't even completed our um fiscal year yet and so we have a very very very generous community and we're so appreciative. Do I have a motion to accept the donations? >> So move.
>> A second. >> Second. Um, you you got you got what you needed, right, Mrs. Dingelo? Okay. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Passes 5-0. We will now move on to our um I recommend that we take
our classified personnel report, certificate of personnel report, and administrative person personnel report as one motion. But uh Dr. Reese Wright will speak to it first. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam President. The three personnel reports reflect um changes and updates since our last board meeting. We recommend approval as
submitted. >> Wonderful. >> I would love a motion. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. And a second. >> Second, >> Mrs. Davidson. Perfect. All those in favor? >> I
>> I passes 5. We are now looking at the approval of an agreement. Oh, are we ready for that one? Yes, we are ready for the approval of an agreement of stipulated to suspend uh stipulated to a suspended student expulsion waiver
of hearing and appeal rights and I believe that Mr. Forham is going to read that for us. Yes, I moved that agreement. >> It is moved that the agreement and stipulation to a suspended student expulsion waiver of hearing and appeal
rights be approved for the violation of the following ED code 48900. >> I need a second, please. >> Second. >> All those in favor all those in favor. >> I I passes 5.
We will I will now move us into close session and we will come back and report um if anything any decisions are made in close session. Thank you. >> Thanks for hanging out tonight.