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[music] [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> We have received a request from board member Velasquez to participate in this meeting remotely. The board member Velasquez is requesting remote participation due to the caregiving
needs of a family member, which according to legal counsel qualifies as just cause under government code section 54953. The board needs the board need not take action on this request, but board member Velasquez is required to state on the
record prior to any action at this meeting whether any other individuals 18 years of age or older are present in the room at the remote location with the board member. And the general of the board members relationship with any such individuals. Before proceeding, board member Velasquez, please make this
required disclosure at this time. >> I am alone. >> Thank you. >> There's no other human with me. >> Thank you. All right. Uh no public comment close. So we'll
adjourn to Thank you. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music]
[music] >> [music] Part: 2
Got open. Okay. Okay, so we're back from close. Can we have roll call, please? Jennifer Holly Jennifer Holly Carl Harden Here. Kimberly Kenny Here. Natasha Jackson Bailey
Patricia Jama McKenzie Here. Dr. Germa Velasquez Tina Fredericks Here. Dr. Elizabeth Blanco Here. Abel Rivera Here. Thank you. Uh so, we have
our special recognition Battle of the Book winners. Dr. Jan Hill Thank you, President Fredericks. I want to welcome [clears throat] to um the to the board. I apologize. It's always my sound. Um we, in keeping with the board's and
district's priorities around literacy, um have an incredible uh competition that we have not uh previously celebrated, so this will be our first time, but this is not the first time that these folks have engaged in this um rigorous competition. Uh we have our librarians from OEB, Elliott, and
Marshall. If you guys could please stand. Summer St. Pierre from Elliott Natalie [applause] Bailey from OEB, and Sarah Scribner from Marshall, who have led teams of students in the Battle of the Books competition. Um these three teams competed for the
district um recognition. Um, everyone has engaged in a significant amount of work, which will be described momentarily, but I also have some good news, which is that our district winner, OEB, went on to the Foothill Regionals and competed against
teams from La Canada and Glendale and swept uh and are the victorious regional winners. So, >> [cheering] >> So, tonight we do have and I'll invite up um our librarians uh to present, but uh I will be handing you each certificates on
behalf of the board and the superintendent for each of the participating students from all three schools. And OEB, we would like you to know that we have um ordered trophies for you and they will be delivered momentarily to Ms. Daily.
Marshall is going to be you guys can just stand over there. Mark, um Elliot's going to talk first and then Marshall and then OEB, okay? I'd rather you just kind of I don't know, collect yourselves. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Yes. Mhm. Okay. So, we're here tonight from Elliot Arts Magnet, Thurgood Marshall Secondary School, and Octavia E. Butler Magnet to celebrate a successful year of Battle of the Books. These three teams first competed against each other on April 25th and OEB went on to represent the
district in the Foothill Regional competition on May 2nd, taking first place in all three rounds against middle schools in Glendale and La Canada. In order to compete in this competition, students read deeply and carefully to answer questions from 14 books about plot, characters, theme, and setting
with a strong sense of how to interpret their deeper meaning in front of a live audience and under the pressure of a timer. The benefits of this program are measurable. The students in OEB's team raising their comprehension levels significantly higher than the student body, with several students raising
their reading levels by a grade level or more. Marshall's team made significant gains in reading ability, some leaping 15 or 20 points in the I ready assessment. Many members of Elliot's team would not have read a whole book at all this year without the program, since core novels are no longer part of the curriculum.
Multiple studies have confirmed the benefits of reading fiction, including increased emotional intelligence and empathy, because books offer the best way to truly step into the shoes of another person and spend time there. We intentionally chose Battle of the Book selections so that our students were able to enter the minds and experiences
of characters who were vastly who are from vastly different backgrounds, and our students found characters they could relate to and learn from. Being part of a team also helped our students develop friendships across grade levels as they spent time discussing and debating the books and learning how to be accountable for themselves and to each other, with
the opportunity to be competitive outside of sports or math. This program challenged our students to read a variety of genres and has been a transformative experience for them, providing them with amazing friendships in real life and on the page. We would like to specifically thank DonorsChoose and PEF for helping
to fund this program, and we hope that support for this program and others in our libraries will continue for years to come. Now you have the opportunity to hear from our students directly. >> [applause] >> Um, hi. My name is Abby. My I'm in seventh grade. My favorite book is
Wonder, because I like the writing of it. And I just like it. Hi, I'm Larkin and um the Battle of the Books was a um competition that was uh fun for me and my friends to be able to
connect together. Um I'm Augustine. I'm in sixth grade. Um I I like blended. It was very good. It like it I really like poetry version. It's like it's just a lot deeper. Yeah. Hi, I'm Cosmo Ramirez. Um I started Marshall last year and starting I kind of felt vulnerable and I
felt like there was no place to call home or a place to always go to. But once I discovered the library, I felt at peace and I felt like you I had a place. About 2 months into the school year Miss Gooden announced Battle of the Books, a place to read and find new books. And finding peers that also like to read
and enjoy books for not only pictures or normal parts just for like plot and dialogue was really nice. And I feel like this uh competition really changed me. Save Marshall.
Hello. Hello, my name is Caitlyn Scott and I'm in the sixth grade and ever since my cousin who actually lives in Colorado, when she did Battle of the Books in elementary school, I always wanted to do it. But my elementary school never did. So when I joined King sixth grade and I
saw Marshall was doing it, I knew I wanted to do it and I was going to be dedicated till the end. And I really like that BOB gave me opportunity to make friends with different kids from different grade levels so I could just have a different group of friends that shared a passion with me. And I really
liked that I could read the books and we could talk about it and it just was a really nice experience for me to be able to connect with these kids and be able to go through the competition. Thank you. Also, save Marshall. Hello, my name is Lennon Pollard. I'm in eighth grade and my favorite book was
Candace The Universe and Everything and I liked how it blended science and the ideal ideas of going back and different generations coming together to solve problems and I thought it was really interesting and that is why it is my favorite book.
And save Marshall. Hello, my name is Cameron Taheri and I'm here today to talk about Battle of the Books. Thank you, board members, for inviting me here today. I joined the Battle of the Books in sixth grade because I love to read and Miss Scribner is such an awesome librarian. Of course, I also did it this year
because it was such a fun and cool experience. There are all sorts of things like math field day, science fairs, and now there is something for readers. This year we read 14 books and discussed the books with our teammates to practice. The competition with other schools is like a trivia day and it's super exciting.
I hope Battle of the Books continues and grows to be bigger. And since I'm talking about what I'm hopeful for, I hope this board does not close my school so I continue visiting the Marshall Library next year and throughout high school. Thank you. I also really enjoyed this book, Fuzzy Mud.
Hello, my name is Leonardo Taheri and uh and in sixth grade I had an opportunity to participate in the first ever PUSD Battle of the Books. It was spectacular. Even though we didn't come in first, I and the rest of our team were proud to represent our school and we do it again the next year without hesitation. It has
given us the amazing opportunities and I am proud to be able to participate in Battle of the Books. Our librarian, Miss Scribner, is fantastic and Marshall should stay open so I can graduate high school from there. Save our schools. Okay, thank you. Um hi, everyone. My name is Elia Davis. I'm an eighth
grader. This is my last year and my last opportunity to do Bob. Um I was really happy to do it. I've made some very new connections. Uh I've made three new brothers on this team. And
oh, I just wanted to take this moment to have you guys recognize Marshall. We are an amazing school and Marshall's our home. Please keep Marshall open. Save Marshall. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Glenn Miyaki Cho. I'm a sixth grader. Hello. My name
is Carlos Dieguez and I'm a seventh grader and we both attend Octavia Butler Magnet. Today we are here to speak about Battle of the Books as an experience for us students. It's much more than just a program that we attend after school. Doing Battle of the Books has meant so much to me.
Starting middle school, I was really nervous and by doing Battle of the Books is it has helped me to get to know more people. Carlos and I and some of our other teammates had the chance to go and represent our school at our district-wide competition and represent our district at the regional competition.
I connected most with the main character from Esperanza Rising. I empathized with Esperanza because I too I too lost my house due to a fire and just like hers, my community was very kind and reassuring through such a challenging time. Everything from the competitions
to just the basic meeting days at our school have definitely impacted my point of view in reading books. Because of me joining it, I have been able to grow my reading level by two whole grade levels. Joining this program has also strengthened my opinions of books in general and one example is the book
called The Word That Saved My Life. In the book The Word That Saved My Life, I really connected with that book since it just showed the way that world in that time viewed certain people with these abilities. And seeing the protagonist persevere through these challenges made me feel so much towards her. There are many things that go on in these
meetings, and every day this program can run is another day that we can do all that we mentioned and so much more. Thank you for listening. Okay, and I'd now very quickly like to introduce Beth Ulchewski, who is the library services manager for LACO, and she has a very brief announcement.
>> [applause] >> Hi, I'm Beth Ulchewski from LACO. I'm the library services manager, and I'd like to congratulate you, President Frederickson Board of Pasadena Unified School District, on an amazing program. You heard that it's not just OEB that is
the winners here, it is every student that participated. It's raising their academic abilities, it's providing them fellowship and a place to belong. I was able to attend the district competition here and also the regional
competition, and I'm happy to announce to your district first, you're the first ones to know, um there will be a countywide competition next year to host by LACO for all of the districts to participate. Thank you, Pasadena Unified and your
amazing library program for leading the way. >> [applause] >> That's wonderful. Dr. Chan Han. And I wanted to close with a surprise secret. A very prestigious award will be announced shortly as well. I wasn't sure if Ms. Beth was going to announce it or not. Um
but the American Association of School Libraries and Librarians um has a very prestigious honor, they name the National School Library of the Year. OEB was selected as a finalist, which we've been aware of for a few months. It's been a rigorous application process
that included virtual and in-person visits and interviews and assessments. And OEB has just been informed that they are the second place runner-up nationally. So, we are we're stunned that they didn't get the [applause] actual prize, [cheering] but
>> [applause] >> more to come. It does acknowledge that our libraries are really uh thriving in the way that we intended them to. So amazing. I just was so proud of all of you. I think um some of us have something to
say. Trustee Harden or Trustee Kenny? I'm just wondering how I can find the list of books, the list of the 14 books. Is that somewhere online or Um I mean, I emailed it to Dr. Chantal has it. She could probably send it to you. That would be great. I Actually, my mother was a middle school
librarian. So, I do tend to read a lot of middle grade fiction and young adult fiction. Got some good recommendations. Anybody else? Well, I'm so proud of all of you. And Miss Daily, I know you worked and all the librarians you worked so hard on
this event. And congratulations, OEB. I'm so proud. All right. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Now, we're at the public comment on agenda items. How many do we have? Oh, I'm sorry. Before you leave, we want to take a picture with the celebrities.
>> [laughter] >> It's a pretty picture. >> Students, if you wouldn't mind just coming up to this open area in the dais. And then parents, once the kids are situated, you're welcome to stand up and take photos as well. Elliot and Marshall, we'd like you up
here as well. >> [laughter] >> All right, Trustee McKenzie, public comment. The Board of Education acknowledges um electronic communication that was sent by way of public comment. It will be added to the record of this meeting.
On agendaized items, we have three speakers who have signed up to speak tonight for public comment. The first is um Felita Keeling. Good evening um Board President Tina Frederickson Dr. Blanco and to the board. Um I'm here tonight of course to
support the students at Thurgood Marshall as the assistant coordinator of marketing student recruitment and community relations at Thurgood Marshall Secondary School. And I would just be remiss not to be to stand before you and to give public comment about classified staff members. So, I am a classified staff member. However, I am paid through
different funds. So, as of right now, I have not been issued a um any types of Well, as of right now, I still have a job for next year, which I am very happy and fortunate to have as the student, you know, basically for what I do. Um For those of you guys who don't know, it's kind of interesting being here tonight cuz I thought about
when I started here, my son started in 2006 at um Webster Elementary School, and my first volunteer position at Webster was I read to the kindergarten classes. Well, no, I read to his kindergarten class. Then the other teachers were jealous, so then I would read to the
other kindergarten classes, and then the first grade classes, and then everyone knew if I walked on campus with the orange bag, I was going to read. So, I read to all the classes almost all the time, and then I read and I had a regular job, um not at a school, of course, and I read at Don Benito, San
Rafael, Jefferson, Altadena, Loma No, no, not Loma Alta, Noyes, well, that's before Noyes closed, and Burbank. So, I read at a just a a lot of the schools within PUSD. I like I love books, and books are so important to me, so I love being here tonight. But then I said, well, as a classified staff member, if I
didn't make a comment about the the um the hardship of I know what you have to do, you have to do, but there's the hardship of not having classified staff people on the campus, um and just being like in solidarity with my colleagues who will not have jobs next year. But
also, I'd like to make a comment because um one of the things that I do, and you guys all know I do marketing and student recruitment at their Marshall, which is very hard because that student recruitment component of my job is what I'm supposed to do right now, and it's very hard because we're getting a lot of phone calls about what could be
happening next with our school, and I won't lead to anything, you know what that leads to, so I just want I love doing my job, I love the work that I do for the students that I work for. They're absolutely amazing every single day, and it was I get up every day to come to work to support them in what
what doing. It's some good stuff that's happening there, and I sent an email to each of you, and I invite you to come to the campus. And if you want to see something really interesting, impromptu, we don't we won't prep the kids, come and walk into a sixth-grade class and
ask them what's happening in their classroom, what's happening with them. Walk into a seventh-grade class, but the sixth-graders are so inspirational. They're who inspired me at the last school tour cuz traditionally, I do high school tours, but at the middle school tour, absolutely amazing. I invite each of you to come to Thurgood Marshall to
to talk and speak to our sixth-grade class and see why they're why they're inspired to be there and why we want them to be there from sixth to 12th grade. Thank you so much. Have an amazing evening. Thank you. Jonathan Gardner? Um so, greeting Superintendent Blanco,
President Fredericks, members of the board. I'm sharing with you page 17 of the 200-page second interim report that shows clearly that even in this current year, PUSD has been able to save $15 million compared to what was adopted last July.
We have received more and spent less than expected. This $15 million means you have plenty of funding to do the right thing with these 60-plus laid-off teachers as well as the 46 temporary labeled teachers. For scale, there have only been 2,400
layoffs across California. Our 113 layoffs represent more than 5% of all California layoffs, even though we only teach 0.2% of the schools. That is a factor of 25 times.
You have a former Teacher of the Year represented as well as two of the five finalists for this current year on that list of layoffs. You also have the librarian that was just up here celebrating our students. These layoffs of veterans and stars are destabilizing and devastating to both
our schools and classrooms. We already have 44 students in a math class currently. We have 36 in multiple fourth and fifth grade classes currently. We have 70 in PE currently. Cutting 88
more than we need to means that not only will students be deprived of art, music, PE, and MTSS support, which is the aspect cuts, but we will also see our classes balloon beyond our current unsustainable class sizes. We are now in our fourth year in a row
of not fully funding at 55% minimum our classrooms. And this decision takes an extra $12 million of value beyond what LACO said, beyond what we have to, away from our classrooms and our students. Most excellent districts
like Arcadia, Glendale have gone to 60 to 65% of their funding being spent on classroom instruction. These cuts go the wrong way. All for what exactly? We need to spend today's dollars on today's kids.
I urge you to refocus PUSD on safe, stable, and fully funded schools and to not approve these layoffs. Thank you. Martin D'Amato Good evening, all. I really don't have um uh
words to muster out. Um and it's not because I'm at a loss for words. It's more of uh I'm just um mentally exhausted uh after 10 years of just um defending time in and time out
uh my existence as a teacher in PUSD. Um And so it's not enough that, you know I've had 16 year 10 years as a teacher 16 years as a um as a worker for PUSD and aside from that I went um
my entire uh school career uh to PUSD schools. And so um I'm a community member of Pasadena um on multiple levels, right? Um and so I see I could see over time what these cuts have done uh to our
community. Uh an anecdote that I can share is um this past week was open house. And I had a number of my students from years past come and visit me. Uh not because they had brothers and sisters that went to the school, just because they knew it was open house and they knew they had
the chance to come back and see their teachers of old. Um and so when they were asking me, "Mr. Rod, are you going to be here for you know next year, right? You're going to be here forever, right?" Um I told them that it wasn't exactly up to me. Um I didn't know what else to say.
I just wish I really wish that our district was more committed to keeping the continuity within the community here. Um that should be what our public schools are for. They really should be about uh a place where
um you build the relationships from the ground up. It should be a place where the community responds to uh what is needed at the school site. It shouldn't be coming from Washington. It shouldn't be coming from Sacramento. It should be coming from
Pasadena. It should be coming from Ashtabula. It shouldn't be coming from people that don't have the connection with the people in the community. And so these layoffs show that well, who are who's making the decision on them?
You know, not me. Uh that's for sure. Um if it was up to me, um I would choose uh to foster those relationships so that those kids can come back one day and serve Madison. That's how you keep community together and you keep the continuity going.
Pasadena is is great for many reasons. I'm not sure why we can't do that as a school district. And so, anyhow, I hope that those of you making decisions today keep the community at heart more than anything. Thank you. Is there any more public comment?
Thank you. Thank you for your public comment. Um, we're at Item D1, the governing board of Pasadena Unified School District is now opening the public hearing for public input regarding 2026-27
special education plan budget and service plan for the Pasadena Unified School District SELPA. Anyone wishing to comment either verbally or in writing may do so at this time. Okay. Um, Jonathan Gar- Jonathan Gardner, uh, president United
Teachers of Pasadena. I represent many of the individuals who are in this plan, and um, I I do want to express my, um, gratitude that we've been able to move from using outside contractors to locally sourced, uh, folks for
instructional aides, and I hope that we will continue to do um, better and better with all the levels, including psychologists and speech language pathologists and hiring internally because um most of the time when we have outside consultants um especially it
happened this year we had someone out on um maternity leave and um we brought in a consultant and ultimately the other psychologist that were there had to clean up everything. They did almost nothing. They were I think they were there over a
month and they did two assessments um and they weren't great quality. And so I would urge you to find a way uh we already shared ways that we can um leverage the current expertise in our district for um
kind of catching up cases that that kind of thing. Um but I definitely we want to move away from using consultants outside consultants cuz that's I I believe that's part of why we have as as many settlements as we have is that they do poor work that our members
have to clean up after it and then they they are then stressed and have to deal with not only their own stuff but all these cleanup work. So I hope that we can find a way to continue to move away from outside consultants on special ed and um
I just I wanted to appreciate that we are doing better and uh hope for even better. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other additional comments? Yes. Nobody else. >> [clears throat] >> Um
So currently uh nine of the folks that are on the temporary list are in special ed. Um one of them is a psychologist and eight of them are special ed teachers. I don't think that it serves our district interest to leave them hanging. Um I believe that we should
give them probationary and permanent uh slots immediately so that they can plan for the future. Uh last year we had 12 um folks on temporary contracts who are special ed teachers, and we started the year last year with 12 vacancies.
And so, I don't think there's a district interest in having eight vacancies, especially in special ed. So, I recommend that you encourage HR to convert those from temporary to full positions as soon as possible. Thank you. Thank you.
Are there any additional comments? I don't know. She has a clarifying question. To So, the papers that are filed with this item say that there's a public hearing on May 28th. So, I believe we'll be having a public hearing on May 28th as
well. I just want to clarify the process. Okay. Thanks. Any additional comments? Hearing none, the public hearing for input regarding the 2026-27 special education plan budget and service plan for Pasadena Unified School District
SELPA is now closed. All right. So, we're at action item E1, ratification of settlement agreement and side letter between PSD and UTP related to the certificate reduction force for 2026-27 school year. How are we doing?
So, we need to have a motion. I'll move approval. Is there a second? I will second. I'll second. Okay. Is there any discussion? Oh. >> Do you have a public comment? Sir, I'm not sure that you're able to speak at this point because we don't Yeah, we You
have to sign up to speak and you didn't do that. >> an error earlier, but they were Okay. Thank you. All right, is there any advocacy? Okay, so we're ready to vote. Uh Trustee Rivera, what is your preferential vote?
Um we have yes. Oh, you have a statement? >> Well, it's a kind of short statement, but in summary, we decided to vote yes because negotiated by the UTP and the district. And Trustee Velasquez is not on. Okay, so we can vote by hand. So, all those in
favor? Anybody against? Any abstentions? Thank you, motion passes. All right, um now we have E2 and E3 on the consideration of adoption of resolution 2878 implementing element elimination layoff
and or reduction in force of particular kinds of certificate services. Is there a motion? Is there a motion? I approve it. Is there a second? I second. Any questions?
Any advocacy? Okay, Trustee Kenny? Um I think uh these are always hard decisions. I I did want to reflect that um what we see here are the the 62 layoffs on this
resolution plus um the 49 temporary employees who we terminated earlier for a total of 111. Um I know sometimes it's confusing. I see things in the paper about um
our cuts. And at this point we know that we um reduced 161 FTE back in February. We have brought some TOSAs back and some special ed coordinators, which was part
of our plan all along. So, I think we're we are at a net 146. So, we're not bringing the positions back. And so, if people feel that it might be confusing to say, well, if they say they need to cut, but
then they bring people back, how is that saving thing? We're not bringing the positions back. But, through many different um means, retirements, people moving on to other districts, we are able to reduce the number of pink slips that we give out.
So, um but again, that's still 111 employees. That's still a large number. Um I I mean, I see the the numbers that we were given. And we have um
made significant a significant decrease in our projected spending for this year. I don't know whether that needs to be reflected in future years. Um it is difficult to
have our employees recognized as teacher of the year, as a very high-achieving librarian across the the nation, and also be reducing reducing their jobs. I didn't you know not necessarily positions but them them
specifically. I mean I reflect that we don't have a lot of say in terms of who gets pink slips. It is all very regulated. And as a district that hasn't taken on a lot of new employees we see people come to the podium and say
I've gotten a pink slip year after year after year and when you do it by seniority and people are on the bottom and we don't hire new people they do that does happen to them. So some of this is is a in terms of how this plays out is very
regulated. Um I think we recognize we've had a lot of one-time money that went away and as a people business it affected a lot of people. I worry that the state's going to keep giving us more one-time money and this is the cycle that will repeat where we
know we will use that one-time money to hire people cuz that's the kind of that's what we need to spend money on to provide services to students. But because it's one-time we do have this up and down roller coaster. Thanks.
Anybody else? Well, I also want to recognize this I mean I reflect back on LACO you know coming and warning us and um reminding us that this we have the cycle of
structural deficit and this um you know I've been on the board for this my sixth year and it seems like this is just normal. You know normal layoff, normal rehire and then layoff, and rehire, and
And uh I was going to actually I forgot to um ask my question, but I think it's pretty clear that it seems like this is probably one of the worst years uh as far as the layoffs, as far as the
numbers. And I would like to see a trend downward of fewer layoffs. And I understand that there are districts that have no layoffs, have very few layoffs,
and we continue to have them. And it's expected. I mean, you hear about um generations of teachers. Their parents were teachers. They did that We did that then, too.
So, you know, I said that once we had uh once we had addressed the uh approved the fiscal stabilization plan, and we could approved the budget cuts, I really wanted to see a change. And unfortunately, you know,
you know, there was a time where I I was like, "Oh, LAUSD is not going to shut us down. You know, we've been through so many crises. That's just so cold of them to do that." But once they showed up, once they gave us presentations, once they gave us the letter, then I was like, "Well, you know
what? I'm not going to really, you know, call their bluff. You know, that's not But um it's hard because if by supporting this, it's enabling this pattern.
What is to How is this going to play out differently next year? And how will we ever acknowledge that this is not okay? I mean, what are we supposed to tell
people? You know, from the outside this is very silly. Silly. But this keeps repeating. And then we are supposed to allow it again and again every year. So, I I want to see that this is an opportunity This is going to be a hard
year coming up. And this should be an opportunity to establish transformative change. And yes, that is looking at the one-time not spending one-time money.
And whatever the old habits we have continue to perpetuate this. What is the new approach? Because if we keep doing the same thing, well, we're going to get the same thing. I mean, unfortunately, Dr. Canales isn't
here, so I would have asked him some questions, but Well, board, I this is the advocacy period, and actually, I I would like a motion to return to inquiry. Is there a motion? Is there a second? All those in favor of inquiry? Returning
to inquiry so I can ask Dr. Blanco a question. All right, thank you. So, Dr. Canal I mean, Dr. Canal, Dr. Blanco. Um Yeah, if you can please
explain the cycle. If you it's even possible to explain the cycle. Maybe it's different reason every time, but our job is to look at the outcomes, right? And your job is you're the expert how to get there and all that. So,
I'm just seeing the results. And the results look the same. So, please explain how we can prevent this in the future. Well, we're a declining enrollment district, so we're dealing with less children, which equates to less staff. So, I know you had an interest for in,
you know, passing resolution to try to stop this, and I think I explained at the time that because we're a declining enrollment district, and we've been tightening up staffing to ratio over time to not shock the system too much, that um that
was part of the cycle. Um we right now have our schools scrambling to find categorical dollars, raise annual funds, you know, look at their school site budgets to hire back people, right? So,
there's the pros and cons of that. When they hire back some people that support teachers out of the classroom, that's going to help more teachers on this list come back to a job. That's a positive thing, right? But, they're also hiring people on soft money.
That is one-time money that we're not guaranteed for the next year. And so, what will happen next year, um those positions, if we can't find additional funding, will create a situation where we have to lay
them off, and they will take classroom jobs again, and the cycle will perpetuate. Should we It's very difficult choice for the SLT. We don't want to stop schools from having autonomy in hiring people they need and creating more jobs for our
you know, certificated members and our classified members, but this is a cycle that the county has warned us about. But, I think that we also have to consider $13 million all at once to a system is very
difficult. So, whatever we can do to um you know, prolong not having to do that. We don't know what the governor's budget is going to bring for sure. We're not able to count on any of the money that he's proposing. So, maybe we can sustain the
positions longer. PF has um been working very hard to raise money for priorities of uh which are people in the superintendent's zone, our librarians, um some other positions that um our academics team have worked with them
on as a priority. So, you know, we've um asked them to try to get longer-term commitments, and they're working on that instead of a one-year commitment, getting a multi-year commitment from funders. But, um given our situation of
less students um each year, it is very difficult to say that we're not going to have additional layoffs because there's less students. And using one-time money uh to save jobs has the pros and cons
which I mentioned. Thank you, Dr. Moncrieff. Uh that is the last of my questions. Um I think I'm done with my advocacy as well. Is Does anybody have any other advocacy? Uh trustee McKenzie. You asked a question about
what will we do differently to try and eliminate this cycle. It appears as though our options are going to be limited on fully eliminating the cycle
until the way in which schools are funded changes. We receive money one fiscal year at a time, yet we're expected to project out 3 years in advance without having those dollars in the bank. So, I think that until there's
a way to figure out that science better, we're going to play a little bit of a guessing game in terms of trying to determine how far this money actually goes. And so, until there's a radical shift at the state level or the federal level in terms of how dollars are coming to
schools and what our what is expected of us in terms of producing these 3-year budgets, I think if they want us to project 3 years, they need to fund us 3 years. So that there's a little bit more of an opportunity to have the dollars match
the dollar cycle that you're supposed to spend them in. So, I think that there's an opportunity for advocacy at the legislative level for um policy change. There's opportunity for advocacy for kind of doing business differently, quote unquote.
But until then, I think that it's going to be difficult to be able to not have this cycle of trying to answer questions without information. Like you're solving for X without all of the pieces of the all of the variables in the equation. And so, until we get past that point, I think
we're going to continue to struggle in this methodology. And sadly, it is going to be difficult and it's going to be challenging in terms of people who are impacted because the vast majority of
our organization is very um human capital dependent. You know, we are the people who We're here to serve students and they're people primarily who are serving students that are in these roles. So, until we can get some sort of kind of
tectonic shift in terms of how dollars flow, we're going to continue to struggle. Trustee Holliday. It wouldn't be appropriate for me not to mention after Trustee McKenzie talked about funding that we are always struggling with a lack of special education funding and it's part of our
deficit and how we move money around. We There We don't have choices there and rightfully so. Every child has to be educated. But, we are not fully funded in public education and that is going to be one of our problems going forward
until we stop that cycle. Thank you. Any other advocacy? Okay, I think we're ready for vote. Trustee Rivera. Um I have one more statement actually. Well, I mean Go ahead. Yes, we can >> Sorry. Um so,
many of [clears throat] us don't agree with the layoff of any employees at all. And we believe it is unwise to move forward with these layoffs in this time of uncertainty and turmoil throughout the entire school district over a looming threat of closure. Others, however, understand that budget
cuts are needed. It was a close decision between no and abstaining, but the student assembly council ultimately votes abstain since the votes were was a tie. Okay. All those in favor? All those against? Any abstentions? Motion passes.
Item E3, consideration of adoption of resolution 2879 implementing elimination layoff of classified positions due to lack of work or lack of funds. Is there a motion? I'll move. A second?
Second. Move approval. Question? Sorry, second. Any questions? Any advocacy? Um Oh, Trustee Kenny. Oh, go ahead.
Um I want to reflect I know there's a big number of names here, 219 I think on this attached list. Um my understanding is that a number of these are our hourly employees, a considerable number of whom will be
brought back under a new job name. So, this this will be somewhat reduced in its its total effect. Um I just wanted to mention that. Any other advocacy? Um I do want to say that I am looking
forward to the staff presentation that's coming soon and hope to be seeing some innovation out of that on our approach to staffing that is within our control.
We're ready to vote. Trustee Rivera, what is your preferential vote? Because the voting will once again tie for this action item between no and abstain, the student assembly council votes to abstain. Thank you. All those in favor? All those against?
Any abstentions? Motion passes. Thank you. Meeting is adjourned.