Regular Meeting

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[18] SPEAKER_31: To the Father of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for attending. Again, the June 6, 2017 meeting of the Newark Unified School District. We just returned from closed session where we discussed items 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3, and no action was taken. On to approval of the board agenda, we have some significant fallings, I believe. Mr. Vice-President, can you run off with this?

[81] SPEAKER_41: I do have some amendments that would like some agenda items I would like to pull. I would like to pull item 9.1, public hearing. I'd like to pull 9.2, public hearing. 13.1, consent agenda. 13.4, assistant superintendent contract. 14, Consent Agenda 14.2, revised. 14, Consent Agenda None, personnel items. Items 4.10, 4.19, 4.20, 14, I'm sorry, 14.10, 14.19, 14.20, 14.21, and Bull 15.1, closed session, sorry, budget study session. Hold on, and one more request is to move up on the agenda prior to public comment for our employee organizations. Move it early in the agenda.

[160] SPEAKER_31: So 12.1, we're looking into just a couple of... Earlier. Okay. So we'll do it right after the success update then, right?

[172] SPEAKER_41: You can go before if you want. That's fine.

[178] SPEAKER_31: All right.

[178] SPEAKER_41: So for a member, do you want it before or after? Just before mark for it as well.

[188] SPEAKER_30: After recognition celebrations. Okay.

[191] SPEAKER_41: All right. So after 7.0, we'll have the

[201] SPEAKER_31: Okay, got it. And for members of the public, we will not be holding the budget study session. So there were items that I know some of you may be interested in. So I think we'll have that at the next meeting.

[219] SPEAKER_41: I mean, quickly, publicizing a public meeting. The proposed budget on the 19th is a recommendation and they haven't called approval on the 20th.

[232] Bowen Zhang: I have a point of order. We've had some requests for the community to address us on different items that have just been pulled. So would we give the community member the option of just addressing us from a common and non-gender item? That would be my recommendation.

[255] SPEAKER_31: Unless they don't want to. So this becomes also, so my concern becomes my attempt. Right, right. Thank you. Okay, so we have a motion to approve all of those changes, so. Okay, all those in favor, say aye, please.

[291] SPEAKER_31: None. Four ayes. On to item C, which is the report from the Virginia Basin. The school year is coming to a close, and Engineering Sheriff is having a year-end valedictory honor retiring two different students.

[338] SPEAKER_27: Also, there will be a fair amount of games for the 8th graders, including the chance to eat carrot food and a DJ. Costs will be $10 and will take place June 9th, 2016. Around second quarter, leaderships are at SSR Boulders Beach, where we go to different classrooms and teach lessons on bowling once a month. Since it is already June, we are starting to wrap up the Boulders Beach.

[359] SPEAKER_40: The last major event that's coming up is promotion. Everyone is excited about it and we're happy to honor the A3 class heading into high school and wish them the best. Next Monday, there's an award assembly for whom the teachers deciding which students from the classes has improved and more comparative and will earn medals. Teachers will say a few words about why they picked the student and happily congratulate them. Finally, the leadership class is coming to an end and wrapping up Friday and Monday. Thank you for having us.

[390] SPEAKER_31: Thank you. From McGregor. Sierra from Memorial.

[399] SPEAKER_39: To start it off, a few weeks ago, Advanced Band, Advanced Choir, and Women's Choir are proud to bring home three Superior Rating Trophies, home to New Toronto at our festival competition. They have been contributed to Cougar Pi by bringing home four trophies. Each ensemble was rated Superior, which is the highest rating, and the band took overall Achievement Award for Band out of five top high school bands that were present. Choir and band ensembles from Arizona and Nevada were present at this competition, as well as from Central and Northern California, and we're very proud to have our school to bring home lots and lots of attention. We brought home the highest rating. On May 26th, we had the Spring Choral Concert, and it features all three choirs and the guitar class, featuring Assistant Principal Ellie Wasser, Barbara Meyer, I think, I believe, Grace Lorto is there also. They have lots of great songs ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan to musicals from The Lego Movie. Our last lip-sync battle at Black High School is going to be this Friday. Or, sorry, no. It was last Friday on June 2nd. And then, let's see. Our senior checkout just started this Monday. And so, make sure to have all the seniors Check out the sheets to Miss Abella by Friday or Friday. And make sure to turn in all of your books so you don't have any money due to the high school. Seniors also had a dry night a few weeks ago on the internet. Man, I just remember I saw everyone posting on the media. And they were like, man, I've been up for 72 hours. But they all had a blast. They had lots of fun spending their last time together. Let's see. The senior breakfast and slideshow is going to be on Thursday, June 15th from 9am to 10.30pm. I hope that everyone got their pictures in. It was May 26th. They're going to pretty much have a slideshow with all the seniors on the picnic and it's going to be all their pictures from like 6th grade and up or even younger to see how everything changed. There is a mandatory graduation practice on Thursday, June 15th. And graduation will be on Saturday, June 17th from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Cougar Stadium. So make sure to get there early if you want seats, because it does fill up very fast. We had our second annual Cougar Biathlon. We had over 70 participants this year on our Run, Swim, Run event. We run a mile, swim four laps, and then run another mile. Our winners were, for individual male staff, we had Coach Kenny Al-Kasiba. Individual female staff was Mrs. Debbie Nolan. Our male student was Anthony Van Poole. Female student was Logan Al-Kasiba. Team staff, Mr. Jacob Goldsmith, Mr. Carl Knittle, Mr. Sean Bruce. And then team for students was Lucas McGill, Nidhi Ansari, and Anthony Juarez. This is a really, it's a hard phrase. You said that and everyone's lying on the ground. So huge congratulations to them. And then tomorrow night is our 36th Athletics Award Night in the Hoover Commons. So all of our athletes at the memorial, it is a huge ceremony for them. They're going to get a lot of awards. And it's just pretty much for all the hard work that they put in, and especially the ones that stood out. be there, so if you'd like to come and celebrate with them, please do.

[634] SPEAKER_40: I will be there also.

[639] SPEAKER_39: Then we have... On Wednesday, May 17th, we had our North Memorial Cougar student-athlete college night. So all of our seniors that are going to be competing in college were recognized, and the following is Kyle Alcaciba, John L. Kabating, Alexis De Silva, Kabir Dhillon, Khalid Khali, Alan Kilakanian, Joshua Ramirez, Arthur Shim, Melanie Siakot, and Taffy Tran. They will all continue to play sports in college competitively. So that's amazing, and I'm so happy for them. We will miss our seniors. That's a lot of information. This week is finals week, and next week is finals week. Man, both students and teachers, I'm sure we all just want to get through this. And we're all really excited, and we're helping each other out. And yeah, this is great. Thank you for this year.

[706] SPEAKER_31: Thank you, Sarah. Great. On to 7.1, recognition and celebration. First, we'll open it in this green and then white.

[725] Ray Rodriguez: Good evening, President Nguyen, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Sanchez, Executive Cabinet, and Birch Grove staff and families. I am pleased to present the student and employee recognitions for Birch Grove Intermediate. I would like to call up Adaya Navarro, please. Adia Navarro is Birchgrove Intermediate's sixth grade student of the year, nominated by her teacher, Timothy Merritt. Adia exemplifies all that Birchgrove Intermediate stands for. She is dedicated to her own education and is motivated and curious to learn beyond the basic requirements of the content presented at school. Adia is a kind and caring person who worked this year to gather toys and other items to comfort children in the hospital as one of her community service projects this year. She works well with all of her classmates and is willing to lend a hand when and where it is needed. This is a well-deserved recognition, Adia, congratulations.

[826] SPEAKER_41: I think that BGI has really I've been able to

[850] SPEAKER_16: Rely on BGI because everyone there I met new people that Trent that was there before the year at the campus and there They helped me get through this whole year Mr. Merrick, come on up

[878] SPEAKER_27: Mr. Barrett, let me... No, we're going to do a selfie.

[881] SPEAKER_30: There you go. Selfie. I can't even see.

[922] Ray Rodriguez: Next I'd like to invite Mr. Dave Grandstaff up. I do want to say I don't plagiarize usually But I asked for recommendations for this acknowledgement from all of the staff. And so I would say 95% of what I'm reading tonight is from the words of their peers. And I think that's very important. Mr. Dave Grandstaff, our day custodian, is one of the hardest working individuals at Birch Grove Intermediate. He is a nonstop cleaning, fixing, lifting, wiping, carrying, storing, throwing, leaf blowing machines. When does Mr. Day stop? He stops when students come up to talk to him. He stops when he's radioed by walkie-talkie and then he's dropping what he's doing to start a new job. He stops when he calls waste management on his own to get a new dumpster in front of the school. so the school can look even better before open house. He stops when he checks the clipboard in the office and then quickly returns to check off all of the requests he's completed. He stops when he sees a teacher or principal with arms full of stuff to help carry and open doors for them. He stops to greet the new night custodian sub then he quickly shows him the ropes and gets the job started. He stops when the leaf blower goes dead and returns with a broom. But the best reason Mr. Dave stops, when he sees you coming and he stops to say hello. One student says, I appreciate Mr. Dave, not just for being nice when cleaning up our messes, even though it's our mess, Mr. Dave He is soft on the inside, but tough on the outside. He cleans and keeps doing his job and keeps us in a good mood. This acknowledgement just touches the surface of what Dave means to the students and staff of BGI. Congratulations, Dave. And the roses are for his wife, Rosemary.

[1085] SPEAKER_30: Would you like to say something?

[1095] Sean Abruzzi: Thank you very much. And to us veterans, super fine, yeah.

[1122] SPEAKER_30: Got it? Thank you guys.

[1131] SPEAKER_29: It was delicious.

[1153] Ray Rodriguez: I'd now like to call up our Certificated Staff Recognition, Ms. Lindsay Affleck. Ms. Lindsay Affleck currently teaches fourth and fifth grade at Birch Grove Intermediate and has taught in Newark for 12 years. She is an amazing educator and all around hardworking person. Her work ethic is extremely strong and she supports the campus in any way she can. She is always willing to support other staff members and she truly thinks about the whole team. For example, with our guest teacher shortage problem, she came up with a possible solution that required teamwork. What we most admire about her is that if she sees a problem, She doesn't just complain, she spends the time to try to solve it and is willing to collaborate with others. Lindsay Affleck rolled out the red carpet for many of the new staff at our newly reconfigured campus this year. Lindsay served on the hiring committee, helping conduct interviews, which shaped school staff and culture. Once the new staff was assembled, Lindsay set aside time to meet with many teachers, gave them a tour of the campus, showed them the curriculum and her own lessons, and ordered copies. In August, as school was nearing, she was the main point of contact whenever they had questions about supplies, protocols, and a million other random tidbits that are essential to feeling comfortable in a new place. Ms. Affleck continues to push herself as a lifelong learner. She is currently piloting project-based learning and pushing her students to solve problems in different ways. Do you guys know those escape rooms that you pay big bucks to go do for fun? You know, the escape class, the escape rooms, anybody? So for STEAM Week, just this week, Ms. Affleck created an escape classroom. Students have to use mathematical concepts and problem solving to break the code and escape under time constraints. Talk about all-time student engagement. Just these past few weeks, she is teaching her students to think deeper about math concepts, including number talks and inquiry-based lessons. The rigor runs deep in Room 14. She also supports the school in her role as administrative designee. Ms. Affleck can handle situations that arise when I am off campus. I wholeheartedly trust her judgment and problem-solving abilities. When I am ill or attending off-campus meetings, I know I will return to a calm, peaceful campus. Birch Grove Intermediate is extremely fortunate to have the talents of Ms. Lindsay Affleck. Congratulations.

[1362] SPEAKER_42: I just want to say thank you because the Merge has been really wonderful and there's been a lot of great teachers there, so I'm really honored to be among those groups.

[1393] SPEAKER_30: Thank you so much.

[1438] SPEAKER_31: Great, thank you. On to employee organizations. I'd like to go first. NCA, CACA, Dubai. NCA, as well. Good evening.

[1465] SPEAKER_22: Board, Superintendent Sanchez, district staff, Chris Bob, President of the Newark Teachers Association and bargaining team chairperson. It's my honor and privilege to announce on behalf of our organization that the Newark Teachers Association and Newark Unified School District have reached a multi-year tentative agreement on a successor contract. So I want to thank both bargaining teams for all their work. A lot of work on both sides, a lot of movement on both sides to make this deal happen. And our number one priority was keeping teachers in our school district and not seeking outside employment. Hopefully this deal starts to put that mandate on it, on the problem. And I know that the board number one concern is the fiscal challenges and deficits that we face. This is a fair contract and we're going to be working really hard to support ratification. The second announcement I'd like to make is this is my public farewell to the board as NTA president. I had the honor of serving two different terms over a six year period. I got involved as president during the worst economic times I think we had faced. We were going through layoffs and budget cuts and talking about losing elective programs and seeing my friends and colleagues, some of which thankfully, are back with us today. But that was a really hard time. We've accomplished great things together in the 10 years that I've served on the NTA Executive Board, and I will miss the work. And for those that think I'm leaving Newark Unified School District, I sent that email and everyone thought, oh, Chris is Leaving, that is not true. I'm just stepping down from the executive board, taking some time, some personal time for myself to work on some other challenges and projects that I would like to focus on. But still gonna be at Newark Junior High School, still supporting our students, still advocating for them. That's what keeps me going, why I'm a teacher and why I'm an advocate for our teachers. So thank you for all of your support. Thank you, Newark teachers and community that are here today. all your support, principles. The thing that I'm most proud about is before, I feel like before I became president, there was quite a bit of animosity and the typical union labor head-bashing, if you will, or labor management head-bashing. I feel like today, NTA and NUSD relations are stronger than they've ever been. And let's continue to bridge that. And I know that Tommy Edwards, our president-elect, will continue to lead us forward. So with that, thank you. We do have a separate presentation that we would like to make. So with the board's consent, I'm going to turn it over to Megan McMillan, our Special Ed Director. But I just wanted to say thank you. And I'm going to use this if I'm not leaving. Goodbye.

[1672] Megan McMillan: Good evening. So my name is Megan McMillan. I'm currently the acting special education director for NTA. And with me this evening is Rachel Bloom, the elementary director for NTA. And what we're presenting on tonight, we thought it was best that both of us be here because it involves both special education and general education. And what we'd like to talk about is the feedback that we've received at the elementary level for the rollout of our inclusion program at Music Elementary School this year. So, a brief overview. Inclusion is a way to provide special education services in a general education setting. And it is mandated by IDEA, the laws that govern special education. What we'd like to do is look at what the research shows and what has been data-driven what happened in the district, and ways to improve and progress as we move forward with this really important program. As we know, in special education and throughout education in general, we want to have data-driven, research-based methods that we're using to educate our students. And so with that in mind, we wanted to look at the feedback for this program. So currently, right now, the best practice is The best practice for inclusion is to make sure that the rollout is done in a systematic fashion that starts well ahead of the actual program taking place. In Newark, the way this happened was that teachers were informed that in order to provide the least restrictive environment for students, which is the goal with inclusion, that special needs students were going to be joining their class the following year. students' success in that program was impacted by a lack of clear vision for the program, rather than effort or competence on the part of the teachers. The teachers went into this, you know, feet first into the deep end, yeah, let's get this done. But there really wasn't much for them to go on or follow. There wasn't really a plan in place yet. And so the overall success of the program is directly tied to that. And what we're asking for the future is that the district and the administration involved compose a clear vision statement beyond simply maintaining compliance with the law that identifies a plan that can be followed and that will help the teachers as all the stakeholders involved to advance that vision and really make it happen rather than just keeping us out of court. One of the big steps to do that is to hire an inclusion specialist. There are very clear, very detailed program or job descriptions for what a program or inclusion specialist does. These are people with highly specialized education and expertise in making programs like this work, in providing all of the necessary accommodations and support, not just to the staff, but to the students, fostering social skills, especially for students on the autism spectrum that are going to be in these classrooms. We'd also like, and this is coming directly from feedback from the staff involved, they want training and resources that will help the music school culture shift its thinking. Taking on a full inclusion environment is a big shift in thinking. So many places, special education classrooms are standalone. They're special day classes. They exist on a campus, but often as an island. And while there is There is mainstreaming and there is intermixing and many schools are doing a good job of including those students in recess and in lunch and in their family events. Inclusion is something else. This is saying that we don't have special day classes. All of our students are all of our students. And that's the shift that needs to happen school wide. And that should be part of the plan that's put together by the district. It's really difficult for educators who have never done this before to put that together. It's something that really needs to be done in advance. In addition to that, we'd like to ask for providing a regular ongoing collaboration time for all of the staff or all of the stakeholders involved in this program. Right now, there's a standing committee at MUSIC for the inclusion teachers that provides them with collaboration time amongst themselves. But really, best practice indicates that this should also include the paraprofessionals that are involved. the SLPs, the psychs, the OT, the APE teachers. Everyone who is going to have a hand in educating these students needs to have adequate, ongoing, regular collaboration time to make sure that that program is a success. So in short, we are motivated to make inclusion work in this district. I think it's an exciting step that we are taking. I think that we kind of dove into it a little fast, And right now we're treading water with it. It can be so much better. And in addition, one more ask would be to, as part of this training collaboration, would be allowing the stakeholders, especially the gen ed and special education teachers, to go to other districts where inclusion has been in place for a length of time and see it. One of the best job descriptions for an inclusion specialist that I've seen comes from Menlo Park. They've been doing this for well over five years now, I believe, that they've had inclusion on their campuses. And it would be great to go and see that culture, and how does that work, and how have they made it successful, so that we can be on the forefront of making it successful in Newark. So, that's that, just wanted to give you an update, and thank you very much.

[2029] SPEAKER_42: Thank you.

[2034] SPEAKER_31: Lou, you had a, public speaker, is that pretty much your public comment, or do you still need to speak? No, I actually have something to say. Okay. What about Ms. McMillan? Ms. Maynard? Was that your public comment, Carter, or do you still have more to say?

[2052] Megan McMillan: It's mine on something else.

[2054] SPEAKER_31: Got it. Thank you.

[2061] SPEAKER_37: Hello, President Nguyen. A word to trustees. Patrick Sanchez, Superintendent and Executive Board. I'm on the public comment, but I think I'm trying to switch it right now.

[2073] SPEAKER_29: So you can hear me up there, okay? So are you speaking as a... CSA president.

[2078] SPEAKER_37: Okay, got it. I'm also speaking as a CSA president with my CSA members and TAP here. I'm also talking as an employee of the district. as a community member, and I would like to congratulate the teachers for doing a tentative agreement with their contract, although I'm unhappy to say that we have not yet TA'd for CSCA, so we'll have to come back to the table again. What I really am here today right now to talk about is you pulled the public hearing for the budget. So what I'm going to be talking about is that and hopefully I don't confuse people because you didn't do the public hearing. So they don't know exactly what that was going to be. There wasn't anything published. My concern is with the public hearing, the public needs to see that at least twice before you vote. I hope that gets rescheduled twice before you vote. So what I'm about to tell you is based on what the workshops have been over the last, I believe there were five workshops, tonight will be six if you continue it, on a budget proposal that comes to the board for decision for cuts for the following year. As we all know, it's apparent that the district has been and continues to be in deficit spending. And it amazes me and all my colleagues as well as many people at the district, on how you've decided now to stop and to find $4.5 billion to fix when the state budget is in the state it is, unsettling, and you want to increase ABA for the Newark schools. This situation didn't happen overnight, and it would make more sense for you to gradually amend the budget to fix these issues. It concerns me that you decide to cut the places you want to cut, taking furloughs, 1% cuts, precinct positions, and not rehiring when people leave, including 11 special ed aides. We'd like to know how you feel you're going to meet those legal requirements for IEPs and state requirements for the spread department. not using subs or guests, unless it's a long-term position. Again, how do you think you're going to meet Williams Act if you don't have a custodian in its pot, whether it's a custodian sub or a custodian to fill when a custodian calls in sick? Freezing the bus driver position in which we have been fighting for for the last three years, when we have continued to fight for the last three years. In the last year, I came with proposals to revisit the job description and analyze the difference between the districts around us because our salary is so way below what districts go in compensation for a bus driver. Our standard bus driver salary was around $40 an hour. Sub rate in Sonoma is $26. We don't have time to look and review those, but you want to cut that position. Children will not be going on field trips. Sports will not be going in transportation. on vehicles. You talk about enticing people to bring their kids to Newark, and Newark is the place to be. You talk about customer service and beautifying our schools. You're wasting our time with the wish list you're asking for, because with the cuts you propose, none of them will happen. And you want to increase the class sizes for the teachers, possibly close the school, And combined schools, which we know from the merge of Milani and Bunker, which maybe have turned out to be a good process, will cost us money again. We found that out during that merge. Partial tax on the horizon, do you really think that you can convince us that you can honestly spend the money better than you've already spent? All of this and more, yet not anywhere on any of the proposals do we see top management. I'm sorry, but superintendent, assistant CBO, HB, you're affected, you were not affected by those cuts or those furloughs. I'm told your contracts. Well, we're union people too. We have contracts with the district and we work damn hard. And our positions, as well as your positions, affect our budget. Your salaries will hit at 1% on our budget deficit a lot quicker than they hit ours. Maybe if we feel more like you'd be part of fixing it, maybe we'd feel a little bit better. Maybe if you are part of the pain, that you feel like you need to be part of stopping the bleeding, Maybe we'll feel a little better. Instead, you leave us with a bad taste in our mouth. Instead, you have NTA, CSCA, NEWMA, management, feeling like we're getting punished because of the deficit spending that's been continuously going on for the executive board and the school board. We know something has to be done, but really, this is not going to help NEWMA. And I think you are putting another nail in our coffin. Remember this did not happen overnight. Please carefully plan on how to move forward.

[2449] SPEAKER_31: So we're up to 10.1, which is probably common on non-agenda items. Blue.

[2455] SPEAKER_30: Are there any other people?

[2458] SPEAKER_31: I'm just going by the order of the submissions.

[2463] Terrence Grindall: You know me. Rachel Bloom, an elementary school science teacher. See, I actually see a lot of my parents here tonight. So I'm speaking now a little bit about addressing what Ms. Condon said, actually. We've had a lot of, it seems like the message from the board is, you don't have any money, and you don't have any money. And we see that the solution has been to make cuts. But I was thinking that, you know, for any given problem, there are a lot of different ways to solve it. And so when I've been in situations where I didn't have enough money to get what I wanted or what I needed, instead of not getting what I needed or wanted, I just went and tried to get more money. And so I was thinking about maybe partnering, making a stronger bond with the Newark Education Foundation, or donations from corporations or businesses, contacting the ACOE or the California Department of Education, partnering with non-profits, applying for grants, working with the city of Newark, parcel taxes, whatever it is, maybe those might be some ways where we can try to get more money. I think if we had some more money, we could have art and music programs, comprehensive art and music programs, and we could have those things that would make a prospective home buyer want to move to our city. If they see things that are getting cut, that probably doesn't make it a very attractive school district. So if we had more money and more programs, that probably would help us look a little bit better. So I do have two questions. One is, has the board looked into those fundings and not informed the community? Or, if the board hasn't yet done that, is that something that the board could do? Thank you.

[2590] SPEAKER_30: Okay, I'm sorry.

[2600] SPEAKER_31: So we have the audience, team, membership, and then we skipped the Superintendent's update. My apologies. So we're going to go back to the update, or just want to finish public comment, and then go back to that. Okay. All right, let's finish public comment, and then we'll go back to 8.1. Ms. Megan McGill.

[2619] Jodi Croce: Can you speak up?

[2620] SPEAKER_31: This mic is not picking up, so can we adjust it, please? Because I'm gonna start barking at you if I try speaking louder.

[2627] Megan McMillan: I don't wanna do that. All right, this will be the last time you have to listen to me. So we did all that fact-finding for inclusion, and then in addition to that was something that I did myself, was to look at the problem we're facing in special education right now, 49%, of the special education department is leaving at the end of this year. Where there's a 20% loss district-wide, 49% of those people are leaving from special education. In fact, next year we will only have one district-employed speech-language pathologist. The rest are outside contractors. To me, as the Director of Special Ed for NTA, I need to know why that's happening. Where is my department going? Where are my fellow educators going? Why are they leaving? And for the people that are staying, what's keeping them here? And what do they need to make them stay? So I conducted a survey. The results, to me, were not super surprising. I don't think they'd be that surprising to you, but I thought that I should share them.

[2692] SPEAKER_32: If I can get my computer working.

[2698] Megan McMillan: So, of the people that are leaving, there's also an additional 14% that are actively seeking other work. There's 46% that are undecided about whether Newark is where they want to stay. There's only 14% of the department that is comfortable and happy where they are right now, and that scares me. The top three reasons that people want to be here, and I think this is really important. Number one, they love what they do. Everyone loves being in the special education department. We love the students we serve. Loving students, that was number two. That was behind all the general work we do, the students are why we do it, and it was a really close first and second. The third one, and this one I think is the most impactful for you to hear, they love doing that work in Newark. The third most popular reason that people stay here is because it's newer. It's small, you know the hierarchy, it has that small town feel. So many people, this is generations that have worked in the district. You know that people leave, they go to college and they come back to teach here because they want to be here. So the top three reasons people are leaving and the top three things that they need to stay. Increased compensation, of course came across as number one. We lag behind other districts. I understand that the budget constraints and we are so happy that progress has been made in that department. Second to that was a reduction in class size, or a cap on class size, or a reduction in caseload. And third was release time for completing, actually this is a reverse, second was cap, or second is release time to complete work. So much of what we do, we say that special education is about 80% paperwork, and for someone like me who despises paperwork, it's ironic that this is what I do for a living. Third was cap on class size. In speaking to people individually after the results were published, the thing that I found telling was people are willing to take a hit on salary if they have more time to get their work done. If their workload feels more manageable, the salary feels more adequate. So if there are ways, creative ways that we can work and we're working to try to come up with some proposals to do this, for some release time to get IEPs done. The average initial IEP is 12 hours of work. And an annual IEP is at least six to eight hours of work. And a transition or tri-annual IEP can be 15 to 20 hours work per student. I have two tri-annual transitions, three additional transitions, and I've done seven initials this year. And then I have the annuals for all of my kids as well. It's a huge workload. And there are legal requirements for getting it done on time. Tied in fourth place was clarification of pay rate for when IEPs go beyond the workday. And the last thing I will say is that... Thank you, ma'am.

[2879] SPEAKER_31: Ms. Susan Condon. You're passing. Ms.

[2886] SPEAKER_30: Sydney Parks. Hi.

[2893] Ray Rodriguez: My note was in for the public hearing for the LCAP, which technically could have still happened, because it was posted the 72 hours in advance. I still would like to address, since I spent the time reading through the 158 pages, thank you. Thank you for adhering to the Ed Code and appointing the Parent Advisory Committee. There were a few glitches. Parents are requesting more lead time to allow for input and review of the plan. Plus, most of the meeting lacked quorum, and the agendas weren't ground app compliant. The initial pages of the plan itself aren't even numerically correct. On page 72, it provides insight into the two meetings. At the April 25, 2017 meeting, the PBIS and AP were discussed. Again, it's placement for those that don't know. PBIS, you have about $76,000 that's allocated through the plan. In there, at that meeting, I did mention that the data is skewed when you talk about reduction in numbers because the numbers are skewed. Parents weren't happy with the eight chances that the student is given before they're referred to an administrator. Based on the info from teachers, the ones who still write referrals say the administration ignores those referrals. Some teachers have called the office for administrative support and then ignored. Lack of enforcement lead to many staff to stop even writing the referrals, which is why I say that the numbers are skewed. Kids are leaving campus, cutting class. There are fights with little or no consequences. And it isn't even that PBIS isn't even an item listed on the websites. And there's no program uniformity between the PBIS chart that's listed on the junior high isn't even the same one that's at the high school. Advanced placement, the CDE's data doesn't even match college board's data. And only 50% of the students that take the class even take the test. Mr. Wasser told us at that meeting that the cost has been reduced down to, I believe he said, $8. for students that are in need so it's not as if they can't afford to take the test. We're not even given the raw data to determine if the percentage of students that are the target group of that goal are even making the making it. Another item that concerned me is the new item that appeared at the last meeting on May 30th which is the contribution towards a negotiated retention and fund to retain teachers. based on district initiative, and that's $200,000. There wasn't any clarification as far as what the parameters of this fund, who would get the money, whether there would be one-time allocations, whether, you know, what happens if somebody takes the money and then they decide to leave, and is that side bargaining? I mean, I don't even know how you could even do something like that. It's not like you have this retention fund. Another thing that really concerns me is SBMI. Almost $200,000 for a program that isn't even, it's supposed to be district-wide. This is a personal, it's a professional development. You can't even get guest teachers to come in when a teacher's calling sick. I would ask that you would really please spend the time to go through the plan, and I would like to know the answer to the retention fund.

[3087] SPEAKER_31: Thank you. The Superintendent will follow up with a response for you.

[3089] Ray Rodriguez: Okay, well, here's my questions that do have to be answered in writing for the LPAT guidelines in the EdCuts.

[3095] SPEAKER_30: Thank you.

[3097] SPEAKER_31: Ms. Sandy Akaris.

[3110] SPEAKER_33: Good afternoon, trustee, superintendent, and your cabinet. My name is Sandy Accarisi. I am the current office manager for BGI, former office manager at Snow. And the first thing I want to do is I would like to thank all of you for approving my transfer from Snow to BGI. I am proud and I'm excited to be a part of this. I'm coming in at the end of the year, the merger, but I'm still very excited. Everything that Ms. Ingham-Watters said about Ms. Affleck, It's true times 10, being new, she was right there for me. Everything she said about Mr. Dave is also true. From the very beginning, boy, we talked twice a day for sure, and it's really wonderful to come into the staff. One thing I'd like to say is, you know, we attended our CSCA meeting yesterday, and when I was given the information about where we were at negotiations, my jaw dropped. I was flabbergasted. I was floored just about everything. It's like, oh my gosh, how could this be? And by the time we were done, I understood that, OK, so pick your job off the floor, get unflabbergasted, that this is what needs to be. But what I wanted to bring to your attention would be like 1%. So if we get 1%, I'd like you to think about your salary, if you happen to be on our top floor, or NEWMA. or even our NTA, 1% for you versus 1% for the many different salaries in CSCA. I think in the budget thing, it was talking about the average classified salary was like $8,000 some odd. If you do 1% raise for that, that works out to, what is that, $80 a year, $8 a month if you're a 10-month employee. That's not even half a tank of gas. That's not even a full meal at McDonald's, I think, these days. If you take a look at maybe a teacher, that 1%, what that would be, I'm thinking I'm married to a teacher, so say 90, I don't know, say someone else. Okay, say me. I'm very grateful because, all right, I'm stuttering here, so I'm gonna move on. So 1%, though, and the difference that it is, the best that NTA can do, of course, is what really benefits me and my family. But I like to keep it separate and think about my other family, my CSCA family, and how, I think last time I talked about, we have a pie that is for raisins. So please make sure that you slice that pie and you keep in consideration CSCA because, you know, in our great blue state, we need to take care of those of us that lead the district, those of us that teach, those of us that support, that everyone has a job that is important. Also too, I'd like to challenge the district to take your words and match them to your actions. The tape that Walt are not interested in from the district is not interested in putting that in the contract at this time to the district is interested to putting that in the contract at this time. And what I'm talking about is the Me Too clause that CACA used to have for many years and has recently lost. And the last thing I'd like to say, oh rats, I have something really good to say

[3300] SPEAKER_30: Nadia, I'm sorry. That's okay. With a name like mine, you have to develop a sense of humor.

[3330] SPEAKER_37: Okay. I was wondering when will the budget be on at a hearing here? Because I rallied myself down here and walked all the way. So when, which meeting will the budget hearing happen? That was supposed to be here tonight.

[3349] SPEAKER_41: If I may, just for the benefit of the audience, typically we don't get into back and forth with public comment. But for the sake of the audience as well as you, we're planning to do the budget study session on the 19th. And public hearing for the budget, I'm sorry, on the 19th, allowing a lot of adequate time with all items posted 72 hours in advance. So there's plenty of time to look at it. And that's really largely the reason why it was pulled today. We didn't feel it was properly agendized and transparent enough. So we're going to put it on for public hearing on the 19th.

[3381] SPEAKER_37: And then the other thing I was going to ask is the more I read about what they expect the economy to be like in California, I'm wondering what kind of long range... I mean, it's nice that everyone, you know, gets paid X amount and whatever, but the reality is that the way things are working in California, even salaries and engineering have not had a real increase since the 1990s, and this is pretty much going to continue. So, although the cost of living and so on is going up, salaries are not, wages are not, wages outside of engineering are also actually going backwards, and sales taxes have declined, and I'm really wondering what the long-term plans will be. Because in the past, administrators have retired with as much as they made in their salary, and that can't happen anymore. And there's a lot of other things that can't happen anymore. And we're going to have to start looking at the way things were done back when the country wasn't doing well economically, which would be like the 70s and the 50s. because this 2000 recession and the 80s recession was nothing like the 50s or the Carter years. I mean, people who are younger than I am have no clue of what it was like.

[3483] SPEAKER_31: Okay? Thank you. Nicolai's answer.

[3488] SPEAKER_27: Can I get those 15 seconds that are left?

[3497] Ray Rodriguez: Okay, so I'm going to try to talk quickly and I have some notes. So I'm going to talk with two hats. My first hat is just wanted to give some shout out to our VGI, VGP family, community, and staff. This year we raised almost 40K in fundraising for our school community.

[3523] Ray Rodriguez: A lot of that was because we did a whole bunch of new fundraisers that are PGC not fun in the past. Our most recent one, in addition to some art, sorry, not, one of the recent ones, in addition to some art auctions and other things, was a color run, which is super fun for the kids. They run around the field and they throw color at each other. And it's a great fundraiser and we earn a lot from that. We noticed that the field conditions were actually pretty poor at the BGI campus. And we were really concerned because we are a non-profit group, we have to get our own insurance. We're a little freaked out that the next time we do this incredibly powerful and high revenue raising fundraiser, that some poor kid's gonna twist their ankle, break their leg, or hurt themselves. So, we, or I, now I'm taking off PTC secretary hat, I wanted to know from the new budget, or the next budget, or whatever it is, if we can have a long-term maintenance plan for elementary school fields. I don't know if they need like some sort of irrigation or some sort of road detailing or whatever, but I think the field at Boston BGP is also kind of not great. Because we want to keep doing fundraising and we want to make sure kids can get out and learn. For example, I think one of the PE teachers asked for lacrosse sticks. How are you going to play lacrosse if your field has, you know, gopher holes all over it? I don't know. So long story short is I really hope that your budget has a field improvement plan for our kids. They need to be in fields and they need to exercise. And then my second thing, I believe I spoke to the superintendent at one of the community engagement meetings, and I had brought up the curriculum for our merged schools. One of the things that really drew the community together was that we were going to have more STEAM, and we have this year. We've had a couple great STEAM weeks, we've had family science night, and that's fantastic. So I'd love to build on that momentum, and I really hope that now that you're onboarded, you've been here almost a full school year, you've been able to work hopefully with the board and with the teachers, I really want, I think it was a three-year plan when this happened last year, and I really hope it's still a three-year plan, but I would love to see a town hall or an update on where we are with our technology and science.

[3646] Rachel Bloom: Don't know the exact acronym for BGI and BGP.

[3650] Ray Rodriguez: And I'm also concerned that with Colleen's departure, and we're gonna have a new, some sort of person there, that we're gonna have another roadblock into getting our curriculum updated for our two schools. So yeah, those are my comments, and that's it.

[3663] SPEAKER_11: So my 20 seconds can go to the next person. Thanks.

[3665] SPEAKER_30: Thank you.

[3676] SPEAKER_21: I'm Eric Gubrow, a parent over at Lincoln, and I frequently get to see a lot of the information that you guys put out. And I'm jaw-dropped when I look at these numbers and I think, oh my god. On top of trying to figure out how to improve the scores for 3 through 8 that are trying to bring kids up to, so we can at least break 50% of passing the median score, and to get all the extra language books out, and get maintenance on all these things, full heart, full heart, and we need maintenance. But this takes money, and I don't understand what the solution's going to be. I think you guys got a really tough decision. I want to see bold responses. I'd like to see you guys approach the city and say, look, you guys seem to be watching the chaos over there. How about helping us out? It's a tough conversation to have for those folks. But I think also for the people out here in your town, there's a lot of folks that are new here. They're going to be looking at this and saying, you know what? If we can trust you to spend the money wisely, to do the right things, and in places that we can't get in the classroom all the time, but we can get in the classroom some of the time, and we can see the dedication that comes out of those people. And getting out there, and walking the grounds, and you can't walk through the areas, because you'll twist your ankle. And seeing, you know, we got a fix for the playground stuff, which is coming up forever, thank you. You know, for making that happen. But now, you know, I think we're going to have to ask everybody that's going to be a part of this town to be a contributor. Whether it be in taxes, whether it be in pay cuts, etc. Wherever you're going to make the trimmings to make us get through this pinch that has come down. And get the buy-in so everybody can be successful.

[3797] SPEAKER_30: Thank you, Colin.

[3807] SPEAKER_32: Hello. Greetings. My name is April Holland. I am a parent of a Birch Grove primary student, soon to be Birch Grove intermediate. I obviously want to echo what was said by Susie and so many other people here tonight. I think it was very important for these to be said. Also, obviously, what Nicole said about fields and everything being at the same campus. The reason that I am here is, as you know, and a lot of the Birch Grove community already knows, our current primary school principal is leaving, unfortunately. The concern that I have is that there is talk currently about not replacing our principal with a principal, but replacing with a dean or something like this. And it seems that, this has happened before, that there are some very major decisions being made without parental notification. Now, my biggest concern is students and staff. I think that the students will suffer if we don't have an actual principal who's qualified at both campuses. Katherine has been wonderful. Colleen has been wonderful. I know that you guys are looking to cut. I don't like the fact that it's happening again over the summer without anybody knowing about it. That seemed to be the case when you guys were in your schools. There have been several situations where the parents are not being notified. And my concern is, whatever decision you make, I'd like to see it public, and I'd like it to be something that we can weigh in on before any decisions are made. Particularly something along the lines of not having a qualified principal at both campuses. We like to consider that we have one school and two campuses. But you have very different focuses. You have a TK to 2 school and a 3 to 6 school. And obviously, there are very different focuses. There's testing at one school. There's not at the other school. So I think I've made that clear. I would like to make sure that whatever decision you guys decide or before you make the decision, it's something that we can weigh in on and not say. Thank you very much.

[3955] SPEAKER_41: take a moment and seize this opportunity I met with the BG staff today and they have influenced our thinking in the conversation with the board we have made the decision to proceed and allow me to appoint an interim principal not a dean but a principal so that is a change from the staff meeting earlier today so I'll be following up on that so that saves other people lined up for public comment no

[3995] SPEAKER_31: comment. Going back to 8.1, Superintendent's update.

[4002] SPEAKER_41: Thank you President Nguyen, members of the board, ladies and gentlemen. Most of my report tonight is in the form of a shout out. And I'm going to start with Coach S. So if I can get Coach S to come up here. Coach, do you have an idea why you're here tonight? Do you have a little bit of an idea? A little bit? Okay. Let me read this for the audience's benefit. In recognition of your outstanding contributions and exemplary service to the community of student-athletes in Newark, California, your commitment to motivating students and serving as a positive role model for their growth is well-known and inspiring. Congratulations on being named a 2017 Double Goal Coach Award. by Team SNAP and best wishes for future success. Kansen Chu, California State Assemblymember, 25th District, California State Legislature, and Rob Wachowski, California State Senator, 10th District,

[4092] SPEAKER_21: You want to say anything, coach, or are you okay?

[4096] SPEAKER_30: My former student, Mr. Preciado, mentioned something about this at our bachelor's school night recently, so I did have a little bit of an idea.

[4120] SPEAKER_24: I thank you very much for that, that's amazing, and I appreciate it deeply. And I also, second and third and fourth, all the excellent comments made about my co-workers at BGI, Mr. Safflin, Mr. David, and the NIAC, great people, great people. So, I also, as far as this award is concerned, my coaching, my character coaching that's going on now. A lot of it is also a lot of the principles that I teach to the athletes at the high school, I'm also incorporating in my work as an elementary PE teacher. So I just hope I can continue to do that at my current place. Thank you very much.

[4181] SPEAKER_41: Next, just kind of a community update. I want to recognize some of our local heroes, even though this isn't part of our formal recognition, but I want to call them out. And I don't know if they're in the room. Is Adriana Lopez or Vivian Larson in the room?

[4208] SPEAKER_41: Just want to read, she was recognized as a community hero by the 2017 Community Heroes, also Assembly Member Kansen Chu. Her adherence as a community activist helped fight for student and parent rights in Newark Unified School District. She began by getting involved in her daughter's education, which led her to connect with opportunities for parent involvement. Showing her great ability to motivate and inspire other parents of Leona is an amazing inspiration undoubtedly a hero. So congratulations to you.

[4247] SPEAKER_13: Buenas noches. I just want to say thank you very much for your support.

[4251] SPEAKER_11: And on behalf of the parents that I represent, we want to say that we will always support good teachers, good employees, and good principals that teach by passion, by heart, and with the good intention all the time. Thank you very much.

[4270] SPEAKER_41: And the next person who may be watching at home, so if you're watching at home, Vivian, the Honorable Vivian Larson. Ohlone College Board Trustee Vivian Larson is a student advocate who brings resources and solutions to underrepresented students and their families. She has been vigilant and active in bringing forward diversity, equity, and access in education. She created or supported several initiatives, programs, and scholarship opportunities for Latino students So, a round of applause for the students. There's our local 2017 community heroes. And then the last round of recognitions or shout-outs to our community is the Rotary Club student honorees. There was a long list of students who were recognized by Rotary. I do want to read their names in the record officially for getting recognized by Rotary Club. From BGP, BGI, Adhia Navarro, Adhia Navarro, sorry Adhia.

[4349] SPEAKER_30: Graham, Tully Phi, Kennedy, Ryan Wilson,

[4357] SPEAKER_41: Lincoln Ximena Vargas Osiguera Music Ishta Barkwad Schilling Celine Amatone Lozano Snow Riana Kumar Newark Junior High William Chesney Newark High School Angel Chesney Senior and Valedictorian Ridgepoint High Tamiya Arnold Crossroads Vanessa Carranza Munoz Certificated Employees Olivia Rangel and classified employee, Diane Hoban. So Rotary is honored with those people, so let's give them a round of applause. That concludes my report at this time.

[4403] SPEAKER_31: Thank you, Superintendent. On to item 11.1, audit committee not voting member.

[4409] Nancy Thomas: I would like to move to approve.

[4417] SPEAKER_31: I have a motion to approve. Is there a second? I'll second.

[4424] SPEAKER_30: Please vote.

[4433] SPEAKER_31: Five ayes. Thank you. 11.2, donations. Is there a motion to approve? I'll second. Is there a second? I'll second.

[4446] SPEAKER_30: Please vote.

[4455] SPEAKER_31: $5.00. A donation of $247.90 to Birch Grove Intermediate Elementary from Bob's House Graduation Program. A donation of $500.00 to Mews Elementary from Bank of America Playgivings Program. to purchase language curriculum for SCC classes, a donation of $500 to Graham Elementary from Newark Rotary Foundation, to purchase smiley face fidget toys to help reduce test anxiety, a donation of $500 to Kennedy Elementary from Newark Rotary, to purchase tables, planters, a plant spout, or a courtyard. A donation of $500 to Music Elementary from Newark Rotary to purchase and maintain costumes for Ballet Vocalorical Dance Program. A donation of $500 to Schilling Elementary from Newark Rotary for the Schilling School Needy Kids Christmas Program. A $500 donation to Snowhead Elementary again from Newark Rotary and the donation of $3,000 to Newark Memorial High School, again from Newark Rotary, in sponsorship of the 29th annual Newark Rotary Iron Man Wrestling Duels. Thank you. On to 11.3. Notification for district-wide painting bid package one and two. Is there a move to approve? I move to approve. By Ms. Thomas. Is there a second? Seconded by Member Preciado. Please vote. Four ayes. Thank you.

[4563] SPEAKER_30: 11.4, notice of implication for District Y, the exterior painting gate package, number three.

[4573] SPEAKER_31: Moved by Member Preciado, seconded by Member Rodriguez. Please vote. Four ayes. Thank you. 11.5, notification for BGI EA ramp and striping, Memorial High School striping as well. I move to approve. I move to approve by Member Thomas. Is there a second? Second. Second by Member Rodriguez. Please vote. Four ayes. Thank you. 11.6, district-wide X-ray-painting contract award. Moved by Member Rodriguez for approval. Is there a second? I'll second. Seconded by Member Thomas. Please vote. Four ayes. Thank you. 11.7, a contract for coffee and time at Newark Junior High School. So moved to approve. Moved by Member Thomas. I'll second.

[4642] SPEAKER_31: Four ayes. Thank you. We've already done a point of order with organizations. 13.1, consent item. Personnel. So 13.2, is there a motion to approve? I move that we approve. Okay, you've moved by a number of times, so a second by a member of the staff. Please vote. Four ayes. Thank you. 13.3, appointment of Director of Special Projects. So I move to approve. Second? I'll second. Member Thomas, please vote. Four ayes.

[4686] SPEAKER_31: That's been pulled, correct? Thank you very much. Okay. So consent agenda item, non-personal items, we're going to approve this as a group, minus 14.2, 14.10, excuse me, 14.18, 14.19, 14.20, 14.21. Is there a motion to approve? Not 14.8, 14.10. I thought it was 18 as well, from Lincoln. It's a SPSA from Lincoln. Memorial Crossroads in Bridgepoint. Okay, so 14-10, 19-20, 21. Okay, so will you accept that amendment? Okay, moved by Member Rodriguez, seconded by the Chair. Okay, please vote. Four ayes, thank you. Again, as I mentioned earlier, we're not holding the budget study session number six. With that, we're on to 16.1. Board of Education Committee Reports and Ombudsman's Requests. Don't cross out.

[4775] SPEAKER_43: Yes, I just wanted to make a request for a strategic planning work study where we essentially discuss the long-term planning It's just that it's still on our radar for future readings, so I just want to make sure that we get it sooner rather than later.

[4793] SPEAKER_31: Okay. Mr. President, can you add on the comment that that source is an agency? Can you put a notation on there that Envelope Plus, I would like that to be higher for other reasons? Because it's already present on this document for the class. But as far as the timing of it, just make a notation.

[4810] SPEAKER_31: Anything else?

[4818] Bowen Zhang: I just wanted to, we already thanked them, but the negotiating team from the Unified School District and also from NTA for working and working and working to come with an agreement for the TA, an agreement that was just announced. In the same sense, CSCA is, as everybody knows, a very important piece of what we do here at Newark. So my hope is that we will continue to work hard to see if we can get an agreement with CSCA and then eventually with the Newark Group. I don't have, other than the fact that we're coming close to the end of the year and We're looking forward to attending as many of those as we can possibly attend.

[4881] SPEAKER_31: Thank you. We all have. Thank you. Thank you.

[4887] Nancy Thomas: There are several requests that have been brought up by the public and also have been on my list in the past. A long-term deferred maintenance plan. I think it's important. Also, when we talk about the I believe we recently, several months ago, passed a contract for a landscape architect to come through and look at projects that will be funded out of the Russian school. budget and that may go a long way toward watering systems and making sure that our fields are upgraded so that they'll be easier to maintain ongoing. So do we have an update of time when that plan is going to come forward?

[4944] SPEAKER_29: Unfortunately, the firm has withdrawn their proposal and we're going to have to go back Yes, really, and that was after we had already approved everything and then at the last minute they had a bunch of changes that Bill could not comport with and so they would do their proposal.

[4965] Nancy Thomas: The other situation that I'd ask for an update on was the playground structures and where we are in that process.

[4979] SPEAKER_29: We have gotten some information with regard to the various firms that are on the state CMS list. They have been evaluated and are still being compared right now. The quotes were just received actually on the day of the initial deadline and the review is not complete. So, this should be coming forward at a future meeting, hopefully the next one.

[5000] Nancy Thomas: I hope that they would be able to be the contractors let and the work done over the summer.

[5007] SPEAKER_29: That is our hope as well, but we have to review everything we should have. I mean, is that still a possibility do you think? It is still the plan. With the changes working in days and accelerating them up a week, that will help.

[5017] Nancy Thomas: Okay, and I think, I think again the request that we have a discussion and a prioritized plan for the bond budget, the remaining dollars in the bond budget, that's been on the list also for a while. Thanks, please. If you can get that

[5040] SPEAKER_43: So hopefully we'll address that case. Well, I think that's a great idea to have the bond

[5062] Nancy Thomas: and the Russian capital money discussed at the same time. And if we can do it under the strategic planning process, that's great as long as we can get it done.

[5079] SPEAKER_31: Again, just want to reiterate a number of my previous comments about congratulating the negotiation team for reaching the tentative agreement. As far as our other two board members are are concerned, I think I'll speak for some parties. One is a party, one is technically a party member with CSCA and the others do not. And I've stated before and I said it, that every organization in our entity is as important to the success of our district as one another. Whether you're a high-level admin or the custodial work or aid or administrator or teacher, I think will reach agreements with those two entities as well. With that, sir, go ahead.

[5132] SPEAKER_41: A couple of items to remind the board, but before I do that, I do want to clarify something from earlier. The comment that we were very top-heavy, the comment around only, you know, we haven't touched administrators. I need to tell you that currently at central office, I am looking at either positions being honorable and these three job categories. Classified, 5.7%. Certificated, 2.19%. Central office management, 14.38%. I just want to be clear, we're not building an empire. There's not a very top heavy central office. And I just want that to be clear for the record. Thank you. Beyond that, I want to also along the lines of housekeeping, Unfortunately, we do not have graduation cap and gown for the board for junior high promotion. We couldn't get them in time, so I just wanted to let you guys know that we won't have the cap and gowns in time to do the junior high promotion. We will have them by graduation. So they are due to arrive at the 16th.

[5207] SPEAKER_33: There was actually a question whether they were the cap and gowns during the junior high promotion.

[5211] SPEAKER_30: Good to know, and there was a series of second housekeeping items

[5238] SPEAKER_41: There's a list of some parents that called and requested somebody from the board to call them back. I answered the calls that they wanted me to talk to. Just from today, that was a result of the New England Teachers Association flyer that went out. So I don't know how the board wants to maybe consider dividing and conquering, or how you want to do that, but I've got a list to show you today.

[5259] SPEAKER_31: Is that before the TA, or do you think that would change after?

[5265] SPEAKER_41: It might change after today. But it was in the last two days that we received those calls.

[5273] Nancy Thomas: Correct. I spoke with three people that I believe were district officers. They may be on this list.

[5284] SPEAKER_41: If you would like me to call them, I'm happy to, but I know they specifically requested board members and I didn't want to cross that line. I'm going to write it down. How do you want me to handle it?

[5299] SPEAKER_31: Should I pass off the list of the ones you've spoken to already?

[5304] SPEAKER_41: I think that's all I have. And yeah, just congratulations. So far, so good. We'll continue to work with our unions to reach agreement. But I thank everyone also for a lot of work this year.

[5318] SPEAKER_31: Thank you. 31, and this meeting is adjourned.

[5328] SPEAKER_30: You're the man.

No minutes available.