Study Session Meeting

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[8] SPEAKER_11: President Martinez? Here. Vice President Gutierrez?

[12] Leonor Rebosura: Here.

[14] SPEAKER_11: Member John? Here. Member Nguyen? Here. Member Rodriguez?

[18] Elisa Martinez: Here. Thank you. Moving on to item number two, the approval of the agenda. Can I get a motion and a second to approve the agenda as is?

[40] SPEAKER_29: I'll second.

[42] Elisa Martinez: Member Rodriguez moves. Member Gutierrez seconds. Please vote. Motion passes with five ayes. Just before we move on to public comment regarding the board study session, I just wanted to remind everybody that today we are having the study session run from 5 to 6.30, so closed session at 6.30 and open session will be at 7.30. With that, we will move to public comment regarding the board study session. Ms. Cindy Parks.

[103] Cindy Parks: I just would like to address once again that we're coming to the study session regarding the budget, and we have nothing. So you have documents sitting in front of you that you're going to have a chance to look at, and you're going to have to assimilate whatever is in there and have an intelligent conversation and an intelligent work study session. At least you'll be able to ask questions during that, but for the public, which is You know, this is open for us to be able to make comments. You even have this time allotted for it. And yet, what am I supposed to comment on since I have nothing? The only thing that I can say is it's really, again, difficult when you don't have the attachments, not knowing what's in here. I wonder whether the principals were solicited for their input, you know, to just say at least, can you give us, you know, 5% budget cut from your sites? I mean, what was their involvement in it? you know, have you, are there program cuts in there? I mean, I know that for the last three years, when there's been issues and meetings regarding the deficit spending, that some of the concerns have been to look at actual programs. Have you, I mean, is anybody looking at the success rate of certain programs? Are they, you know, are you even going to be able to do it? Or is it an automatic cut of teachers? staff because that seems to be no matter what those budget meetings were in 2017 where the community came together and went to meetings at the various different sites and their common communication to all of you and to the administration at that time was don't cut teachers and yet that's always seems to be where you first go. And I, you know, again, not knowing what's in there, I think that it's difficult for the community to actually be able to participate and give you any input. Thank you.

[233] Elisa Martinez: Thank you, Ms. Parks. Mr. Cary Knoop.

[245] Cary Knoop: Good evening. Yeah, pretty much what Cindy said, I totally agree with. We're operating in a vacuum. There's nothing to prepare. And I wonder how board members actually prepare. If you just get that document real time, in an hour and a half or an hour, you're just going to go through that and understand that? I think there should be a policy that says, if we're having a workshop on something, these documents need to be attached to the agenda. And if they're not there, Cut the workshop, do it next week, or get a special meeting. I heard rumors that it looks like the percentages of NTA versus the districts are starting to converge. So that's wonderful news, let me put it this way. But I want to make sure, well, I think it would be a waste of time if this workshop is going to operate in a vacuum and taking a 0% line. I think we have all a fairly good idea of what every year the increase will be now. And that's the obligation of the board to make sure that that's how you're going to cut. You can't say, oh, I'm going to cut based on a zero line and then blame it on the county saying, oh, the county is not going to agree with it. That's not fair. You have the obligation, if you have made a counteroffer, which you did right on the 19th, supposedly, although it's not public on the website yet, you know that that's your obligation. You made that offer, so you're obliged to make sure that your budget cuts are going to fall within these parameters. You can't play a game by saying, well, you know, we're just going to go on the zero line and we're going to blame it on the county. That's just not fair. So I really hope that this session is not going to operate in a vacuum where we're starting to talk about a 0 or 0.5% line, but we start to talk about a realistic, you know, five-something line. Thank you.

[378] Elisa Martinez: Thank you, Mr. Knoop. Ms. Eustice.

[395] SPEAKER_10: My name is Sue Eustis, and I'm president of the Newark Chapter 208 of the California School Employees Association. We represent the classified bargaining unit. We have had no access to the material that you're going to be seeing in a little while, so I guess I'm joining my friends back there, that it would be helpful for us to see it to really properly respond to what you're looking at. With that being said, A report was done a number of months ago by Beverly Ryland, which was an accounting firm that looked at the budget. Normally, I don't always agree with what they have to say, but I have to admit this one was pretty fair. And it gave the history. So if you don't have a copy of it, please go back and get it. Look at it. because it really gave a clear outline what happened here in the last 10 years. No one wants to be laid off. I don't want to see a teacher laid off. I don't want to see an administrator. I don't want to see anybody laid off unless it absolutely has to happen. But I want fairness. And I think that report was fair. So I would appreciate it if you would take a look at it. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[479] Elisa Martinez: And with that we move to tonight's study session regarding budget work, budget workshop regarding budget solvency. Ms. Salinas?

[488] SPEAKER_21: Yes, good evening members of the community, members of our board. If we could please sit at the tables and we're going to go through the process of our study session.

[557] SPEAKER_21: pretty interactive study session with the board as this is their meeting in public. And I think what we want to definitely share is that this work is difficult for any district. Unfortunately, we're not alone in this. You'll see this reflected across California, Alameda County. I do want to recognize that as a district, we are continuing to strengthen our partnerships with CSCA with NTA and certainly with our management association. But what I want to stress is that this is work that we have to do as a community and at the same time recognize that this is difficult work that has to be done. I want to applaud this board for really being proactive and ensuring that this gets done and it's done in a way that addresses the deficit of our budget. So for this evening, I wanted to have Ms. Dela Cruz give a little bit of an opening, and then we'll go throughout. Would the board prefer to just, as we're going through, just ask questions so that you have the opportunity to do that? Or would you like the questions at the end?

[626] Elisa Martinez: Yeah, I was going to ask it back to you. I mean, is it critical that we see all the material before we ask questions? Because I know we tend to

[636] Marie dela Cruz: problem-solving along the way, so... Yeah, I think it seems to work well when we can go through the whole presentation, make notes, and then ask questions and we can refer back to the information.

[648] Jodi Croce: Is that okay?

[651] Marie dela Cruz: Great. So just to start off, one of the main reasons why we're here and doing the study session is that in our First interim review letter from the county. They provided some requirements that we need to include in our second interim report. Our second interim report is due on March 16th. So because we filed a qualified certification, the county requests that we submit our most current enrollment and our ADA. projections so that our revenue calculations are as accurate as possible. And we need to also submit a board approved expenditure reduction plan and other budget balancing solution. They want us to include details on how we're going to meet this plan and a timeline and also ensure that we solve our structural deficit moving forward.

[717] SPEAKER_21: So if I could jump in with our task. So our task really is to provide that fiscally responsible budget that supports our student success. Over the last few years, as you know, we've had a declining enrollment while having an increase in operating expenses that added to this deficit. But at the same time, we know that as a district, as a board, as a community, we want to ensure that we are really focusing on attracting and retaining qualified staff. And this is all staff. Our classified, our certificated, and also our management. And part of that work means that in order to retain and attract qualified staff for our students, we need to have a budget that's dynamic and reprioritizes funds. With that said, we also want to have the board have the opportunity to give direction to solving this district structural deficit. We also want to present a budget balancing plan that incorporates revenue enhancements because, again, we don't want to return back to where we were, but we also know that we have opportunities as a district if it's through grants, if it's through partnerships with private and public entities. But we also know we're not going to put all our eggs in that basket. That is something really to enhance revenue. And also cost savings and budget reductions. And finally, something that I know has been said and not implemented to its fullest fruition that we're committed to do is really establishing protocols around Things such as overtime and other things that really, truly any fully functioning district should have in place. All with the goal of monitoring the work we do to serve kids and families, but also with the goal of reducing our costs.

[827] Marie dela Cruz: So in terms of our enrollment, just looking back historically since 13-14, you can see that we've had an average decline in enrollment of about 1.9%. Back in 13-14 we had about 6,300 students and this year we're down to 5,631 and the projection for next year is 5,600. So we've seen 663 students less since 13-14. What's good is that our ADA to enrollment ratio is 96, almost 97%. So that's a good thing.

[874] SPEAKER_21: So to do this work, we need some guidelines. And so just like any other district in Alameda County and in California, we want to make sure that these guidelines have the least impact to the classroom. So people will say, how can you do that when you have so much in people? And that is really the difficult work that we have to try to unpack and move forward on. We want to make sure that the programs and activities that have led to our kids, our students accessing a full broad course curriculum. The California dashboard, we always have to think about the California dashboard and how that is really the new way that California school districts must operate to ensuring that it's not just about reading and writing, but it's also ensuring that our students have access to the arts and VAPA. So although that sometimes can be seen as quote an extra, California is now shifting to what's called a broad course curriculum, so we have to be mindful of that. And finally, our guidelines have to focus on strategies, and that's to look at retaining our staff. And in order to do that, districts make and give direction, boards give direction that really is reprioritizing funds that would have gone to something, to revx, let's say, and reprioritizing it to attracting staff, maintaining the staff that we have already invested so much in with professional development or really just their tenure in our school district.

[965] Marie dela Cruz: So as you recall, back in October, the board approved a budget balancing plan that included 2 million in reductions for next year and 1.6 million reductions in the second out year, 21-22. Keep in mind that for this year we also were planning or hoping to capture some savings in terms of hiring and positions and also mid-year spending freeze so that we could reduce our deficit, because this year we also have a $2 million deficit. And then since we are starting a committee to consolidate schools, this year, I mean, for next year, we were hoping to have at least maybe one school closed, or we had at least put that in our plan. That $500,000 for 2021, needs to be replaced with something else. And then for 21-22 right now, we have $1 million set aside thinking that that would be our cost savings if we were to close two more schools. So again, these are the kinds of issues that we will need to discuss and find solutions for.

[1049] SPEAKER_21: And I want to highlight here that I know the board did the right decision around forming a consolidation committee that really is composed of stakeholders. It was a pause, although we had made this commitment in October of 2019 with a lot of input at that time. At the same time, I think the board recognized that we needed to see how we could have more stakeholders involved in that process in terms of consolidation. So although we have a number here about the number of schools, ultimately, that is still not decided. We have placeholders here. if after, as we go through the process of consolidation and if the recommendation of that committee, which is advisory to the board, with the board having the ultimate decision, decides it's one school or it's no schools, then certainly we would have to come back and really look at the reductions that we would have to make to be able to do that. I know that there's a commitment from the board and from the staff that that committee will also be an opportunity to really look at programs for the district, really look at what has been talked about in the past about K-8s or moving the 6th to the junior high. There's been a lot of great ideas, but has there been a body to really look at that, unpack it, and then give advice to the board? Not yet. So I do recognize and appreciate that that was the direction that this board went in.

[1138] SPEAKER_27: So in recent news, as most of you may have already heard, the district and Newark Teacher Association reached a tentative agreement yesterday, February 19th. So those are things now that we need to keep in consideration moving forward with the budget decisions that we are tasked to make. The other piece of information here is that the details of the agreement will be disclosed through the ratification process by NTA membership and the Board of Education itself. This is expected to take place as soon as next month, hopefully, so that we'll be able to finalize our tentative agreement.

[1180] SPEAKER_21: So I want to remind, you know, what we talked about at the beginning, retaining and attracting qualified staff. So with that in mind, we certainly made a direction, you know, yesterday. And I have to tell you that as we move forward and really valuing our employees, I think that certainly is a signal to us turning the page on that work, but continuing to know that we are partners with this work. So although we have this wonderful, wonderful thing that happened yesterday, we also recognize the reality that we have to still make the other half of that difficult process. And that's that we have a qualified certification at the first interim budget report. And as you recall, the board, this actually came from the board, because I think the board recognized, hey, let's really, we'd like to make a motion to make this a qualified. And I think it showed the commitment of our district to the county that we are serious, we are moving forward, and we're also realistic of what needs to happen. So we're working on that as well. And finally, I'm going to let Ms. Delacruz talk a little bit more about this piece.

[1246] Marie dela Cruz: Yeah, so in order, one of Obviously, one of the reasons why we went qualified is because the uncertainty of our deficit spending in the two out years. In light of this recent news, now we need to identify an additional $2.5 million in budget adjustments, reductions, cost savings, and revenue enhancements.

[1274] SPEAKER_21: So what we propose to do this evening is to really have an opportunity to hear from you all, from all of you as we work through our building on the 2019, in October 2019 and the board's direction at that time. But at the same time, recognizing that we had that 500,000 because we didn't close, consolidate, close the school. But at the same time, knowing that as we reprioritize our focus on retaining qualified staff, we have to make some additional adjustments in order to really fulfill that commitment.

[1309] Marie dela Cruz: So in this first year, we're looking at realigning the ROP, CTE, the Career Technical Education contribution to the LCAP. And if we were to realign 700,000, that could replace the plan of the school closure for next year. So it gives us a little bit more than 500,000, which is fine because, as I mentioned earlier, we do have a $2 million deficit that we're dealing with this year.

[1344] SPEAKER_21: And what we're recognizing in Alameda County is that school districts are refocusing their work to the dashboard. And so if you remember, this was the first year that we had the college and career readiness indicator that really, that demonstrated that we actually dropped in that indicator. And what that indicator showed us is that programs such as ROP, concurrent enrollment, dual enrollment, the seal of biliteracy, those are all options for our students, but that also demonstrate to the state of California that our students are graduating college and career ready. So as we look to see, speaking with other superintendents in the county, is that when we look at realigning something that was a general fund function, truly should live in the LCAP. And what that also means is that as we start to focus at bringing the ROP contribution for our students to be college and career ready within the LCAP, we would also do some other plans around focusing on groups of students, such as our students with disabilities, such as our homeless and foster youth, those students having a prioritizing plan slash tracking monitoring plan for students within are they accessing and will need to access ROP. And so this is work that will continue, but at the same time, we needed to recognize that this would be one of the first budget adjustments that, again, stays away from the classroom, but recognizes in the classroom career pathways for all of our students. So the next section is going to talk a little bit more about that reallocation of services and staff to support the district goals. And I'll let Ms. Della Cruz talk a little bit about what this would look like.

[1455] Marie dela Cruz: So again, as Ms. Salinas pointed out, as we're looking at our LCAP and some of our other resources, again, if we were to realign our ROP and CTE contribution to LCAP, For next year, 2021, there's a total of 969,000 opportunity that would be available. And to realign our budget for the assistant principal at the high school, there's an FTE that could also be realigned to LCAP, which is equivalent to 161,000. And the budget for the assistant principal at the junior high school There's a .5 FTE that could potentially be moved to Title I, and we'll talk a little bit more about how that could happen in a little bit, and that's 75,000. And then we also have a director of EBIC, which is split right now, where .6 of the FTE is in the general fund, and .4 is already in the LCAP. So this is to move it. to the other .6 to LCAP of $100,000.

[1531] SPEAKER_21: And if I could summarize a little bit about this section. What this section is, is that we need to, and we'll show in later slides, we will actually have to have some written protocols as to how this would be realized. It's not just a matter of switching funding sources, but it's really going to be reprioritizing their work and monitoring their work of who they're serving because of these funds. the piece around the realignment for the director of induction. Again, the reminder around attracting and retaining teachers. Every, I would say virtually, every district in Alameda County provides new teachers with the induction program. And the induction program is the clear credential for new teachers. That clear credential is, in most charter schools or private schools, offered at a cost, but that's private and charter. the vast majority of public entities as part of their recruitment say, hey, and you can do your Tier 2, excuse me, your clear credential with us. And what that means is that we're able to attract a quality of teacher and keep a quality of teacher here because we have a very nice program for our teachers. She, that position also currently serves science. And so we already had 0.4 of that position to serve science teachers K-12. And if you've been to any of our family science nights, or any of the work around the textbook adoption process at the junior high, you've seen really the quality of that work. But at the same time, how it is truly a resource to teachers and students in the classroom.

[1633] Marie dela Cruz: Next, we are looking at the site discretionary instructional supplies allocation. We currently allocate from the general fund about $124,000 of discretionary funding for instructional supplies. If we realign that to lottery, they would still get their instructional supplies, but it's a different funding source. We already talked about the EPIC. So this would be the rest of the budget, the 43,000 moving from the general fund to Title II this time. And realigning 50% of the cost of the college and career tech from the general fund to the LCAP. The other 50% is already being reimbursed by the ROP. And that's 34,000.

[1683] SPEAKER_21: And this is a classified position at the high school in the college and career center.

[1691] Marie dela Cruz: And related to the site discretionary instructional supplies is delaying the textbook adoption. That's one strategy that I think we can do for next year. And that's about 327,000. So in total, we're looking at 1.8 million here in adjustments to our budget.

[1719] SPEAKER_27: For the staffing support and implementation, how are we going to receive and share feedback from our constituents? I think it's important to keep in mind the protocols that are needed. And these are some of the, you know, three of the things that we are keeping in mind as we move forward. We definitely need to meet and consult with our labor partners and see, and share these ideas with them. And again, as Superintendent Salinas mentioned before, we consider this as a shared task that we have to do in order to, while we want to make sure that we are diligent about the task at hand. We also want to be respectful and sensitive to the needs of our employees as we have to make these difficult decisions. We also want to analyze and bring new job descriptions to the board for approval. As one example of those is if we should the board choose to to move forward with the shifting of the budget for the APs, for example. Particularly one of those positions will be Title I, meaning that it's restricted to work with EL students or students with low socioeconomics. So we have to make sure that we go back to those job descriptions and make sure that they align with the requirements of what Title I will entail. And also, we provide centralized training and directions for the positions. So it's not just a matter of saying 50% of your position is not being paid by Title I. We, as staff at the district office, are responsible for training and providing support to the individuals whose jobs may be impacted by these decisions and make sure that we equip them and we provide the training that is necessary.

[1841] SPEAKER_21: It's a little bit more about the textbook adoption process. So I want to share that right now we have educational services, Mr. Dolorich, working and consulting with our curriculum council. Because that's really where every school has representation, schools can weigh in and really give feedback. And so they will be part of this process to reprioritize next steps for TK-12 across the district. What we have planned right now to delay the full full-blown adoption, so if you remember, before I actually get to this next bullet, if you recall when we did the full textbook adoption for mathematics that is a K-12 program, it was almost a full year process to do the full adoption process. Vendors come in, teachers are released and we weigh in on the process. Once they select two publishers They actually try the lessons in their classrooms. Student surveys are sent out. Materials are displayed for folks and community and parents to give input. And then finally, it comes to the board for a decision and a review. That process, we are proposing to delay it. Not that it won't happen, but we're just going to wait a little longer for it, as we did with mathematics. And what we would do right now is that currently we are supplementing the current adoption for social studies with the weekly reader, which is a state-adopted approved, excuse me, a state-approved supplementary material for our students. And this is just at the elementary. And so we would continue with that for next year. Mr. Dolovich is actually hearing back from all teachers to weigh in and really consult on that recommendation. The junior high is currently concluding their process for science. We saw that there was a big gap in the support that was needed in the junior high. And again, candidly, all students go to the junior high. And so the decision was, let them do the adoption process this year. They are currently working with UC Berkeley, Lawrence Hall of Science, and with Ms. Reposudo, the induction slash science person. to do this. So they are in the middle of their pilot, and they are going to be bringing that back to the board for review and adoption. So we are recommending to continue with that. We're two-thirds of the way in, and we really saw the need where it was every student would have access to feed into the junior high. And at the same time, at the time that the decision was made, the staffing really saw the need with the team that they had in place last year. We would continue with support for the high school with Lawrence Hall of Science UC Berkeley. We have a very strong department chair at the high school and I would say that he has really led where the teachers and the whole department doing the 3D model and the next generation science standard, they do a lot more of the consumables. So none of that stops. So we're still going to order the fogs. We're still going to order the lenses and the microscopes and all of the consumable materials that they're doing. What we're proposing right now is that we wait and get more feedback from Daniel and the team at the high school to see, is there a stopgap we can put in there? Do they need more materials? but wait one more year for the full textbook adoption for them. So the other piece is that we have a contract and a commitment with UC Berkeley, and they provide in-school professional development for them, and then we also send a teen out to work with them. And I also want to add that with this adoption delay, that does not mean we will not be Williams compliant. The Williams Act is what we abide by, and so that there would still be funds set aside to ensure that we are Williams compliant. So that is our proposal to delay it, have a plan, get feedback from our curriculum council.

[2107] Marie dela Cruz: You know, because our budget basically 85 to 90% of it is salaries and benefits, this is the difficult part where we have to look at our staffing. And we're looking to reduce 500,000 in salaries and benefits. And then for our NEWMA and contracted employees, one to two days furlough, which is equivalent to 28 to 56,000. And then we do have a director of IT that will be downgraded or, yeah, down to manager, which is 50,000. So this is a total of 606,000 in adjustments in the salaries and benefits category.

[2156] SPEAKER_21: And I can add, as a reminder, we, you know, of the action that was taken in October 2019, we do have, some other salaries and benefits there where we are in essence looking to right size class sizes and schools where as we do the staffing allocations and we look at staffing our elementary and our junior high and our high school we look at ensuring that classes are viable in class size but again not so big that is above what the contract language says But at the same time, recognizing that we are in a different time than, you know, five or ten years ago when we could have small class sizes at the secondary of 14 or 12 students. Those days are gone. And so that will be the work that we look at in terms of what are the sections that are available at the secondary schools. And how do we ensure that students get a full program? It's all of that planning. So I can share with the board that we have already given out preliminary allocations to all of the principals on Wednesday. And they're beginning to build their classes. So we can get this really done sooner than later for the next school year.

[2238] Marie dela Cruz: So in terms of cost savings, some other areas that we can look at is our substitute teacher budget. If we reduce that by 10%, again, by establishing some protocols and recognitions, there's a potential savings of $50,000. And then in overtime, 50% savings would be about $30,000. And in professional development costs, class size reduction within LCAP, There's $200,000 in savings, and we do have our MOU with the city that will reimburse us for the water at the McGregor Field, which is about $60,000 a year.

[2284] SPEAKER_21: So I want to say a little bit more about this slide. So when we say establish protocols and recognitions, what that really means is that with our staffing, what a district has to do is encumber monies in case people are out sick. Right? So every employee gets their sick days, and we have to bet that they're going to take them. Correct? Because that is their right, and that's what they're entitled to. They roll every year, and employees can save them for retirement, but some can't. And so what I mean by protocols and recognitions is that supporting our managers and our principals with really recognizing the folks that come to work every day. And I know I'm not saying come to work sick, but I'm saying that a lot of times we've got many employees who say, you know what, I'm going to do this after school, or this is an appointment that can wait. And so with that said, it reduces the cost of substitutes for the district. So we want to be able to recognize that. And we also want to be able to track it candidly. So that would be some of the work that would happen there, centralized here at the district office, in terms of reducing overtime. We need a protocol for that. And what that simply means is that pre-approval for overtime. We know that overtime is sometimes needed. We have bond work. We have emergencies that happen over the weekend or in the late hours. And our employees are wonderful because they're the ones that are called to go do it. And we have to pay overtime. But when things can be planned, that's when we need a protocol and a process. This is really not the work of the employee who's doing it. It's the work of our managers and our principals to really be able to monitor this and follow the protocol. In terms of PD costs, what that really speaks to is that we are not saying there will be no professional development. But what we're going to look at is using the more restricted funding sources. So when you heard about Title II, Title II is professional development funds from the federal government. Title III, those are professional development funds focused on English learners from the federal government. Within the LCAP, we have some LCFF that really is general fund. And then I'll say the other piece, we also have a lot of professional development that can be offered after school, but we don't always have folks that can stay after school to get the professional development. So we set aside the funds, we encumber the funds, and then we don't spend the funds. So let's reprioritize that, use our most restricted funds first as applicable, and then we can loosen up general fund to be able to really retain and attract our staff. And then certainly, Thank you to this board. We now have a water bill savings, and so we're anticipating having that for next year.

[2463] Marie dela Cruz: So other areas that we can balance our budget is to look at revenue enhancements. There are grants that are coming up that we may have opportunity to apply for. We can establish outreach within our communication committee for funding, donations, and other competitive grants. We talked about establishing protocols, but there's also, because our capacity has decreased, we need to establish protocols for unused classrooms so that we have savings in custodial maintenance and utilities costs. And then we are looking to see if there's a possibility, if there's any interest in our community to pass a bond and or parcel tax. Okay, so next steps. So the next steps, depending what happens after today's study sessions or meeting, we are looking at next week to start preparing a resolution that we could present to our board to commit to a budget balancing solution. And then with the NTA tentative agreement, there's the disclosure forms, the AB 1200 that need to be submitted to the county office. between February 20th and the 28th to meet and communicate with our labor partners regarding these budget reductions, negotiate impacts as needed. March 5th, the board could take action to approve the resolution regarding a budget balancing plan. And then March 19th, the second interim budget report would be presented which would incorporate not only the requirements from ACOE, but also the board approved budget plan. And then in March, April, we would start working with our managers and principals to prepare action plans regarding the adjustments, reductions. And then around that same time, working with our department managers in anticipation of these reductions and realignment, what we need to do. In March, April, it's the time that if there's any certificated or classified layoffs, that's the time that we would present those. And then March through May to establish and implement the protocols so that we can realize these ongoing reduced costs.

[2640] SPEAKER_21: So this is really an action plan, and with some pretty time-specific Some of these deadlines are certainly imposed by the county, but, and also some guidelines around ed code. And what we're looking at is that we have set a lot of the foundational steps, giving our sites their allocation, starting to look at what that could be. But we also, again, with the refocus and realignment to prioritize our staff with these actions. For tonight, we want to hear from you to have your questions answered or or give us direction or suggestions. And knowing also that, you know, we've got we've got some we've got. the form of the consolidation committee out there. And I'm really kind of tapping to see what more we can do with that as we think about school configurations. And knowing that it's not going to happen overnight either. And so that's why we have to have these safeguards today. So we'll open it up for questions.

[2709] SPEAKER_26: So I just want to make a small comment on page 15 of the financial revenue enhancements. I do think that

[2720] SPEAKER_26: Because that probably is the most realistic way for revenue enhancement. And I do think we probably shouldn't just accept ADA will always be decreasing. Even if we just stabilize ADA for next year, it can help quite a bit.

[2734] SPEAKER_21: That's a great idea. And I can add that yesterday we had our meeting with Alameda County Office of Education because while we did some great work around ending the big, The big jump we had in chronic absenteeism, part of the discussion is also ADA, right? And kids that are coming to school each and every day. So yes, I'm going to add that on here. And we can look at some kind of an action plan around that.

[2761] Ray Rodriguez: On that same page, we have our parents work at different places and different companies. And a lot of the companies they work for have foundations. If we could put in there, I guess we would have to apply for one foundation first and see how that goes. Most foundations are very similar.

[2793] Ray Rodriguez: I know Wells Fargo has a big foundation for the Bank of America. And most of these, their local managers are encouraged to give money to the local community. And the only reason we don't get it is we don't ask for it a lot of times. So the money goes somewhere else. So if you can include foundations in there and see if we can start applying for foundation monies. It's very competitive actually, but it's, I mean, if there, if these companies are already in Newark, then why not ask them for foundation monies?

[2832] SPEAKER_21: And I like that idea, and maybe it's for the board to consider now that we have the communication committee. I think what happens in our district is that there's a lot of great ideas, but when we don't say it's going to live here, you know, then everybody gets really busy. And then we'll have the principals who will do it, which, you know, I got to say hats off to our principals, our PTA leaders, our front office staff, who really they themselves are cold calling, you know, other places to get it. But I'm wondering for you all to consider, maybe we look to see how do we get it out of the communication committee to really support the sites to push out requests.

[2872] Ray Rodriguez: Yeah, somebody's got to buy in on it, and then you assign it to somebody. Because each school site has always been very, very assertive in going out and getting money, whether it's from the local restaurants. And so if we can have a consolidated effort I'm going after some of the bigger monies, and it might be something that we might benefit from.

[2898] Elisa Martinez: I wanted to come back to Member Jean's comment around ADA and, you know, I think you mentioned we're at 96.9. I know, I remember seeing some graphs a year ago that we were one of the lowest, all right, or we were trending at one of the lower in this area anyhow. So I think it's important to say, hey, we're not just going to improve, but I think we need to be very specific. So if we look at, you know, say we're going to get two percentage points, it may be unrealistic, but if we look at what's achievable, and then we get very, very specific around, is it 1% we're going after, 0.8%? That way it's not just a bunch of activities. We try to get a bit more surgical going after it. So I think that's going to be really important, just to set a target.

[2945] Bowen Zhang: Actually, I want to follow up on that. When I said that, what I mean is I'm talking about increasing total enrollment.

[2953] SPEAKER_26: So, I mean, ADA can be increased, but I want to increase the percentage and expand the pie. Sure. Okay.

[2960] Michael Milliken: Yes.

[2961] SPEAKER_26: Like I said, even if, say, next year, we don't, given that trajectory or whatever, I think we do have a trajectory as well. Yes. Next year, like, we're losing another 36 people. Next year, if, let's say, we just stabilize, not losing 36 people. That's 360,000, like, 36 students.

[2984] Ray Rodriguez: students from these new developments because they're so expensive, you know, 1.2 million or whatever. But I did talk to a gentleman that's involved with the association for the one on timber at the end of Thornton and maybe come up with something where we might go to an association meeting or at least have a handout on if they want us to come in and talk about the schools and maybe have some kind of an outreach committee that would do that.

[3011] SPEAKER_21: I'm happy to add that to my office. So we could do that. I know that I received.

[3016] SPEAKER_26: That's exactly my point.

[3018] Bowen Zhang: I think we shouldn't give up too early on the hope of increasing enrollment. I think that's a bit too early to think we're just always going to have to keep going.

[3030] SPEAKER_29: I just have a question regarding if you can look at slide six and seven. It's like seven. It says district needs to identify 2.5 million additional budget cuts. I just wanted to confirm, is that for this year or is that for the 2021 year? And page seven. Bottom of page seven.

[3057] Marie dela Cruz: Oh, it'd be 2021. Moving forward.

[3060] SPEAKER_29: Okay. So 2021. And then I'm looking at the one right before there. So we have 2 million in 2021, 1.6. So I would just correct that. So then 2.5.

[3073] Marie dela Cruz: It's in addition to that. It's in addition. Okay. So we already identified 1.6 or 2 million for next year. And the 2.5 would be in addition to that.

[3084] SPEAKER_29: So total for 2021 is 4.5. Yes. Thank you.

[3090] Elisa Martinez: And that becomes the run rate, right? Yes. Right. So I think it's not one time. This is the run rate that we need to, right? That's a big number, and I think it's important that we know that that's ongoing.

[3106] Marie dela Cruz: In order to fix our structural deficit.

[3109] Elisa Martinez: Yes, unless we significantly increase the ADA, whether it be attendance or actual conditions.

[3117] Marie dela Cruz: And there may be a little bit of wiggle room to extend it to 21-22. So we have to kind of look at that. So let's say, you know, you only want to do $2 million next year and $500,000 the following year. Similarly, how we looked at two years out. In addition to them. But this is in addition. This is two and a half in addition.

[3144] SPEAKER_29: Okay. And then the possible adjustment for the ROP for 19-20, so for this year. Yes. We're still in time to reallocate that or make that adjustment? Yes.

[3158] SPEAKER_21: So if you recall, I think it was about two months ago, two and a half months ago, Ms. Dela Cruz, we got around the table and we looked at what we had said we would do in October 2019, which was we were going to slow down some expenditures. We were going to look at controlling, filling, overtime, and all of that. I'll be candid. We didn't do, I think, as much as we should have done a few months ago. But one of the things that she really did do, which I think was good, is that we set an earlier deadline for the spending of the site funds of the district funds. And so the sites and the departments were able to encumber to say, hey, by the way, It's February, I'm almost done with all my spending, but I hope to do a parent engagement workshop in May. Please encumber these funds. So sites were still able to spend their funds. But we also kind of slowed down the district. So we are already looking at some of the professional development, hourly, after school, some of the sub, you know, we're still combating with that sub issue. We saw some money that was there that was not spent to date. So we anticipate being able to cover it that way.

[3238] Ray Rodriguez: I had a question on page 13. So when you look at the whole, the additional cost, it seems like 80% seems to be unclassified. And I want to commend NEWMA employees for doing the furlough dates. And I know that a few years back, we did have, But having a furlough date from all the partners, from everyone, would ease the pain so it wouldn't all be unclassified. And then I know we've talked in the past about legal fees and about reducing those at least 10%. And then the SRO, we pay this, a certain amount of money we pay for the SRO. And I know the city helps with some, but maybe asking, having some conversations either with the city about taking that out completely, or we used to get safe schools money. I don't know if that's still available to us. But maybe the SRO can go into safe schools money where we can actually do it by grant. But, you know, that might be a savings there also, if it's possible.

[3331] Elisa Martinez: If I may ask, regarding the, so I agree on looking at furlough maybe beyond just this population. However, with this particular population, could we explore the impact of doubling that? So, you know, going from one to two days to really four days. I think that

[3353] SPEAKER_21: We can look at it. I know at some point work doesn't get done. And that would be something we bring back. Because with this impact, as with classified, as with certificated, as with NEWMA, we would have to show the impact of not having administrators here. Absolutely. And what would come off the plate, or as a service for the district. The other thing we were looking at, and I'm remembering some of the conversations we had around our alternative school and how we can either optimize it or if it's relocating it and looking at the administrative staffing to support it, that might be another possibility we could look at. And I think it's going back to Mr. Rodriguez's point, you know, looking at the impact may be too much. That's something we would study in terms of four days of furlough. But it may be that we look at capturing more of that savings if we were to look at the possibility of relocating a program and the supervision of that.

[3423] Elisa Martinez: So totally get it that there's impact, as there is in everything, right? So I think it is going back and saying, OK, is this something we could live with or not, right? So that's the ask. OK. Something like that.

[3437] SPEAKER_29: You just mentioned right now, Ms. Salinas, the relocation of certain programs. How soon can we get that studied? Because it is important to see if it's even feasible.

[3445] SPEAKER_21: Right. So it's going to be, it's going, as you know, we are also guided by Ed Code. And so what we have, we will need to stick to the timeline that we put up here. Because as I said, I was hoping we could have done this sooner, but here's where we are, right? So it would be something that we would work on soon. It would be internal, and we would just present it. I don't think there would be enough time to come back to get more weigh-in. It would be that we would come back forward for you to vote, and at that point, give us some more direction. Because we will, and at that point, also share what the impact would be. And so that's the direction we also want tonight. What I'm hearing is research some more, look at other possibilities. But the end result is that we are going to have to come back with some sort of a package for you quite soon.

[3501] Phuong Nguyen: So you had mentioned class size consolidation at the secondary schools and that you already asked the principals to take a look at and set the preliminary schedule. So I was wondering if they would be reviewing the AP program at the high school? Yes. Because there's a lot of classes that are offered for AP and whether or not, you know, it's running smoothly or are the students performing well enough to be able to have so many of those classes.

[3536] SPEAKER_21: So one of the things we're looking at, and I'll tell you, you know, our window has been so narrow the past few weeks that we wanted to get the allocations out so that we could start to let them work on it. We are, in terms of their protocols, one of the things that we're looking at is that once we see where programming would work, looking at the viability of AP classes and setting a target of a class size minimum to whether or not the class would be viable. And then having the backup plan. So say, for example, and we have not talked yet, so I can't give a number. So if we say it's X, the class is sorely under-enrolled. But then we would say, but heck, we've got 10 kids that really need AP government. So then we would say, OK, are they freshmen? Are they sophomores? And look at if in year two it's offered. And we just say, we have to offer it in year two because we have a critical mass of students who would need it. But we cannot offer it for the 2021 school year. So not only are we going to ask the staff at the high school to look at it for 2021. But we really want them, in terms of AP, to think about it almost as a two or three year cycle. So that if I'm a freshman, I can't, or a sophomore perhaps, if I'm a sophomore and I really want to take AP government, it's not going to be offered until my junior year.

[3626] Phuong Nguyen: OK, so that was, and that's my next question, is that there has to be some sort of prerequisite or even a recommendation from their teachers. prior to being admitted to these AP classes?

[3641] SPEAKER_21: There is, but at the same time, there's also, and now I'm kind of putting my ed services hat on, there's a lot of research around educational opportunities for students and the notion of prerequisites. We know that there have to be some prerequisites for classes, but there is also research that shows us that it can be a gatekeeper for students of color to have access to AP classes, or for gender, for female students to have access to a certain level. So I'm saying that this discussion is really something that I would like for Mr. Dolovich to weigh in on as he's, so earlier today they were having curriculum council next door, and that is really something where I know he's already working with the departments around the math pathways, and so it's an active discussion he's having now where he's supporting the balance of the counselors who are trying to program students into math classes, teachers who are saying, my goodness, the student can't have, he's not ready because he hasn't had the fundamentals of X. And so that's gonna be a longer process because it's really gonna be auditing the course, the math pathway, the science pathway, and then looking at the prerequisites. So this district had the history of working with equal opportunity programs. And at that point, the direction from the board and from the staff at that time was really less prerequisites. What I'm going to ask Mr. Dolovich is really to have the careful discussion with the department chairs and the principal there and the counselors as to how do we look at this again. Because I can very much come in and say, okay, prerequisites for all. Or I can say no prerequisites. It's open, you know. But that's what I'm saying. That's a different curriculum discussion that they need to have.

[3755] Elisa Martinez: And I think, you know, How do I say this without sounding callous? Of course we need to look at making sure we're not keeping kids out that are ready. However, as with everything, we always say, well, what's the performance? Because yes, it's great that we're opening the door for students who want to try and take that more aggressive load. But if at the end of the day, they're not performing, and not just the grade, but are they taking the exam? And so, we have to weigh what we can support right now. If we can't, of course we'd like to give it to everybody, but right now, we do have to have, I think that's the ask that I would have, and you all could weigh in, and I know you've just mentioned member, let's call you member Fung, is that, We do. We have to set some clear expectations, right? So if to your comment about whether the previous boards have given that direction, then, you know, I think maybe it's time that that comes back and all that evidence and data.

[3831] SPEAKER_21: Yeah. And I would want it to come, and it's hard, and I know sometimes it feels more efficient to just make separate decisions. I would say that this really would have to come in as a package under what are the unintended consequences of that, right? But if right now, for the purpose of this discussion, we're looking at class sizes and viability of classes, I think at first, it's a definite start. And I will tell you, I think we will see more energy to fewer classes, but then more opportunity. But knowing that we still have to have the bigger discussion, which will be about like the profile for NUSD graduate, right? And that's really where counselors around the table, parents, and students around the table.

[3880] Phuong Nguyen: Like developing it. I mean, basically, if we do decide that way, developing a new path. Correct. Or track, whatever.

[3887] SPEAKER_29: And I do kind of want to reiterate what, or add to what the members are saying. And it is, this sounds like it's a project that's going to encumber a lot of time. And we're not going to be able to decide that. But it is important that we do take that time to decide that, because looking at the real world, once they get into college, most of these, if you don't have a minimum of 12 on average, that class just doesn't exist anymore. So we have to, it's good to get them started in those steps that, hey, we need to really fill our classes to the full capacity. And if not, let's figure out

[3928] SPEAKER_21: And that's an action we can do now. I mean, I think that within this time constraint, but yes, but it is a conversation and a planning.

[3936] SPEAKER_29: And then to the second part in regards to requirements and are they passing, are they taking, I think it's a big study that we should take on. I know that we, it won't, it'll take a while, but I think it's important that we make sure that our students are given the fair chance, but also to succeed, not just to get in and fail. So we want to make sure that. that we are studying that program correctly to make sure that it is being used properly. Changing it back to, going back to the ROP, why is it that the ROP, realignment of ROP, why is it that the savings are so different for 19-20 and 20-21? We're looking at 700,000 and 169,000.

[3978] SPEAKER_21: So for 2021, that's really the cost for this year, because we have already spent a lot of the LCAP, so we couldn't capture it. OK.

[3988] Ray Rodriguez: I have a last question. Yes. On page 10, I know we've been talking about maximizing.

[4004] Ray Rodriguez: And we talked about maximizing alternative schools. And we talked about maximizing whether it's the alone connections and the AP classes. And it was discussed that they could easily take an accelerated class or a college prep. But when they take AP, then it was the understanding that they were doing it with the intention of taking the exam. As opposed to, and then, you know, trying to bring those classes up to, you know, as much as possible. I know when Nancy was here, she wanted everything to be 20 to 25 at least. But some of the AP classes got down to under 15, 10. And so that's something we really need to look at. One of the things that I wanted to have a better understanding of is when you shift from the general fund to LCAP. I'm just trying to have a better understanding, because to me it sounds like you're just transferring money from one end to the other, but it's not. And then the other thing is, if you transfer money from the general fund to, let's say, Title I or Title II, which you mentioned a little bit, there's different things that come into play, right? And if I can, if you can hit on that for me a little bit.

[4083] SPEAKER_21: So in terms of using more restrictive, so I'm going to give the example of, I'll give the example of the assistant principal. So right now we have two assistant principals at the high school and an athletic director that has an administrative credential that she's working on and a principal. So as we were trying to look at reductions, We also know that we have already reduced up that high school, right, in terms of an assistant principal. And so we know that the need is there. But we also know that as we look at the dashboard and how our students are doing in terms of English learners and our students who are homeless or foster youth, we know that there's an opportunity there to realign, not for the high school, to realign from a general fund function. We still have a general funded assistant principal there. We still have an athletic director. We still have a principal. But to realign the function for that assistant principal to really refocus around tracking and monitoring this group, it would have to be a new job description. it would have to be monitored and tracked here centrally at the district office to be able to do that. And then that way we would ensure coverage for the school, but again, focusing on the most vulnerable or the unduplicated students that are identified in the LCAP. So that would be an example.

[4171] Ray Rodriguez: So would that mean that there would be a counseling component there?

[4175] SPEAKER_21: Not necessarily, because I think, you know, it's really more of monitoring and support. So I'll give you an example. So English learners, when they're reclassified, that they're fluent English proficient. They still must be monitored for two years after reclassification. So I'm just, off the top of my head, because I still would want to weigh in on the staff. They would track and monitor them, right? So they would really be able to support the counselor and the department chair at the high school to convene and push in, they may be assigned the ELD department. That might be one of their job duties, that they really support that department. Those are the kinds of things we would do with the McKinney-Vento students who are homeless. We have a McKinney-Vento coordinator, but again, because we wear many hats, so our pupil services coordinator, part of her role is to support the McKinney-Vento students. And the way that that works is that she ensures that if schools need transportation vouchers and all of that stuff. But what we would do at the high school is that the assistant principal could track graduation. So there are different, if a student is identified as McKinney-Vento, they can actually qualify for the state requirements for high school graduation, which are less than ours. And so that is something where, although we have someone here that can certainly track it, The beauty of having an on-site administrator that has a caseload of the McKinney-Vento students to ensure that these students are graduating and are having full access to what is their right would be very powerful. And again, increase our graduation rate, which we slipped in on the dashboard. Increase our college and career readiness that we slipped on in the dashboard. So again, it's going to live in the LCAP because that's in service of our dashboard. but it's an on-site support for those identified students. So those are what I'm just kind of thinking, but we would have to still go through a process and bring back the job description.

[4297] Phuong Nguyen: I think that's really, I really like that aspect of it. I think that, yes, there are going to be students that are going to be you know, left behind or haven't been tracked properly in the system. And we want to be able to help them succeed and give them a pathway to, you know, to graduate.

[4322] SPEAKER_29: Going on to the same subject, I know that there are many resources that we have for our foster homeless and that student population. However, it's a very sensitive issue as to how we attract them. Maybe not something that would fit here, but is that, in order to promote the programs and resources that are available, because then they can come to us, is that something that would fit within the communications committee, or is that something that staff can probably work on?

[4351] SPEAKER_21: I think it's something staff could work on. Okay. Because I will say the number one thing is that it's students having access to do it. So I'll tell you one of the things that Ms. Leon is working on is posters right now, and ensuring that there is enough posters and information out there. But it's really adults knowing, and there is some privacy around who to list this, and then how they can tap other resources as well.

[4379] SPEAKER_29: And that's where I was going. Make sure that we have that information, because it is going to help us budget-wise as well. Yeah, absolutely. One question that I wanted to touch on is the adoption of textbooks. And if you could just give us a little bit more information on that, because I think it's important to relay the information that As a parent, I'm going to want to know, is this going to hinder my student's education? Are they missing out on information because we're not adopting adequately? So if you could just kind of touch a little bit more on that.

[4405] SPEAKER_21: So the lottery funds that we receive, and you're going to jump in and help me with lottery funds, that we receive is we get different types of lottery funds. But the restricted ones that we use for textbooks are funds that we could roll over. So I'll tell you right now, we have I have a piggy bank and that currently has some extra money in there because as you recall, when we did the math adoption, that was a million dollars. But it was K-12. And so every year we receive an apportionment of restricted lottery monies. So while we have a number that's there, that's not the final number. We have some more monies to ensure we're Williams compliant, that we can do the weekly reader for social studies. And to ensure that we can do the smaller adoption processes, like the junior high for science, possibly the high school science. There is another possibility that we're looking at, and that would be the social science at the high school. I know that there has been a lot of, they have been wanting some more support and supplies there. And currently what they're using is fairly antiquated. there may be the possibility of the high school teachers having maybe a smaller pilot in adoption. But once we see the fallout of what's still left, then that's where we would probably prioritize.

[4489] SPEAKER_29: And ultimately, I think what was important, too, what I was trying to get at is the students are not missing out on information. It's not like their textbooks don't have, because they need to be supplemented with the readers, et cetera. But the students are not missing out on information go to college and say, oh, I didn't know about it, or are going to be behind because of situations like this.

[4509] SPEAKER_21: Well, I mean, certainly I would want new textbooks for everyone. I think where we would look at is, how do we provide more resources and support to each social studies teacher? Because, you know, They really are the ones that, you know, because what guides us is not the textbook, it's the standards. And then how do we, bless you, and then how do we look at ensuring that they do have all the resources? And that's part of the conversation that Mr. Dolovich has to have with Curriculum Council. Because if they come back and say, you know what, We really, there is a big gap. We really need this at the high school, where I suspect it will come from the high school to start. Because it's its own course versus an elementary where it's a multiple subject and the standards are, for example, the family. And teachers are able to use other resources, trade books, and other things to teach the standards. I would venture a guess that at the elementary level, they may need more release time and access to working together versus at the high school where, after I want to hear from curriculum council and the department chair of the high school, where they really perhaps need more up-to-date or primary sources or whatever it is that they need.

[4590] Elisa Martinez: Thank you. I'd like to bring it to try to get it to a close because we only have 10 minutes here. Just coming back to next steps, I think we can all kind of zero in if we're seeing specific questions from us. I do have a question in terms of, you know, transferring to a lot of these restricted funds. I know you all mentioned that we're going to have to draft new job descriptions and whatnot. I suspect if you think that you're wanting to take action by the next meeting, we won't have a lot of that. But what would you be able to provide to us so that at least there's a bit more clarity? You know, you gave us a verbal example right now to protect the Salinas, but would you be able to please provide something that's a bit more specific when we're asked? Again, I don't expect, I personally wouldn't expect a full blown, but I think maybe a bit something that would be So that you're more of a package, more of a shape. but I think that's important.

[4657] SPEAKER_21: And I would say to the board, we can, you know, every time we have a board meeting the next morning, we debrief. So we're going to have to debrief this to really see what's going to be feasible. Because right now, we're, this is the timeline, right? And this is what we're going to do. I will ask the board that, you know, that this is what we're going to be doing for the next, you know, three weeks. So some other things may have to wait a little bit because we want to get this accomplished. in terms of job descriptions, that I think would be feasible. Because I'll tell you, we've got some very, I'm now part of a network with other superintendents and working with Karen Monroe and hearing best practices. So I know that there's a lot of resources out there right now. So I think we could be able to bring as much of that back, at least for a first reading.

[4707] SPEAKER_27: I'm giving you some time. Can I say something? Sure. And the other thing that we need to keep under consideration is that the post-type timelines are attached to mandatory things that we must do. So we're talking about specific positions, you know, certificate, as you know, is coming up next month. So we will have to, with your direction, we will have to come up with a list of things to consider by March.

[4738] Ray Rodriguez: something at the R.P. meeting that I just came from. Superintendent Hanson was talking about there might be additional Perkins money. So I was hoping maybe Ms. Delacruz could look into that.

[4752] SPEAKER_21: And that would help us at the high school with our classes there with courses or sections. That's great. Okay, so then, so what I'm hearing is we are asked, we're being asked to look at some other possibilities for revenue enhancement, other possibilities in terms of potential cut service structures. And I'm hearing that we are proceeding with us talking to labor partners, talking to our managers. as it relates to positions or parts of positions that might come back, knowing that we are going to, if you can go back to the, well, there's the action that the board took that we said to the county that we would do in October 2019. So as we, yeah, that one. This one? Yeah. So as we look at, Where is it in front of me? The salaries and benefits. And in addition, the other sheet, the other slide that speaks to the other. So we are, yeah. That one.

[4833] Marie dela Cruz: Do you need anything else? No, so. For the next board meeting, what we would be preparing to do is the resolution and we'll provide as much detail in terms of timelines and as much information as we can provide in that resolution so that you have an understanding as well as the calendar.

[4864] SPEAKER_21: And there may be some actions that you'll be taking in terms of reductions that have to be done before March 15th, or also in terms if it's classified with those regs, which is 60 days.

[4879] Elisa Martinez: Right. I think to close, just something you said is just going to be very critical, which is making sure we're partnering with all of our stakeholders And I know you also talked about reaching out to our principals and making sure we really are hearing from them as their CEOs of their campuses, right? Just making sure we are. I know this is not easy for anybody, but I think that that's going to be the test, I believe, from a process perspective. Did we engage our stakeholders? you know, union, but also, you know, the administrators. So I think that's really important.

[4922] SPEAKER_21: And we have had an opportunity to meet with them a couple of times before this, but I think we also wanted to be able to hear directions from you, and now we can really delve a little deeper. I know you with the folks in your departments as well. Okay.

[4938] Joy Lee: Thank you.

[5022] Elisa Martinez: Okay, so we will recess to closed. We have no speaker cards requesting to speak on this item. We will adjourn.

No minutes available.