Special - Filling Board Vacancy - Part 2 Meeting

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[217] Ray Rodriguez: It's 5.40, and we are reconvening from our closed session where we discussed public employee appointment or employment discipline dismissal release, conference with legal negotiator, employer organizations, NTA and CSCA, conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation. So now we go to the Pledge of Allegiance. If everybody would like to rise so we can do this together.

[265] SPEAKER_28: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[283] Ray Rodriguez: As the new president of the board, this is the sixth time I've been president, and I take it very seriously. And I want to make sure that our meetings are very cordial. and we extend courtesy to everyone. Not everyone can finish when they have a comment in the three minutes, so I've asked Ms. Aquino to, when there's 20 seconds left, to be as courteous in his understanding as possible, make sure that the person that's talking to us doesn't feel rushed. It's all about being courteous But at the same time, we want to make sure that our meetings do not go past 10 o'clock, because it makes it difficult when your meetings go long to really have all your thoughts together, because we're discussing and voting on so many important items. So we need approval of the board agenda. I need a motion and a second, please. I move approval. OK, member Thomas moves.

[357] SPEAKER_28: I second.

[358] Ray Rodriguez: Any second? Open for voting? Yes. It's not open. It's by hand tonight. Oh, it's by hand tonight. OK. So the approval of the agenda, four ayes, which right now is unanimous. And we're hoping by the end of the day, we'll have a fit board member. OK. Next, we go to report of closed session actions, which I've already done. Public comment on non-agenda items. We have Ms. Parks. Happy New Year to everybody. Anyways, 2019. I don't know how we got here. Ms. Parks, you've got three minutes, and we'll give you a 20-second rule.

[406] Cindy Parks: Thank you. Within the last couple of months, There was some concern about the smart boards and the transfer of that original proposal from the Russian money to the bond. And at that time, the language, they went beyond what we saw in the ballot and used the supporting language that was, I'm not sure where it's actually all when we receive our booklets, but there was some language read to support the smart boards. And in seeking out some of that language, I just wanted to bring to your attention the fact that modernizing the science labs is in that very same line. And the reason that I bring this to your attention this evening is back in October, you approved a project list for $10.6 million of the Measure G money. The science lab was always something from the very first, when you started talking about setting priorities, that was always a chunk of money was set aside for the science. And where it has fluctuated a little bit during the course of time, because the HVACs and the roofs did seem to come to a higher cost than what you had originally thought, it still is something that needs to be addressed. And I went along with the CBOC last Friday when they went on their tour. And they started at the high school. And that was one of the rooms we went into. It was a science room looking. Actually, some of the members wanted to see if the smart boards were there. And going into the room, your CBO came and tested the back. Then we walked right in there. And he went right to turn on a faucet. And the water was coming out. And so where you might not have the full chunk of money that you thought you were going to invest. I know that there was a $13 million rendering done. And that's just not something that is probably feasible at this time. And who knows if that would be in the future. But to know that it needs to be workstations that are functioning, that the students need to be given, and the teachers need to be given the tool. Well, the teachers need to be given the tools to instruct the students. And those things need to be. those things need to be dealt with. And I would really appreciate you perhaps looking at it, because $10.6 million is beyond what you have left in that money now. So perhaps to review that list again, I would really appreciate your consideration on that.

[594] SPEAKER_24: I couldn't tell you that we have been aware of it, and we've been meeting with the science department, so thanks for bringing it up, but we have been meeting with the entire science department. Actually, to Kai's credit, he's one of the first names that he's done, so the entire science. So we're working on it, and we hope to bring something soon when we're ready, but we're still working to get the entire science team there. So we're aware of it. Thank you.

[616] Ray Rodriguez: Do we have anyone else that wants to address the board? I only have Ms. Park, that's it. Okay, with that we move to all business at regular meeting dates. Okay, so this is this is the one where member Martinez wanted to us to look at the possibility of changing our meeting dates from Tuesday to Thursday. And we were very adamant on the fact that we want to do everything in conflict with, we can have it on TV because that's very important for our communities to have it on TV.

[670] Ray Rodriguez: And any other conflicts as far as staff or with the school?

[675] Elisa Martinez: To the best of our knowledge, based on the calendar, the master events calendar, there's two possible conflict events, one being the incoming seventh grade parent night at Newark Junior High School, which is set now for Thursday, April 4. But Principal Neal is still deciding to move that to a Wednesday if the board meetings move. And the other would be the open house at Graham on Thursday, May 16. Those would be the only conflicts that I saw at this time.

[703] Ray Rodriguez: OK.

[705] Elisa Martinez: Well, I would just say that we discussed this initially at the last meeting and held it over to make sure that the public had a chance to hear and weigh in. And you had a chance to check on the calendar. I certainly think it's appropriate for us to change the meeting date to accommodate a board member who otherwise would have to miss meetings.

[723] Ray Rodriguez: OK. So based on that, you want to make more changes?

[726] Elisa Martinez: I'd like to move that we accept the Thursday dates on the calendar. and move from the traditional Tuesdays to the first and third Thursday.

[739] Ray Rodriguez: No, I'd rather have somebody else say it.

[741] Elisa Martinez: My apologies, President Rodriguez. My apologies. We just want to make note on this Thursday until January 17, we did not place the word study session next to that meeting. And it is still being decided that that will be a study session.

[754] Abbey Keirns: So I just want to make sure the way it's noted.

[759] Ray Rodriguez: So I need a second. I second. OK. Member Thomas makes the motion, Member Martinez second, please vote. Do you want to abstain? Sure, do you want to abstain? Yes. Okay, so we have three yeses and one abstention. Did you want to explain or it's up to you? No. Okay, good. We've always had it in the past where if a board member So I'll give this a wish. Okay.

[803] SPEAKER_24: Superintendent. We're on 8.1. I wanted to spend some time, and I see that all four candidates are here, so I want to kind of direct my comments to the four candidates that are here. I want to give you an overview of the process. It's very similar to last time with a couple of adjustments, but I want to make sure everybody understands the process that we're going to go through. We will be interviewing each candidate one at a time. And it will be similar to how we did last time. We'll sit here at the chair. Each member will be given three minutes to have an opening statement. Then you'll have eight questions. And at the end, you'll have a minute to have a closing comment. So that's kind of the structure. It's a little bit new. Each trustee will ask a question. Once, and each member will have two minutes for when they begin speaking to answer, the question will be displayed for the candidate. When all the questions are answered, the candidate will have one minute for summation, as I mentioned. This was the process we used last time. No additional questions or comments from the board once we get started. So after everyone's answered questions and to give them their summation, after interviewing all four candidates, We're going to have a pipe-in period for the board to have time to think, and kind of process, and kind of come to conclusions before they go forward with the ranking of round one, and again, before the ranking of round two. It felt a little rushed last time, so we want to make sure it doesn't feel like a long time. We will reach trustees' top three candidates as the first round will display the results. And then those finalists will go through the next round, The trustees will have another five-minute time to rank with the point system and the remaining candidates. I want to make sure this is really clear to everybody, mostly the board. As a reminder, the points we tallied as followed in that second round, the highest point value is assigned to your number one. So if you think this particular candidate's number one, they get a point value of three. If they're number two, they get two points. If they're number three, they get one point. Well, I'll explain it again when we get to that point before we actually do it, just so everyone's clear on the ranking and that there's no misunderstandings. And just in general, the highest number of points means the highest rank, just to be clear about that. So I want to welcome the candidates, but we are going to draw names at this time. and to select the order of interview. So Shar has an envelope with the four names, and whoever wants to help draw. Jessica, do you want to draw names, or? Get you closer to Shar. The first interview will be?

[981] Elisa Martinez: First interview will be Miss Betty Cole.

[985] SPEAKER_24: OK. Second interview will be?

[991] Elisa Martinez: Miss Christine Clinton.

[994] SPEAKER_24: The third interview will be?

[999] Abbey Keirns: Ms. Michelle Gidia.

[1003] SPEAKER_24: And the fourth interview will be, of course, Mr. Zang. Mr. Bowen Zhang. OK, I'm going to ask Ms. Coleman, please come on up and settle in. We'll get you some water. Can you walk them back to the podium?

[1014] Ray Rodriguez: Can I interject real quick? I'd like to thank, on behalf of the board, all four candidates for putting your name But it's serving the community, never is, but it's something that comes from the heart. And we really appreciate it. And I know there's some nervousness to it, but just relax. We're all in the same community, and we'll make sure that you're able.

[1049] SPEAKER_24: And Shara's going to show the other candidates back to the podium area.

[1054] Jodi Croce: You're still on. Oh, thanks.

[1072] SPEAKER_28: We'll just go down the line and ask questions, or what?

[1076] SPEAKER_24: Let's do the rotation. I think if you start with Ray, the pattern works out. Do you have a question on the left?

[1085] Ray Rodriguez: So I'd like to start with you, Jerry. Is it OK if we start with you?

[1090] SPEAKER_28: Oh, OK.

[1091] SPEAKER_24: Sounds good. So you guys all know what you have here. You have a place to catch notes on each candidate under questions and on the list. On the back page, I speak with all the questions again.

[1104] SPEAKER_28: So have your questions.

[1111] Elisa Martinez: Are the questions on the board? They're coming up. They're coming up now. Oh, there it is. There it is. But we have one more meeting. I'll wait for it. OK.

[1119] SPEAKER_28: I'm just waiting for somebody to say sorry, or if you want to ask a question. No, no, no.

[1123] Ray Rodriguez: I talked first. Yeah. You don't have to open the stage.

[1128] SPEAKER_18: Hi. I know most of you, some of you I do not know. I've lived in the wonderful city of Newark since the 80s when I lived here. I've lived in 11 states and about 50 towns. And I prefer to stay in California. And I absolutely love Newark. Both of my children went through Newark schools all the way from kindergarten through the 12th grade. And they were very successful with the school system. I understand right now that the Newark School District isn't always recognized as sterling. And I think that needs to change. I would like to see more positive feedback on our school system, because I think we have a wonderful teacher. We do a lot of other things in the town. I'm on several different boards, and I wear several different hats. I'm also employed, and I actually am a school teacher. I have taught in the Newark school district. I taught elementary music for the most part at Schilling. I taught at Lincoln, and I taught at Snow, and I taught at the Catholic school. I teach in Fremont. I don't teach music anymore. It's very hard to get music jobs. I teach special education. And I teach at the Continuation High School in Fremont. So I'm very familiar with the workings of the school district from that aspect. I know the school board has a much more difficult job. And I understand the ramifications. I understand the budgetary constraints. And I do, like I said, I've been on many, many boards. My expertise would strictly be in being a good board member, and I would try to work that as much as possible.

[1251] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you.

[1252] Elisa Martinez: OK, I'll be asking the first question, and it goes. Tell us why you are interested in and motivated to become a member of Newark Unified School District's Board of Education.

[1269] SPEAKER_18: OK, like I said, I don't think that Newark has this sterling reputation that it used to have. When my daughter graduated from high school, there were no better schools, and everybody knew it. The principal was excellent. The school district was excellent. And I think that we have great teachers here. I think we have great teachers. programs, I would like to see it enhanced and publicized. And I would like to see Newark raised above the level of some of the other school districts. I don't know how much I could do to help that out, but I would like to.

[1320] Elisa Martinez: OK. Welcome, Ms. Colton. Second question is, as a prospective member of the board team, tell us about a time that you were part of a winning team. Talk about the specific skills, lessons learned, and helpful insights that you would bring to our team.

[1339] SPEAKER_18: I do a lot of volunteer work. And I'm on a bunch of boards in Newark. And we do a ton of stuff for the city and the community. And we win all the time. I'm on the Newark days. Board of Directors, which provides entertainment and exercises and education for not only the city of Newark, but we've had over 100,000 people in the last couple of years. I consider that to be very, very successful. We are not funded by anybody. We earn donations. I'm on some other boards that do that. And I'm very, very proud of the work that we do.

[1380] Elisa Martinez: Thank you. Thank you, Nicole. Please provide two or three specific ideas about how to improve our district climate and customer service in a way that would make our schools and the district more welcoming to students, parents, staff, and the community at large.

[1397] SPEAKER_18: PR needs to be improved. You know, winning things. You guys don't advertise the successes that you always have. You have a rocketry program here at the high school that's won some international awards. And I don't know how many people actually know about that. The music program at the high school, the music program at the junior high school, which has been evolving over the years, is excellent. You have some really good science things. The science camps that you do here, the elementary programs, there's a lot of things that need to be advertised and recognized on a much more active level than the negatives. The positives need to be overemphasized.

[1464] Ray Rodriguez: It's a concern of all of us. So our district is projecting a, it's a budget question, a $1.8 million deficit in the 2019-2020 school year as a result of declining enrollment and increases in the cost of employer benefits. What revenue enhancements and or budget reduction ideas should the district consider to balance the budget and eliminate this structural deficit? And you're it.

[1491] SPEAKER_18: Okay, there's two things. There is a meeting Saturday in Oakland for Alameda County educators. And they are asking the state of California to restructure their funding to give school districts more money. There's not a school district in California that doesn't need to be allocated more funds. Everybody knows that. All these districts are operating on deficits. What else was I going to say? Oh, we have housing being built in this town. There are tons of people coming in here. There's absolutely no reason that enrollment should be down. Enrollment needs to be up. There needs to be a way to get these kids in this school district. There needs to be a way. And with the builders, builders build, and they tell their clients, if you're going to buy this house, you need to be going to this school. And there's no reason why we shouldn't be getting a lot of these kids, there's no reason why enrollment should be down. It should be going up. And one more, that's a PR thing, big time.

[1562] SPEAKER_29: Thank you.

[1566] Elisa Martinez: One role of a board of education is to ensure that the school district is responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of the community. What are two or three of the major responsibilities of the board in fulfilling that role?

[1582] SPEAKER_18: California is a very diverse state. It's why I like living here, because I've lived in a lot of other places. And this town is diverse. It becomes more diverse all the time. And school district, school board just needs to always acknowledge that. The people that live here need to understand that their values and their beliefs are appreciated. They need to be listened to. as much as possible, and sometimes you need to heed what they're trying to say.

[1618] Julienne Sumodobila: Thank you.

[1626] Elisa Martinez: Question six. Please describe the roles and responsibilities of a board member and the role and responsibilities of the superintendent.

[1637] SPEAKER_18: The superintendent works at the offer of the school board. But the superintendent is responsible for organizing and managing the school district, responsible for the principals, and the teachers, and the programs. The school board is responsible for allocating the funds, which may, or in this case, may not be there. And it's actually, I would think, harder to be a school board member than it is to be a superintendent.

[1685] Elisa Martinez: Question number seven. In your opinion, what are the top three policy areas we should work on as a district to support improved academic achievement?

[1700] SPEAKER_18: I don't know. I know that, what is it, STEM is a big deal right now. I personally like STEAM because I like the arts being put in the program. The math and the sciences need to be appreciated, and they need to be applauded, and they need to be worked on. But the other things need to not be ignored. I don't like it that the districts all throughout the United States separated academic excellence. No, they took out vocational tracks. And there are many, many students who need vocational education. They're falling out. They're flunking out, or they're leaving the school system because they have been pushed into the STEM program, and they're not academically equipped. The STEM program is wonderful. I don't have any argument with that. But there are lots of kids who want to be mechanics, and they want to be plumbers, and they want to be construction people, and they want to be nurses. They don't want to be engineers. And I can tell you, you could put me in an engineering classroom now until the cows come home, and I wouldn't learn a bloody thing.

[1774] SPEAKER_29: Last question.

[1785] Ray Rodriguez: Ms. Cole, please complete the following statement. A high-functioning board of education is one that listens to its constituents.

[1796] SPEAKER_18: You listen to the teachers, you listen to the other employees, the CSCA employees, and you listen to your community. They all have to work together or the schools fall apart.

[1816] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. One minute to close the statement.

[1829] SPEAKER_18: I don't pretend to have all the answers. My math is not so good. But I have good community relations. I love education. I love the school system. And I love Newark, and I would very much like to be a part of helping the school system and the school board get back on its feet and have this stellar reputation we use now.

[1856] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. Thank you very much.

[1857] Jodi Croce: Can you go back a little bit?

[1860] SPEAKER_24: You can sit in the audience now.

[1906] Elisa Martinez: I was just noticing that those chairs are a safety hazard, and they have been and have been. No, she tripped as she was leaving the chair because of the weight. We really need to address that.

[1933] Ray Rodriguez: Welcome, Inspector.

[1934] SPEAKER_28: How are you? Good, how are you?

[1938] Ray Rodriguez: Board, just give me one second. Do you want to do it the same way, or do you want to just start whenever you want to start?

[1945] Elisa Martinez: I think you're right, I'm supposed to do it the same way.

[1949] SPEAKER_28: You had an opening statement first.

[1951] SPEAKER_24: OK, sure. Whenever you're ready. All right.

[1959] SPEAKER_26: I'm Christine Clinton. I'm a parent at Lincoln Elementary. I have twin fourth graders, boy, girl, Kevin and Katie, and a three and a half year old headstrong, really opinionated child named Chase. And I found that when you name your child Chase, he will live his name. I'm much slower, about six years after my first set, but he keeps me on my toes. I run a play group for him. I joined it when my twins were three, and I became an organizer a couple years ago. We have about 150 parents and over 200, maybe 250 children in the group. We try to do activities at least two times a week. Sometimes we do as many as five. I, this year, became a Girl Scout co-troop leader for grades K through 5th. And I just placed an order for 2,240 cookies that will be arriving at my doorstep at some point. And I run an art class after school. My next one is on Monday. We'll be talking Georgia O'Keeffe and drying flowers, outlining them in charcoal, and coloring them in with watercolors. And before that, I'll be volunteering all day in a full day assembly called FAME, where we'll be talking about Claude Monet. Let's see. I think that's about it. I keep busy.

[2049] Elisa Martinez: I'll start off with the first question. And it reads, tell us what you are interested in and motivated to become a member of the Newark Unified School District's Board of Education.

[2061] SPEAKER_26: I became interested in the school board and in education in general when my twins were in kindergarten. I was volunteering quite a bit at that point. And I noticed that there are a lot of needs in the state of California, and there are a lot of needs in Newark Unified. And when you start realizing how the budgets work and that there's no money for much of anything, you want to try to do what you can to stretch the dollar and try to drive some positive change and help kids who aren't as fortunate as your own. And that's really what got me was seeing that some of their classmates, we all live in the same neighborhood, we all go to the same schools, but there's a big divide between those who have and those who don't.

[2110] Elisa Martinez: Thank you. Hi. Welcome, Sven. Question two. As a prospective member of the board team, tell us about a time that you were part of a winning team. Talk about the specific skills, lessons learned, and helpful insights that you would bring to the team.

[2139] SPEAKER_26: I served as a board member, the president of a HOA when I lived in San Diego. And I became a board member because I saw the writing on the wall that the financials weren't there. Special assessment seemed like it was around the corner. We were, when I joined, about 25% funded. And in eight years, that brought us up to about 78% funded. And one of the things I did was I went line by line through every single invoice that we have. And there were things like pretty flowers at all the monuments we drove in. And those had to go. We got some perennial flowers that we drove back year after year at a major cost savings. We got $2,500 every three months. We found ways within the community just Having volunteers, every time there was a party in the clubhouse, a volunteer could go and check it out, and we would save the money from having the management company walk through. So just being part of that and looking at all the invoices, I think that that was a really winning thing. Everyone seemed really excited about going from no money to a possible $10,000 special assessment envelope to having lots of money floating around. So yeah. I think that that's probably one of my biggest accomplishments when I was down there.

[2230] Elisa Martinez: Thank you. Please provide two or three specific ideas about how to improve our district climate and customer service in a way that would make our schools and the district more welcoming to students, parents, staff, and the community at large.

[2249] SPEAKER_26: I think overall from when my twins went to kindergarten I think it's gotten more friendly. I think the office staff is more welcoming at least at Lincoln. I've been to other schools and walked in and their staff were just as friendly and smiling. I think that we need to do some informational nights at the elementary schools just in our neighborhood. I see those who walk to the school or drive to the school and those who get in their challenger uniforms and drive over to Jarvis to their private education at $20,000. And I hear from those parents, I go to the birthday parties with them, and they don't think that our schools have what Challenger offers. And my response back to them is, what are you getting for $20,000 that you wouldn't be getting from our kindergarten classes? I don't think that there's a big, there's not a $20,000 value there. I think the big thing is we need to open up our classrooms. We need to get them in a couple times a year to show them what we're doing, to sell them on it. Because if we can get those parents, and they've got a lot of money, $20,000 to spend on one year worth of elementary school, next three neighborhoods of kindergarten. If we can get them in, we can get that money into the classrooms, all that money that we can be generating at our schools. just maybe once a quarter, have a game line, invite them in, see what we're doing, walk through the classrooms. I think that would really help.

[2348] Ray Rodriguez: I have a question on the floor. My district is projecting a 1.8 deficit in the 2019-2020 school year as a result of declining enrollment and increases in the cost of employee benefits. What revenue enhancements and or budget reduction ideas should the district consider, in your opinion, to balance the budget and eliminate this structural deficit?

[2378] SPEAKER_26: One, I think we need to run more like a high-tech company. We should be having some grant writers there. I worked in an environmental engineering company when I was in San Diego. I worked in their marketing communications department. And we had two grant writers on our team. And they would bring in so much money for our clients. Everything got billed back. I know that there's grants out there. Lincoln itself has gotten a grant to supplement the physical education requirement. So there's money out there, but we need people in positions looking for it and going after it and getting a committee together to pick the highest value opportunities and start there. And the second thing we need to do is increase our enrollment. We will not be a plush district unless we get students in our classrooms. And that's the real challenge. And I see it every day, just like my next door neighbor. Every day, she gets in her car and she drives her kid in his uniform to Challenger. And we walk to our school. And I'm a firm believer in public education. I went through public education. We need to get them in our schools. We need to increase enrollment. And we can't do that unless we show them what we have to offer.

[2472] Elisa Martinez: Next question is, one role of a board of education is to ensure that its school district is responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of its community. What are two or three of the major responsibilities of the board in fulfilling this role?

[2491] SPEAKER_26: I think that we need to go forward with showing the community that we have a great district. We need to show the community that we can work with the money that we're given and give them the opportunities. We need to get more technology in the classrooms. We need to do more with STEAM. We need to bring our schools up to the standards of the high tech community around us. And I think that we can do that if we can increase the enrollment, get our grant writing going, and get money. And I think the white boards that we were given and installed over the break are fantastic. They really are. That's a great step in the right direction. That's a great step. We need to do more like that.

[2548] SPEAKER_29: Thank you.

[2556] Elisa Martinez: Question 6. Please describe the role and responsibilities of a board member and the role and responsibilities of the superintendent.

[2565] SPEAKER_26: The school board is they look at the overall direction the overall budget and they hire the superintendent. They are not part of the day to day process that goes on. That is the role of the superintendent to manage the entire staff. delegate out to his staff, report back to the board with the higher value things like financials. But your role, I mean, you all have day jobs, unless you're retired. Your job there is to look at the reports that you're given, analyze them, and come back with your ideas, and the superintendent goes off running with those.

[2618] Elisa Martinez: In your opinion, what are the top three policy areas we should work on as a district to support improved academic achievement?

[2628] SPEAKER_26: We have a lot of English learners in our community. We need to do more to bring them up to English proficient. The test scores that I see, Lincoln has done really well. We've brought that up. But we have a lot of English proficients in our school. So we need to work on breaking down the language barrier. We need to work on technology and getting that accessible to everybody in every school, in every grade. And we need to work on getting more money. Bottom line is we can't buy things that we need, the resources we need for our students, unless we have more money.

[2684] Ray Rodriguez: Please complete the following statement.

[2687] Bowen Zhang: Ms. Clayton.

[2688] SPEAKER_26: A high functioning board of education is one that... Is one that impacts student achievement, sets goals, monitors progress. It's one that manages the budget that they're given, goes after more opportunities. and one that works together, all five, to do what's best for our students.

[2725] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. Are you done with that question? So you have one minute to give a closing statement, please.

[2739] SPEAKER_26: OK. My background is primarily in marketing communications. I worked as a manager of marketing and communications for a high-tech environmental engineering company. I managed million-dollar budgets. I've managed people. And I am a really good writer. And I think that that's one of my strengths that I can bring to this board, is my ability to communicate, my ability to get messages out there and motivate people. And I love kids. And everything I do every single day is with kids in mind, art projects, cookie sales, leading my Girl Scouts. It's everything in my life is all about not just my own children, but kids that I've met throughout the community. And I hope that I can sit on the board and help them even more and do even more for this town. Thank you.

[2800] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you again for putting your name out here and going through the interview process and your interest in not joining our board.

[2812] SPEAKER_24: Please join the audience and you're welcome to stay and watch the interview. Thank you.

[2875] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you for deciding to put your name out there to be a member of our board. Oh, you have an opening statement.

[2888] SPEAKER_32: I do?

[2889] Ray Rodriguez: Yes.

[2891] SPEAKER_32: Good evening board members and Superintendent Sanchez. My name is Michelle Padilla. Newark is my home and my community. I attended Milani Elementary, Newark Junior High, Newark Memorial, and attended Ohlone College. I'm a proud product of Newark schools. I have three children that are currently enrolled in the district, a first grader, a fourth grader, a twelfth grader, and a sophomore at Sonoma State. My experiences with As a board member comes from serving on two nonprofits. I have served on the PTC for the last five years, four of those years as president, the Newark National Little League for over three years. In addition, I have served on the LCAP committee, the Newark Memorial School Site Council, and several other district committees. I am the senior project manager for commercial electrical construction in San Jose. Many of my projects involved managing involved managing budgets upwards of $60 million. I believe my community involvement and professional experience has prepared me to help tackle some of the complex issues that our district is facing. I believe we can strengthen our schools through solid academic programs with community involvement and good policy. This in turn will help drive the increased enrollment that is needed to alleviate our current financial pressures. It would be my honor to give back to the community that I love.

[2978] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. Member of the Chair, we'll start with question number one.

[2986] Elisa Martinez: OK. Tell us why you are interested in and motivated to become a member of Newark Unified School District's Board of Education.

[2995] SPEAKER_32: Both of my parents were raised in Newark. Actually, one set of my grandparents were raised in Newark. I was raised in Newark. I'm raising my kids in Newark. I have a vested interest in the education of all Newark children. To paraphrase the mission statement I believe that education is the foundation to enable our children to achieve their full potential and be responsible respectful and productive citizens. I would like to contribute in finding solutions to our current challenges so that our district can flourish and we can deliver on this commitment to our kids.

[3035] Julienne Sumodobila: Thank you.

[3042] SPEAKER_28: Welcome, Ms.

[3045] Elisa Martinez: Finier. Question two. As a prospective member of the board, tell us about a time that you were part of a winning team. Talk about the specific skills, lessons learned, and helpful insights that you would bring to the team.

[3068] SPEAKER_32: So as a project manager, I am accustomed to working in a team environment. I recognize the value of working collaboratively as a team. Though we may not all always agree, I believe as long as we are fact-based and data-driven and keep the end in mind, we will arrive at the right solution. I work in teams constantly. So speaking professionally on one of my project teams, we had sourced out subcontractors and not only in-house project management but outsourced project management and being able to work as a team and objectively look at everyone's solutions. And then we were able to come together to find the right solution for our customer. Actually, I think I spoke about this last time. There was a deadline on the project and We work for a union hall, so the union had a holiday and a lot of the employees were looking to have that holiday off. Our customer was diligent about needing to have this deadline met. We were able to come to a compromise. There was some give and take on both sides, but we were able to meet the end goal.

[3161] Elisa Martinez: Question number three, please provide two or three specific ideas about how to improve our district climate and customer service in a way that would make our schools and the district more welcoming to students, parents, staff, and the community at large.

[3176] SPEAKER_32: So first, addressing parents and students. I think usually the first communication that our customers, our parents and students, have is at our school site offices. Making sure that staff has the resources to ensure that it's a positive interaction is really important. This might include training, translation services, etc. Second, addressing staff. I think it's important that our staff feels like we're investing in them, whether it's professional development or lesson planning time, we need to make sure that they are being heard and that we are doing what we can to meet those needs. And third, to tie in all the stakeholders, community, parents, students, and staff, we can proactively communicate not only what our challenges are, but the great news about things that are going well in our district. And this might include making sure that our website is always accurate, up-to-date, easily accessible.

[3240] Ray Rodriguez: You ready to go to the next question?

[3242] SPEAKER_29: Ready.

[3247] Ray Rodriguez: Our district is projecting a $1.8 million deficit in the 2019-2020 school year as a result of declining enrollment and increases in the cost of employee benefits. What revenue enhancements and the structural deficit.

[3279] SPEAKER_32: First and foremost, we should always look at additional sources of revenue, such as grants, one-time funding, and partnering with local private industry. In addition, I think we should take a comprehensive look at all cost-saving opportunities, including capital costs, and making sure that we are right-sized as a district to alleviate some of the imbalance while limiting impacts to our classrooms.

[3312] Elisa Martinez: One role of the Board of Education is to ensure that the school district is responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of its community. What are two or three of the major responsibilities of the Board in fulfilling this role?

[3332] SPEAKER_32: So I would say number one would be providing the strategic direction And that includes ensuring that the appropriate and inclusive processes are used in decision making. And how I interpret that is we have a very diverse community here in Newark. It's our responsibility to be advocates and ensure that we do our best to meet those diverse needs. Second, Newark is a very small town, small community. I think a healthy collaboration, a collaborative relationship with the city of Newark would be really beneficial for our school district.

[3369] Guadalupe Lopez: Thank you.

[3375] Ray Rodriguez: Number six is up there.

[3381] Elisa Martinez: Question six. Please describe the role and responsibilities of a board member and the role and responsibilities of the superintendent.

[3391] SPEAKER_32: So I recognize that there are clear and distinct differences between the two. The role of the board is to set the vision and the policies for the district. And the role of the superintendent is to develop a tactical plan on how that vision will be achieved and to execute that plan. It is also the superintendent's role to hold his staff accountable to the results against that plan.

[3420] SPEAKER_28: Thank you.

[3429] Elisa Martinez: In your opinion, what are the top three policy areas we should work on as a district to support improved student, excuse me, academic achievement?

[3441] SPEAKER_32: First, I think we should look at adopting a comprehensive, cohesive curriculum program. Second, I think it's important that we make sure that our staff is trained in this curriculum throughout the district. And third, I think we should take a look at enrichment programs. Those can be either challenging programs or more tutorial-based. But those are the three initiatives that I think we should look at.

[3485] Ray Rodriguez: So I have the last question, question number eight. Ms. Medina, would you please complete the following statement?

[3496] SPEAKER_32: A high-functioning board of education is one that... A high-functioning board of education is one that sets the vision and goals for the district and measures the success of the district and the superintendent against those goals. A key indicator of a healthy board is to involve and communicate their actions to the community, strive for academic excellence, fiscal solvency, and above all, focus on what is best for all students.

[3534] Ray Rodriguez: When you're ready, you have one minute for a closing statement.

[3539] SPEAKER_32: I am ready. I am deeply committed to partner with you and find new and innovative ways to bring all stakeholders to the table as we make decisions for our district. I am fully aware of the challenges and am confident that I can bring experience that will be helpful as we move forward. I am ready to work hard to drive the results that we need. I have deep roots here at Newark. My parents and grandparents grew up in Newark. A collaborative approach with accountability Transparency and community involvement is how I would contribute to this board. It would be my honor to serve with you on the Newark School Board, and through it, serve our kids and our community.

[3584] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. Thank you very much, Karen.

[3587] SPEAKER_24: We're going to ask you to please join the audience now, because that's the last interview, I believe. And the water is for you, Ms. Bonilla. Be careful with the chairs, they're a little dangerous. Thank you, Mr. Padilla. He's a good husband. Good move, good move.

[3610] Ray Rodriguez: Our last candidate is Mr. Bowen Zhang. Welcome Mr. Zeng and thank you again for putting in the application to join the Board of Education. We can start with a three minute opening statement if you don't mind.

[3654] Bowen Zhang: Hello everyone, my name is Bowen, I'm the product of the California Public School System. I see the value and impact of a public school system and a quality public education on a person's life because I lived through that myself. A quality public education is how I went from being an empty-handed teenager when I first immigrated to this country to being an engineering professional in the heartland of Silicon Valley. And today, I realize in our district, we have a lot of children coming from blue-collar working-class families. I still believe that public education is the key to upward mobility. I still believe a quality public education is the great equalizer. So I want the next generation of children to have the same opportunity that I had. And today, I think it's more important than ever that we provide high-quality public education to our kids. Because we're living in a new economy. The day of a high school graduate walking onto an assembly line with a decent paying job for the rest of his life is over. We're living in a new economy in the 21st century based on knowledge and skills. driven by digital technology. And those who don't possess the skills and the training necessary in this new economy will pay a heavy economic price. So I want to make sure our children have the proper training, the skill sets, to thrive in this new economy. And that's why I'm here. Thank you.

[3746] SPEAKER_28: Thank you.

[3750] Elisa Martinez: I'll have the first question for you. And tell us why you are interested in and motivated to become a member of the Newark Unified School District's Board of Education.

[3760] Bowen Zhang: Just like I mentioned, today, many of the problems we see in our society and in our neighborhood, whether it's people struggling from paycheck to paycheck, working multiple jobs on the minimum wage, or people not being able to pay back their student loan, they all boil down to our people or the next generation, the young people, not having the skills to thrive in this new economy. They cannot have high-paying jobs. That's why I see having a quality education and preparing them for this new economy is critical to the overall stability of our society and the future prosperity of our country. And that's why I think a school board can have a positive impact if it functions well on the children's lives. That's why I'm motivated to join the school board to work with every one of you to serve the best interests of our district and make sure our children are prepared for the new economy for the future. Thank you.

[3811] Kat Jones: video.

[3818] Cindy Parks: Thank you.

[3820] Elisa Martinez: Hi. Welcome, Mr. Zen. As a prospective member of the board team, tell us about a time that you were part of a winning team. Talk about the specific skills, lessons learned, and helpful insight that you would bring to the team.

[3837] Bowen Zhang: So my professional experience, background is in software engineering. I worked for three pre-IPO companies. When I joined, they were private companies. We luckily went through IPO. So every single company I worked for went through IPO, went from private company to public company. So I think I'm part of this winning team, three separate companies. So the lesson I learned from working with a complex and growing software organization is that to deliver high-quality products for our customers on time, I need to coordinate with everyone and every stakeholder in this complex organization, in particular to bring people together as a united team, to build consensus, and oftentimes to reach compromise, so we can work together, share credit and share blame, to make sure our products are successful and our customers are happy. So I believe these same insights and lessons will bring people together, forging consensus, and reaching compromise also should work in our representative democracies. Because that's, I think that's our democracy should work is that people coming together for the same goal, for the best interest of our constituents. Forging compromise, reaching consensus, and work together for the common good of our people.

[3909] Elisa Martinez: Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Sheng, please provide two or three specific ideas about how to improve our district climate and customer service in a way that would make our schools and the district more welcoming to students, parents, staff, and the community at large?

[3929] Bowen Zhang: Yes. So number one, let's talk about attracting parents to make sure the parent can send their kids to our school. So oftentimes, the perception of that. So the number one thing we can do is to restore the sense of stability on the board, that people can see that they can trust this board, and they can see this board can come together and work as a functioning unit together. So people can be confident to send their kids to this school district, because they know the board do care about them. The board can come together. And number two, about attracting and improving customer service, or improving the quality of our education. As we all know, parental involvement is actually a very key part about improving our students' performance. Many of our parents are actually working-class parents. They need to work two or three jobs per day just to provide food for the kids and provide shelter for the kids. So the common misconception is they don't really care about the kids' education. I think they do want to be involved. They do want to be involved in the activity, to be part of the process. But because of their work schedule, they find it difficult to be engaged or to show up for certain events. We can figure out a way to accommodate our working class, particularly single mother, to make sure they have the flexible schedule that we can make some of the activities flexible so our working class parents can participate in the school activity, be involved in this process, and improve the education together. So that's the question.

[4016] Ray Rodriguez: Our district is projecting a $1.8 million deficit in the 2019-2020 school year. as a result of declining enrollment and increases in the cost of employee benefits. What revenue enhancements and or budget reduction ideas should the district consider to balance the budget and eliminate this structural deficit?

[4042] Bowen Zhang: So, any budget challenges have two factors in the equation, spending and revenue. Let me first talk about spending. So number one, we need to make sure we are right-sizing the staff member to fit the need of our enrollment. We have roughly 5,900 students enrolled in the school district. We need to make sure we have the proper number of staff to serve the student body instead of a bloated bureaucracy. Number two is, in the worst case, we might need to look into furloughing of certain employees. And number three is, we need to improve our overall operational efficiencies For certain work, if we can reduce costs by contracting out third-party private companies, then we can do so. And if we still see a long-term structural deficit, then maybe we need to think about reducing the overhead costs of our district. And that can possibly involve consolidating and merging schools. So this is the spending side. Let's talk about the revenue side. So based on the state funding formula, it's very obvious To increase the revenue into this, we just simply need to increase enrollment of our students. Again, we need to provide better customer services. And just like I talked in a previous question, to show the stability of the board, to show that we do care about our students, so that we can convince the parents to have the confidence to send their kids to our enrollment, to our school. And given that we have this Bayshore development, In Area 2, Central Village in Area 3, and also the Cedar Town will bring in a lot of new people into the district. So once we restore the confidence and show that we can work together as a team, I believe the parents will start sending their kids to our school district. Increasing enrollment equals increasing revenue. Thank you.

[4150] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you.

[4153] Elisa Martinez: OK. Next question. One role of the Board of Education is to ensure that its school district is responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of its community. What are two or three of the major responsibilities of a board in fulfilling that role?

[4176] Bowen Zhang: Number one, I think is when we talk to parents that we should constantly communicate with the parents, engage with the parents, and if parents have certain complaints about our school board, we should sympathize and work with the superintendent. to solve this problem. The board's responsibility is to provide guidelines, a concrete plan for the superintendents and provide feedback to the superintendent. The superintendent executes against the plan and is in charge of the daily operations, where at the end, after the cycle, we evaluate the superintendent's performance. And number two, to reflect the belief and values of our community is, I believe our core should reflect the diversity of our district. We are a very diverse district. And we need to bring in people that have different perspectives, fresh ideas, and think about questions from different angles to represent the diverse thought process of our community. I think we only reach half of our goal of our diversity when we only have a world that has people who look different but think alike, to have full diversity and reflect the diverse nature of our community. We should also have people that have different professional backgrounds, bring different fresh ideas, perspective, and different innovative solutions. Thank you.

[4267] Elisa Martinez: the role and responsibilities of a board member and the role and responsibilities of a superintendent.

[4274] Bowen Zhang: So the board member is almost like a corporate board. Our job is to evaluate oversight. We have only one employee. That employee is the superintendent. We set clear, well-defined, and unambiguous objectives and goals for the superintendents. We provide constant feedback and communication with the superintendents. We have clear staff to achieve that objective and goal, and we oversight and evaluate the performance of the superintendent. The superintendent is the CEO of the district. He is in charge of the daily operation, the personnel business, and administrative work in our district. So he almost acts like the corporate CEO of our district. And the board should not interfere with the superintendent's job of daily operation and administrative and personnel business. So that's why I see the separation of the roles and responsibilities.

[4335] Elisa Martinez: In your opinion, what are the three top policy areas we should work on as a district to support improved academic achievement?

[4345] Bowen Zhang: So in our education system, we have three major players in our system. Number one is teachers. Number two is the students. Then it's the parents. For teachers, I think we should have a better evaluation process for the teacher to hold the teacher accountable, to make sure the teacher indeed delivers on their role and responsibility to make sure they really teach our kids. And number two is, given we are largely less for students, given we are largely a blue-collar working-class district and we have an influx of people coming from a high-tech industry in the area of facial development and other development. So soon I think we'll see a pretty significant achievement gap between the people, between our kids coming from a blue-collar family and the kids coming from a white-collar professional family. I believe every one of our children in our district has a unique gift Some of them don't really speak English as a first language, but that doesn't mean they are stupid or dumb. And we should work with our students, particularly our English as a second speaker, to help them to dedicate to their need to improve their performance. And number three, in terms of the parents, just like I said, many of our working parents, they do want to engage. They want to be involved in the process. But they are working on two or three minimum wage jobs to provide food and shelter for our children. So we need to think about a way to accommodate their pretty busy schedule to make ourselves flexible so the parents, if they are willing to participate and involve in the process, they can. Thank you.

[4451] Ray Rodriguez: Number eight, this is the last question, Mr. Zhang. Please complete the following statement. A high-functioning board of education is one that?

[4463] Bowen Zhang: Is one that every board member assume the very best of each other and come together to work together to serve the best interest of our community and the best interest of our children without any personal agenda. Thank you.

[4476] Ray Rodriguez: Excellent. Thank you very much. So now you have one minute to give us a closing statement if you so desire.

[4487] Bowen Zhang: So I believe our district has a lot of potential. Every one of the children in our district has a unique gift and they have a lot of potentials as well. So if appointed, I look forward to joining the board and working with every one of the stakeholders in our community. Assuming the very best of each other, working together for the best interest of our district, and more importantly, the best interest of our children, because that's their future. Thank you.

[4518] SPEAKER_24: Thank you. Mr. Zhang, I'm going to ask you to join the audience and give the board a few minutes to process the information, and we'll take a quick five, and we'll be right back. your top three. The next round we're going to be scoring. X is fine. Make the X legible. Do we have all four of us up here? Yes. I feel like we should have some music or something. So it looks like the top three are Ms. Clinton, Ms. Padilla, and Mr. Zhang. Is that correct in how I'm reading that? So I would like to thank the people for applying and for participating in this process, and certainly You don't have to go away. You're welcome to stay. At this time, we're going to allow the trustees to begin scoring. Each trustee will fill out a second ranking sheet with their top three choices. And there is a ranking. You'll have another five-minute timer to begin ranking using the following point system. Three points to your first choice, two points to your second choice, and one point to your third choice. We'll allow you five minutes at this time to do the ranking. And the scoring, rather, not the ranking.

[4957] Ray Rodriguez: So again, we can write down the score. name of the candidate and put how many points, right?

[4963] SPEAKER_24: So whoever your top candidate is, you get three points. On your second candidate, two. And third candidate, you get seven.

[4970] Ray Rodriguez: So I'm going to list all three.

[4979] SPEAKER_24: And put the points next to them. You have five whole minutes. Use your time.

[5035] SPEAKER_29: Thank you.

[5082] SPEAKER_28: So that's something you can watch.

[5127] SPEAKER_24: It takes a little bit more time. You need to make people wait longer than necessary. If you fold them in half, fold them in half again. We'll have a short process. You're not ready to speak. You have more time.

[5173] Ray Rodriguez: Tough choices. Remember what Martina says, it's a good problem to have. Three excellent individuals. I want to give back to our community.

[5185] SPEAKER_24: That's good to see. It's healthy for our community.

[5197] Ray Rodriguez: So you're going to tally it up, Martina? So after we test the score and then we have our new board member, then the superintendent will do the swearing in. And then we'll have the last part of the meeting will be adjournment and comments. And the new board member will be welcome to join us up here at that time.

[5263] SPEAKER_24: We've got to get right to work.

[5265] Ray Rodriguez: Right. It did pretty good. Just a little bit after 7. The process went pretty smoothly. Thank you, staff, for all the work you put in this together for us. We really appreciate it.

[5297] SPEAKER_32: Oh, I'm sorry.

[5307] Ray Rodriguez: I'm sorry. So we have Ms. Clayton with seven total points. nine total points. So welcome Mr. Zang. So now we go to the swearing in. Mrs. Zang, can I?

[5342] SPEAKER_24: I would like to thank the other candidates for their time. I know that most of them- We have to- We have to formally vote. Okay, that's right. Oh, sorry. I forgot.

[5353] Ray Rodriguez: So I need a motion to to appoint Mr. Bowen Zhang as a new board member.

[5359] Bowen Zhang: Well, actually, I think we should all have the equals. Because there's a lot missing.

[5364] Rachel Bloom: You still got none.

[5365] Penny DeLeon: Yeah, I see.

[5371] Ray Rodriguez: So I need a motion to appoint Mr. Zhang as a new board member. I move. Member Gutierrez moves. Need a second. I'll second. Member Thomas seconds. Please vote. Motion passes four ayes. Mr. Zhang, you are now our new board member. As soon as you get sworn in. Superintendent, go ahead. So I would like to thank Ms. Clinton, Ms. Padilla, and Oh, it's cold, but she left the coffee wine. But important members of our community, and we hope that you continue your work in serving our kids, because that's what we need. We need everybody together in making sure that our kids get the best education possible. Thank you for setting your time aside to come in and interview. And again, I thank you for the time you put in at your school sites and the different things you do for our kids. So, Superintendent, did you want to say something?

[5457] SPEAKER_24: I know that we're still in the community and I do know we're a small town and we'll continue to work together. I've definitely had the fortune of sitting in and listening to where your hearts are and your heads are for our kids and I'm really proud that

[5472] Ray Rodriguez: So any other board members? Do you want to say something?

[5478] Elisa Martinez: Just thank you to everybody as well. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. This is a difficult decision making process that we have to go through. I just appreciate everyone that applied. And I know you all care deeply about our students.

[5505] Ray Rodriguez: Hi, thank you.

[5511] Elisa Martinez: I just wanted to reiterate, thank you so much. There's a couple of candidates that have gone through this a couple of times. This is really important that you maintain engaged and we know how committed you are to the kids. So thank you.

[5530] SPEAKER_24: So Mr. Zhang, if you would please step forward. Is this okay here? Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies,

[5564] Bowen Zhang: foreign and domestic. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

[5568] SPEAKER_24: That I will bear the true faith and allegiance to the Constitution.

[5572] Bowen Zhang: That I will bear true faith to the allegiance of the Constitution.

[5577] SPEAKER_24: Of the United States.

[5580] Bowen Zhang: Of the United States.

[5581] SPEAKER_24: And the Constitution of the state of California.

[5584] Bowen Zhang: And the Constitution of the state of California.

[5587] SPEAKER_24: And that I take this obligation freely. That I take this obligation freely. Without any mental reservation. or purpose of evasion.

[5597] Bowen Zhang: Without any medical reservation or purpose of evasion.

[5600] SPEAKER_24: And that I will well and faithfully discharge.

[5603] Bowen Zhang: That I will well and faithfully discharge.

[5605] SPEAKER_24: The duties upon which I am about to enter. Duty upon which I am about to enter. Congratulations. Thank you. Welcome. People, if you don't mind, can we take a picture?

[5616] SPEAKER_24: We'll walk you around. Watch the wires. There you go.

[5622] SPEAKER_28: Thank you.

[5642] Joy Lee: We couldn't do it in advance.

[5658] Ray Rodriguez: We always put community reports and announcements, requests, debriefs, and discussions. So basically, it's an opportunity for us to comment and say anything about whatever we want. So since you're the new board member, you're going to be in the hot seat. And you get to go first. You get to share your thoughts about the whole process and how you feel about being the new board member, if you want. No, whatever you want, the process or just being on the board?

[5692] Bowen Zhang: Well, I want to first thank all the candidates and applicants because we all care deeply about our school district and I'm really lucky today to get the appointment. I think I look forward to working with every one of you to make sure our children succeed. And on a personal note, I think many of you probably don't know that in the entire state history of California, I'm the second mainland Chinese-born person to ever hold a public office, even though we have such a heavy Chinese population. I'm the second person that was born in China to ever hold a public office in the District of California. a person like me can go from an empty-handed teenager when I first immigrated to this country at the age of 17 to being a school board member of his adopted hometown is a beautiful tribute to the vitality of our community and the enduring promise of our land. So I thank every one of you for today's privilege and honor.

[5770] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. Very good, Jerry.

[5775] Nicole Izant: I just want to take this moment to congratulate our new board member as well, and congratulations on a great accomplishment and the information you have given us right now. It's great to hear.

[5789] SPEAKER_28: Thank you.

[5791] Elisa Martinez: Congratulations. Again, fellow CalBEAR grad, we have a lot of work to do. So enjoy today because the work starts as we start to engage with the team here. We do have some big challenges. I'm excited about your professional experience and really bringing that to bear to help the district out. So thank you. Congratulations, Bowen. How do you pronounce your last name?

[5822] Bowen Zhang: My last name is pronounced like the first name, J-O-H-N, John. So John, just treat it as the first name, John.

[5828] Elisa Martinez: OK. Well, congratulations, John, Mr. John. John. Yeah. Anyway, I, too, am very impressed with your professional experience and the skills I think you'll be bringing to the board. I like the diversity of our board. I'm really excited about all of us moving together as a cohesive team. And I just wish I would be able to go with you, the three of you, down to San Diego. Maybe I can pay mine away. We can pay for you. We have money, too. We'd be great as a group. OK? Wow. So we're going on a trip.

[5881] SPEAKER_24: They just started. Give them a minute. Give them a minute.

[5884] Elisa Martinez: Anyway, I wanted to say that Elisa, Ms. Martinez, and I are on the audit committee. And the audit is going to be presenting the audit report at the next meeting on the 17th now. And so you'll be contacted. But I'm hoping that we have a quorum. so that we can get a report from the auditor in the afternoon before the meeting and ask questions and get feedback and perhaps be able to add to the conversation when we hear about the audit report. So that would be, I think, at 4 o'clock on next Thursday. Next Thursday, right? Anyway, that's what I have.

[5930] Ray Rodriguez: Thank you. Thank you for the history lesson. Appreciate it. So when you told us how to properly pronounce your name, then that means that I've been screwing it up all this time, right? Well, that's fine. So it's fair play, because over the years, my name has been pronounced differently a lot. So besides welcoming you to the board, I welcome you to Newark. I know you haven't lived here that long, but what, seven years now? Yes.

[5963] Bowen Zhang: Oh, the other thing is, this might be the mayor's statistic, but that might not be true. He said I'm the youngest homeowner ever in the history of Newark.

[5972] Ray Rodriguez: Oh, OK. So he threw that out there also. I'm not sure where that's true. I don't know. But I was pretty young when I bought my house. But anyway, welcome to Newark, and welcome to our board. I think you'll find that we have an excellent staff. that are willing to put in a lot of time in order to make the district work and they depend on us as board members to set policy and to give directions like you eloquently said during one of your questions as to the role of the board as opposed to the role of the superintendent. We're not here to get in the superintendent's way, we're here to give direction. and give him everything that he needs and with his staff in order to make the right decisions to move our district forward. And I'm looking forward to working with you. And it was me and all women, so now we have another male up here. So it's kind of, thank you for joining me today. But again, we're looking forward to having you on the board at our next board meeting. is coming real quickly next Thursday. And you're expected to put in at least 100 hours of reading. I don't know if they told you that before each meeting. Did they discuss that with you? I have the feeling of all that. So Superintendent, would you like to say something?

[6069] SPEAKER_24: I, first of all, want to introduce the staff. And then I do want to share a few things. In our executive team, to my right here is Kai Wen. our CDO, then we have Associate Superintendent Liz Lenas, Executive Director of Human Resources, Jessica Saavedra, and of course, the Executive Assistant to the Board and to the Superintendent's Office, Shara Cano. We've been working together. I think my comments are really relative to the entire Board about just expressing my excitement to really have an opportunity to go forward and really develop a strong team and could really improve the culture and climate by setting a great example at the board level and the leadership level. And this is the team, including the cabinet. So as you know, we are going to be discussing carbon at time to work together. We've received funds from the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. to the tune of about $537,000. And a chunk of that, about $50,000, $60,000 of that is to help improve our team, to facilitate retreats, and to pay for training for new board. So we really can start on the same page, develop some strong norms, and really take Newark to the next level. I'm really excited about that. I have some gifts selected for everyone that you'll be getting next Thursday, including some books that I think will help us take those steps. And I've already read both of them, and I've decided on one I think is more relevant for what we need. And it really is about a little preview would be building the culture of trust and how highly effective teams work, and how highly effective groups work together to really make a difference. But it's an honor to serve, and I'm looking forward to just really doing great things for our kids, because they deserve everything we can do for them. So that's it for me. Thank you.

[6193] Ray Rodriguez: It is, unless anybody else would like to say anything, it is 7.21 and I would like to officially

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