Good afternoon everyone. I am Dr. Rosio Rias and I welcome you all to today's meeting of the charter schools committee com charter schools committee. Um this committee plays an important role in ensuring transparency, accountability and thoughtful oversight over charter
schools operating within LUSD. Uh our responsibility is to ensure that all schools serving LUSD students are held to clear standards while maintaining a focus on equity, student success and strong partnerships with our school communities. Today's agenda includes
remarks from our labor partners if they are here present uh followed by presentations from district staff including an update on proposition 39 collocation process for the 2026 27 cycle uh and a legislative update affecting charter schools and public
education and the charter school spotlight highlighting work of Isanamies. After these presentations, we will open the floor for public comment before adjourning the meeting. Uh if there are any labor partners present who want to
come forward. Nope. Seeing none, we will um now move on to our first presentation. Update from the charter schools division on the 2627 Prop 39 collocation cycle. Prop 39
requires school districts to provide reasonable equivalent facilities for charter schools when space is available each year. This process involves detailed analysis of enrollment projections, campus capacity, and programmatic needs across our
district schools. Today's presentation will provide an overview of the timeline, keep update, key updates for this cycle, and how the district is working to manage shared space arrangements effectively. Joining us is Miss Janet Bordon,
operations manager for the charter schools division. Thank you. And the floor is yours, Miss Bordon. >> Welcome. Uh, committee members. Um, so yeah, my name is Janette Bordon. I'm the charter schools operations manager in the charter schools division, um, overseeing the district's Prop 39
process. Um, so I'd like to start out today, um, with a brief overview of the regulatory timeline. Um, Proposition 39 is a state law and the district's compliance with Prop 39 is driven by regulations set forth by the California
Department of Education. Um, there are key milestones that charter schools and districts adhere to in the process and um, this slide provides a quick refresher on that and I'll share kind of where we're at in the process right now. Um, so for charter schools that wish uh
wanted to have space on district campuses during the 2627 school year coming up, they were required to submit facilities request to the district by November 1st, 2025. Um, those facilities requests include key information including um the area of
geographic interest where the charter school wishes to locate um and projections of their average daily attendance. Um, as a reminder, average daily attendance is a function of a charter school's enrollment and their attendance rate. And it's basically a
projection of the number of students that they anticipate having in the following year. Um, and per the regulations from the state, ADA, average daily attendance is the basis for the facilities allocation in Proposition 39.
So um it we review that process in the month of November and then by December 1st the district either accepts or objects to the charter school's in district classroom projection of average daily attendance. We send a letter to each charter school December 1st and
then the charter school has the opportunity to respond to that by January 2nd um with any responses they have to that. Um then once the ADA is kind of set at that time, the district sends um on February 1st or by February
1st a preliminary proposal to the charter school which includes the location and that average daily attendance um projection and uh the allocation they'll have for the upcoming school year. Uh charter schools have an opportunity to respond to the district's
preliminary proposal by March 1st. And that's kind of where we're at today. We've received those responses from charter schools. We're reviewing those and staff is preparing uh for April 1st, which is when the district sends the um the legally binding final offers of
space to charter schools. Um after that, by May 1st, charter schools either accept or decline the final offer. And then for those who uh have accepted, they are able to take occupancy of those spaces 10 working days prior to the charter school's first day of
instruction. Okay. So throughout this process uh that we've engaged in since November um CSD has been coordinating with extensive involvement from each region. Um so following with that regulatory process
um CSD has collaborated with other district divisions and the regions to review the status of each charter school's facilities request. This involves a review of the annual district space inventory and then recommendations for charter school space allocations.
In addition, prior to the issuance of final offers, regions are selecting the individual specific spaces at proposed campuses where the charter school would be assigned space. Um, and then also assessing any campus reconfigurations if necessary that might support more
optimal site operations should there be a collocation. Um, in addition, regions are weighing in on the assessment of possible alternative agreement concepts. I'll talk a little bit more about that on a later slide. Um, and in addition, uh,
regions along with, uh, the CSD and others are communicating with respective board member offices and school communities as appropriate, directed by each region. Um, so that was a general overview of the process. Um, now I'll share a more specific update on the 2627
portfolio. So, we received 37 facilities requests for the 2627 school year. And of those 37 requests, 32 were from charter schools that are currently occupying district facilities pursuant to
Proposition 39. Three were from existing charter schools that are not currently occupying district facilities at all. and two were from existing charter schools that are currently colllocated under other agreement types not prop 39.
And to date the status of each of those facilities request is as follows. We have 16 alternative agreements. Again, I'll give a little more info on that in a moment. And we issued 18 preliminary proposals on February 1st or before
February 1st. and one facilities request was withdrawn by the charter school operator. Um, three facilities requests were denied by the district based on ineligibility and or legal insufficiency of the facilities request as part of
that review. So, I'd like to pause for a moment to discuss the concept of an alternative agreement. Um, so that everyone can have an understanding of what that term means and kind of how that happens. Um so what is meant by an alternative agreement is that both the district and the charter
school have agreed to step outside of that standard regulatory process which was the timeline that I shared on the first slide and agree to an alternative and that's where the the term alternative agreement comes from. Um and this is permitted by the state regulations and it it's something that
happens when a mutual benefit is identified and both parties desire to enter into such an agreement. So that's a key piece there that um these only happen when both parties agree, the district and the charter school. Um and district policy that exists now outlines
the process for the consideration of alternative agreements. Um they can be proposed by either the district or the charter school and for consideration by the other party and um there's always the region weighing in to give a recommendation before any concept
proceeds any further. Um in addition before uh any formal offer is made for an alternative agreement the board office is consulted and um gives their advisement per district policy. Um so that's kind of what uh an alternative agreement is. So everyone
every facilities request starts out on that regulatory process following through those timelines that we followed and it's only when both parties agree to step outside of that process that we end up in an alternative agreement process. Okay, a little more detail about the
2627 portfolio. Um, before you now is a breakdown of the facilities requests by board, district, and region. Um, so you'll see that we have 33 total here. That's because there were 37 facilities requests with that one withdrawal, three
ineligible. So, 33 total facilities requests that are still um active and in the mix right now. Um and this is the breakdown of those uh 33 eight charter schools are proposed to occupy multiple district school sites. Again that's called a
multi-sight and that's a you know whenever a charter school cannot be accommodated on a single site um that goes before the board of education to make findings in the month of January. So that already took place. So there are eight such um potential multi-sight
um and of the 41 proposed collocations. So again 33 facilities requests 33 charter schools eight um multi-sightes gives us 41 proposed collocations as of today and um 90% of those are existing
collocations. Um, of those that are existing, uh, the allocations are, uh, projected to, uh, change as follows. 18 of them would have the same amount of space. 11 are growth, eight are reductions. So, in in that
case, all the charter schools are either staying in the same amount of space, they're growing, or they're reducing. Um, and then as we go through this process, additional potential alternative agreements uh continue to be assessed. And so there could be some changes in in these numbers as we
continue communication uh very important part of this process um so that various stakeholders are aware of what's going on at different stages of the process. Um so going back to December 2025, that's really the very beginning of the process. Um after we've assessed the
facilities requests and preliminary space matches are shared with board offices and labor partners at region advisory meetings in the month of December uh to give an idea of following that regulatory process what what we're anticipating um the portfolio looking
like at that time. Um in addition, regions engage with site administrators. It's a bit more informal at that stage. Um, and then by January and February, as we're getting closer to preliminary proposals, that's when a more formal uh written communication is sent from
regions to district principles um where there is a potential collocation for the following year. Um, and then community engagement resources are also provided uh to the region and um and they are able to use those as they deem appropriate for each particular
situation. um staff communicates with board offices about potential alternative agreements on a rolling basis. Um those can happen at any time. Um and so as they come up, that's when the communication to the board offices takes place. Um and then
in addition to that, the CSD website is updated regularly throughout the process. Um and so I'm going to take a moment to just share a little bit about our website. Um, as you uh may be aware, the charter schools division website was recently revamped and it contains a host of information about all things charter
schools um including Prop 39. Um, and so this is the the the main page on the CSD website. And you'll see that in the quick links at the bottom, um, there's something called the information clearing house. And if you click on the information clearing house, uh, it takes
you to these six buttons and each of those has, uh, a whole lot of resources behind it. The second one with the red star is the Prop 39 resources. And what we have here um by uh school year we have uh all of the actual source
documents. So the facilities requests that were received by the charter schools for any given year um are viewable there as are the preliminary proposals that the district issues to the charter schools. uh the final offers that the district issues to the charter
schools uh by April 1st will be posted there and any fully executed alternative agreements are also posted in this section of the clearing house. Um in addition there are there's information about overallocation. I'll talk more about that in a few minutes. Um but
you'll be able to find the uh prior year's letters and invoices that went out regarding overallocation in this location. Um staff updates these pages as soon as practical after each of the key milestones ensuring that the board of education is fully apprised first. So
sometimes there's a little bit of a a delay but um the information is posted as soon as able. And just for the public that website um to find all of this is charter.d.org. Okay. So going into some next steps for
the 2627 school year. Um, so right now we're in March and uh the charter schools division is working with the region offices to finalize the proposed charter school room assignments for the 2627 school year. And then by April 1st, we will be submitting those final
notifications or final offers to the charter schools. Um staff will work with the region offices to support communication to district principles regarding the next steps in the process. and then um hon or before May 1st as previously mentioned the charter schools
will uh respond as to whether they intend to occupy the offered space and um if they don't respond then the offer expires. Also in the month of May um there will be a an operations meeting that uh the CSD hosts uh for colllocated district
and charter principles uh to get key information about colllocation. This will include details about district policies applicable to charter schools, best practices for successful collocation, more information about shared use agreements and beginning those
discussions to make sure that things are in place for the new school year. Um operational planning for that new school year and then also details about integrating the charter school into the safe school plan. Um which is uh an essential piece of making sure we're
ready to start the school year. Um, also in May and continuing throughout the summer, CSD will continue to work with region offices in communicating with principles regarding the next steps in the collocation process, including uh resources that are available for community engagement as uh
as appropriate. Uh district staff will also undertake the preparations to make campuses ready for charter school occupancy following um approval by the board uh for um you know the the make ready uh renovation
effort. Um that's when we come to the board with the facility services division in May uh to um authorize the budget for making sites ready. And then finally, uh the 10 days prior, that's when charter schools are able to take occupancy and have access to their
school to the school site would be 10 days prior to their first day of instruction. One additional update um regarding overallocation. Um overallocation is another regulatory mechanism. So, it's part of what is set forth by the CDE uh
to address potential inaccuracies in charter school ADA projections. Since the ADA projections are the basis for the facilities allocation and the amount of space the charter schools get, uh overallocation is again that mechanism that helps to provide a check on that.
Um so if a charter school is allocated space and they do not meet the projections that um that they made in their facilities request within a certain threshold again set forth by the regulations um then they're deemed to be overallocated. And the regulations
outline a timeline and process for determining that and also the amount of the reimbursement that a charter school would owe to the district if they are determined to be overallocated. Um and so within that process, uh as a
status update, um all active charter schools that were previously determined to be overallocated in prior years, um have either fully paid or are current on their payment plans if they had a payment plan with the district. Um for the 2425 school year, the most recently
completed school year, there were 12 charter schools overallocated space. And the reimbursement, the total reimbursements um for those 12 charter schools was 1, uh60,400. And all of that money has been collected by the district. Um pursuant to district
policy that's in place, overallocated space reimbursements are directed back to the district host school sites. Um that takes place in approximately July and January each year. And um and then for the 2526 school year that we're
currently in, the determination of any overallocation will take place at the end of the school year. And um if if any charter schools are determined to be overallocated, they will receive an invoice from the district no later than August 15th of 2026. And then through
the process, the the money that's redirected back to those host sites would be expected in January 2027. Okay. And um I think that closes out my prepared remarks. Um thank you for the opportunity to present today and I'm
happy to answer any questions. >> Yes, thank you for your presentation. Um I don't know if Miss Toris Franklin has any questions. >> Sure. Thanks. Thanks for the presentation. I was just uh looking at the number of uh schools and BD7 only
has two. I think I have two LUSD authorized, but I also have a LEO authorized that's colllocated on one of our schools. So, it made me wonder how many nonLUS USD authorized charters also participate in some sort of collocation.
Is that outside of this process or you know what's similar or different about those? >> Sure. So, schools that are authorized by LEO but service students that are in district LA Unified students, meaning they would otherwise attend a a an LAUSD school. Um, those LEO authorized charter
schools are eligible under Proposition 39. And so, they're able to submit facilities requests to the district and we process those in the same manner that we um process other facilities requests for LUSD authorized charter schools. Um, we do have a handful of those. um we can
get you the exact number um of of LEO authorized charter schools that are coll-located. >> But those wouldn't count in the 33 you gave us. >> No, they would. Yeah, that's the full portfolio for Prop 39. >> Okay. So then but then there maybe it's an alternate agreement because I have
three colllocated schools, but maybe the third one is uh not Prop 39. What would it be? >> Um there could be other schools that have different agreement types with the district. So, for example, there could be leases. There could be um schools that might have other agreement types.
Um I I think that it might make sense for us to give you a list uh a breakdown for each of the schools in BD7. Um we could prepare that for you. >> Yeah, that'd be helpful. I would love that. It's not very many. Um but it did make me wonder how many outside of you know BD7 because I I have a a fewer
number and I wondered if there were many other you know in practicality that feel like a colloccated even though it's like a different kind of mechanism. So yeah if you can share with that you know not just for district 7 I'd be curious for the whole district just to understand like the >> um the scope of you know how we have
these various relationships. >> Thanks. Um, and I think that's it for now because I uh appreciate the uh new website is is great. So, thanks for that. Um, I really like the map. Um, and that everything is on there. So, appreciate the responsiveness to that. >> Great.
>> Thanks, Dr. >> Yes, the uh website is the, you know, all the information is great. So, it's really user friendly. So, I really appreciate all the work that went into that. >> Um, I have a question. So, it appears that uh we're seeing a relatively high
number of alternative agreements in this cycle. From the district's perspective, what are the key policy considerations when deciding whether an alternative agreement is preferable uh to a um traditional Prop 39 offer and how do we ensure that these those agreements
remain consistent and transparent across um charter operators? >> Great. Thank you so much for that question. Um so the key feature of of alternative agreements is there has to be a mutual benefit. So in the assessment of any of the concepts that have turned into a fully executed
alternative agreement, the region leadership and then ultimately um authorized district leadership has determined there is a benefit for the district and those benefits can be various. Um, one of the key benefits that we see with early alternative agreements is the elimination of a
potential multi-sight where a charter school cannot be located on a single site and they would be going to two sites. The charter school might say we we don't want that type of arrangement. We would rather stay in our, you know, in a specific footprint at just the one site we're currently at. And so then
we're able to enter into an agreement that eliminates that second site. um we can't do that without an alternative agreement because they have a legal entitlement based on Prop 39 regulations. Um and so the only way out of it is to to do that alternative agreement. Um there are other sites
where um maybe it's a reduction in space or shared use space arrangements that maybe there's already a campus where things are working okay and there's a desire to continue um things just the way they are. Sometimes we enter into an early alternative agreement to kind of
make sure that that's in place and and then we don't have to renegotiate everything again through that regulatory process. So those are some of the key reasons that we would enter into an alternative agreement. Um and we do um so as I mentioned the region leadership is the one ultimately that makes that
recommendation and then authorized district leadership is able to uh then determine whether to move that forward. they will consult with each board office to kind of describe what that is and what that determination of the benefit to the district is um of entering into
such agreements and then pursuant to board policy the board office has that opportunity to advise and if they do not object then we proceed forward. If they do object then staff can reassess and and we can kind of you know circle back through or just stick with the
regulatory process. And a little bit more on the multi- um site placement. Um what criteria does a district use to determine when a multi-sight placement is appropriate and how do we evaluate operational impact on
host campuses when a charter program is split split across across schools? >> Sure. So um a key part of Prop 39 is that it is an annual process. Um, and so what we do before November 1st is the district engages in that comprehensive
space analysis that we know as ECAR, the electronic capacity assessment review that our master planning and demographics team engages each district principal to take a snapshot in time of of how space is utilized on that campus. They also are layering in what the
projected needs might be. So um along with that snapshot, we're also saying what does the district know is going to be happening at the school site in the subsequent year or years. For example, facilities projects might be happening that could impact space. There could be programmatic changes um you know
expansion of programs. Um and so there's an opportunity to then kind of bake that in to a data set that we can look at and then when we receive those facilities requests, we're looking we're comparing it with what the space availability is. um or the space utilization. So that uh
regions in their kind of overview of their of the region and the district's school needs, they're able to assess then can this entire charter school still fit at this site or if there's a new one, where is there a single site where we could accommodate on a single site? And if they're not able to find
that, that's when we look to another site. um for charter schools that are already coll-located on a single site, there is also a part of the law that we we cannot move them unnecessarily. And so sometimes that means that we have to look at a second site. Um and so
operationally then um you know we're working with both schools uh to to figure out you know what how to operationalize that um and make sure that there's you know adequate measures in place for to prepare for the the new collocation.
very thorough answer. Thank you. Appreciate that. Um and last question. As we move toward final offers for on April 1st, what are the most common operational challenges um that you continue to see as colloccated campuses
at colloccated campuses and what additional steps could the district take to improve support both for host schools and the charter schools and making those arrangements work for students and the their school communities? Yeah, absolutely. In a word, communication.
Um, that's always kind of I think the the the it's the the most important best practice and it's one that sometimes doesn't happen um in the most uh efficient way at at school sites. And so the more we can encourage the colloccated administrators to be closely
in contact to be coordinating throughout the week, you know, they've got their collocation meetings that take place on a certain cadence, but then that regular communication among the programs to raise concerns so that if if someone on either side is seeing something happening on a day-to-day basis that's
not working, addressing it right away and figuring out how to collaborate on that um so that problems don't fester and then um perhaps get out of hand. And so I would really encourage that uh at all levels of leadership that we we you know presume the best intentions of the
other parties and then also just regularly communicate >> and who's involved in those communications. Is it the you mentioned the regions and >> your office or um someone else in the >> support definitely is coming from the region and from CSD but it's the most
important relationship is the administrators on the campus because they're the ones there dayto-day. they're the ones troubleshooting um addressing you know their staff concerns that they might have that principal is the leader of the site and so um you know the more that communication is
taking place the better and then whenever they have problems that they're not able to address uh directly at the site then engaging the region region operations CSD operations that's where we can come in and you know we're proactively out at the sites checking in to say hey how are things going do you
have any problems that need some support um but And they also do reach out to us and to the regions for support at different times and and we you know provide that support to them. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. I don't have any more questions and yeah I think we're good.
Thank you so much for have a great day. >> Um so I wanted to see I don't think Miss Ma Martha Alvarez is here yet. She may be running a little late. So, I want to bring up our um charter school spotlight
if you want to come up forward. And I know it's a little sooner than what you expected, but if you're ready, we'd love to hear and um from Isanamies. So the charter school spotlight provides an opportunity for the committee and the
public to learn more about what the work happening uh within charter schools across the district including um instructional programs, student supports and community partnerships. Today we will hear from the leadership of am I saying that corre? Isana >> Isana
>> Isana okay Isanamies who will share an overview of their school model student programs the ways and the ways that they're working to support student achievement and well-being. Today we have Miss Nadia Shahik CEO Raul Alaron
CEO John Vargas COO Hak Hedo Brown principal Ian Eddie principal Pat Patrick Stickley principal and Rob J. Thrash um the fourth director of pupil services. So thank you for being here and looking forward to learning more
about Isanamies. >> Thank you so much. Just logistical question. Do I click these buttons to do the slides? Okay. Know what the button? >> Yeah, they're going to load your They're going to load your PowerPoint. >> Load it and then I push the right and left. Got it. Okay. >> I'm just letting folks know right now we skip tab two. So one sec. >> Okay. I'll wait.
And yes, you do push those little buttons. >> Got it. >> All right. Well, good afternoon, Dr. Rivas. Good afternoon, um, board member Ortiz Franklin. I don't know if Miss Newella is here, but good afternoon, uh, Mr. Cole Gutierrez. Uh, Mr. McClean. My
name is Nadia Shyik. I'm honored to be the CEO of Isana. Uh here today with my team to share with you about Isana Naent Academy. Uh first I want to thank you for the invitation to speak uh about the work we've been doing for the past 21 years. Um my connection to this school
is personal. I started as a first grade teacher there 20 years ago. Uh and I now live half a block half a mile from the school. So, it's a school that's affectionately known as the mothership at Isana because it was the first of our six schools. Um, our other schools are
Isana Himalayia Academy in South LA, Isana Octavia Academy in Glassel Park, Isana Palmi Academy in North Hollywood, Isana Cardinal Academy in Sun Valley, and Isana Acronar Academy in uh Compton. So, let's try this button. Yes. Okay.
Uh so Isana Nason Academy um is a TK through 8th grade school of 484 students uh located in BD1. We're split across two campuses. So we have a private site at Jefferson Park um and a a colllocated site um at 42nd Elementary in Lambert
Park. We've been proudly serving the Jefferson Park and Lam Park neighborhoods since 2005. Our mascot is an IHOX. And as you walk our campuses, you will see reminders to soar, to be safe, optimistic, accountable, and respectful.
All right. In terms of our population, uh, it mirrors the surrounding community. 92% of our students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, 75% are Latino, 22% are African-American, 32% are, uh, English learners, and 20% are students with disabilities. Uh we also
have a large number of foster and homeless youth. Um and as I present today, I am going to be joined by our two co-principles, Adisana Nason Academy. Um and with us in the audience, we have our CEO Raola Larco and COO John Vargas, our director of the arts, April
Thomas and communications team, Italy and Liz uh Akim Linardes. Uh we travel in packs. Uh but at ESANA we do say that every adult in a school is an educator. Um because every interaction we have with a child is an opportunity to progress them
forward. So today as we present to you about our school, one thing I hope you'll glean um is that our success comes from all of the educators, all of the students, all the families, no matter our role, working together rather than in silos to do what's right by our
students. So for that reason, all ISANA schools uh work closely to align best practices. So we're talking about nent today, but it's similar to what you'll um hear about in other Isana schools. So a running thread you'll see throughout our presentation today is our
equity and justice focus at Isana. And then you'll see these blue boxes whenever we're connecting what we're doing to equity and justice objectives. We will break our presentation today into the three areas that we consider the big three at ISana. a school climate
of belonging, academic excellence, and culturally responsive and sustaining pedigogy. These are the same big three across Isana schools. So, let's start with school climate. So, we define school climate using the CDE's definition. The categories being
belonging and relationships, uh, safety and wellness, and the learning environment. uh school climate ties into our two LCAP goals, ensuring all of our students are educated in culturally relevant and safe environments and ensuring that we will
involve um and engage our families and communities as visible and valuable partners in the education of our students. It also connects to our two equity and justice focuses uh which is well-being and inclusive partnerships for student support.
So in school climate starting with the need uh after the pandemic we faced a large chronic absenteeism uh percentage which impacted how much our students were learning. We made the decision to approach chronic absenteeism as a systems challenge um rather than an
individual student deficit. So, we leaned in um and and considered how could we strengthen our practices and leverage new opportunities to ensure students would want to be at school each day and that families were able to navigate the barriers that prevented
them from bringing their children to school each day. So, I'm going to bring uh forward our co-principal Ian Eddie to share a little bit about the social emotional work we've been doing at Isan and Nason Academy. Thank you. >> Which which one? >> That one that rest left and right.
>> All right. Good afternoon. Sorry, got a frog in my throat. Good afternoon. All right. So, um, social emotional learning is a part of how we support our students each day. At our school, we believe students learn best when they
feel safe, connected, and confident in themselves. Our theme at Isana is together we shine. And that idea guides how we build community across our campuses. We work intentionally to create a rich and welcoming environment where students see
themselves reflected in the imagery and messages throughout our school that celebrate who they are and who they can become. All right, here we go. All right. In our classrooms, teachers create space for students to develop important skills such as self-awareness, empathy, and
responsible decision-making. We build strong classroom communities through morning meetings, collaborative learning, and opportunities for students to share their thoughts and feelings in a respectful and supportive environment. Each child is greeted at the door when they enter the classroom, which is known
as threshold greetings. You see a picture here of a class doing Tai Chi in their morning meeting and another example of a class gathering in a circle for their social emotional learning lesson. You also see an example of students
morning check-ins of how they are feeling. Their postit has their number on the back so the teacher can check in with those who need it. We spend time modeling kindness, practicing problem solving, conversations, and helping each other
understand how our actions impact others. Our sore mantra that was mentioned earlier helps guide student behavior and expectations. And each week, we reinforce positive mindsets through weekly affirmations that encourage students to believe in
themselves and support one another. We also recognize students displaying positive behavior in our weekly assemblies. Each classroom has a calm corner or zen den with their room within their room and students are taught how to access
that space and use the tools within them to self-regulate if they need a break. Part of our efforts are centered around welcoming families into the school and providing support. We host a different series of parent workshops and events
that engage the children. And we offer tap cards for transportation. We have new laundry machines to wash clothes for for those who need it. We do food giveaways, book giveaways, and we have a bookshelf with resources for families as you enter our campus.
We also have formed deep partnerships. Hold on. We also have formed deep partnerships with the community. We host monthly meetings with our Jefferson Park Crime Coalition. And we have worked with organizations such as Heart of America
and the LA Clippers to redesign our play spaces so our students are engaged and excited. And we would like to invite you to our new mural unveiling on April 10th at our Jefferson campus if you have time. All
right. When when students feel seen, heard, and supported, they are more engaged in their learning and they are better prepared for success both inside and outside of the classroom. When we create a strong community of care, our students truly begin to shine together.
We have seen amazing results of our school climate work at Nason. In the past two and a half years, our chronic absentee rates have fallen almost 15%. 93% of our families chose agree or strongly agree on a survey about Nason
school climate and about the community resources and the support that the school has provided to those families. Our suspension rate is 0% and is outperforming the state on the California dashboard. >> All right, thanks Mr. Eddie. Uh moving
on to our next uh category in our big three which is academic excellence. Um, so with our LCAP goal, we wanted to ensure all students had access to highquality and culturally affirming learning experiences in order to show
continuous growth and perform at high levels. We weaved that into our equity and justice objectives around professional development, curriculum, and instruction, both the what and the how that we were teaching. The need for this was clear. Two years ago, we saw a decrease in proficiency
rates in CASP for our students in ELA and math, putting us under the state. We also were seeing opportunity gaps uh between our schoolwide population and our some statistically significant student groups. So, we tackled this need with urgency and with collaboration.
To share with you how we did that, I'm going to turn it over to our co-principal, Dr. Hakaco Brown, to talk about our academic plan. Hello everyone. At Isana Nason Academy, we are focusing on strong tier one instruction with
supportive tier 2 and tier three instruction within ELA. This means implementing knowledge building curriculum that integrates content areas, enjoying authentic highinterest novels, providing equitable conferencing to increase supports for the most at
need students and monitoring consistently students reading levels. It also means ensuring we are doing systematic and explicit foundational skill instruction both within our classrooms and through our use of interventionist
We have had a particular focus on writing this year through a partnership that has resulted in students writing more, being more engaged in writing and enjoying what they are doing. Finally, in math, we have focused on highlevel math discourse through a
five-year initiative that has had both teachers and students explore and celebrate their math identity and connect math to culture and family. One of the pieces that has led to our growth is our systematic and ongoing
data analysis. Each school site has an instructional coach who meets with educators regularly to review student data and conduct classroom observations. Educators receive feedback and participate in a debrief to reflect on instructional practices and the next
steps. We have data chats at all levels of our organization between the network leader and school leader, the school leader and teacher and the teacher and student. One of the most exciting instructional practices we have implemented is an
organizationwide initiative co-eing which is now in its fifth year. We have co-eing pairings of GE and RST teachers as well as one of the first in the nation pairings of GE and visual and performing arts VAPA teachers.
Co-eing is an instructional model based on the premise that if educators with varying areas of expertise and frames of reference are able to come together and collaborate on a daily basis in the same classroom, all students will benefit more socially, behaviorally, and
academically through the partnership of two teachers. instruction is differentiated and delivered to smaller groups of students with shared responsibility for planning, instruction, and assessment. This collaborative model integrates
specialized instructional strategies such as UDL to support students in meeting their goals. As a result of our work in the area of academic excellence, NAS has seen tremendous accelerated growth. On our
California dashboard, we are seeing just about all of our student groups increase or increase significantly in their DFS from last year. In the new growth metric on sorry in the new growth metric on the dashboard an
ELA nent showed exceptional growth overall the highest level of growth possible of seven student groups three showed exceptional growth including homeless students socioeconomically
disadvantaged students and students with disabilities and four showed accelerated growth African-American students English learners, Latino students, and long-term English learners. We are still working to surpass the state and plan to
continue working with urgency in order to do that. In our co-t talk classrooms, the growth is even more accelerated. Our schoolwide population showed 15% more growth in
Colt classes than in non-talk classes. Students with disabilities and socioeconomically disadvantaged students showed 10% more growth. English learners showed 12% more growth and African-American students showed a
whopping 191% more growth. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Brown. Second invitation for everyone. On March 18th, we're hosting a co-eing professional development uh where we invite other
charter schools in our LUSD SULPA to join us and I'd like to extend that invite to to you and any other school leader you feel is interested in co-eing. Would love to have you. I'll be sending an email about that. So, the last strand of our big three uh Adisana is culturally relevant, responsive, and
sustaining pedagogy. Um I hope we've noticed that this has been a strand throughout all the areas social emotional academic um and CR. Uh but there are two programs in particular I'd like to point out this year. Uh Isana Naent uh and another one of our ISana
schools is participating in the Los Angeles County Office of Education's Genius Initiative using improvement science to examine and redesign systems that affect African-American student experience and academic engagement. In doing the work for African-American
students, we realize that the guiding principles that we're working under also apply to all our student groups. Uh, and I'd like to end with one of our signature programs. This is our visual and performing arts program which advances student voice, creativity, and
academic engagement through the arts. Every single student takes part in dance, acting, and vocal lessons taught by professionals in the field. Students put on two major productions as a school each year, one of which is an original
work created by our amazing VAPA educators. For a third invite, our next performances are coming up on April 28th and May 1st at our two sites. Um the performance is called Hidden Stories and it celebrates the power of
reading and storytelling and band books. So I invite you to to attend. So, there's a myriad of benefits of the arts in education. Um, some of them are listed on this slide, but I'd like to mention one we discovered in particular
when we were analyzing ELA and how students were doing in different standards. The one standard in reading comprehension students continually struggled with was point of view. And this uh standard six is something that goes from kindergarten to 8th grade. It hits every every grade and then I think
beyond, but we're TKEA. uh to understand why our students were struggling with this we turn to neuroscience. So research shows that children or people who have been through trauma have a hard time understanding the point of view of
others because literally in times of trauma your brain is hardwired to make sure that the self-preservation and you're protected. It isn't safe to step outside yourself and think of somebody else's point of view. as a result to address this uh and and
just to say too I think um all of us are living in traumatic times right now. So this affects affects everybody. Uh as a result um students need multiple exposures and safe environments of point of view to rewire actually physically
rewire uh their brains and this is what arts education does within VAPA classes. Students can safely take on point of views of characters uh within a story or a play. So we decided as an organization to really dig into the point of view standard within VAPA.
After a year of these lessons, the results were staggering. Whereas pre-lesssons students were showing about a 40% pass rate on point of view lessons, by the end of the year that had risen up to 72%. And with more time in VAPA, that is continuing to rise.
And beyond the academic achievement, our VAPA classes helped students navigate current day realities. This past winter, our students performed Newsies Jr., uh, which is a story of turn of the century children who sold newspapers in New
York. Uh, in the story, when the rich and powerful publishers raised prices at the newsies expenses, they united to stand up, speak out, and fight for justice, reminding us that when voices rise together, meaningful change is possible. So students were exploring
these themes, performing this play at a time when the threat of ICE was becoming greater and greater in our communities. Our students struggled with fear and anxiety on a daily basis. This show became their outlet. Um I'm going to
show you a clip uh from uh Naent performing newsies uh when the newsies the kids who are the newsies decide to band together for justice. And what I'd like you to pay attention to uh is the emotion the students have. You can tell it's touching something in them. Um from
this activity, our students actually did podcasts where they talked about their experiences. Um they they wrote about their experiences, they drew about their experience, and it was such an amazing way um to talk about it in a way that was safe because it was fictional. So uh
with that, let's turn to a two-minute clip. We're going to do our best. Sometimes these clips, for some reason, when they're embedded in a PowerPoint, they get a little funky, >> but bear bear with us. They tested it. >> They tested it. >> I sent the direct to YouTube, too, in
case that helps. >> I hope you're not going to make me perform it. I was just going to mention that in default we make >> Okay. Yeah. I mean it's a group presentation so >> it won't play. >> It won't play.
>> Oh, the sound won't play. >> Oh, >> we're going to keep trying. >> I appreciate that. That's part of the arts, right, Miss Thomas? The show must go on. Um, but as they're doing the link, I could I could just say thank you so much
for this invitation to share um how we're strategically planning around school climate, academic excellence, culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining pedig pedigogy to urgently improve student outcomes for Isan and Nent. Um, we appreciate the opportunity.
We extend an invite to visit any of our schools. Um, and we look forward to future uh opportunities also to collaborate and partner with our colleagues in the district. Thank you. >> What? My father's going to kill me anyways. Yeah.
>> Now it's time to see the day. >> Now it's time to see the day. Answer the call and don't delay. Answer the call and don't delay. Wrong will be right. If we're united, let us see the day.
I'll stand to har look what's beyond all. Strike, strike, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE. OH, HEY.
Now it's time to see the day. Now it's time to make a pain. No one can break us. No one can give me one more
and one for all and all and forever. I love the choreography. They were so into it. I That's great. That was wonderful. >> And that particular dance was choreographed. Can you stand up? >> Actually, no. That particular dance was
choreographed by Tah. >> Yes. >> Wonderful. So, our our choreograph >> one of our teachers. >> Oh, dance teachers. Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. That's really great to see. Um, well, thank you for your presentation.
definitely did learn a lot about um Isana naent and um you know the core areas um of focus particularly culturally relevant education that is that is key and you know always a big supporter of the arts so I'm glad that
you were able to use that particularly when you mentioned of >> um the perspective right the point of view and how that is so true and it's um >> glad that you use the arts to be able to sort of get across that. So that was
awesome. So I want to open it to Tanya or T Funkin if she has any questions. If not, I have some. Go ahead, Tanya. >> No questions. Just appreciate, you know, all that you all are doing. Um kudos on your reduction in chronic absenteeism that continues to be a challenge across the district. So that's really exciting.
And then yeah, just of course, you know, so great to see students um and hearing about all the work that your team is doing. So thank you so much for presenting today. >> Thank you so much. Um I have a few questions. Um your school serves as you showed here at 20%
students with disabilities. So can you share more on how you approach special education services and inclusion and what strategies have been most effective in supporting those students in measuring their progress? >> I'm so glad you asked because I had this in my presentation in 20 minutes I had to go.
>> That's a lot. So I I appreciate that. So yes, with atoa we take, you know, as all public schools, all students. Um, and as they come in, um, we are, uh, we we fully include them in the GE classroom. Um, as we go through their IEP and
provide those services, um, there those services can look like uh, many different things. It might be uh, push-in time from an RST teacher, from a different service provider. Um, it might be pullout time. Um uh but a lot of what we do is because for our students the m
the vast majority of the time is when they're in the GE class, we really work with our GE teachers and we say there um there's not one person who is a special education teacher. We are all special education teachers. And so really let's go into understanding our students,
their needs, their um their um you know what they do well uh what their accommodations are so that in every space uh those accommodations are being provided. So one of the conversations we've been having so as an organization we took our different student groups and
we really dived into each one with students with disabilities. One of the pieces we said was if for example a child needs chunking as an accommodation in an academic classroom, they need something chunked uh you know a large check they need to chunk down. Let's also think about when they're in the
playgrounds and they're you're interacting, they're problem solving. Chunking is probably a strategy that's going to be important for them socially emotionally as well. So, let's start taking um those accommodations and not just think about in this, you know, half hour pull out, 45 minute pull out, it's
necessary, but how are we equipping our students to use these accommodations throughout their day and how are we empowering them to know their IEP and advocate for their IEP? So, so important. Um, as a mother of a child with a few children with disabilities,
that to me is the most um crucial part that we're able to include students. uh we're all able to see each other um as as we all have strengths, we all have needs um and we're able to create a environment in a school that is more inclusive than it was before.
>> Yeah. Um and your presentation shows strong growth for English learners and you also highlighted your co-eing model which I think is totally on board with co-eing very um support um advocate for co-eing. How does that model support
English learners in particular in particularly and what other practices have been most effective in helping um our English your English learners succeed? >> I love it. It's the other part I took out. Um so yes, we have a large population of English learners at at all
of our schools. Uh and so with our multilingual coordinator uh at ESNA, what we have done is um really talked through both integrated and designated ELD. And just like I was talking with students with disability, integrated ELD should be happening throughout the day.
Yes, in the GE classroom, but how are we also thinking about when they're in the VAPA room, when they're in after school, how are all those supports being given? Um, and so one of the pieces at Isana when I talked about not siloing, but really working together. Um, the uh our
our multilingual learner department works closely with our teaching and learning department. They work closely with our afterchool department. They work closely with our uh special education department, uh with our visual and performing arts department. They do those trainings. Um all of our teachers
receive those trainings. Uh and uh and so students can expect to get those same levels of supports everywhere they are. Um in the last several years, we've had uh uh even higher numbers of newcomers coming in. Um and those for those
students uh are we have a a newcomer plan. Part of that um is first uh you know when they first enter the school having a sitdown conversation with the family and providing uh and and just listening to them and we actually do this with all of our students but just listening having what's called an intake
conference and having them share what's what's a strength of your child? What do you want to see? Um but in particular for a newcomer if there have been um uh in in their journey um to the country kind of talking through what have been the challenges here? how can we help
provide support? How can we ensure that those supports are happening day one and not day 60 or day day 90? Um we also uh purchased Rosetta SC Rosetta Stone as an on-ramp for um expedited and accelerated language acquisition for our newcomers.
So that's been huge. Um so within co-eing as we do those professional developments we embed in those um English learner strategies we embed in those UDL strategies we embed in those as all of our different departments kind of work together to make that happen.
Um you share that the school is seeing strong academic growth which is amazing across several student groups while um overall proficiency in ELA and math remains an area of focus. How are you balancing the efforts to accelerate growth? Yes.
>> While also moving towards students towards proficiency. That's a great question. Um and it has to do with uh ensuring that what is being taught is we have effective and strong tier one instruction that's on grade level and rigorous and we're providing the
supports in tier 2 and tier three. Um and so uh this year a particular focus that Dr. Brown shared um was that strong tier one instruction because what we were seeing uh we in I ready there's a tab where you can see how much growth did students have if they started the
year uh on grade level above grade level one grade level below two grade levels below we were seeing huge 200 300% growth in a year two or three grade levels of growth in a year for those who were um performing two or three grade levels below. Um, but what we wanted to make sure we were seeing is we were
seeing that same level of growth when they're performing at or above grade level. So the way we we focus on that is talking through uh how do you provide that strong tier one instruction and then how do you provide just in time supports uh to to accelerate uh and not
spend all your time remediating. It's something we learned from pandemic. It's something we learned from Hurricane Katrina that schools if you just focus on remediation students will never catch up. But if you're focusing on acceleration with giving those just in time supports and a lot of the we purposely choose curriculum that is
strong in that area um and that give our teachers the data they need to make those informed decisions um that's how we kind of balance the two. >> And last question um and great thank you for very thorough answers I appreciate that. Looking ahead, what are the most
important priorities uh for your school over the next few years and what lessons from your work might be helpful for other schools serving similar student populations to learn from? >> Yeah. Yeah. I think um the these three priorities we set are continuing on. Um
they've been our big three for the last couple year. Uh and and they do continue on. So um you know within school climate what one of the pieces so we talked a lot about how we structure our uh our schools our spaces um our day uh to to
work on school climate and now we're responding in particular to to the realities of the day with things like um how does um threats of ice how does uh the flu season how does co whatever it might be how does that impact attendance and then how do you start to form uh
supports in that how do you provide opportunities for um for uh safe passage to school? How do you provide opportunities if there's a day um they need to do learning from home? How do you how do you work with the family to make sure that learning doesn't stop and
that um and that uh their well-being is is uh prioritized. So that looking forward to is looking forward in the future is one of our big uh priorities. Um, also in working with families, uh, we work in areas like I said, our population is 92% socioeconomically
disadvantaged in a city that is becoming quickly gentrified and becoming and families are getting quickly priced out. So, in those wraparound supports, it's also how do we uh help support our families to be able to stay in the neighborhoods they've been in for hundreds of years. um uh and that might
be job force training, that might be resume work, that might be uh other other things and connections that they may need um uh to do that. Uh so similar for the other two areas, just continuing um to work but then continuing to pivot
as the world changes and address and adjust to that. >> Well, thank you so much for being here. It's been um a pleasure learning all about Isana Niss and all the work that you do and and thank you for, you know, giving us a a small glimpse of the
production and all that you do. Thank you for the invitations. Absolutely. We'll definitely look to see if we can if I can be able to attend and I'll also share it with I know uh Mr. Lyn Handy couldn't be here. she had another um um event that she needed to attend, but
we'll definitely share the uh your invitations to all to all of them. Okay. >> Well, thank you so much for the opportunity. >> Have a great day. >> Thank you. >> And thank you also to your co-presenters, principles. Thank you. Um well, now we're going to our last
presentation. And I see Miss Martha Alvarez is here from our our government relations, chief of government relations. Um so state as she's coming up to the podium, uh Miss Martha Alvarez is a chief legislative and affair affairs and government relations. Uh
state legislation continues to shape the landscape for public education in California, including policies related to charter schools, facilities oversight, and accountability. Staying informed about these developments is essential to ensuring that the district
is prepared to respond effectively and advocate for policies that support um all students and in the communities. Joining us, Miss Martha Alvarez will provide an overview of key legislative developments and priorities for the district. Thank you, Miss Alvarez, for
being here. >> Good afternoon, board member Dr. Rivas and uh board member Franklin and staff. Uh thank you for accommodating me to be the last speaker. Um, appreciate being here with you today. I I only have one update um regarding legislation in Sacramento around charter schools. Um,
at at this juncture, the state legislature had until the end of fe February 21st to introduce legislation for this 2026 legislative cycle. Um, and as of now, there's no legislation that has been introduced specifically to charter schools, although the legislature could um have spot bills.
Uh, they're placeholder bills. Um we're not aware of any at this juncture, but they could um amend any bills in the coming weeks if they wanted to convert some bill to be about charter schools policy specifically. Um however, even though there's no standalone bill through the regular legislative process,
there is a proposal from Governor Nuome that was introduced in January as part of the January budget proposal. The language became available on February 2nd as part um it's known as the trailer budget bill. Um it's a companion bill to the state budget um that has a different
process and I'll speak up about some some of the key provisions of the bill than the regular bill um the governor's uh trailer budget language introduced in February. Um so it will not be heard by committees um through the policy committees from the legislature. It would be discussed um or considered as
part of the budget process which is different than policy. And I'm happy to come back and if you have questions about that. With that said, um the governor's uh proposal um uh and maybe to backtrack one one step further. Uh last uh year in 20125 um as uh uh our
board members and and our public and stakeholders here with us watching in person in person or online um they may be aware that last year there was um at least two big major bills um competing bills uh that were introduced last year. AB84 by Senator Mortsuchi and Senate
Bill 414 by Senator Ashb. Um Senator uh Ashby's bill moved over to the governor. Um AB84 did not move forward. Um but SP414 got vetored by the governor in October. Um that bill had u major changes uh reforms to um to fiscal
auditing and oversight of charter schools um and had other uh key provisions and some of them I'll walk you through them today. Um uh those bills were um uh after uh after um a product of uh the state
controller had an independent task force that was commissioned uh the year before that um looking about um uh just how to strengthen fiscal oversight of our charter schools given that there were some charter schools non-classroombased charter schools specifically in California um that had been uh um uh
they they were uh seen as doing um some fiscal inappropriate actions. Um so there was this task force and then there was legislation and here that's where we are today. Um and again that was specifically around non non-classroom based charter schools. Um with that said um the governor's uh uh veto in October
for SB414 indicated there needed to be much more substantive of work um on on finding a common ground, a balanced approach um and veto the legislation. And then this um proposal from him came out um just last month. Um the bill itself um I I will let you know what it
has. Um so uh it requires authorizers to investigate causes um in delays for charter charters that failed to produce audits of financial statements. Um there was no prior recursor for that. If if um there was any delays from charter schools that were not providing uh the
the audits of the financial statements in a timely manner, this would now authorize um uh authorizers to to investigate why that that delay was happening. It would further require under the governor's proposal uh requires local educational agencies authorizers to review audit reports at a
public meeting within 45 days of the report. Um it requires the authorizers to provide notification within 60 days of any concerns arising out of the oversight activities. Um it would also in addition to the fiscal oversight um additional requirements, it would also
extend the use of verified data for renewals until June 30th of 2028. Um verified data uh for low performing and middle performing charter schools was sunseted last year. Um there had not been any extension despite some efforts in Sacramento to do that last year. And
so under the governor's proposal, it would extend verified data uh for renewals for two more years of 2028. Um and then it would further um extend the start date of pro prohibiting on new renewals for two years for those um charter schools that are low performance
schools uh to July 1st of 2028. Um those were major items that were um in the trader bill that were carried carried over uh either from AB84 or SB414. Um there are some items um that were that are missing in the governor's
proposal that were either part of for um uh AB84 or SB414. Um the and the bills is is a significant bill. So we're just highlighting some of the key areas. Those missing parts that are not in the governor's proposal that were being considered in last year's legislation.
Um there's no funding mechanism to compensate for authorizers like LUSD and others across the state for increased oversight duties. Um so there would be this additional workload uh imposed on authorizers across the state. Uh but there's no um AB84 at one point uh had
language to authorize increased um uh oversight fees. Uh and then the bill got amended through the process. Um but at this point the governor proposal does not have any funding mechanism for for oversight responsibilities or for increased oversight responsibilities. Um
AB84 also had a we we would have created an office of statewide um inspector general at the department of education. Um that was only in AB84 not in SB414. Um the governor proposal does not have this um statewide inspector general. um that inspector general was going to have
broad responsibilities not just around charter schools but um being able to uh examine other um uh from any other whistleblowers or other information that's provided to the state um for regular schools too not just charter schools um that that was not included in
in the governor's proposal um AB84 had an extension on or excuse me AB84 would um uh prohibited um the establishment of new non-classroombased charter schools. Um they that sunset um
happened January 1st of 2026. Um the governor's proposal does not uh include an extension of a moratorum on establishing new non-classroombased charter schools. Um so as of now they could uh be considered again for for establishing new ones since there's no
moratorium currently. Um and then there's also um uh some language that had been negotiated under AB84 and SB484 SB414 um that would have clarified some duties and responsibilities over the charter oversight as part of an audit. Um some
of that language that was negotiated in those bills was not included in the governor's proposal. There are some new items in the trailer bill that were not included in the bills discussed last year that were added by the governor. um uh three areas that we thought would be important to note uh
today. It adds virtual board meetings to the requirements that authorizers um need to have to visit charter schools and board meetings at least once a year. It requires charter schools to get approval of a governing board to compensate contractors for more than $100,000 in a year. And then it also
requires authorizers to review charter school um average daily attendance with extra reporting requirements if the ADA increases more than 10%. Um uh and then the the other piece too um I'll say that that is also not in in the governor's
proposal. Um in the prior uh version AB84 last year there were some provisions that would have required for non-classroom based charter schools which is how the origin of this fiscal oversight issue um came about the importance about greater oversight over non-classroom based charters specifically um that it would have
changed um from uh small authorizers uh there's some in in throughout the county some in LA county that are very small authorizers that were authorizing non-classroom a charter schools in their jurisdiction even though the non-classroom made charter school it was bigger in ADA than the small authorizer
um there would have been a transfer of those responsibilities of oversight to a larger authorizer that is not in the governor's proposal uh but it is something that was of interest to us of of particular concern um in last year's proposal because um there would have there was no def definition about um
that transfer of responsibility from a small author to a larger authorizer if there's a say for the for the authorizer receiving that nonclass charter to be able to say uh why they cannot have the the the bandwidth or the capacity to do take that on that work. So, we don't know if those items will be brought
forward um in any discussions or negotiations in Sacramento, but um they are areas that um that we were of interest to us last year. Um, and then lastly, um, uh, you know, there's there's a few, um, areas that, um, that we are still weighing whether whether
LUSD would take a position on the bills, um, the on the governor's proposal this year or any other bills that would be introduced. Um, there's since we have our own inspector general, there's a question whether the state inspector general would have any what the impact would be to our own inspector general
and their responsibilities. Um, there's a question about verified data that the board of education, some our board members brought up at the one of the last board meetings. Um, the the benefit of of le leveraging verified data. Um, should verified data be used only for a two-year extension as proposed by the
governor? Um, should it used be in a permanent manner? Um, should it be used only for high schools, for example, since there's only one um assessment that we currently providing at the 11th grade level, the smarter balance assessment, but we don't have any other academic indicators for high school. Um, so there's questions about the use of
verified data and the scope of it and should it be something that that we should weigh in and and to what extent. Um, so with that I I will pause and turn it for any questions or comments from the board members. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Alvarez. Thank you very much. That was I know you said one item,
but that was a lot. So, thank you for the very a lot of the details. I want to open it to Miss Ortiz Franklin if she has any questions before I weigh in. >> Sure. Thanks. Um, I guess I'll just start with the last thing you mentioned about verified data. Um, what would our
process be to determine whether or not LA Unified weighs in on this? >> Thank you for the question. Um, in in December when the board approved our guiding principal priorities, we have a five-page document that's publicly available. Um we have a section there
that talks about um charter schools and sort of our our overarching uh position philosophy around uh our engagement on the topic. Um I don't have the language in front of me. Um I can pull it up in a minute if it was helpful. But my recollection is that it provides some
overarching um guidelines for my office of governmental relations that I oversee for my team and I to be able to weigh in um on policies that uh strengthens um you know makes a strong um public education system including for charter schools that we have the responsibility
to oversee if we authorize them. Um so as of now uh we would be looking at that guiding principle and priority specifically to chart the charter school language. um is not goes into the Wii. Doesn't say anything about verified data per se. Um but in the past um in order
to allow us to be nimble and and uh be able to take a position and be able to recommend amendments in Sacramento, we've been able to leverage the guiding guiding principal priorities um that uh are our guiding philosophy for how we approach legislation. We also work closely with our um office of general
counsel and with our charter schools division um and other divisions that in this case because there's fiscal oversight language um that would uh we would be asking for their feedback, professional um input uh to help us understand the implications for us as an authorizer for us um as a school
district um and ultimately how the language would be implemented. Um so at this point there's no formal request that we would be in our current process that we would be coming back to the board to ask for your um vote per se in authorizing whether we support or oppose
or we ask for amendments for a particular language. Um that would be setting a new president that we haven't had to come back to the board for for that particular specific action. uh and understanding and also as I mentioned beforehand the governor's budget language is very different than the
regular policy process. Under the regular policy process, there's an opportunity to uh publicly debate this in Sacramento um through the policy committee. There's a committee analysis that is done on every single bill, the governor's budget language. Um there will be a budget conversation about the
governor's budget proposals and likely around this topic as well. Um but there's no um the public can provide a public comment but there's no written record of um like LA Unified supports the bill, LA Unified opposes the bill.
Um so it's a very different process for for um engaging. >> Okay. Um yeah, that's helpful because I think you know we were still using it at the end of last year and this is a question that came up just this week
with my school. Um, and you know, we're not prohibited from using it, but we did, as I understand it, but we did stop at at January 1. So, I think it's a ripe discussion. Um, and I uh would just maybe want to invite um, you know, OGR
to just reconfirm with the board. Um, I know sometimes like there's so many bills, you take a position, don't take a position, it it often aligns with what we already approved in December. Um but just because this is uh maybe even things have changed since December as it relates to this. Um if I I would ask
just for me to to reconnect before you know we take a position one way or the other. Um and I imagine some of my colleagues might as well want to weigh into that and I don't know if this committee is the space for that or if it would need to be the full board but um it's it's something top of mind for me.
And board member, if I may ask for clarification, are you referring specifically to the verified data or overarching about the entire sections of the oversight fiscal responsibilities and whatnot? >> Uh, particularly about verified data, but there there might be more that I haven't dug enough into, but def
specifically on the verified data right now. >> Thank you. And then um you said something earlier I just wanted to ask for clarification uh about renewals for uh low performing schools for two years. Could you just share a little bit more what that was about?
>> Yes. So, I I myself I mentioned that that the governor's proposal is is uh quite uh lengthy as well as the bills from last year. Um it appears uh and I I can go verify but my my colleagues from my team who have reviewed the bill uh in
in its entirety um they informed me that the governor's proposal has a provision that would extend um the prohibition on renewals for two years of low performing schools to July 1st 2028. Um I can go back and take a look at the exact language in the trailer budget language
to see you know look at the excerpt and see in what context that that is. Um but unfortunately I don't have anything else beyond that uh to share with you right now. >> Um does that because right now you know a low performing is presumptive denial.
Um but you can approve for two years. I guess I don't understand what the extent like the prohibition would mean. >> Yeah. So so let me take it back and just I don't want to mislead you. I I will go back and take a look and see how what it means compared to current law and then what's proposal how what's the difference. So I I will return back with
an answer. >> Okay, that would be helpful. And then just you know as we've been going through renewals um since uh 1505 I think we have discussed at the deis like lessons that we're learning and best practices and potentially you know I'm
not sure if it would rise to the level of pitching a bill or um offering support of something that's already you know in existence or an amendment to something that's already in existence. Sounds like not so much for this cycle. Um, but I I think I heard from somebody that the charter policy tends to be
relooked at maybe over the summer when it's a little quieter. So maybe as I would just put this request out there to the team, both to to you and to um uh I guess Mr. Cole Gutierrez's team, you know, as we're reflecting on this year and discussions we've had at this board,
like what lessons are we learning to revise LA Unifi's policy and what lessons are we learning um to lift up to to statewide legislation? Um because I think there are some things that that we could fix and and tweak for next year. Um but also to the extent that you know
we have seen more charter renewals than probably any other district in the state um you know where can we help others uh if we've learned lessons. So I don't know if that's like um a formal process. Again I don't know if that's this committee. I don't know if um that
starts with CSD to kind of think about these lessons learned. Um, but just in the spirit of of growth, uh, I would, um, welcome a space like that to weigh in, you know, for the board, but potentially also for the public to say, we've observed this board looking at renewals, you know, here are some things
we would like to lift up either as policy changes for the district or statewide changes, you know, for the legislature. Um, so I put that to the team and I I welcome you all to think about what that um, sort of forum might be for us. >> Member Ortiz Franklin, thank you. Let me
notwithstanding Miss Alvarez's questions on the legislative process, I won't speak to that at this point, but in response to a part of your your um point there, uh first uh the CSD team and related parties the in the district
offices that uh work on in the renewal process, for example, um are taking ongoing u notes, reflections in terms of areas that we may need to uh adjust as we're uh learning lessons. for example, from last year's to to this year's. Uh
the team did so also work with leadership and general counsel and also assessed are any of those adjustments do they require any board level policy changes. Um those that were decided upon at that time did not require that after that process. Uh the team is also
undergoing that ongoing reflection and we'll be assessing any areas uh into for next year as appropriate and we'll communicate as appropriate. Uh whether those would require board uh action again will be determined based on the substance of of the recommendations. But
so please know that we are continuing to uh learn from each of the discussions and our own practices etc. Thank you. Thanks so much. Thank you. >> Um I think my questions are probably around the same um um area or focus that
Mr. Ortiz Franklin, but I'll just you know I'll I'll pose them in case. So this one for Martha or probably for our CSD um staff here. If this policy change change is adopted, um would it apply
immediately or do we have to for renewal cycles or would there be a transition period for authorizers or charter schools to adjust the evaluation formworks or it just depends on what is stipulated in the U trailer bill. >> Um there are so many different changes
that each change would have its own sort of timeline. Um for example um in some of the additional um oversight responsibilities it also impacts the auditors um and in the in last year's discussion and also part of this discussion I anticipate a big um topic
will be given enough time for auditors to also retool reskill themselves and train themselves for the new provisions. Um so there it depends and some of the the provisions would be delayed implementation that they would give maybe a one-year delay for the the auditors to get trained or um again be
able to understand the law. There's also for the u accounting pieces that may also be modified. There would be time for the state to also change its codes uh local charter schools for us to so there there's a lot of moving pieces that it would not be a July 1 enacted um
change. It may take some time over the course of the next year. uh and I think if anything the discussion in Sacramento last year there was a lot of interest as I understand from other stakeholders to give enough time at least one or two years for delayed implementation just to ensure that there's um that is done right it's not done rushed um and that
people are prepared for any to the state law >> want to add something yes go ahead Miss Marlo >> I'm Marlo Wilmont director of charter schools division I wanted to add to some of the some of the things we're currently doing so there won't be a change in practice I'll just give Give
you one example, attending governing board meetings. We already have in play in place attending at at least one governing board meeting. We often attend more and we track that. We've been doing that for at least three years. So, some of the pieces are already in place and
so there won't be a change or an update needed. Yeah, that actually leads to my next question. Uh what practical changes would the verified data or the verified data actually um extension create in how the district evaluates charter uh
renewal petitions and how uh does this district use other sets to evaluate renewal petitions? So based on the all of the analyses um that you conduct um how how would this change um how would this create a change in what you're
doing right now? Um well I will say if it is and I understand it to be when it is enacted almost identical to what it was it will be similar to what we it would be pretty much similar or the same as we did last year when it was in play
for low performing schools and middle performing schools and up until January one of this year for middle performing schools. So it would be uh the kind of we call it the second look. um we do the state compared to the charter and then we did the verified data assessment and
we looked at growth as defined by the publishers. Um so it would be very similar or almost the same as we had in place because it sounds like it's just going to be almost exactly the same language put back in. >> Okay. Right. Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Miss Alvarez.
appreciate um all the updates and looking forward to what lies ahead in terms of um any changes to the trailer bill. So that is the our last presentation. So thank you to all of our presenters, Miss uh Janette Bordon, Miss
Alvarez, and also wonderful um um folks from Isana. Thank you so much for being here and sharing letting us see a little a glimpse a small glimpse of all that you do um and the insanmies and all you do for your students. Um so thank you so
much. I appreciate it. So now we are going to move to the public comment. So we going to hand over uh the floor to Mr. McClean. >> All right. Thank you. We have a full vote of public comment. So I'll call in
the folks who are listed as being uh in person first and then we will transition to those who are calling in remotely. So and I'll call in three or four folks at a time so the first person can come to the uh podium and then the other three can be ready to come down. Uh Keith
Dequila I see you're here. Come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Then David Richardson, then Carmen Loera and then Casey Kenda. Good afternoon. I'm Keith Delquilla with the California Charter Schools Association. Dr. Evas, thank you for inviting uh and uplifting the ASAN team.
They're uh wonderful. They do incredible work. Um and we appreciate the space for them to talk a little bit more about what they do. Nadia was up here just cooking and just she's an incredible educator and we're really really grateful for the chance to to highlight that. Um especially because this has
been an incredibly hard week. um to know that that there's light here today. There'll be more light behind me with um additional speakers that we have. There's light with u more than 30 charter schools being named California distinguished schools this uh that uh this week. Um but Tuesday was heavy and
it was heavy because we saw Lock High School closed or voted to to to be denied by by this board. And there are lessons to be learned from the two years of renewals that that we've seen. And it's important that we learn them. We learned them quickly because next year will be 45,000 students will have their
schools up for renewal in LA Unified. It will be the largest cohort of schools we've ever seen and there are patterns that have developed and they're deeply concerning on an equity basis. It's part of my job is to help look at our our schools and look into the future and see where are the schools that are most at
risk. Some of those schools have areas of need to improve it. But I can tell you here that a charter school that is serving a higher percentage of black students, a higher percentage of homeless students, a higher percentage of English learners is more likely to be closed by this board. I know it's not intentional. There are
good people making decisions. We have laws that pen us in in what we look at. But right now, this board continues to ignore the most important thing, and that is our students learning while they're at the school. We're boxed in right now by a a a lack of engagement
with the most critical issue around student growth and student performance. We know that inequities show up in public systems when we're when we're blind to them, when we make decisions station to station when we fail to look at the whole. Right now, we have an opportunity to look at the whole and to
course correct some of the mistakes that I think this board has made in closing down schools serving the neediest students among us. Let's take advantage of that opportunity. Thank you. Thank you for your time, David Richardson and then Carmen Loera. Come on up.
>> Thank you. Uh, good evening board members, district staff, and community. My name is David Richardson. I'm with the California Charter Schools Association. Um, I come to this work as a LA native, a former educator, ethnic studies scholar, advocate, and I spend my days working alongside school leaders, families, and students across
the city and many of the folks sitting in this room behind me. Like my colleague Keith just noted, uh this renewal cycle has been heavy for a lot of our communities. Several school closures this year sent real shock waves through families and neighborhoods that rely on their schools as places of stability and opportunity for their children. For many families, these
charter schools are trusted spaces where students feel supported and seen. Charter schools and district schools operate in the same ecosystem and the goal should always be the same. Students growing, students improving, and students reaching higher levels of opportunity. But at the same time, there is extraordinary work happening across
LUSD. This week, the CDE recognized 408 schools statewide as California distinguished schools and 73 of those are right here in LA Unified, including 31 as LA USD authorized charter schools, and that's for demonstrating strong academic programs, real progress for students. That's something the entire
city should be proud of. Today, you heard from Isana, a group of leaders I have the privilege of working closely with. Their work is grounded in the equity and justice center model focused on belonging and student voice. And later you'll hear from school leaders, parents, alumni and who will share the impact and innovation of their schools.
Across LA, educators are locked in, focus on the intentionality and the student achievement. So this is the moment to focus on what's working. Let's strengthen collaboration between charter schools in the district. Invite more charter leaders in this room. Visit more campuses and create real space for educators to share the practices that
are helping students succeed. Because when LA schools learn from one another, opportunity expands for every student in the city. Thank you for the time. >> Thank you for your time. Carmen Loetta right here. Carmen, I'm g to see if Miss Loetta is online.
She's not. Uh Casey Coenda, Casey K, are you here? Uh check online. Also not here. Uh Bren Marquez, come on up. You'll have
two minutes to speak once you begin. After Miss Marquez, it's Jenna Rosenberg and then Tristan Bravo and then Johanna Parker. So, come on up, Miss Marquez. >> Hello everyone. I'm currently um I'm
Bernice Marquez. I am both an alumni and a current teacher at Burko Middle School. I would like to share a little bit about my my upbringing in the Latino community. Um hearing all the statistic hit home for sure. I am the social economic number. Um, so this hits home. Um, raising growing up in a Latino
community now that I have the privilege to serve, my mom is a typical Latina mom who always reminded me. In other words, anything is possible when you put your heart into it. The belief has stayed with me throughout my journey as a student and continues to guide me today and as an educator. When I was a student at Burke Corona Charter,
I had teachers who believed in me and encouraged me to keep pushing forward. They helped me realize that my voice mattered and that I was capable of achieving many many things especially my personal goals. After graduating Polytenic High School um which is a known school in the um Pquoma community,
I returned to Burke Coron and began my journey as an education an education as a special education tutor for seven years. I supported students who needed additional guidance and support. During that time, I had the opportunity to work closely with students and families and those experiences strengthen my passion for helping every student succeed. were
working this role role at Burke Corona. Um they supported my dreams in the educational world. It wasn't easy. There were many long days balancing work and rushing to attend my college classes while becoming a young mom. But the encouragement and the support I received helped me continue pursuing my dreams of becoming a teacher. Um returning to
Burke Corona made me realize that it's been a full circle. I choose to remain in the same community that invested so much in me that I can now invest in the next generation of students. I'm also grateful to work under strong leadership. Our leadership team creates a culture of high expectations and support that empowers teachers to help
students reach their full potential. This year alone, I was able to support my students in reaching our I Ready Data Goals. By January, our class had reached 138% of typical growth. I was able to get at least nine students on grade level. Um, which reflects what can happen when students are supported,
challenged, and someone who believes in them. And that is what the charter schools have done for me. >> Thank you. >> Thank you for your time. Jenna Rosenberg, are you here? Jenna R. Come on down. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. >> Hi, my name is Jenna Rosenberg. I'm the
principal at New Los Angeles Charter Elementary School in Board District 1. New LA Elementary uh will be up for renewal uh this coming school year. And I'd love to highlight just one piece of the great work we've been doing by talking about um our implementation of universal design for learning and the
impact it's had on academic rigor and access for all of our students. In 2024, we began a partnership with Open Access, an organization dedicated to professional learning around UDL in California. They have provided our teachers with ongoing learning and tools to build our UDL practices. And as we've
progressed throughout the school year, they've asked us to become a showcase site for Southern California, meaning other schools uh can come uh visit us when they're looking to implement UDL practices and see us and learn alongside us. Um, even just a year and a half into the work, we've seen this transformation
in the levels of learner agency and engagement with all of our students. And at the end of last school year, we had some of the best academic outcomes we've ever had, including a 14.7 uh increase in DFS in ELA CASP for all
students with a 31.3 point increase for students with disabilities and a 62.3 point increase for African-American students. In math, we saw a 5.2 2 incre uh point increase for all students with a 21.7 point increase for students with
disability and a 31.3 point increase for African-American students. We're very proud of how this work has helped us move forward with our equity goals and with closing the gap uh the achievement gap for student groups at our school and we'd love to invite board members or any stakeholders here today to come visit us
this spring and see that great work in action. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for your time. Tristan Bravo, come on down. Tristan Bravo, you'll have two minutes to speak when you begin. And then after Tristan is Johanna Parker and
after Johanna Parker is Cynthia Ibara. Hello everyone and good afternoon. My name is Tristan Bravo. I'm with Burke Corona. Um I'm also a former alumni and current teacher just like my colleague Benise Marquez. Um I just want to express my deep gratitude towards Burke Corona Charter Middle. Coming from a
single parent Spanish-sp speakaking household, my schooling has really provided me with the opportunities I was unaware were possible as a child. From receiving my first computer to traveling to New Orleans to present to a room full of scary adults, um, Burke Corona has not only given me
the tools to succeed in life, but also opened my eyes to all the world has to offer. The teachers and staff at Burr Corona were so caring and considerate about me as a human that I always felt a sense of belonging even when I began my journey into adulthood. After graduating
Granada Hills Charter, I began college, a goal that began during my middle school journey and I returned to Burke Corona to see if they need had any opportunities for employment. Luckily enough, I became an afterchool coach and eventually a computer technician working there for 5 years. Afterwards, I decided
to make the venture into sales to try to make some money. Um, they wholeheartedly allowed me to take the plunge into that even though they liked what I did for their school. They wanted me to go explore and see what was out there with my life. Um, I worked in sales for about four years. I made some decent money,
but I was just feeling unfulfilled with my life, and I felt like there was a hole missing. It wasn't until afterwards I decided to go back to Burke Corona once again to speak to my former English teacher, current principal, Dr. Meyers, where I had a long conversation with him
about perhaps being a teacher. After school, coaching was one of my favorite jobs to date. So, I was just open to the possibility. And after a very long conversation, he told me about all the joys and definitely all the tribulations a teacher being a teacher comes with.
And I decided maybe this was it. And I remember talking to my mother and at one point I realized that I need community and Corona really gave me that community to help me shine. And I'm very proud to say I went back to school now and I create that space for all my students to
have a holistic and appreciative view on life and whatever we can give them. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your time. Uh Johanna Parker. Johanna Parker, come on down. You have two minutes to speak. And then after Miss Parker is Cynthia Ibara.
Good afternoon everyone. My name is Johanna Parker. I am the uh current race, diversity, equity, and inclusion lead for STEM prep schools as well as our 9th grade ethnic studies teacher and
a proud STEM prep mom. My son has been um a member of the STEM prep schools since 2016. He is now currently a 10th grader at our high school and thriving with a 4.2 grade point average. I'm very
proud of him. Um, I want to talk to you about how special our school organization is and some of the work that we are doing on behalf of our students and our community. Um it's very rare for schools um in
schools for teachers let alone um people in positions of leadership members like myself who are uh members of also our instructional leadership team and our organizational leadership team to bring our own children into the schools that we work in every day. It says a lot as
for myself as a 23 year 23-y year educator. Oh, correction 28 year educator to have so much confidence in the work that we do that I trust my own child to these people, not only myself
but many other of our staff members do as well. And so with that work, the rigor, the love, the care, the uplifting that our students receive day-to-day helps to shape these young people into
who they could potentially have become. And I'm just ever so grateful for the opportunity to not only give that to my own child, but to have my my colleagues give that and pour that into my children as well as into every single member of our school community, children,
families, staff, and the people who live in our neighborhoods. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your time. Cynthia Ibara, come on up. And then after Miss Ibara is are our remote callers. So come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin.
Good afternoon, board vice president Rivas, committee members, and everyone joining us today. My name is Cynthia Ivara, and I'm a product of LUSD, a proud Garfield High School alum. Began my career at LUSD and was an administrator for 16 years before taking
on my current role as director of advocacy and community engagement for Green Do public schools. So although Tuesday was difficult um for our lock community following the denial of our petition, we wanted to take a moment to share a few celebrations from Green Dot Public Schools and state our commitment
to working together on behalf of students across Los Angeles. This week the 2026 California Distinguished Schools were announced and we are incredibly proud that six green dot schools were recognized. Notably, Animo Jackie Robinson Charter High School in
BD5, Animo Aleno Choa Charter Middle School in BD2 earned this distinction for the second consecutive cycle. I would especially like to highlight one of our newly recognized schools, Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School located in BD1. Last year, the school
achieved remarkable results in English language arts. Students performed 22.1 points above the state standard, earning a green on the California dashboard. The college and career indicator reached 56.3 outperforming the state by 4.6
percentage points, also earning a green. 52.4% of English learners made progress on the English learner progress indicator, again receiving a green. In math, the school improved significantly, increasing 37 points on the dashboard, earning a yellow rating. And perhaps
most importantly, the school achieved a 95% graduation rate while above the state average of 88%. Annual South LA serves a student population that is 18% African-American, more than double LSD's rate, and serves a higher proportion of students with disabilities and students
experiencing homelessness than the district. These results demonstrate that Green Dot model supports all students in striving for and achieving success. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your time. All right. Now,
for folks calling in remotely, uh Justine Gonzalez, I see you're signed up, but you're not online. Are you in the room, Justine? No. All right, Takur Singh, I see you're on the line. Please press star six to unmute yourself, and you'll have two
minutes to speak once you begin. Takur Singh, >> can you hear me? >> We sure can. Please go ahead. Great. Uh, good afternoon board vice president Dr. Revas. Great to see you yesterday. Board member Franklin and board member Newell. Happy Thursday. My
peers and I spoke yesterday and provided context about the growing calls for an independent graduation for the leadership virtual academy. I just sent an email about an hour or two ago with detailed information to all of you. Right now, I will go over some of the reasons that VA administration might
provide to you to justify why this is quote impossible. And I'll provide our response. First, you might be told that it's impossible in the time span, but this is untrue. We already have a school that is willing to host our graduation ceremony. We already have a fundraising mechanism and fundraising resources
lined up. We already have student and parent support. Teachers have also signed their name to volunteer for a committee. These teachers have all said that it is possible and has been done previously with less time at some of their former in-person school sites. And also, why is it possible to plan an
awards night which has yet to even start in just two months but not graduation with more time? This is inconsistent. Furthermore, last year we organized a prompt for all six virtualmies in just two months. This was without without having a location available from the start. This goes to show that if we put
our minds together, it can be done and it can be done quickly, especially with a location already found. You might also be told that the senior dinner is a compromise. As I mentioned yesterday morning, VA administration was already planning this a long time ago. How then by definition is it a compromise? Furthermore, students and parents
recognize that awards site is not a graduation as per a survey we conducted. 80% of students feel this way. If 80% of the country agreed on anything, we could get so much done. Why then is it different for our school and district where student voices are ignored despite
the supermajority? Now, I see my time is running out. I do include much more information and some other reasons that might be provided in our in our rebuttal in that email. I ask that you please when you get a chance, you know, despite your busy schedules to take a look at that and again, we are more than happy to provide answers to any questions that
you may have. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you for your time. Okay, the next speaker is Christopher. I see you're on the line. Please press star six to unmute yourself, Christopher. And you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Christopher.
>> Hello. Can you hear me? >> We sure can. Please go ahead. >> Okay. Hello. I hope that you're all having a blessed day. My name is Christopher Stella Torres and I am a student at the leadership and public service virtual academy. I am back to speak about how students and parents are increasingly supporting an independent
graduation in terms of our concern for students like Saludatorans have never been able to speak in the past. Now, I am sure that they that you would agree they've earned their spot to speak after their hard work, but virtual academy leadership disagrees.
We could easily give our salatoran and even other students a chance to speak if we had our own ceremony. For a district that values inclusion, and isn't this common sense? The ceremony also lasts hours longer than what would be the case if it were just for our school. It also
feels incredibly uninviting to be surrounded by other schools than your own. Despite the not despite this, we've taken the initiative on advocating for this, despite the lack of transparency and clear communication from the virtual academy leadership. Now, we're being told that the only barrier preventing us
from having our own ceremony is that it is quote too late. Clearly, it is not too late for the virtual academy leadership to change the date of the graduation for hundreds of parents and students when it is convenient for them. Thus, this is something we raised lead to leadership months previously but
never heard back about. How is it right for us to lose the right to an independent graduation just because we never received follow-up information? Also importantly, how is it right that students and parents were never included in these discussions in the first place? Had they been, this entire situation
would have been avoided when we would have made it clear that we want our own ceremony. Now the ball is in L USD's court. We ask that you, the school board, please support the requests of us as students and our parents for an independent graduation. You will have made a a major
difference in the lives of so many students who would know that it is thanks to this board of ed that we could have our own graduation a first in L USD history. Thank you so much and goodbye. >> Thank you for your time. Briana, I see you're on the line. Briana, please press
star six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Briana. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> We can. Please go ahead. >> Okay. Wonderful. Good afternoon, board vice president Dr. Rivas, board member Franklin, and board member Nubo. I'm
Brianna Hernandez, a student of the Leadership and Public Service Virtual Academy. I have returned to speak on a petition for an independent graduation ceremony. Please imagine a time where you have been told something was impossible to do even when it wasn't. Maybe someone told you that it would be impossible to run for your very current
seat. Despite this, you kept pushing and proved that it wasn't impossible by winning. We're in the same spot today. We know that this can be done. Virtual Academy administrators have claimed that it's too late. But even before then, they kept trying to shoot us down despite the fact that this is what
students clearly want. We also kept receiving conflicting messages that kept us running in circles. Why is it our fault that we kept receiving un transfer and unclear communication? Why are students being penalized by not having their own graduation for the seniors this year? We're told that VA leadership
will consider this next year. That's great for us juniors, but what about seniors? It isn't right. As board members, you are very familiar with LED support for student voice, parent voice, inclus inclusivity, and us chasing our dreams. Why then can students not have their dream of a personal intimate
graduation, especially when it is durable? We ask that you please show that it's not impossible and that you stand with us and our parents. If you have any questions or need more information, please reach out to us. Thank you so much. >> Thank you for your time. The next speaker is Sebastian. Sebastian, I see
you're on the line. Please press star six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Sebastian, Sebastian, I see you're with us. Please press star six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. >> Hello. Can you hear me?
>> We can. Please go ahead. >> All right. Hello. My name is Sebastian Hernandez. I am a student of the leadership and public services virtual academy. Imagine you just finished 12 years of high school and you and your family expect a graduation that feels meaningful, intimate, and personal. Instead, you're seated apart from your
friends, have just 5 minutes with your teacher, and have to wait hours just to hear your name called. On top of that, you're in the class. That's too bad. You can't speak because your school isn't allowed to have its own graduation. This is what so many students have already experienced in the past and this will
happen again this year unless L USD gives us the green light for the leadership in public services virtual academy to have its own graduation. Virtual Academy administration has tried to tell us that they've planned the senior awards senior's award night as a quote compromise but students don't feel
that it is a compromise. They still feel disappointed. Virtual Academy leadership has also told us that it is impossible to plan but we have but we already have the details figured out. We just need the green flag. They also tell us that the cost of our academy leaving the joint ceremony would mean greater cost
for the other fivemmies, but we ran the math and it's only 200 to 400 more per each school. This is far from a valid reason to not allow us to have our own graduation. We asked the school board to instruct virtual academy leadership to grant us our own
graduation. This is what students and parents have clearly indicated that they want. You would also be making a historic step in the right direction for the program that is only growing. Imagine how many virtual programs across the country offer independent inerson gradu graduation. Not many. LUSD will be
so much more appealing for potential students. We are asking for your help. I'm Rene. Thank you. >> Thank you for your time. Isabella Tez, Isabella T, please press star six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin.
Isabella. I see you're with us. Isabella, please press star six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you're in. >> Hi. >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Hello. I'm Isabella Tees and I am a senior at the Leadership Virtual
Academy. I recently sent an email to you all sharing my request for an independent graduation ceremony. Now I am speaking publicly about it. For the past few years, virtual academy students have never had a graduation that is personal, inviting, and special. Last year, it lasted six hours, including the
time it took for students to prepare and then wait on the field for hours. These are just some of the concerns we have. Students have strongly indicated that we would like an independent graduation. Why are our voices being ignored when 80% of us want this? Virtual Academy
leadership says it's impossible and it's too late, but it's not. Last year prom for all six virtualmies was planned in way less time. The senior awards night will also be planned in less time. We already have the foundation ready because we have a location support
student support and teacher support. It is possible. Plus, students, parents, and teachers have actually been discussing this since the 2024 to 2025 school year. We knew that the graduating classes in the past were strongly against the current structure with six separate schools combined, but we kept
getting unclear messaging. Virtual Academy administration might apologize for this, but what difference does it make? It's not our fault they didn't consider our voices previously. Yet, we're the ones being punished by being told it's too late. Besides, it wasn't too late for them to suddenly change the
entire date of the graduation for hundreds of students and parents without their consideration. We are asking the school board to please give us a chance. This is a major part of our high school vision. We just ask that you give us a chance to do this, please, for us and our families. Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you for your time. That concludes public comment. >> Thank you, Mr. McClean. And thank you to all those who um provided um your public comments. Um, also thank you to everyone who participated in today's meeting, including our presenters, staff, and
members of the public. The work of this committee is strengthened by the engagement of educators, families, and community members who care deeply about the success of their school students and their schools. The next charter school committee meeting will be on May 14th.
And with that, I join this meeting and I wish you all a beautiful day. Thank you.