Study Session Meeting

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[15] Nancy Thomas: So good evening everyone. We have decided to truncate what was originally going to be a longer workshop so that we would have more time in closed session to discuss of negotiations and other critical items. So I'll turn this over to the superintendent to lead us through the study session. Would you like us to go down? I guess not. I think we can do it from where we are.

[39] SPEAKER_03: I think we have enough to share with you. Let me hand these out.

[64] Cary Knoop: I have one more coming.

[73] SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you. I wanted to kind of compile some of the notes and give you a little bit of a status report before we jump into a discussion about kind of the structure and flow of board meetings the way you want to do it. So what I have, what you have now is just the compiled notes from the poster boards that were sorted the 6, 12, and 18 months based kind of grouped as strategic imperative and there's also I think there's a page in there that also talks about board structure. And that's kind of the page that we're going to spend some time on today. But part of what we're doing and what staff is working on currently is putting together not only the things that the board wanted to see in these kind of deliverable time frames, but staff's also putting together, OK, what's the feasibility? And there's other things that we're missing or we need to add, or are those timelines within the realm of being able to do it with quality. So staff's working on adding to this and also putting together some clearer metrics on how that would happen. So that's one thing. But I think before we get too far down the detail of what's going to be on the board meetings, I know I have several examples already of requests that we've kind of captured that I have on a separate sheet that is really just a lot of things that we have to do as a board. But the topic tonight is really, I wanted to spend some time with you talking about this idea of how do we focus the board meetings with kind of a theme and I think that if you look at this color sheet that I've handed out, what we're looking at is the dates that are in blue would be largely staff reports and updates and information workshops. Not that it would be purely that, but largely it would be focused on progress monitoring. And the days in green would be more of a business meeting, a lot more nuts and bolts, a lot more heavy on budget and decisions. So that's kind of the idea. And I would certainly turn it over to President Thomas. I know that she and I and Member Preciado kind of kicked around these ideas, and we felt it was good to bring the concept of the first board meeting being one kind of area of focus and the second being another. So I'll turn it over.

[244] Nancy Thomas: Yes, we just spoke briefly about how difficult it has been for us to carve out enough time for us to have meaningful conversations. And therefore, if we work in maybe the areas that are listed on the left, our strategic comparatives, and then facilities because we're doing facilities master planning. And then making sure we touch on our major programs at least once a year, such as special ed. And then maybe separate study session topics where we would really dig in deeper over a period of maybe an hour or two on a topic. So that's kind of the matrix and how one of the ideas that we put forward that I think Mr. Preciado and I, in talking with the superintendent, discussed and would like the board's input on.

[309] SPEAKER_15: When I look at the board structure, I think of getting the documents in a timely fashion, and the sooner the better. The more time we have to read and digest, the better we're going to be able to make decisions quickly. We are talking about three days, but for example, this week, if we got it on Thursday, we have one day to contact you, unless it was today because of the holiday. And then we have the weekend before the meetings. That's less time to get answers taken. So I would love to see as Oakland does, and that is at least a week ahead. If there are times when maybe that can't be timed, but most things are not. an emergency situation. Most things are predictable. It's a matter of moving up your timeline in terms of when staff needs to get things accomplished.

[361] SPEAKER_03: And that's something that we heard in our retreat was, especially for the big ticket items, I think is what we called them, to have more saturation time with the board and even in the public. For example, later tonight we have presentations and we'll have some direction from the board. We won't take a real vote till the next meeting. So there's plenty of time to think about things. Um, and you know, one of the things that, um, we're trying to strike a balance. I think part of part of the goal is we know that we can't have a meeting that's purely one thing cause we always have other business items that come up. But if we could get to a majority of things that are occurring so we can go deeper. Um, I think the big idea, um, What I walked away with was, we've already got these two dates carved out for the board and their time and their evening. How do we maximize that to kind of get a little bit of a retreat in there and some planning going forward to lay down the path of where we're going with the board meetings? And then also still get our business done in a way that makes sense. So Member Purcell, I was just explaining this idea of the blue and green. I don't know if you wanted to add to that, but I also wanted to say this is some of the feedback that we got from our notes. It's kind of what we were trying to put together. And there's a lot that can fill this. So I think that I'm going to ask you to fight the tendency to populate it yet. Let me have a chance to have staff fill it in. But I think the idea of mapping out the rest of the year of school boards meetings is a good idea. And if we can kind of sequence it in a way that the board gets what it wants out, and the public knows what's coming, and there's not a lot of surprises.

[466] SPEAKER_15: And from my perspective, I think What goes when is something the staff needs to do. I mean, the president and the vice president, the two of you are working, I mean, that's part of it. And maybe, I mean, Juan had an update, but I think that you better know when things are due, when reports are available, when information is available, as long as it's done in a timely manner and everything gets covered.

[491] Ray Rodriguez: The president normally meets with the superintendent and another person. Normally that's on a Wednesday before the board meeting.

[505] Nancy Thomas: And then we... Excuse me, we are being videoed, so if you want to use the mic, please.

[520] Ray Rodriguez: But anyway, so normally the... superintendent and staff has the agenda, and then you start going through it. So if all the board members were privy to that paperwork that normally you would receive, just so we have an idea. So that's one way you can do it. The other way is to maybe share a skeleton agenda. I think 75% of the agenda, it's probably already outlined. because it's something we do every year. Now, whether you want to share that, remember Crocker said a week before, or at least maybe the Monday before, you meet. So that would be a whole week. So keeping the whole board in the loop on what is going to be undone would probably be a good thing. And instead of having to wait till Thursday or Friday, and then all of a sudden, we got Friday afternoon, Friday evening, we got Monday, and the more time that we can have to look at what the majority of the agenda is going to be like, probably the better it is. And so board members could have input if they want to. And then the final agenda, I mean it would be nice to get that on Thursday, but it's, as much as we've tried, you know, I mean The last two times I've been president, I tried my best to get it on Thursday, but it's not easy. But we could probably have, by Thursday or Wednesday, we could probably have 90% of it, I would imagine. There's always going to be some stuff that comes at the end. So the more you can share with the whole board, probably the better off. It flows better, I think.

[636] SPEAKER_03: If I could add a couple of things that I failed to mention. On this sheet also, if you look at this column, Part of the, one of the ideas behind this concept also is are we following up on our strategic imperatives and how are we progress monitoring those most important things. For example, number one is all about student achievement and in California there's a lot of metrics around that. In fact, I'm going to ask the lady to share a little bit of using the dashboard as a kind of built in way to look at that. I'm going to ask the lady to share just an example. But part of the idea while she does that is if we start noticing, hey, we haven't really looked at that in a couple of meetings, we probably need to check on something there. It kind of keeps us accountable as well to the public and also to each other to make sure we're kind of inspecting what we wanted to see get done. So I wanted to add that component. And there's things on here that aren't strategic imperatives, but facilities is going to be a big piece for us to discuss. And the major projects, there might be other study sessions we've got to think about. So this is kind of the type of things or categories. And then we would start planning out the following end of the school year to kind of pre-populate that and do some planning. So I think that, and I agree, I think it is really staff is going to help modulate what are the ingredients. But we also want to make sure that the board's getting what it wants out of it and you have enough time with things so that you're at least know, hey, that's coming pretty soon. And I may not see it next meeting, but I know that it's on the following. So I like the idea of the skeleton. It's not a full official public document, but it gives people an idea of what's coming.

[747] Ray Rodriguez: I had a question. On your green, which is the first board meeting of every month, you said it was mostly going to be business, which we tried to do. But yet, we seem to always have school presentations. stuff like that the first meeting maybe that's something we might want to think about maybe have that the second meeting.

[767] SPEAKER_03: Yeah no we can I think it's once we have some real like definition what the board really calls business that we can kind of start adjusting it over time but we probably our goal is to kind of get to where we want to be structurally by the end of the year it's going to take some time to transition but I also know that That's kind of the question is, OK, what do we mean by business? What do we mean by reports? And we need some help kind of talking that through to make sure that we can define it. Or things like strategic imperative one, why don't you share what you have with them, and then we'll come back to that.

[807] SPEAKER_09: That's 2.2, right? I'm wondering, because I see we're jumping from 2.1 to 2.3, and I just want to make sure.

[814] SPEAKER_03: Oh, so we should, you're right. We could stay in 2.1 for a while and we'll come to that in a moment. So let's go back to the, so I think what we're looking for is kind of what are the things you want to see measured and that's what's in this column here on the focus area. And then are you comfortable with this kind of idea to try to make it more business in some areas and then more reports and updates in another area. And then I'll work with, I've been working with Francisco and with member Preciado and member Thomas to kind of map it out. But that's kind of what we're asking is, what do you think about the structure? And I know we've tried it. We haven't been able to get there yet. But maybe this is a way to kind of not make it so, or to make it more transparent for the public as well.

[875] Nancy Thomas: So should we move on to 2.2, and we will pick up the planning calendar on 2.3?

[882] SPEAKER_03: OK. So go ahead.

[884] SPEAKER_09: No, I'm just wondering. No, I appreciate that. Or I don't know. Because for the next one, we just figure out, like, we'll put one section, and then we'll put all three or four different pieces as part of that so that we can. Right.

[897] Nancy Thomas: Yeah. So I don't see these as individual items that we take sequentially. So maybe just having a sentence that says the board will discuss dashboard and current state, blah, blah, blah. So we're not bound to a certain, we're not taking action. It's a free-flowing, informative, back-and-forth discussion. So it's really not distinct topics.

[926] SPEAKER_09: So I would say focusing on this strategic imperative or SI posters results, I think this is kind of what we should be discussing as a board figure, within these, what are the priors, or what can we get? Which document are you looking at? I'm looking at the SI. This one, yeah. The notes? OK. It's the SIPosterresults.pdf. OK. And how we can, because I think one of the difficulties is if we're saying we want different pieces, And when you're reporting, well, if you haven't been given direction, like, what are the priority areas? I think it's easier to say, like, OK, these are the priority areas. And then that's how we fill this in, or how you fill it in, by knowing what the priority areas are. So like if we're trying to think of how to guide, because I know we're not making a decision, but guide conversation of saying, OK, within the red six months, within these things, which ones are we prioritizing? And then what's the type of accountability measure? So in a couple months, are we coming back and checking in? So I'll take one, two, three, four, just because it's easy. The fourth one, to offer high-quality student programming so that graduates are prepared to compete in a global society via an increased preparation for A through G, and you see metrics with 2016, 2017 year as a baseline. So if this is the priority, then we need to map out in terms of the timeline that the next meeting we should have the metrics for the 2016-2017 school year as the baseline and then say what is the target for the next, at the end of the next year, what is the target and then when are we checking in on that particular piece. But that's assuming like three people want to focus on that as opposed to, because this is a lot, so I really think we have to have the discussion of what folks really want to prioritize so that you know in what direction to move, because otherwise we won't be focused.

[1061] Nancy Thomas: If that were the case, for example, staff would tell us what they feel comfortable with in terms of an end result, an annual increase, for example, and then staff would come to us with a draft of the plan, what intermediate steps are you going to take, What measures will you take to show progress in getting to that end result so that could apply to any of the priority areas that are defined? And I think part of it is that there's so much here that it's too much to digest. So it really needs to be called down. And I don't know if there's a way that we can work to call it down.

[1107] SPEAKER_15: I have a question on the format.

[1110] SPEAKER_03: circled star for some and you've got an arrow for others so the on the ones that you sent out and the so is there a difference for each bullet has a different beginning is there there's no reason to it they're just well there is a difference in the the diamonds versus the arrow on this the diamonds are some that we're working through as my superintendent goals okay okay the other ones are the ones that were generated from the So I wanted to make sure we compiled all of those in one place. Well, I think that as we look at how the workshop in the sequence, actually, when we originally planned the sequence, we wanted to talk about the structural concept. Then I think we wanted to go into examples of metrics. And I think that's why we placed the dashboard kind of what's the current state. Whatever the program or initiative we're looking at, I think that's kind of one thing we've kind of agreed on is Where are we now? Is it working? Is it not working? And what are the metrics going to be establishing the baseline? I know we can't do that for every single thing, but I think that certainly the dashboard lends itself to that. But I agree, there is going to have to be some wrestling with, OK, in the example member Preciado just gave, I think between now and the end of the year, I could schedule a really good A through G presenter to come in and have us all be on the same page of what it means and what the best practice is for schools and districts that are moving in the right direction. And also looking at our own policy that I know we had looked at, I think it was maybe even the evening that I was appointed to be in A through G default districts. Where are we with that? What's the status of that? So I think there's, even if it sounds like a small item, it's big when it comes to how many kids are impacted and what's the graduation requirements. But I think that I think we've got some good ideas around how to do it for academics and I want Leti to explain what she shared with you. The challenge is I think going to be on some of the other areas like increasing enrollment. How are we going to measure it? I mean we know we're going to count it like did we increase or didn't we but what's our plan? lots of communication. So there's some more conversation that needs to happen for that. And if we have a spot, let's say on the blue days, that we know we've carved out some workshop time with the board and we know that's a high priority and it's also a focus area, then we should probably start planning for something to do a retreat with the board that goes more in depth on that topic. And I think for terms of sanity for this thing, because it is overwhelming, Even if we can just get some agreement of what do you want to see accomplished before the end of this school year by the district staff and have us report to you so you are in a better place at the end of the year to know you know where are we now and where are we going with these really important things that we're hearing about. Let me if you let me indulge me let me have Leti kind of share the dashboard current state where we are on academics.

[1315] Nancy Thomas: We have about five minutes. OK.

[1321] SPEAKER_19: Good evening. So I distributed again the copy of the dashboard and that was something you've already looked at as you started to jot down your priorities and also did the walkabout during your last study session. But the new document I have in front of you this evening and also in the audience is actually a draft that we did in Ed Services as we started to look at current work around the four C's which is collaboration, critical thinking, communication, creativity, but also as it relates to the strategic imperative and some of the work that you all pointed out that what needed to be something that's communicated publicly and that we can really share and inform and shape our board policies around. On the left-hand side of the document under strategic imperative one is really the focus and then our goals, actions, and then how many times we really think this needs to be presented, if not in a staff report, then certainly information that goes to the board and to the public. Some of these presentations are certainly dictated by Ed Code or perhaps practices around public hearings, but I think what's important that's outlined here is essentially going back to the data and setting some benchmarks and goals for our work Later on in our next session of the board meeting, we're actually going to have our first presentation around ELA and mathematics for just the elementary schools. And that might help to shape some of your thinking around what you really want to see publicly and in a presentation format so you can give us input as we shape board policies around this work. But I wanted to offer just a snapshot into what some of the work of its services currently is so you had a better picture. But I didn't where it was not contingent on a certain month. I didn't outline that I just kind of said spring or fall Just to give you a better idea of that So under accountability is really the goals are outlined within our dashboard And we're also looking at some of the board policies that are tied there in the next month coming meetings, for example, what we found was that our board policy around promotion and retention and acceleration was out of date. So we're going to bring forward that board policy as it relates to updating but also meeting the needs of our students. So that would be a piece where I would, for ed services, shape accountability because it gives protocols and procedures for promotion, retention, and acceleration of students. But it has to be tied to our dashboard. It has to be tied to our current

[1478] SPEAKER_09: Data and and have data-informed decisions so that that would be one example So thank you for that Appreciate the kind of getting a handle the different components or different areas I think For us, from the board, is figuring out, since some of these have to happen, they're moving forward. But what are the, I know it's kind of using two different forms, but what are the major programs and initiatives that are moving these things forward? Because I know I'm using different forms. Okay, now looking at the dashboard, based off of English language arts and as a district, we're in orange, which isn't very good, as we can all admit. So from my perspective, that would mean that as a whole, our major programs and initiatives are not working. Because if they were, we'd be at green, or maybe there's certain aspects of it that are. So that's where I feel like if we can find some sort of like, we're all on the same page, I think I can say this, that we want to get to blue. If you're not, then then I don't know what we're doing here. So everyone wants to get to blue, for sure. But it's like, what are the different steps that we're taking in order for us to get there? That's the piece that I think that I was hoping we can, well, we have one minute. But to discuss further so that you have direction. At least three of us are saying, this is how we're going to move forward. Here's the program that you guys are bringing forward. And then we're going to evaluate it three months down the line or six months down the line. That's the piece that I think is missing. I guess that's my timer.

[1599] SPEAKER_13: I know we're short on time, but thank you. I know the dashboards is a very macro view of performance, and it doesn't take into year-to-year improvement or decrease of student performance. I would think to answer the superintendent's question as far as what we would like to see between now and the end of the year is a deep dive study of our CASP scores, which is the result of the SBAC test that shows the percent of students who are meeting or exceeding proficiency in English and math. That's the primary test that the state has now. And just looking at our overall three-year trend district-wide, right? For English in 2015, we were at 47% of those who met and exceeded expectations for English, and 35% for math. 2016, we jumped up to 49% and 39% respectively. But for the latest one, for the last school year, we dropped down to 45% and then 36%. So to really understand what caused that 4% drop district-wide of students who are meeting or exceeding expectations in English? And then what accounts for that 3% drop in mathematics? Or is it programmatic? Do we do anything different? Do we change our PD methodologies? Or maybe it's just the ebb and flow of the testing cycle. Maybe these batch of students just happen to perform not as great as the previous batch. Who knows? But what does that look like? What can possibly explain that dip?

[1707] Nancy Thomas: Or perhaps not just what's happened from one year to another with our district, but the vagaries of the test itself. What about our neighboring districts or similar districts? How many of them have grown or we have not grown? Or we've fallen further than they have fallen? In other words, one of the conferences I went to for CSBA spoke about how this year's the SBAC test, the performance was much poorer than the previous years and that the reliability of the test is questionable and it may take up to five years to make it. But I don't think we need to say, oh, therefore we can't look at similar schools or look at the breakdown of the testing and where our students may not be. I think what I heard you say and what I'd like to see also is deep thinking by staff about what the data is telling us, not just what the data is.

[1779] SPEAKER_03: Well, I think this is helpful. And I think part of what you confirmed some of the things I thought you would say. I think what we're really after here is kind of, at least for strategic imperative number one, We need to be able to say this area is orange or red, and what are we doing about it, and where does it show up, and how are we measuring it? That's really kind of what we're after. So let me take it back and rework it, retool it. I like the idea of really getting deep on the math and literacy data. We can pull that and probably do a more intelligent analysis.

[1821] Nancy Thomas: Since, excuse me, I didn't mean to interrupt. No, please. Since Mr. Preciado and I have been working together with you on the agenda. How would the board feel about us working with the superintendent on kind of a draft and giving him our input when he brings it back to us?

[1839] Ray Rodriguez: I'm OK with that. One of the pitfalls that we have, and we have to be careful, I think, as educators, is to give the community the feeling that our kids are not getting educated in our classrooms. And there's reasons why some children disengage or are disengaged. And when we break down the reasons why, then our challenge is to find a way to re-engage or engage these students that didn't do as well and find out what happened and how we can help them. And at the same time, continue to engage the ones that did do well. So you don't focus on the 20% and then lose sight of the other 80%. So it's definitely a challenge. But I don't want people to think that there isn't great things happening in our classrooms. Like for years, Schilling would always get a, it seemed to be, lower score. And people thought, well, what's going on at Schilling? And then when you visit the school, you find out that Probably, you know, there's great things going on there. And you needed to visit the school in order to see, instead of just looking at scores. So I just don't want us to get to a point that that's all we do is look at scores.

[1923] SPEAKER_03: And I agree. I think that we have to balance it with what's going right. Because there's a lot of things going right, too. And I think that we've got to get better at that. So I appreciate the comment.

[1933] Nancy Thomas: OK. Mr. Preciado?

[1934] SPEAKER_09: Yeah, just my last point would be that I think part of the problem for us If we only focus on the things that are doing right, then we don't actually address the systemic things that are going wrong. So I would just say, for me, it's not about looking at the things that are going wrong for the purposes of saying it's anyone's fault or anything. It's more of this is the current state. This is where it's at. We've collectively agreed that this is how we want to move forward. And these are the steps or the programs that we want to support in order to move that forward. So the framing is, this is where we're at. And this is how we want to get to the blue. So it's not, I wouldn't say, like, I don't want to take away from that. But I really think that we need to start diving into that because we haven't for the longest time.

[1980] Ray Rodriguez: Yeah, I agree with that 100%. Understanding the orange in order to get to the blue, basically.

[1987] SPEAKER_03: I've got some ideas, but let me cook them a little bit more.

[1991] Nancy Thomas: Thank you. Next, we will be recessing to closed session, where we will talk about the public employment discipline dismissal release, conference with labor negotiators for NTA, conference with labor negotiator for our unrepresented groups, conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation, and conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation. Is there anyone from the public that would like to address us on any of these topics before we go to closed session? Seeing none, we'll adjourn to closed session.

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