Regular Meeting

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[241] Phuong Nguyen: to the May 5th Newark Unified School District Board of Education meeting. We are holding in-person board meetings at our district boardroom and are following the state's and Alameda County's safety guidelines for public gatherings. Please refrain from attending in-person meetings if you have COVID-related symptoms. If you are not able to attend the meeting in person, you may observe the meeting via the NUSD YouTube channel and live stream transmission on Comcast channel 26. There is Spanish translation available via Zoom. In regards to public comment, the public will have the opportunity to address the board regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items with a live audio-only comment via Zoom with advance notice requested by email at publiccommentatnewarkunified.org, a written comment by submitting a speaking card via email at publiccommentatnewarkunified.org, or with live in-person comments by submitting a speaker card with the executive assistant. here at the boardroom. Thank you. Roll call, please, Ms. Gutierrez.

[313] SPEAKER_57: Student Board Member Resendez-Ortiz. Here. Board Member Hill.

[318] SPEAKER_31: Here.

[319] SPEAKER_57: Board Member Grindel.

[320] SPEAKER_31: Here.

[321] SPEAKER_57: President Nguyen. Here. We have Board Member Zhang absent, and I believe Member Marquez is running late.

[328] Phuong Nguyen: OK, thank you. All right, may I get a motion to approve the agenda as is?

[343] Terrence Grindall: I'll move approval of the agenda.

[347] Phuong Nguyen: I'll second. And how do you vote, student board member Resendiz-Ortiz? Yes. Member Hill?

[357] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[358] Phuong Nguyen: Member Vandell?

[359] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[360] Phuong Nguyen: I myself as yes also. So we have four ayes and two currently absent. Thank you. Okay, on to our study session, environmental literacy. So if we could have all the board members please come down and join the study session on the floor. Thank you.

[445] SPEAKER_59: Good afternoon.

[446] Jodi Croce: Good evening, everyone.

[473] Mark Triplett: and those tuning in at home. We're going to do this study session a little bit differently, a little unique unorthodox study session. We're really looking forward to it. And we have with us some incredible teachers who you will meet, some science teachers. And we also have Ms. Leonor Rebosura, who is in charge of our science as well as induction program. And so I'm going to turn it over to her in a minute. But I just want to say that there has been tremendous amount of work this year on the part of a large group of principals, teachers, and district staff to really build this environmental literacy plan. And we're really eager, number one, to share it with you, but then number two, to get your input and your ideas as well. As you all know, Newark has an incredible tradition of science camp. And so what we really want to do is think about how we build off of that and the plan being to build out a K-12 or TK-12 aligned environmental literacy plan that really can continue to grow and evolve as we implement it, that really takes those kind of exciting things learned in science camp and really takes them to scale across our entire district. So with that, I will turn it, Ms. Pierce, did I forget anything? No. Okay, I'll turn it over to Ms. Roberts-Roberts.

[562] Jodi Croce: Good afternoon, everyone, and good evening. We're very, very happy to be here and excited to share with you the environmental literacy plan. We'll engage you in exploring and really understanding what it is, and we're also going to share with you some of the photos that's been taken throughout the year, and most recently, a family science day that was just so awesome at Lincoln. But before, so I'd like to invite the teachers who are with us here today to introduce themselves. And I'll start with Manju.

[591] SPEAKER_18: I'm Manju Goyal, and I am science resource teacher at BGI. And this is my year two with the Newark Unified School District.

[601] SPEAKER_20: I'm Dana Wright. I have Lincoln School, and I also have BGP, and this is my 18th year.

[607] Jodi Croce: She's our science resource teacher.

[608] SPEAKER_59: Science resource teacher.

[613] Rachel Bloom: My name is Rachel Will. I'm a science resource teacher at Coyote Hills, and this is my 10th, 11th-ish year.

[623] SPEAKER_53: I'm Carolyn Rose, and I'm a 6th grade classroom teacher at Coyote Hills.

[630] Jodi Croce: And all four members who are here with us today are members of the district science leadership team. So they've taken on a lot of leadership roles through the years. Let's start off with about what's coming up for us. Think about what is your favorite summer destination? And then just pick a number. I didn't even want to name it because you can interpret it for whatever you want. Pick a number or pick a picture and just tell us what makes it your favorite summer destination. And I'll give you about a minute. Or if you have your idea, just give me a thumbs up. Oh, nice. All right, let's go around the room. Who would like to start? Okay, thank you. Preston.

[677] SPEAKER_49: Number one.

[679] Jodi Croce: Tell us a little bit about that, your choice.

[682] SPEAKER_49: I just love being around water and on the beach and just relaxing under trees and I think that's a fun way to, you know, spend some time.

[696] Jodi Croce: to just go around the room or the table? Sure.

[700] Terrence Grindall: I'm also number one, similar reasons. I love the water. I love the warm temperatures. It's just very relaxing.

[711] Aiden Hill: I'm number one also. My wife and I have a timeshare in Loretto, Mexico. Oh, nice. So that reminds me, and we love to go there.

[723] SPEAKER_61: Well, I definitely love number one. I'll go for number three for sake of change. But I enjoyed number three because it's just beautiful seeing the scenery.

[732] Kat Jones: Yeah, I got to go with number one.

[736] Nicole Pierce-Davis: Although number four feels, I think that that has a lot to do with a year of distance learning. I got to know that backyard real well. Real well.

[747] SPEAKER_53: I was going to say number four as well because You can always go there. It's your backyard, and growing vegetables. I have grandkids, so I like the backyard.

[756] Rachel Bloom: I'm going to say number three, but I'm going to pretend it's a rain forest and not a regular jail. Can you see anything? Because it doesn't get too hot. and there isn't a bunch of salty water everywhere and there's no sand to get in your food.

[774] SPEAKER_20: I'm definitely number three. I get the tree line, I decompress, and I love hiking and just exploring the forest.

[784] SPEAKER_35: I'll go with number two because big cities have a lot to offer. Things are opening up and people are getting out, so there's exciting, fun things to do to live it up.

[796] SPEAKER_18: All right, I'll go back to number three. I love hiking, and there is something different to observe at different levels as you're hiking, so it's really interesting. You never know what you're going to see.

[812] Marie dela Cruz: I'll go for number one. It's like being around the water, being at the beach, listening to the sound of the waves, and it's very relaxing.

[822] Jodi Croce: And then he liked to share a specific experiences and your favorite space?

[830] Mark Triplett: We didn't hear from them. I can do the second prompt, too, because I would go for number three. And one of the things I'm thinking about is my family started a tradition of going to Donner Lake and camping. We reserved a little camp spot at Donner Lake, and we've been doing that a lot.

[855] Jodi Croce: Who, as you think about your favorite space, any particular memory that comes to mind? If you'd like to share or you can share.

[864] SPEAKER_35: The last summer I visited Newark City, it was a heat wave, like, to the native New Yorkers. Like, that's how hot and humid and sticky it was. So that's... Beautiful. Yeah.

[879] SPEAKER_20: That was my memory, how hot it was. I still like number three, and I just came back from the Tennessee Smoky Mountains over Easter vacation, so that was awesome. Beautiful.

[892] Terrence Grindall: Even though I chose number one, the memory that sticks out is number three in Yosemite, convincing my nine-year-old son to climb to the top of Yosemite Falls, which took a lot of encouragement. And what's awesome is, just like I hope, he had such a great sense of accomplishment that he's been on the trail ever since. Nice.

[915] Nicole Pierce-Davis: I chose number one because it looks so nice and relaxing and that's what I think of at the beach, but the reality is I have an eight-year-old and that is not the experience generally. The last time we went to the beach, it was in Santa Cruz. It was freezing and he spent the entire time fighting the waves. And when you think about that, he literally was punching Every time a wave would come and I would freak out because I would think the wave was going to take them into the ocean.

[942] SPEAKER_37: So I was right next to them freezing. So it's a very different experience.

[945] Nicole Pierce-Davis: It's funny that my mind just did not remember that part.

[953] Jodi Croce: Most of his destinations involve some outdoor activity, whether you're in the city, in the ocean, backyard, climbing Yosemite or the falls over there. These memories bring really vivid descriptions of things that we can learn from. Oftentimes they also become a source of motivation, inspiration, wondering, right? Things that we would like to know more about, things that make you curious about the world. And it can also be a way or a source of inspiration for who we are today and who we might be. So we're hoping that These types of experiences are something we would share with our students, make them aware of this. Because these could actually help them understand their role in the world, or even just understand the world around them. So today we're gonna share with you the environmental literacy plan, which now is in the development process. When I shared this with you at the staff report, In February, it was in the development process. We're still developing it. There's so many factors to all of this. But together, we're here today to share it with you. Because when we look at this plan, it's meant to be a K-12 experience. We all bring to it a different lens. Classroom teachers look at it from the instructional point of view, from the everyday experiences. Principals look at it. and think about how can they support the classroom teachers. So the structure of the site. The district administrator looks at it from a bigger lens, talking about budget, systems, support, personnel. And we know that when we bring it to you, the board members, you're also going to bring to it your lens. And together, all of these perspectives will make this plan even stronger. Oh, sorry. I'm here. Yeah.

[1081] SPEAKER_54: Probably don't know how to use it. What did I just do? Next one, please.

[1086] Jodi Croce: The third one. Thank you. This is just a graphic organizer of the STEM trajectory over the two years. So the STEM initiative has two components, environmental history and computational thinking. These are all the activities that we started working on and it's helping us frame the environmentalist's plan. There you go.

[1116] SPEAKER_18: So as Leonore mentioned earlier that the purpose of our meeting today is to present to you our environmental literacy plan. And we hope that by end of this session, you will have a better understanding of all the components of this plan plus how it is being implemented in all the classrooms. The plan is applied in our learning environment, all the learning environments district-wide from K through 12 grade levels. The framework is to enrich the lives of each and every NUSD student by providing them with the skills and the vision so they are that change agents and innovators of our world. So that's our hope and goal. So the way we are going to do this process is it's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. There are four components. So each board member will work with four teachers who are here. We are going to look at each component, and we will work together to see what are the highlights of each component. And we will use those chart papers. And then when we come, we will have about eight minutes to look at one component. We have the write-up so we can read together. When we come back after eight minutes, when we come back together as a group, each board member will share their components, highlights of their components with the whole group. So that's our plan. And Leonore will just quickly talk about the four components.

[1206] Jodi Croce: So this is basically the vision. We call it the fruits and the roots. So the roots are really the components, the structure of the plan. So the vision, the district support for implementation, state standards, environmental literacy themes. We filled this structure with the fruits, which are now the components that we're actually going to be engaged in exploring today. So the first one is outdoor learning at school sites, which will be with Dana. Community partnerships and family engagement, which will be with Rachel. Seminal activities and experiences, oh sorry, that's Rachel. Seminal activities and experiences will be with Rachel. Community partnerships and family engagement will be Manju. And an integration of environment literacy and teaching and learning will be with Carol. So you'll get a chance, they have hard copies of this, we share it. So you get a chance to really understand what each of those components are. Highlight what's important for everyone to know. And you'll get to share and teach the rest of us in the room. And then the team will, again, share with you more examples to really illustrate what this looks like in practice. So let's count out by four. And, Harvey, can you start with one? Two. Three. Four. We'll go one to four.

[1289] SPEAKER_48: I'm sorry. OK. Thank you. Four. One.

[1294] Jodi Croce: Catherine, you're fourth. So all number ones are going to go with Dana, number twos are going to work with Carol, number threes are going to work with Rachel, and number fours are going to work with Manchu. When we come back, we're going to have, we're going to go through each of the components, and then you're going to teach. So the team, the board member, executive cabinet, will teach us about that particular component. All right, so you have chart paper for you to write on. And we're going to give you about eight minutes to learn about that, be experts on it, and then teach the group. All right, and in the meantime, I'm going to get the chart paper here so I can have the chart paper holder. So when you come back, your charts will be right next to you. OK, we'll put eight minutes on the clock.

[1344] SPEAKER_59: You want to stay here?

[1350] Rachel Bloom: Three is we're going to the police unit, so it's four.

[1369] SPEAKER_59: OK. OK. So we have two GMOs right here. So we have access. What about public funding? All right, yeah. We want to do this here. And the rest of the time, we'll probably do it like this. Can you tell me what we should do? Yeah. But we need to do this. We need a bunch of things. We're going to have a lot of edible plants in there. And we're going to have a bunch of them. That's right. A bunch of them. a large house, and so we'll be turning those to you. And I'm including them in the video. Second grade, eating the soil, and then rock music, because we teach rock music. This is from Brooklyn, Ohio. So four, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, Is this available? Yes, it is. Students will be coming here in a minute.

[1525] SPEAKER_60: So what did you find with that?

[1552] SPEAKER_59: So, um... All right, so here we go. So, first part talks about the overarching problem of education. Signature. This would happen through the field trips. I will have the science graduation with you. We have to follow up. OK. I'm going to say a few things. Thank you. So this is a group of our literacy-based field trips. People have been connected to content.

[1682] SPEAKER_34: And they've been better prepared.

[1683] SPEAKER_59: And this proves the understanding of engineering and modeling. That's fine. It should be your turn. We have to continue to worry about this section. So this is kind of a picture of how we distribute the cards. So I'm just trying to work on it. So it has a lot of water in it. And part of that is so it's all about cliches and connectedness. There's more partners in the stream today.

[1802] SPEAKER_60: These are in addition to, these are specifically for, so besides the ones that are online, which come through on the state website. Yeah, so there's two of those.

[1825] SPEAKER_59: And also, there's a Washington

[1841] SPEAKER_34: that there is a lot of interest in this concept.

[1844] SPEAKER_59: And so I thought that was a good thing to share.

[1847] SPEAKER_58: I didn't hear anything.

[1848] SPEAKER_59: I didn't hear anything. It's weird. It's weird.

[1851] SPEAKER_58: It's weird.

[1851] SPEAKER_59: It's weird.

[1851] Diego Torres: It's weird.

[1852] SPEAKER_59: It's weird. It's weird. It's weird.

[1869] Aiden Hill: So an example. I'm sorry, I'm using fancy translations. So I think what you're saying here is that, OK, we need outdoor space in order to support gardens. But then what I heard you say is you gave me the opposite of an example.

[1885] SPEAKER_59: In most cases, we do need an example.

[1888] Aiden Hill: So a garden could be a dedicated outdoor space. And then you've got different lessons. So they review using that space. So first grade might be just looking at the parts of the plant. Second grade might be looking at the soil, et cetera.

[1900] SPEAKER_59: We have about one more minute. This is the number one. So you spend. And then plan and review. Half a minute.

[1944] Marie dela Cruz: Yeah, first of all, it was really good.

[1955] SPEAKER_59: Okay, if you would please.

[1983] Jodi Croce: Start getting back to the table. Just leave your chart paper there. I will move them. I will take them.

[1990] SPEAKER_59: I'll take them. I'll put them here.

[2029] Jodi Croce: So now we're going to go through each component. And then the board member and executive cabinet member will teach us about that. And then the teacher will give us more examples We'll start with Dana. You want me to drive?

[2047] SPEAKER_20: Well, yeah, you can drive. But I mean, who's going first? They're going to? You first. OK. I'm just like, a team. You want Chen? Yeah. OK, so this just is an overall expression of outdoor learning and what the district science leadership team came up with.

[2069] Jodi Croce: This is just the components of outdoor learning at the school

[2073] SPEAKER_59: So what slide number are you on? All right.

[2079] Cindy Parks: This is nine. This is slide nine. OK. So now you're teaching.

[2084] Jodi Croce: You're teaching here.

[2086] SPEAKER_20: That would be the two men in the suit. That's us, right?

[2090] SPEAKER_59: Number one.

[2110] Aiden Hill: OK, so what we learned was that the first component, outdoor learning at school sites. So first, you need to have a dedicated outdoor space in order to make this happen. And by doing that, not only do you obviously have a dedicated space, but it really provides equity. It means that everybody has the opportunity to access that. It's not just for some. And we're implementing that across different schools.

[2138] Marie dela Cruz: And as an example, at Lincoln, they have a dedicated garden that they can use for different types of lessons. For example, first graders can look at it and look at the plants and learn about all the different parts of the plants. And then second graders, they can learn about the soil and those types of activities.

[2163] Aiden Hill: And then the third thing that we learned about was helping to make this happen were partnerships. So we have a partnership with Bayside, which I guess is also known as Lawrence Hall of Science. And so they're injecting knowledge and expertise into this.

[2179] Marie dela Cruz: And as part of professional development, their teachers did some lessons on sound and light. Yeah, OK.

[2190] Aiden Hill: And then in terms of involving community and families, there was a science fair, and they had different booths, and they had over 200 people that attended.

[2202] Marie dela Cruz: And you can also use community spaces, surrounding parks, Coyote Hills, different areas where they can go to do their outdoor learning.

[2218] Bowen Zhang: Did we hit it all?

[2228] SPEAKER_20: So those are the four that Leonore was talking about earlier. The designation of a unified space that all schools might have. Outdoors to promote wellness and SEL, language development and access and equity for all. Go ahead. Okay, so Lincoln, which is my school, is actually piloting this. And so we have a dedicated garden space and campus that we use on a regular basis. And we use our FOSS, which is Full Option Science System, to go ahead and take those lessons outdoors as much as possible.

[2271] Jodi Croce: And this was the outline of the PD, the Friday PDs. It is Lincoln Scholes focused on environmental literacy. things where they met with the environment. These were the topics that they talked about.

[2290] SPEAKER_20: Okay, this is provided by the Lawrence Health Sciences Safety Guides. Basically, it is set of boundaries, have signals for heads up, use satchels and notebooks, and observe, listen, and look without disturbance.

[2306] Jodi Croce: So this was a tool given to the teachers to make them feel more comfortable taking their kids outdoors.

[2313] SPEAKER_20: And then. Okay, this one I think is one of the most important slides. The bullets themselves are very important. That nature restores children's attention. It's something new all the time. And that it relieves children's stress. They just calm down. And it helps children develop more self-discipline. They have something to look at. They've got their magnifying glass. They're going to go for it. Outdoor instruction makes students more engaged and interested. Yeah, they want to be outside. And time outdoors may increase physical fitness. Yeah, that's if you're going to go for a hike. And then nature setting may promote social connections and creativity. Yes, we can do even art out there.

[2361] Jodi Croce: This was one of the slides that we introduced to the Lincoln staff to set the, I guess the foundation for like, why are we doing this? What are the advantages of taking the students outdoors?

[2373] SPEAKER_20: Yeah, this is just some of the artwork. We probably have hundreds of pictures by now. Some of these are leaf rubbings, and some of them are observations and drawings. And then, of course, they put that together with language cards on what they are observing.

[2390] Jodi Croce: Examples of how the teachers took the activities that they learned during the PD and applied it into their own classroom and included it in their lesson plans.

[2400] SPEAKER_20: And this is more, this is kindergarten, this is Shem's class, and they're looking at leaves. OK, so the teachers can go out in advance. They can do something as simple as taking a piece of yarn, going out to the baseball field with a magnifying glass and a notebook and saying, how many insects can you see? Can you draw them? OK, so it is outdoor learning, and it is a phenomena. They're basing it on what they're finding, what they're seeing, what they're drawing.

[2425] Jodi Croce: And making connections to what is phenomena, which is now the foundation of NGSS, Next Generation Science Standards. This whole idea of phenomena, this illustrated and demonstrated and really helped us teachers see what is a phenomena. Thank you, Dana. Thank you.

[2458] SPEAKER_53: So this component includes connections to California, and district adopted standards across all subject and content areas, district place-based environmental literacy themes relevant to the community and curriculum materials. Mr. Dr. Finklite, you're gonna share what we.

[2477] Mark Triplett: All right, I was assigned to be the presenter. So this was all about, oh, sorry. This is about the teaching and learning aspect of, and the curricular aspect And what we noticed in the plan was that there's an articulation of environmental experiences, TK-12, and these could be field trips, guest speakers, capstone projects, and that the goal would be for students to not just be learning science, but then to be graduating with the characteristics of the that there's a real emphasis on real-world experiences, exposing all of our students to the outdoors. And there was a reference to a study in there, I think a goal of 15%, no it wasn't a goal, it was actually a... A growth of environmental scientists as physicians.

[2543] Mark Triplett: And lastly, we don't have it up there, but there's also, I think, a really powerful articulation of environmental literacy themes across TK-12 that the group has identified, watershed and groundwater protection, habitat preservation and restoration, climate change and human impact on environment, and then diverse habitats and wildlife. And so then all of the curriculum across all the different grade levels are really focusing on those key themes that are Very local, place-based content themes.

[2589] SPEAKER_53: kind of look over, talking about the curriculum that we have, FOSS K-5, Impact Science 6-8, and High School Curriculum. It's going to be cross-curricular across ELA history of social science and math. And it integrates, of course, the SEL and ELG in many relevant contexts. Did you want to keep moving? Yeah? OK. Let's see. What is environmental literacy? OK. You can read that very quickly. An environmentally literate person has the capacity to act individually and with others to support ecologically sound, economically prosperous, and equitable communities for present and future generations. I just think if kids are involved in the environmental studies, then they're gonna be more aware of the processes and also have the capabilities of making decisions in the future as they get older. And this is showing some of our curriculum, the FOSS. Cross-curricular integration science, ELD, and literacy, just trying to bring science across all subject areas. So it's not just we're going to do science now, but we're going to be using all of our skills to study science. principles and concepts. People depend on natural systems. People influence natural systems. Natural systems change in ways that people benefit from and can influence. I know we have a short time, so I'm just gonna kind of say that I know that our impact as humans, the things that we do, and making students aware of how the things they do and the things that they need are all involved with Earth systems and they have a part in it. and then the social-emotional learning, we have character strong and just being outdoors and pushing anything outdoors, getting outdoors is gonna be better for us all, our well-being. A lot of kids don't get outdoors, or like you were saying, people live in apartments and they don't actually have access to some ground space, so this is really gonna be very important for many of our students to have that opportunity to be outdoors and just become more aware. ELD standards, it covers- An example of how we- I agree to that, right? Yeah. Curriculum connections, that's just all about our curriculum.

[2743] Jodi Croce: This is actually how environmental principles and concepts are actually in the FOSS curriculum. It's also in impact science, and high school is still going to pilot their curriculum, but it's in there already. It's in the curriculum that we've adopted.

[2759] SPEAKER_53: And personally, I was so- excited and gratified that environmental emphasis became a part of NGSS just in recent years because that is where we live, in the environment.

[2775] SPEAKER_53: Thank you very much.

[2801] Jodi Croce: Great. So this slide just tells us, again, in summary, what the components of the similar activities and experiences have.

[2814] Phuong Nguyen: So we had to identify the key information about the content. So the purpose is to support NUSD's environmental literacy vision, which includes four components, outdoor learning at school sites, integration of environmental literacy and teaching and learning, seminal activities and experiences, and community partnerships and family engagement. And these activities include the four zones right here, which, sorry, I have to take off my glasses and I can't see, starting with, on the school grounds for the lower level kids, and then expanding it through the grade levels. So starting at school grounds, and then your local neighborhood expanding outside there, and then having day excursions beyond that. And then finally, having the students be able to have an overnight experience outside of our community. And we touched on the eight seminal activities component, which includes annual activities with different experiences for all the students. All of the activities are thoughtfully planned out so that, for example, the students in the classrooms have activities where they can be inquisitive and then have stations that are related to these kinds of activities, having the students practice and make observations. and investigate outdoors on the school grounds, and drawings, and using like, like, like, like taking Ms. Wright's presentation with the lead exploration class. And then obviously have science-based activities for the students, and then connected to nature, and the activities being student-centered and relevant to the students. And then having the activities also be interrelational and transformational at the end of it. So that the students take away what they're learning and how they're able to make changes in our community and make positive impacts as they progress through the program.

[2968] Rachel Bloom: So as the district science leadership team thought about our activities, we want to focus on aligning the experiences horizontally. Meaning like every single first grader, every single second grader, third grader, whatever it is throughout the district has this experience. And then also vertically so that they kind of build in complexity or they move through those four areas. as they continue throughout the grades. Some activities, they're going to be celebrated, anticipated, transformational, anticipated. So kids are going to know, when I get to be in second grade, I get to go and so-and-so. When I get to fourth grade, when we're freshmen, we get to da-da-da-da-da. So that's going to be the goal of that component. For example, one that we have now, what Dr. Triplett mentioned earlier, is sixth graders, and now we have fifth graders are going to science camp, to outdoor science school. We have Lincoln went, Schilling has gone, Ms. Rose just came back with sixth graders today. Thank you, sixth graders. Fifth graders are going next week. And so there you go. One thing we should mention is, right again, not every seminal activity is a going away for a night or two. It's just you're looking forward to it. It's anticipated. We planned it. It's exciting, consistent throughout the grades. So we're not sending first graders backpacking in the CES. Thank you very much.

[3088] SPEAKER_18: All right, and the last one, last component is the community partnership and family engagement. And how we can create bridges between classrooms and families and the environment we live in. So our district is already doing it because whatever work we do in the classroom, it doesn't stand alone. We can't have the whole child's development if we are not creating those bridges. So by having partnerships with our community partners, local environments, so we are able to create and produce. But we did not choose a volunteer.

[3124] SPEAKER_34: Although you already covered it.

[3132] Terrence Grindall: It runs through the other presentations. This is sort of the outer part of that ring that was talked about in other places and the interaction One thing that was important to me, so I'll take, since I'm standing up here, I'll take advantage. It's just that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to science camp. It's a positive thing for our community. It's already that seminal activity, but it'd be great if it was more consistent. It'd be great if it was across the whole district and also integrated into the curriculum, but not to lose sight of the fact that it is something that's working. So we talked about how it integrates, really with the rest of the stuff, that the field trips are tied to environmental literacy. It supplements classroom learning. It's very important to have community partnership. The field trips can be part of that, going to the water district, going to Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge. One element that wasn't talked about very much, but I think is very important, is the opportunities for engaging the family with activities, with science camp, I'm sorry, with science nights, but also maybe, like they indicated in the plan, an overnight at Dumbarton Quarry's new campgrounds with a family overnight, not a science camp, not a away camp, but the whole family engaging. And- Community service. and community service in that process, cleaning up waterways, cleaning up the refuge, cleaning up the schools, the neighborhoods, I mean. And we also just talked about a few other places we can talk about some of the ethnic, the original inhabitants and the history of this area and how they interacted with the environment versus how we do. I know that's already being taught. There's physical examples to help

[3263] SPEAKER_18: Yeah, and I think these are some of the things that our science leadership team came up with. And now we are looking at some of the examples. This is sixth grade trip to Don Edwards. And as we are talking about that, you know, it should not, or these activities should not stand alone. So our part major named Tia, she actually studied ocean science sixth grade curriculum. And then she looked at the resources that could tie in with that curriculum at Don Edwards Refuge, and she did that work with the students. So that they can come back to the classroom and give us their school curriculum.

[3302] Jodi Croce: And gave us free buses, so we did not have to pay. I didn't know that.

[3308] SPEAKER_18: This is another example of the same thing, timing with the curriculum. And then in February at Lincoln, Many of our local community partners came forward, like ACWT and Coyote Hills and a couple more. They did professional development for the teachers, but they also recommended, can we do a family event at Lincoln's? And of course, the teachers took them upon it. And then, it was just last Friday, there was a family event. And these are some of the examples. And this one is from, Don Edwards, and they are, and then again, same park ranger took a group of students and parents to part of the area where it's not open to public, but just to give them that first-hand experience.

[3360] Jodi Croce: There was a couple of blocks from Lincoln, so they just literally walked into Mayhew's landing right there.

[3365] SPEAKER_20: We did have a walk.

[3366] SPEAKER_18: Yeah, walk and hike. And this is from ACWD where students are working on water cycle picking bracelets and where each bead represented part of the water cycle evaporation and all that. But on the left, there was a musical where they are talking about water pollution. Like we were saying earlier, the more the students know about the problems, the better they are going to work on solving it. This one from the Ardenwood Historic Farm, they are looking at how indigenous people used wheat, how they deposited wheat. So something that, you know, students can relate to.

[3406] Jodi Croce: That table's clean right now because we took that before the event. By the end of the day, that was full of wheat-lit crates.

[3415] SPEAKER_18: And the next one we were talking about, you know, ethnic study and history. So on the right, students are putting together fibers to make rope just to just to understand how indigenous people use the local resources to survive long time ago. So these are some of the examples. And rest, Dana is our Lincoln superstar, so she can talk about this.

[3440] SPEAKER_20: I wouldn't say superstar, I just happen to help out with this. So there were stations from outside and stations from Lincoln School itself. And this is Judith Hutchins, and she is teaching minerals. And they were allowed to select some rocks to start their own rock collection. She was doing Epsom salts crystals.

[3462] Jodi Croce: That's actually a parent volunteer working with a student.

[3465] SPEAKER_20: Right. We had several really great parent volunteers. So those two are volunteers that are helping out with that station. Okay, this is mosquito abatement. They were teaching mosquito life cycles and teaching the children how to do things like dump water so the mosquitoes won't lay eggs and stuff in it so that there's less mosquitoes and less chance of health risks. This is our Bayside partners. And Tia, yeah, Tia is on the end, so she's Dawn Edwards. This was all the volunteers that helped out.

[3500] Jodi Croce: Only at the beginning, more came later on, but we forgot that they were working.

[3504] SPEAKER_20: Yeah. OK. And these are the teachers in all the different stations. We had bird beaks and adaptations. We had snails. We had, this is dissecting owl pellets. We had the leaf rubbing. Yeah. So we had at least five or six. This is all Dana's work. It's family science night. Keep going. OK. So I think that's the end of mine, right?

[3530] Jodi Croce: Thank you.

[3532] Jodi Croce: In a few minutes, we will wrap up. So all of this now, the plan now is we have to create a green print. We have blueprints for our homes. We're going to have a green print for the environmental literacy. And so we had Deanna Velis, our consultant from Bayside, lead the group of teachers who volunteered to work on this. And we are trying to build a TK-12 academic curricular plan. which will include the seminal activities, which will include the fellowship, so that we can get to the point that, as De'Asia pointed out, this is the first grade seminal activity. These are activities all first graders are going to have. It will be laid out in a plan, which will look some, and this is a shared drive that we have that Deanna put together with all the resources. Some of the resources we shared with you earlier, environmental principles and concepts, It's available. We're building on it. It's not quite there yet, but we spent almost 10 hours just digging into it. This is what it looks like. This is Renee Angelo's kindergarten, kindergarten, I'm sorry, Lincoln grade two teachers idea, like she put together. What does that look like? You see the themes, you see FOSS, you see activities, you see seminal activities, you, they've identified some capstone projects. So this is what we're going to be building. to, again, build into the plan. So then it becomes not just a vision, it's something that we can actually apply, and it'll actually be seen in our classrooms when it's open.

[3625] Megan McMillan: And, Rachel?

[3627] SPEAKER_18: No, and then we thought that we will have, like, two minutes, and we just wanted to see what was the greatest takeaway or any questions. So I have these index cards that I'm going to pass. So if on one side, you can write down greatest takeaway. Like as Leonore was saying earlier, we want to see your lens, how you see this plan. So what is your greatest takeaway and any questions that come to your mind? On the other side. On the other side. So we can look at it and keep moving forward. And add it to the plan.

[3674] SPEAKER_59: Your favorite part.

[3763] Terrence Grindall: get an award if you can read my writing.

[3767] SPEAKER_34: I should be a doctor. I brought Olivia.

[3773] SPEAKER_53: Is that Chelsea?

[3775] SPEAKER_40: That's Rachel. That's Rachel?

[3778] Rachel Bloom: Well, I was going to let you keep my flare pen.

[3781] SPEAKER_49: Thank you.

[3783] SPEAKER_34: I'll be right back. Well, if it's for my daughter, I would appreciate it.

[3787] Rachel Bloom: I'm going to explain how big of a deal it is to my teacher.

[3820] SPEAKER_59: Thank you so much for the opportunity. Is there anything you would like to share out loud?

[3826] SPEAKER_49: Great job. Yeah, what a job. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for that.

[3849] SPEAKER_37: Can we just, just for a second, like a lot of work has gone into this and it's also just really hard. After teaching a full day, we just give like our teachers and the service or a round of applause.

[3870] Jodi Croce: Thank you. It's a pleasure and I look forward to continue working with you on this plan. It's really applied and you see it happening in our classrooms.

[3880] SPEAKER_59: Thank you so much.

[3881] Phuong Nguyen: And it is officially Teachers Appreciation Week this week. So we want to also thank you guys for all the hard work that you do. So thank you so much.

[3893] SPEAKER_59: They're so beautiful, where did you get the strawberries from?

[3938] Phuong Nguyen: Okay, thank you and on to our next item which is closed session. Are there any public comments? In closed session, we will be discussing 4.2, public employee discipline dismissal release. 4.3, conference with labor negotiators, NTA and CSCA. 4.4, conference with labor negotiators, NEWMA. And 4.5, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation. And that's it. Thank you. And we are now recessing to closed session. Thank you. are back from closed session and um we're moving on to there is nothing to report out in closed session so um we're next on our agenda is the pledge of allegiance and i'm gonna have dr triplet all right thank you good evening board members and um students staff community members um so um we have a couple students in the audience today who are going to help present later on but i did ask

[7582] Mark Triplett: Mr. Rio Huerta, if you would be willing to come and do the Pledge of Allegiance with us all.

[7591] Nicole Izant: Please stand.

[7599] SPEAKER_68: Ready, begin.

[7601] SPEAKER_48: 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.

[7614] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. On to item 7.1, student reports from Newark Junior High and the Alternative Education Campus, and then Newark Memorial.

[7628] SPEAKER_57: And President Nguyen, just before we continue, I just wanted the record to note that Member Marquez joined during the study session. Thank you. As for students' presentation, we have from Alternative Ed campus, and we have a video sent in. Just give me a few seconds to pull it up.

[7649] Phuong Nguyen: Do we have our students from the junior high school? No, that's fine. OK, thank you.

[7669] SPEAKER_51: I'm the superintendent, Dr. Triplett, board members, and cabinet members. I'm Alexis Focal-Baron. I'm in 10th grade at Bridgepoint. Last week, we celebrated our third quarter awards. At Bridgepoint, one student earned perfect attendance. Seven students earned 18 or more credits, with three earnings, 25 credits, and 26 students earned honor roll GPA of 3.0 or higher. One of our early graduates, earned 4.0 at Crescent. Four students earned perfect attendance, 14 students earned honor roll with 3.0 or higher. One of our students had a 4.3 GPA. Congratulations to all our winners. Richland will host a series of workshops during Advisory and Honor Mental Health Awareness Month. New Arkansas education graduation will be held at Thursday, May 26th at 6 p.m. Thank you for your support.

[7728] SPEAKER_49: Thank you.

[7732] Phuong Nguyen: And then our student board member, Ms. Ersindis Ortiz.

[7739] SPEAKER_61: Good evening, everyone. I hope everyone had a stupendous spring break. As we're heading for the last month of school, Newark Memorial High has been quite busy. To start off with, many of our seniors have finalized their commitment to a university after a long college application, and we are extremely proud of all of them. Furthermore, as this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, I'd love to give a shout out to all the wonderful teachers in our district. The leadership class has been working on celebrating our teachers through posters and acts of appreciation. Additionally, moving on to our future events, we will be holding our Senior Awards Night this Wednesday, May 11th. where we will be recognizing all of our amazing singers with awards and even possible scholarships. On May 19th, our best of clubs will have their own ceremony for recognition as well. Additionally, on May 24th, we will be having our annual installation ceremony where the ASB class will be passing on the torch to future classes and leaders. And I can't forget to mention our very own grad night, May 20th, where the senior class, who is very excited, might I add, is excited to be spending a day at Disneyland. A mentionable event last week is most definitely our talent show that took place during lunch this time, which was an extreme success. This week, Link Crew will be doing their tie-dye event of the year for the lowerclassmen, and last but certainly not least, A reminder that a school is coming to an end. Graduation rehearsal is June 1st, and the official graduation day will be June 2nd at 6 p.m. So please come and join us if you can. My last shout-out is to all my fellow peers who have been going through AP tests this week and next week. We will get through this, and I believe in y'all, so thank you.

[7842] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, student board member. Okay, on to item 8.1, Staff Spotlight, Dr. Triplett.

[7850] Mark Triplett: Thank you, President Nguyen. Could we have the staff spotlight slide, please? And as Ms. Gutierrez is pulling that up, so like Board Member Resendiz-Ortiz said, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, but also next week is Teacher Appreciation Week, one being from the National Appreciation and next week being in California. So we look forward to continuing to appreciate our amazing teachers and did want to give a shout out to a particular group, It doesn't seem to be cooperating.

[7904] SPEAKER_57: Oh, give me one second.

[7919] Mark Triplett: Oh, there it is. Oh, OK. We might be. Oh, you're right. I think that's just an error in the date there. But that's the correct one. So I wanted to take this time tonight to celebrate the four teachers that have been the founding teachers for the Dual Language Immersion Program. at Schilling Elementary. They've done an amazing job first of all just creating this program and then this year leading the program. I've had the pleasure of being in there many times throughout the year and it's just it's incredible to see these young people learning in both English and Spanish whether they Spanish was their home language or whether English was their home language to hear them learning both languages is just tremendous. So one of our teachers, Ms. Elisa Munoz, is one of the teachers in there. We also have Ms. Anita Sol, and then Elba Herrera, and Nancy Lee. So those are the four. This upcoming year, we will be expanding to the next grade level. And so we have already hired the teachers for that grade level, and we're really excited to continue to grow this program. But please join me in giving a big round of applause for these outstanding teachers.

[8019] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Dr. Triplett. On to Item 8.2, School Spotlight, Crossroads Independent Studies Program. Dr. Triplett.

[8028] Mark Triplett: Thank you. So delighted to have our outstanding principal, Ms. Julie Calderon, here tonight to share about the Crossroads Independent Studies Program, which this year has been unique, and like no other year, in that we have both the in-person, or well, the virtual independent study. So this year, the school, as I'm sure Ms. Calderon is going to explain to us, had significantly more students in it than in years past because of the virtual program.

[8061] SPEAKER_40: Thank you, Dr. Triplett. So good evening everyone, President Nguyen, board members, cabinet members, and of course our community members who are here to support us tonight. Yes, as Dr. Triville has indicated, there was some massive changes to Crossroads. And I want to open by actually thanking some folks that are here in the room, because the massive changes couldn't have been possible. Obviously, we had to meet the requirements that were legislated to us in July. But the massive changes couldn't have happened. I'm not a one-woman show. I feel like it sometimes, but I'm not a one-woman show. And I just really want to publicly thank Ms. Catherine Ingham-Watters, Ms. Marie Dela Cruz, Nicole Pierce-Davis, of course, you as board members, anyone who was part of the hiring process, because it was a huge undertaking to change a program that used to be a very small traditional independent study program to a TK through 12 virtual program for the district. So back in July, there were many town halls. And at one of our very first town halls, we talked about what the goals were going to be for this year. And so as I've already stated, Crossroads was going to be shifting to provide a virtual option for our families that was comparable in rigor to an in-person program. So it wasn't going to be traditional independent studies. It was going to be, in many ways, a virtual academy. in lieu of the in-person program. So that was kind of the first bold goal. Then, secondly, we were going to be also, while doing that, still fostering that sense of connection and community that Crossroads, along with the sister program Bridgepoint, is known for. We always build a sense of community and family in our programs. And so we were going to do this through consistent routine, practices, rituals, and that regular contact between teachers and students. And then thirdly, to leverage existing instructional approaches to embrace new ways of meeting students' age-appropriate academic needs at a distance. So as you can imagine, as someone who's been in secondary for 26 years, these goals were wonderfully stated, but incredibly daunting. So it couldn't have been done without that team effort. And I'll talk a little bit more about that with the upcoming slides. So the mission of Crossroads, the original mission, and it fit perfectly in with these goals, is to provide a personalized education in a caring environment. And so how are we going to carry forward that mission with now entire classes and entire grade levels? Because in the past, it was very individualized, tailored to specific students and their particular needs. And so how are we going to continue to do that as Crossroads and do that with now an entire school of all grade levels? Next slide. So doing MTSS, as we do at all our other schools, were some of the ways that we were going to work to do this. So in terms of the classroom community, which I think for a lot of us was a huge concern, like how do we foster that sense of community in a virtual environment? We know that many students were burnt out on distance learning. Many families were burnt out on distance learning. And that was certainly one of the questions that we got is, how are you going to help these kids feel like they're a part of a community? And so some of that the legislation helped us with because they let us know the structure that we needed to follow. And so if you were an elementary student, you had daily meetings with your teacher. If you're a secondary student, there were weekly class meetings that were solely focused on community building and SEL. Our elementary teachers immediately in doing their practice, breaking out into small groups. And so meeting student academic needs and emotional needs with those small group gatherings. And then of course, like many of our schools, those character strong lessons with all of our teachers, TK through 12. In terms of academic support, continuing to provide that individualized help and support that has made Crossroads so unique over the years. And with our secondary program, the Edgenuity platform came with built-in resources of tutoring, hotlines, teacher availability. So not only were they working with their Crossroads teachers, but our secondary students were benefiting from working with a slew, a slate of Edgenuity teachers online. And those additional supports that are available at all of our schools, our cost team, a strong cost team, and then our mental health clinicians that we're willing to meet virtually with some of our students. So this is the best part of my presentation here, gathering these photos. So these are just some of the wonderful members of our TK&K program and you can't even begin to understand how delightful it has been for this longtime high school educator to now have to walk through and visit and spend time with every grade. And so TK and Kate, I was able to actually be there for some of these presentations, did research on animals and so they created these wonderful dioramas and they each had to have, you know, everybody had a different animal and so these are just some of our superstars. sharing their, very proudly, sharing their dioramas and their animals. And I was there for that particular lesson and it was just great to have these little five and six year olds like, yeah, giving a presentation and sharing their research. So just academically engaging. This next short video is from one of our junior high students. So if you're on a platform like Edgenuity, how are you gonna get that hands on if everything is online? There's actually opportunities for that. So if you wouldn't mind playing that for us, Ms. Gutierrez. So the students and parents in the room may recognize that this is a solar oven. And so this was something that our junior high students at Crossroads were still able to participate in.

[8424] SPEAKER_51: Okay, it's not gonna move any further. This one. Same temperature.

[8437] SPEAKER_30: And then this one.

[8440] SPEAKER_51: It's not gonna move up. Oh no, it slightly moved up.

[8448] Nancy Thomas: Slightly moving.

[8467] SPEAKER_40: There were several of those videos that I was. had to choose from, so that was just one of them. They were very proud of their work. I've noticed that Crossroads students are more than happy to share their work with us. So I talked earlier about that fostering that sense of community, and it's just been such a blessing to see the camaraderie that's developed between the students and, of course, between staff, and then we even had a board member. So thank you, Member Grandel. I'm thanking you once again for being there with Ms. Reddy's class to read to them on that special day. You can see behind him there's a picture of second grade on Halloween, and they were all in costume, including Mr. P. And then to the right, there are some photos from Mr. P's class. He wanted to do some service learning with his second grade class, so he organized with the help of the parents a fundraiser, and they collected art bags for children in need. So that's just one example of the way that a teacher was able to create that sense of community, not just with his students, but also with his families. So I want to introduce this young man before we hear from him. He's going to proudly share some of the progress that he's made this year at Crossroads. He recently won a national math award, so I left my notes at the Alt Ed campus. I want to say he's in ninth place nationally for his math level. So he competed in the Math Kangaroo National Competition. So we're really excited for him. And he's going to share a little bit about his Crossroads experience.

[8563] SPEAKER_30: Hello, Freddie and my Crossroads friends. Thank you for an awesome third day. I love to learn. Here is my crossroads design project. It is my favorite because They taught me how to design something in real life. Now I can design a restaurant and other businesses. Here is my third project. Here is my other restaurant projects. Here are my reading projects, my science projects and the bills I won from the CIMA and NOVATEC competitions. Thank you, Mr. Reddy, for your efforts and ideas to make it cleverly creative and fun. This is Vrishni from Crossroads, third grade. Thank you, Mr. Reddy.

[8619] SPEAKER_40: I couldn't say it better than Vrishni. So thank you, Vrishni, for sharing with us. I'm not going to read all of these. You will have access to our slides. But we got some feedback from our junior high students. So at junior high, I guess they're averse to making videos. But they did do some writing about what they liked about Crossroads. And what stood out to me were a lot of patterns, just feeling very supported. feeling that they had all kinds of support, academic support, motivational quotes. And they got that sense not just from their teacher at Crossroads, but also from their edgenuity teachers. So that was really heartening for me. And then feeling that they liked the flexibility, the flexibility of their learning, being able to watch videos, being able to kind of pace themselves. And this was just some of the positive feedback that we got from our junior high students. And this next video is from our junior high teacher, Ms. Staber.

[8681] SPEAKER_43: Hello, everyone.

[8682] SPEAKER_53: This is Venus Staber here.

[8683] SPEAKER_59: And I'm going to talk a little bit, just really quickly, about my Crossroads experience, teaching experience with the Crossroads Parental Program. So it has been really interesting and exciting. how the virtual teaching changed my teaching approach. So being able to use other resources, technology available. The district had also provided teachers that improved the teaching, my teaching strategies and still learning those new resources. You know, being able to connect with students remotely. So better integration of teaching learning It's really possible. And also, it's really amazing to see what students are capable of doing in the digital classroom. So teaching them that there is that opportunity, aside from the traditional approach. So it has opened a world of possibilities what students can do online. So it has been a really wonderful experience. and getting to see how students are learning even if it's a remote classroom.

[8775] SPEAKER_40: So I want to openly also publicly thank my wonderful staff. So as we've shared, it's been quite the overhaul of Crossroads. We went from being a very small team of three to being a much larger team. And so it was a nice hybrid of veteran Newark Unified teachers and some superstar new teachers that I was just so fortunate to work with this year. I'm kind of sad that things are shifting once again. I mean, it's great that things are shifting once again, but it's sad that I won't be able to work with some of these superstars who've clearly touched students' lives in so many ways. So I want to publicly thank them. Ms. Jocelyn Johnson, who taught TK in kindergarten. Ms. Ainsley Chang, who taught our first grade class. Mr. Jake Palacio, who just finished year one in our induction program, who was our wonderful second grade teacher. Ms. Alexis Reddy-Schnakeleth, who just also finished year one of induction for us, our third grade teacher. You will probably recognize from previous years, Mr. John Angelo, who this year stepped back into the elementary classroom to teach grades four and five. Ms. Vida Staber, who is a longtime Newark Unified teacher who stepped in to do our junior high. Ms. Hodges, who's been with us for many years, continuing her work with our eighth through 12th graders. Mr. Della Torre, who was our resource case manager, and of course, my right-hand man, Mr. Hamilton Bailon, our alternative education counselor, who also had to shift to become a TK through 12 counselor this year. So that's just my wonderful Crossroads team, and it's been an honor to work with all of them. I will miss those who are going to be moving on, and I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to have done this this year. So thank you for your time and for supporting our coyotes.

[8885] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Principal Calderon. Thank you so much. Do we have any comments from the board? Student board member?

[8896] SPEAKER_61: I would just like to say I am so proud of all the students, of their amazing work that you demonstrated. You truly do amazing work, you and your team. And truly, thank you for everything.

[8907] SPEAKER_40: Thank you.

[8907] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez?

[8911] SPEAKER_29: Good evening, everyone. wholeheartedly understand independent studies. That's where I'm at right now, waiting for the trailer bill. So knowing that we have the teachers that went through their induction this actual year, will they be afforded the opportunity to continue their induction or credit with Newark Unified, or are they moving on?

[8936] SPEAKER_40: They will likely be moving on. I know for sure a few of them have already asked me for letters of recommendation. So one of the things I didn't share is that quite a few of our teachers are not in the area. So we've got folks throughout California. We've got someone in New Jersey, and we have somebody in the beautiful country of Colombia. Wow. So yes, they will likely look for opportunities a little closer to home.

[8962] SPEAKER_29: So thank you for that. Take care.

[8965] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill?

[8967] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Calderon, for the great presentation. Just a couple questions out of curiosity. So you talked about how the enrollment grew. And I'm just curious from what to what. And then also, you talked about that we've got still some in-person and then a certain percentage that's virtual. And I'm just curious what the percentage is.

[8986] SPEAKER_40: So I will answer the second question first. This year, we shifted to 100% virtual. And so in the past, we were a traditional independent study program, meaning we were in person, but on a weekly basis or maybe twice weekly basis. And so that was a big shift to go 100% virtual. And as far as enrollment, we've always kind of hovered 50-55 in the time that I've been here in Newark Unified. And imagine. Oh, I felt when at one point, I think we're up at 200. It's fluctuated quite a lot. You know, as families were able to get vaccinated or boosted or just made the decision to go back to in person, the numbers have been constantly fluctuating. So one of the things that was legislated were rolling admissions. We never closed our doors. We actually had some folks join us this week. and that was part of the legislation this past year. So that's also been, I didn't talk about that because it's a spotlight, but that was a challenge this year was to to watch those enrollment numbers shift and and yeah be much higher than what we were used to.

[9053] Aiden Hill: Great, thank you.

[9055] Phuong Nguyen: Member Grindel.

[9057] Terrence Grindall: I just want to echo the comments of my my colleagues and The point you just made, boy, that must have been a really huge challenge to be having children coming in all the time. So it really amplifies the appreciation that we have for the work that you're doing. And by the way, I'm happy to read to your classes anytime you want. Just have the teacher give me a call. So I love Dr. Seuss, not just on Dr. Seuss Day. So thank you.

[9087] SPEAKER_40: I'm going to hit you up. Thank you, Ms. Calderon.

[9093] Phuong Nguyen: I had the privilege of being able to help you out on the enrollment on the first couple of days with your staff and just to see the progression that you guys made. I know how nervous everybody was at the very beginning of it and how hard you all worked just to get the students enrolled in the program. And so for that I'm really grateful to see the turnout that has transpired over this year. So thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication and to your staff, too, as well.

[9124] SPEAKER_40: Thank you, President Nguyen. And my office manager is still talking about the help you provided.

[9129] Phuong Nguyen: I'm happy to come back. I'm hired, I guess.

[9136] SPEAKER_40: Thank you. Thank you again. Thank you, everyone.

[9152] Phuong Nguyen: On to item 9.1, employee organization. Are you speaking on behalf of NTA tonight? Welcome, Ms. Villa.

[9165] Chery Villa: Good evening, everybody, school board members, Mr. Triplett. I'm speaking for NTA tonight. Two things, just two. The first one, we did have our elections for our e-board members for the upcoming school year. And once again, Shauna Bruzee will be our NTA president. Myself, I will be the vice president of NTA. Our high school director, Emery Wassertung. Special ed director, Juleus Chapman. Elementary director, Stephanie Schubert. and our NTA secretary, Babette Babich. We do have two other positions that we still need to fill, but those are the e-board members for NTA for the upcoming school year. Okay, moving on to the next one. This is in regards to the guest teacher situation in our school district. In our NUSD's annual update, for developing the 21-22 LCAP. On page 40, action item 3.1.6 reads, increase daily compensation of guest teachers in order to ensure classroom teachers can attend PD opportunities during the school day. There is a budgeted expenditure of 140,000 and an actual expenditure of 61,383. On the very next page, page 41, regarding 3.1.6 clearly says three, it's guest teachers is one of three critical and key services that NUSD is committed to continue funding as they provide meaningful and effective support for our teachers, hence our students. Now you can look on EdJoin and our guest teacher rate in our district daily 180 a day, long term $200. You can look at our surrounding districts on EdJoin, the postings for New Haven. They're the same as our district, 180. But Fremont Unified, their daily guest teacher or sub-rate is $215 a day. Their long-term is $250 a day. Now, I mean, I don't think I need to say it, but I mean, $215 a day compared to 180? I mean, we're not even competitive. Now, what does that mean for our district? From the first day of school, across the board, elementary, junior high, and high school, our district's situation of no sub available has been an issue, a big issue. When our NTA president inquired about why our guest teacher rate hadn't been increased, the answer that was given, if we increase our daily sub pay, then they're just going to increase theirs. Again, we're not even competitive. Now, yes, there is a guest teacher shortage in every school district right now, but again, we need to be competitive in order for us to even have PDs, even, you know, our DLI teachers over at Schilling, time to collaborate. None of this is happening. We have teachers who have missed preps three weeks in a row. One teacher has missed nine preps in a row because of no sub available. And that's just in elementary. Now, again, if we can have discussions in our LCAP meetings about this, or let's sit down, let's talk about it. But the guest teacher shortage in our district is a big issue. Thank you.

[9385] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Vela. Ms. Gutierrez, do we have any other speakers tonight?

[9390] SPEAKER_57: Yes, our next organization is NEWMA.

[9394] Phuong Nguyen: Welcome, Ms. Acosta.

[9397] SPEAKER_44: Good evening, everyone, board of trustees, executive cabinet members, and community members.

[9403] SPEAKER_43: On behalf of NEWMA board, I want to once again thank our NEWMA team, our NTA team, and our CSCA team members for their continued effort and dedication to our students and staff and community each and every day.

[9417] SPEAKER_44: We are approaching the end of the 21-22 school year, and numerous members have been busy, hard at work, working endless hours supporting our sites, students, families, and communities. They are preparing for promotions, graduations, and all the many end-of-the-year activities that we all love to celebrate. Today is Cinco de Mayo, which is in honor of when the Mexican army defeated the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5th of 1862. Today, when I was in a classroom at Schilling Elementary School, a third grader told me, you know around 70 million pounds of avocados are eaten on Cinco de Mayo in the United States? And it kind of made me laugh. We also would like you to mark your calendars for this week coming up being Bike to the Moon Week just around the corner. This year, Alameda County Safe Routes to School is celebrating Bike Month for a full week from Monday, May 9th until Friday, May 13th. Students, families, and staff will track their active transportation with the goal of collaboratively biking all the way to the moon and back. To reach the moon, which is 286,900 miles away, we'll convert all of our activity on Earth into moon miles. This is a great event to generate excitement among thousands of students and families to safely walk and roll in their neighborhood. Have a good evening. Thank you.

[9506] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Acosta. OK, on to, are there any other? No one from, OK, thank you. On to item 11.1, superintendent report, Dr. Stripper.

[9521] Mark Triplett: Thank you, President Nguyen. Ms. Gutierrez could put up the deck, please.

[9531] SPEAKER_57: Sorry, President Nguyen, can we do 10.1? Oh, I'm sorry.

[9537] Phuong Nguyen: Yes, that's a big one. On to item 10.1, public comment on non-agenda items. Ms. Cindy Parks. Yes, I deliberately skipped over.

[9553] Cindy Parks: I was going to say, if I had a full house here, they wouldn't be happy. I would have supporters, I would think. Complete, honest, and forthright information needs to be provided to you, the Board. The Board must depend on staff providing information when making critical decisions. Some information provided last week seemed to be lacking. For clarity, the number of NTA, CSCA, and NEWMA FTE on your 21-22 second interim budget report presented to you on March 3rd on those pages showed that the FTE for NTA was 296.8, CSCA was 160.9, and NEWMA was 40.9. There seemed to be a little bit of confusion on the exact numbers. The presentation included a $100,000 revenue enhancement increasement for your unduplicated population. There was an additional comment made that Newark Unified's unduplicated pupil count percentage used to be around 70 to 80%. I don't know where that information came from, but I went back and I was able to locate information for the last nine years. The range was between 52 and 60 percent. There was a question asked whether the enrollment of 5167 that was listed in the presentation was the current enrollment, and the answer was yes. I think it would be highly unusual for the current enrollment number to be the same enrollment number in the unduplicated pupil count spreadsheet that I located on the CDE CALPADS, which was as of the fall of 2021. Finally, there was a discussion about whether the free and reduced meal program was going to continue next year. Originally, when the program was extended through the 21-22 school year, they'd committed to providing it through the 22-23 years also. However, since then they have changed their mind and the program will end on June 30th, 2022. However, on July 9th of 2021, AB 130 was signed by Governor Newsom. Beginning in the 22-23 school year, California will become the first state to implement a statewide universal meal program for all school children. The program does require very high poverty schools to still apply to participate in the federal program so that the state can supplement, not supplant the original program. This was just a sampling of the questionable information provided to you at the budget study session. I am going to provide you with a copy of the staff pages from the 21-22 second interim report that has the staffing, a copy of the CDE universal meal program pages, and a chart I made with information off of the CALPADS UPC source file, which includes the enrollment numbers that I cited and the CDE link. This is for the board members.

[9730] Phuong Nguyen: I only made copies for them. Thank you, Ms. Parks. OK, thank you. OK, our next speaker, Mr. Brian Poster.

[9748] SPEAKER_46: Welcome.

[9749] SPEAKER_21: Thank you. Thank you, President Nguyen and members of the board. When I spoke at your last regular meeting, I informed you that an administrator suggested that unless I was willing to bend my ethics, my employment might be endangered. A week ago today, Catherine Ingham-Watters and Principal Rangel conducted a remote Zoom meeting with me to inform me that based on my public comments at the board meetings of September 2nd, September 16th, and April 7th, The counselors and the staff member felt that I had created a hostile work environment for them, and based on their written complaints, the district invoked MOU section 10.7.2.1 to involuntarily transfer me to the junior high school effective next year. Today, Catherine Ingham-Watters sent me an email confirming my reassignment. However, I still have not received in writing their accusations or conclusions, and therefore, I have not been availed of my due process rights. nor have they been aware of, much less made available to me, my conflict resolution rights under MOU section 17.2. I will make comments, excuse me, later on regarding agenda item 14.3, credit recovery. For now, I would just note that my reassignment has had a chilling effect on staff. An Apex teacher who previously taught in Apex Lab here at Newark Memorial was prepared to speak before you tonight, but now is unwilling to risk the consequences. That teacher gave me permission to relay the following observations. One, there is too much student cheating in APEX classes. Two, there is too much cheating by students working on APEX at home. Three, little to no learning takes place in APEX classes. Four, teachers cannot teach in APEX classes due to the structure of having multiple subjects at once. And five, other teachers feel the same way, but are too afraid to say anything out of fear of retaliation. Indeed, as they were leaving tonight, four teachers approached me and thanked me for what I was telling you tonight, but said that they were too afraid to come on their own. Everything that I've stated about APEX, I can support with documentation, but no one has asked for it. As far as I know, no one has investigated any of my claims. At the September 2, 2021 study session, NTA was ready to have me take a seat at your table to present my evidence, but administration locked NTA out of that study session. I have acted in good faith to restore academic integrity to our school. The only result is that staff have blamed me for shining a light on their own activities and have declared that my statements created a hostile work environment for them. Even though administration supports them, I have no power over them and I have no or have had little or no communication with them at all this year. In the end, it is I who has become the victim of retaliation. Thank you.

[9909] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Mr. Foster. Sorry, yes, just a reminder that public comments, it's on non-agenda items. Thank you. OK, on to our next speaker, Ms. Amber And I apologize if I pronounce your last name incorrectly. Nozako Tort. Amber, please come on up. Thank you.

[9949] SPEAKER_17: Hello, everyone. My name is Amber Norlasco-Torres. I'm currently a senior at Newark Memorial High School. I've spent my whole life at Newark. I went to the Head Start or the preschool next to Ash, and then I went to Schilling Elementary. I went to the junior high, and now I'm at Newark Memorial. Firstly, I just want to say that I'm here in my own accord. No one told me to speak today. In March, I had the privilege of being accepted into Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley, and various other institutions. I have been reflecting on my academic journey in Newark Unified School District, and I ask myself, how? How does a first-generation student, a Chicana from a low socioeconomic class, get accepted into these institutions? The answer is simple. I had people that unconditionally believed in my potential. The Counseling Center has been a safe place for me throughout these past four years. I remember being embarrassed to tell people that my dream school was Harvard. I thought people would laugh or doubt my potential. The first people I feel comfortable enough to share my dreams with were the counselors. Time and time again, we have seen staff that care about students within the school district be pushed away. I saw it when I attended the junior high, and unfortunately, I see it now. A couple weeks ago, I found out that Ms. Venegas' position was at risk. She's a counselor at the Newark Memorial. This frustrated me because 400 students depend on her for support. As a first-generation student and a Latina, I felt the power of having three educated Latinas being counselors at the high school. That was powerful because Ms. Venegas was not only an alumni, but she also knew what we were experiencing, the process of being one of the first in your family to attend college. That's a really big deal. And so this representation inspired me and motivated me to shoot for the stars, even though I had no idea how it was gonna get there. Thankfully, Ms. Venegas will be coming back next year, but the thought of losing a staff member like her was very frustrating because it felt like we were, we found this, you know, goal. We found this person that really cares about students and we were willing to let that go. I stand here today to say that I would have never gotten into these institutions without counselors like Ms. Menegas and staff that truly believe in the potential of Newark students. I want to speak to the people that have the power within our school district and ask that staff that want to be here not get pushed away. Let's stop this pattern and invest in teachers that are willing to invest in students. My little sister will be attending Norfolk Memorial High School soon, and I want to make sure that she is taught and guided by people that truly care for her. Thank you.

[10105] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Amber. Amber, could you please come back up to the podium? We're going to put you on the spot for a little bit. So thank you for coming tonight, and we're so excited that you're here, you know, and voicing your opinions. and your stance on situations in the district. So we're proud of that. And then wanted to also congratulate you on your huge accomplishment by getting accepted into multiple Ivy Leagues and several other prestigious universities. I was very lucky to have been able to connect with Amber recently in a community engagement and learned a little bit about her experience as a student in the district. She definitely persevered, worked hard, found mentorship. in her teachers and counselors and a belief in her own success. So for that, I just really, and all of us, would like to congratulate you. And then wanted to hear from you which university you decided to commit to.

[10169] SPEAKER_17: I decided to commit to Harvard.

[10173] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you so much. Congratulations.

[10186] SPEAKER_51: Great job.

[10190] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you so much. OK, on to item 11.1.

[10196] SPEAKER_57: Sorry, President Nguyen, if I may interrupt. Our student representative from the junior high just joined. OK, perfect. Mohamed, you may begin.

[10208] SPEAKER_19: Good evening, board members. I hope you guys are having a great day. So at school, we're planning. currently planning for our 8th Weird Farewell Party, which is actually next week. In this event, we're going to be having food from a Mexican restaurant, which I hope the kids will surely enjoy. We're going to be having drinks, including aqua fresca, some sodas, and water. And then we're going to be having entertainment and some fun for the kids. It will be a semi-formal event. Next, we're going to be having our a Great America trip, which will be on May 20th. So this trip will, of course, we will be going to Great America and all the eighth graders will be joining us. We are hoping that every kid will enjoy it. And of course, lastly, we will be having our promotion on June 1st, 2022, which will end off our current year at our new junior high school. Thank you and have a great day.

[10263] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Mohamed. Thank you. Okay, on to 11.1, superintendent report.

[10271] Mark Triplett: Okay, thank you very much. So I wanted to just start by appreciating Cinco de Mayo Day. Ms. Acosta brought it up earlier, but wanted to just celebrate the fact that we are on that day and celebrating that. Could you go to the next slide, Ms. Gutierrez? There it is. So a few announcements and then I actually have a couple of wonderful guests and students that are going to come up and share in this presentation. But first wanted to mention a few things. One has been mentioned, we have graduations and promotions coming up. So we will have the Newark Memorial High School graduation on the 2nd of June, Bridgepoint High School and Crossroads Independent Study on June 3rd, and the Junior High promotion on June 1st. We also have the promotions for the elementary schools. All of these are going to be posted this week on our website and are being communicated out to all the families and staff. Next slide, please. There we go. Just a quick COVID update. So having just gotten back from the spring break a couple weeks ago, we are definitely monitoring numbers just to make sure that we are still in safe zone, so to speak. And as I'm sure you have read in the papers or seen on the news, that there have been some jumps in cases in a number of places in the country, including here in the Bay Area. Go to the next slide, please. So these are actually our numbers, which look surprisingly, continue to be surprisingly low. But there is a caveat to these. But as you can see, on April 11th and 15th, that was the week before spring break. And so we were at eight positive cases for students and one adult positive case. This week we had spring break and then this past week, coming back from spring break, we only had five positive cases of students and one positive case of staff. Now the caveat that I mentioned is, as you would recall, this data is only for students and staff who were on campus when they were contagious. So during spring break, we have gotten notice from families of 19 other cases of positive cases of students during spring break. But those students have not returned to campus and won't return until they are no longer contagious. And likewise, we had three staff who reported being positive on spring break. So just an update there. So we're continuing to be cautious. Although the numbers look relatively good, we also want to be sensitive of those cases that did occur during spring break. And as, like I said, as you've seen in the news, no doubt, there is a little bit of a jump. But for now, it's not going to cause us to change our current policies. So I wanted to devote the majority of this superintendent's report to really turn it over to two phenomenal students, Mr. Rio Huerta and Ms. Emma Tayao. Did I pronounce that correctly? Come on up. They're going to come up to the podium. These two will say more about what they have going on and what's happening. But I just wanted to first say a personal congratulations to the Rocketry Club for getting to the national finalists. I believe there's three teams. Is that right, students?

[10518] SPEAKER_39: Yeah. There's one team that qualified and two other teams that were on the wait list. So they were in the top 120. So all three of us made top 120.

[10533] Mark Triplett: So we are just so proud of this group. I know the Rocketry Club has been around for quite some time and has done amazing things in the past. And this group is coming back from COVID and jumping back in and continuing to do amazing things and make us so, so proud. So I'm going to turn it over to them to talk a little bit about what they've been doing and what they got planned.

[10562] SPEAKER_68: Hello, my name is Rio Huerta. I'm the team captain of Team 11 that qualified for the national finals.

[10568] SPEAKER_39: I'm Emma Taiau. I'm currently one of the presidents for Rocketry. I help out with all the teams, but I do captain another team. So this is a little bit about what we're doing. It's not on the slide right now, but our current mission for our club is really to just create a space for students at Newark Memorial to really just explore STEM. Because for me personally, this was the place where I really got into STEM. And it's just through the designs, the builds, the launches, we are really able to connect and build a community, which is our biggest goal for this year, just to rebuild the STEM community at the school.

[10618] SPEAKER_68: So what we do throughout the year, we participate in the Team America Rocketry Challenge in which we have to get a rocket that meets the requirements up to 835 feet in the air and with a flight duration of 41 to 44 seconds.

[10636] SPEAKER_39: Those were the qualifications. Those were the guidelines for this year, but it does change every year. So in previous years, it's honestly been a little bit easier. We had 800 feet, 835 feet at a certain time. But this year, there's actually a change in the rules. So you qualify, and then it gets changed at nationals, which just makes it a little bit more fun, I guess.

[10665] SPEAKER_68: So we have to design the rockets in a simulator. And then we have a room full of rocket parts, and we build the rockets ourselves. And then we go out to the launches, launch the rocket. If it's too low, maybe you need a higher motor. If it's too high, maybe your rocket needs to be heavier. And for months, every weekend, we're out there, early mornings on Saturdays, launching our rockets. Until late March, even early April, we have our qualifying flights, and our team qualified.

[10700] SPEAKER_39: And after all those months of waking up early and going to Ohlone, we've been able to qualify for nationals, as we said earlier. And this is an event that we usually take place in every year, but we haven't been able to the last two years because of COVID. So just going this year was an accomplishment for our entire club. And really, for me personally, I was really happy to see this happen because it's been a really long journey since trying to get the club to really band together after last year. And just seeing a team being able to qualify is really, really good.

[10743] SPEAKER_68: So we will be taking a trip. Our flight leaves next Wednesday. It's going to be at a field in Virginia, about 50 miles west of the DC area. And we will also be touring the DC area. And we've got a GoFundMe up right now to help pay for all these costs because, man, the price of flights has been just going way up. So if anyone would like to scan the QR code and donate to the GoFundMe, that would be appreciated.

[10772] SPEAKER_39: So we do, and you can watch our journey on our Instagram, which is not on here right now. But if you just search up NMHS Rocketry, we have pictures from our launches. We will have pictures from our upcoming nationals, and we really want to be able to show the community that we've been working hard and we get to show for it now.

[10795] Mark Triplett: All right. Thank you so much.

[10803] SPEAKER_68: He's got more. Go ahead. We would also not like to forget to thank the adults that have helped us along the way. Miss Jane Burns. Mr. Matthew Hacker. Robert Taylor.

[10817] SPEAKER_68: Burns first. And then the other adults cannot be here today, but our advisor, Mr. Matthew Hacker, our mentors, Ms. Janice Bishop, Mr. Jack Stone, and Mr. Robert Taylor. They've all been a great help. They're waking up early with us, helping us out when we need help. So we are very appreciative of that.

[10847] Mark Triplett: That's the superintendent's report for this evening. We can leave that slide up for a little bit so people can scan. I told Rio, bring a big hat so you can get lots of donations. But since we're in a technological age, that's the proverbial hat right up there. That's correct.

[10865] Phuong Nguyen: Are there any comments by the board? Student board member, do you have any comments?

[10871] SPEAKER_61: I am extremely proud of the Rocketry Club. Ever since freshman year, I have admired everything they do. qualifying for nationals is huge, and we should all be super proud of them for everything and the hard work they put in.

[10885] Phuong Nguyen: Ms. Marquette?

[10886] SPEAKER_29: Member Marquette? I just want everyone to know that as of 757, they're at $6,010. Let's help them get to their 10K so we can cover all the costs. Thank you.

[10899] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill?

[10902] Aiden Hill: Great job.

[10903] Phuong Nguyen: Member Grindel?

[10906] Terrence Grindall: I have 100 questions, but I'm not going to ask them. Instead, I'm just going to say congratulations. We're very proud of you. We're looking forward to you bringing even more success in the Nationals. So hopefully all three teams can go, and we're excited for you.

[10921] Phuong Nguyen: Yes. Very, very excited and super proud of you guys. So go and launch it to the stars or the moon. You guys got it. So have a great experience and a safe trip. And regardless of what happens in nationals, I think that you guys did a tremendous job of rebuilding the program and getting students involved. And also, thank you to all the teachers and all the mentors that helped the students along. So thank you. Okay, and on to item 12.1, Parent Family Resources, Dr. Strickland.

[10964] Mark Triplett: Thank you. I'm going to turn this one over to Ms. Pierce, but I will say I'm really excited to have Ms. Acosta here to share about the amazing resources and support that has been built for our families. And Ms. Pierce, I'll turn it over to you.

[10981] Nicole Pierce-Davis: Yeah, this is really meant as a celebration. We've talked about a lot this year, whether it's restorative practices, social emotional learning, or environmental literacy earlier today in our study session. And each of these items have something in common. What does the partnership look like with our families and our communities? And so this parent engagement spotlight is really to celebrate some of that hard work. So I'll turn it over.

[11003] SPEAKER_44: Perfect. Thank you. Good evening once again. I've had the pleasure for the last four and a half years to oversee our parent partner team. Many people may be asking yourself, what are the parent partners and who are they? They are a wonderful team funded by the Center of Alameda for Center for Health and Community Schools that provide families and community connections to resources throughout the Tri-City. If we can move forward to the next slide, I will be highlighting both of them. So currently we have three parent partners with the district. Our first parent partner is Maria Perez, which has been with us, and she is assigned to a few elementary schools. So she supports BGI, BGP, Kennedy, and Schilling Elementary to supporting all of the sites with community resources. We also have Diana Ferreres, and she supports Coyote Hills, Lincoln Elementary School, and the Junior High. I myself have been filling in for the vacancy that we've had this year, and I'm supporting Newark Memorial High School, Bridgepoint, and Music Elementary. So that covers between the team of three, including our missing one would be four, our parent partners that are really here to build community. When we're looking at our community, as you can see here, is a picture of our food distribution that happens every first and third Wednesday at Schilling Elementary School from 10 to 12. We have partnered with Tri-City volunteers that provide us with healthy fruits and vegetables. And for the 2021-22 school year, we've provided over 2,700 bags of fresh fruits and vegetables to our community. So this was more of a response to COVID when we were speaking with families and there was such a need for food. People were losing their jobs and It was just so hard to get fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. We were able to create this wonderful partnership to bring it here to us here in Newark. If we go to the next slide. We also depend a lot on our community partners. We have Bay Area Community Health, which you can see their mobile van there, is on site at Schilling Elementary School every Wednesday from 10 to 4 p.m. to provide all Newark residents with vaccinations, medical clearance for sports, so physicals, but also if your child needs just a wellness check. They may be sick and you may need a place to take them. This community partnership has really broken down the barriers for our families that have to go all the way to Fremont just to access these basic services that our students need. And as we know, if we're able to break down those barriers, the students will be in class and learning in a successful environment. On the screen in front of you, you will see the wide variety of community partners that we have. So as parent partners, we depend on all of these partners to be able to provide our families and students with the services that they need. Just to highlight a few that are on the screen in front of you, we have a partnership with Family Fremont Resource Center, which is located in Fremont. We have a strong partnership with Cadango, which provides our school and state preschool here in Newark. We have partnerships with Bay Area Community Health, Behavioral Health Service for Access, and a wide variety of other organizations that support our families. Our parent partner team relies on these organizations in order to make sure that we're able to effectively connect our families to resources. If we go to the next slide, Ms. Gutierrez. Another big thing with family engagement is looking at our parent workshops. As we know, COVID had a big change in things, and many of our workshops went via Zoom, which was a learning curve for our students, staff, and families. Families were learning how to log in, how to connect, how to learn in an environment online. And so I'm very happy to announce that we offered, back in October, a mental health during the pandemic for our families, which was an evening workshop. We also have created virtually in this school year, our Parents Fathers Cafe, which is an opportunity for fathers only to join on the third Monday of every month to be able to get the support that they need to support their children at home. We've partnered with an outside organization. So Alfredo Alvarez from Tobercio Velasquez Health Center oversees this workshop and has brought many smiles to a lot of our fathers. We also just concluded on April 5 our mental health leadership training, which was 10 weeks via Zoom. And they were meeting weekly with Lourdes Ochoa, which is also from a community partnership with the University of Vasquez, to be able to empower our moms and mother figures, family members, to better support their children, but also to be more empowered to volunteer and seek the assistance that they need from their school sites to really bridge that gap. With the funds that we received this year as well through LCAP, we were also able to provide PK, which is a wonderful opportunity for students and families to come together to have a parent leadership training. PK was offered for 10 weeks, and they met every Wednesday for secondary and every Tuesday for elementary to be able to get the tools that they needed to be able to support their families and bridge that gap from home to school. I really want to highlight last week, actually, we had our PK graduation via Zoom, and we had 29 middle school families complete PK and 22 elementary. So that's a very big number and a success rate. I really want to congratulate those families that completed that. And if you would like to join us on Tuesday, May 10th, here in the room right next door in our training room, we're going to be celebrating those families by bringing them back to receive their certification in person and really congratulate them for the hard work that they did. So we're very excited about that. Another big job that our parent partners do is they support cost. So here in Newark Unified, each parent partner is assigned to a site. and they are part of the COST team. You may be asking yourself, what is COST? COST is our Coordination of Services team, and it is a strategy for managing and integrating supports and resources for students, including behavioral and health services. So students are referred to COST, and you see the form right there in front of you, by either their principal, their teachers, their counselors, or parents and students themselves can make their referrals. The majority of students that are referred to COST are connected to individual or group therapy, mental health services, and address symptoms of depression, anxiety, grief, and trauma. As we know, we've seen a major increase over the years, partially due to COVID and partially due to just the amount of resources that our students and community need. And I'll be sharing that data with you later on today. Another big thing is students and families, this is how they are connected to the parent partner team. So this referral is then submitted to a parent partner. And this is how our team gets the information to reach out and provide the supports that our students need. If we look back to 2017 and 18 school year, when COST was first implemented here at NUSD, you can see in the screen in front of you. BGP had about seven referrals. Music had about 29 referrals. The Junior Hub was about 189. Newark Memorial was about 247. So we had a good strong foundation. But if we click to the next slide, you'll be able to see where we are now. And this is the data that has been collected throughout the years. Currently, as of March 21st, you can see that that is our orange color. we are on the rise. Our cost needs and cost submission referrals have dramatically increased. So this shows that we still have a need to be able to provide connections and support services for our students and staff on a continuing basis. If we go to the next slide. Looking ahead, what's coming for the 22-23 school year? We're very fortunate to still receive funding for not only our three parent partners, but they fund a point five of my position from the county We're continue to grow in Foster our community partnerships that we have so I just signed last week. We will continue with our tri-city volunteers food distribution twice a month through the 22 23 school year and We also will have our mobile clinic back on site at Schilling Elementary School. And we're looking at expanding, as it was pre-COVID, to an additional site. So previously, they were at Schilling and Bridgepoint. So we're looking at bringing that back to be able to service all of our secondary students. Our parent workshops. We're fortunate enough to be able to offer a second round of PK. I'm excited to say that our first round was in Spanish, but we'll be offering an English version next school year to be able to support and reach all of our families. We'll also continue to bring back our nutrition classes that are available for families and our mental health parent workshops to be able to make sure that our students, staff, and community have everything that they need to be successful with parent workshops. And the final thing that will continue on to the year, I wasn't quite ready yet, is cost. Cost will continue to take place at every school site. And we have a wonderful cost system in place that will really hit the ground running so that we're able to implement the community support and services that we need for all of our community students and staff. So we all know that good social and emotional learning includes strong community and family engagement, as you can see in the rings in front of you. So I'd like to thank you for taking the time this evening to hear my presentation and to really highlight our wonderful parent partner team, staff, and community.

[11638] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Acosta. Any comments from the student board member?

[11643] SPEAKER_61: I want to thank you for taking your time out of your day to present this amazing presentation and everything COST can do from the free food to the mental health services and bringing awareness to it. It's huge and I'm so glad that that's happening in our community. So thank you.

[11659] SPEAKER_48: Thank you.

[11661] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquette.

[11663] SPEAKER_29: Thank you. Good evening. So the one question that I did have is if a parent or someone in the community was interested in the vacancy that you have currently How could they go about getting in contact with you or receiving the information to fill that position?

[11678] SPEAKER_44: Definitely. So it will be reposted again for the third time on EdJoin. So that is where you will go to find it. www.edjoin.org. And please, if anybody is interested, please, please, please apply. It's been really, really hard having that vacancy. And our community really needs the support. So thank you.

[11700] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill?

[11701] Aiden Hill: Thank you miss Acosta for your presentation. Thank you for all the work you and your team are doing.

[11706] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Member Grandel.

[11711] Terrence Grindall: Thank you. Yes, thank you for your excellent presentation. Schools can be or should be or maybe are really the center of our communities and the work you're doing of bringing all these services together and you know centered around our schools is really amazing. It's going to bring huge benefits to our community across the board. So thank you very much.

[11740] Phuong Nguyen: I also concur and with my fellow board members all the wonderful things The one thing that really stood out is that from years past to current, the amount of work that you and your team have been doing and have continued to support and also handle the extra workload. And the big part of that is that you've been able to expand the program in the community. So thank you to your team and to yourself for a tremendous hard work. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, on to item 13.1, public hearing. Item 13.1, public hearing on joint initial proposal for reopeners between the California School Employees Association, CSCA, and the Newark Unified School District. Public hearing is open. Any comments? Okay, thank you. Public hearing is now closed. On to old business, item 14.1, History Curriculum Adoption, Dr. Triplett.

[11826] Mark Triplett: Thank you, President Nguyen. So we have here tonight, we're bringing back the History Curriculum Adoption to present to the board, I believe Mr. Dolowich and a team of outstanding Teachers is going to be joining us at the podium. You look like you have your doubts, Mr. Dolowich.

[11849] Nicole Pierce-Davis: And if it's OK, I just want to remind the board that Mr. Dolowich did come in November last year and kind of reviewed this process. And now this is more of a summary presentation of what happened as a result of that process.

[11862] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Thank you and welcome, Mr. Dolowich. Good evening, members of the board.

[11869] SPEAKER_54: Right, hello.

[11887] Mark Triplett: So as Ms. Gutierrez is putting that up, I just want to acknowledge this group and Mr. Dolowich. This process of selecting a new curriculum is not something that anyone takes lightly and they certainly did not. And just the level of thoroughness and the really intentional process throughout the year I think has been really amazing. We knew that we desperately needed a new history curriculum. And so I appreciate how thoughtful this group has been in going through that process. You may have noticed, board members, in the room next, the back room, the training room, that there's been curriculum there throughout this year. There's been opportunities for teachers to come and take a look and browse the different curriculum. And so the team here, Mr. Delarch will explain more about the process and where we've landed.

[11938] SPEAKER_08: All right, thank you. Good evening, members of the board, executive cabinet. Appreciate the opportunity to present this evening. As Dr. Trivela mentioned, the last time this district adopted history curriculum was 2005-2006. So our presentation outcomes this evening include providing a detailed account of the timeline, rubric, and process that the pilot members of the History Adoption Committee followed to get to this point and recommend curriculum to the Board of Education for grades TK through 12. I think the centerpiece is hearing from a number of our pilot teachers. We have two from the elementary level, two from our junior high level, and then we have our department chair from Newark Memorial High School. So very excited and appreciative that they're here this evening to join me. And then finally, I'll conclude with formally recommending board approval for the adoption this evening for TK through 12. So first, again, just acknowledging we have so many, we have five here representing the team, but we have every site represented throughout the district, including Bridgepoint, Newark Memorial High School, all current seven elementary, and of course our Newark Junior High. So I want to acknowledge all of those names on the deck and just appreciate the fact that they've been in numerous meetings, trainings with publishers, multiple publishers, being willing to problem solve, coordinate among each other, fill out rubrics, and submit them to Ed Services. So it's not a small endeavor by any stretch of the imagination. So just a quick recap, we began this process in Ed Services really late summer. In August, we started setting up meetings in September with the state and county. And so I led those meetings and received information from them in order to make sure that we were compliant. and that we're following appropriate process. And then we convened our first meeting in October, which included looking at a number of the state adopted publishers. And I'll present that information here this evening. The pilot teachers submitted rubric results. And then ultimately, we went to Curriculum and Assessment Council for their formal approval, which allowed us to begin January 2022. And then we did two iterations of piloting materials from January up until now. And then ultimately, you can see on April 28th, we return to the Curriculum and Assessment Council and receive their formal approval. So partnering with our partners and making sure that we're going through the processes to get to this point, May 5th, to recommend for board approval. And that would allow us to pursue working with the publishers and begin to receive those materials. So little recap, there are a number of state adopted history programs. That's where we began with the state. And so we looked at each of those in our October meeting, and then we identified six components that we really wanted to hone in on, which included everything from diversity and inclusivity to online access in case of a, another pandemic. So we wanted to make sure that it was accessible for the teachers, accessible for the students, also offered a Spanish component for our DLI students. So took that into account. And ultimately, you can see here, the elementary level piloted Saavis and McGraw-Hill and selected Saavis. Junior high piloted Saavis and TCI, Teachers Curriculum Institute, and selected TCI. And then you can see the selections of our high schools. And one of the things that we were conscientious of was to provide teacher voice in this process. So we wanted to make sure that we heard from our teachers and that they were supported in what made sense developmentally at the appropriate level. And so that does change elementary as you go through the secondary levels. I'm going to turn it over now We have Jamie Rust, a special education teacher, grades 2 through 4 at Lincoln Elementary, as well as Jesse Smith from Birch Grove Intermediate. He teaches a 3-4 combo. So they're going to speak a little bit about the rationale and the process for SAVIS. And then we have Lori Eddings and Alexis Hanley. from the junior high. And then finally, Gordon Crosby, our history department chair from Newark Memorial High School. So provide a little bit of context and teacher voice. I think that's most important.

[12240] SPEAKER_27: OK. So. As Ariel stated, I have the SDC second, third, fourth grade class at Lincoln Elementary. So I actually looked at the kindergarten through fourth grade curriculum because I sometimes get students who cannot process the grade level curriculum for them. Part of the reason I like SAVAS was it had leveled readers. So it had below grade level readers in case I have students that are close to grade level but not quite. I can pull from different levels on the online access. So if I wanted to pull something on maps from third grade and that's too hard, I can go back to second grade, pull something from there instead. As well as the fact that when I looked at the K and 1, it had age appropriate writing paper on it, had three lines versus just here's a blank space, draw something. And the vocab was a lot more appropriate than the other ones we tested out. Online access, I can assign multiple grade levels, and I'm able to pick which grade level each student gets, and it syncs with Google Classroom. So even like Ariel said, even if it's not online because of COVID or anything, I can assign some of my higher students, OK, work on this on your own, and then I will meet with the other kids, and then I'll switch off groups, because that's how we have to do a lot of things in our groups.

[12317] SPEAKER_04: Wow. So glad I came out tonight to hear about the accomplishments of our Newark students and to see this room light up about those accomplishments. Yes, I piloted the new curriculum, the SAVAS, with my 3-4 combo class, and we did the California Gold Rush unit. The first thing we discovered is that SAVAS knows the same thing that you know. It's all about the kids. The unit started with a video from Kid, a kid that was at a historical site, saying why the topic mattered. That's better than, say, a staunch adult. The other thing about Saavis is they had a vocabulary unit that started with a rap song. It was very catchy, and the kids really liked it. The third thing we discovered is that they had reader's theater. We broke into groups, and we reenacted the first school discovery of James Marshall on the American River. The last thing that we found? was, as Jamie had mentioned, it synced with Google Classroom. That made it easy for us as teachers to assign and made it easy for the kids to access the e-books and the other digital components. In all, I've done four social studies curriculums over my 17 years, and I think SAVAS is the strongest. Thank you.

[12395] SPEAKER_08: So we'll just go in order. So next up is Laurie Eddings and Alexis Hanley from the junior high.

[12403] Kat Jones: We'll go together.

[12404] SPEAKER_13: Hi, I'm Alexis Hanley, and I teach seventh grade social studies.

[12410] SPEAKER_64: Hi, I'm Lori Eddings, and I teach eighth grade social studies. We're very glad to be here to talk about the curriculum that we would like to adopt. We haven't had a new curriculum since 2005, like Ariel said. So you can imagine our excitement. Historical events don't really change very much, but the perspective of the events absolutely do. So we're due. Alexis is going to inform you of our process and the reason we chose what we did. Yes, thank you, Lori.

[12443] SPEAKER_13: I'll stand back. I have a couple things to say about the rationale for why we chose TCI after piloting. There were five of us teachers who piloted, and a lot of it is pulled from that rubric that Ariel had on the screen up here. So one is that TCI is very accessible. The textbook is easy to navigate, especially for the age group. Visuals and text really come together. Strong essential questions for each unit, which is really important in social studies. As some of the other teachers have mentioned, it's an easy to use digital platform. So any online learning or even online in the classroom, that's very helpful. Many modifications for ELLs, advanced learners, reading further opportunities, selectable reading levels. And interactive vocab practice, something that I really found useful during my piloting. Flashcards, clickable links, so again, really interactive. What I really love about TCI is how engaging it is. So there's always that spark that's created with roll cards, games, interactive community building. I piloted a few of those with my students, actually. Went really well. And then very robust and customizable assessments, question banks, pre-made tests, And even the assessments, they're authentic and relevant to students' lives. Diverse and inclusive content. So each unit is connected to a broader historical theme and current event. And we're excited to move forward with this, especially with 6th grade and 6th, 7th, and 8th together. Thank you very much.

[12538] SPEAKER_14: Hi there, I'm Gordon Crosby, Newark Memorial High School. I teach, currently, world history. When we first got the task of choosing a textbook, it was four different subjects, eight different companies, and it was overwhelming at first. Plus, we had to come over here to look at our stuff. So with a little bit of pushback with Ariel, he gave us a little bit of flexibility, brought all of our stuff over to the high school, which was nice. Allowed us to look at the stuff on our own time, rather than just very little time that we were given as a department. And that, with also extending our deadlines, was really helpful for us to take a long look at the different publishers so we could make some better choices. Those choices were narrowed down to two different publishers, and we were given a chance to pilot those in the spring. My classes, we took a little bit more of a dive into world history in World War II, probably one of the most critical units of world history. not just the names and dates and facts, but people like Jesse Owens and stories about his life and how he came to where he was and what an impact he made in the Olympics in Berlin. So that was good. Came back together and chose the two different publishers for World History as well as U.S. History and Gov and Econ.

[12623] SPEAKER_08: All right, not an easy endeavor when you consider returning from distance learning and you're jumping into piloting new materials. So we definitely want to be responsive and support them in recommending the curriculum they felt most comfortable with. I will say, if you're new to adopting history, there can be a little bit of sticker shock when it comes to cost. So just some disclaimers as we jump in what you're about to see. The contract is for eight years. So if you take that total and divide it by eight, that's that annual cost. Each curriculum contract will not exceed the specified amount on the screen. And then just to reiterate, again, these are state adopted. Students have used them during this pilot. Teachers feel strongly and recommend them. The quote includes all necessary student and teacher materials, the online access, as well as that Spanish curriculum quote for teachers and students. So we want to be thoughtful and responsive in terms of our current realities, especially returning from distance learning. So if you look at elementary, the total cost is approximately $319,000. TCI, you can see, almost $233,000. And then you can see the specified amounts for each of those four subject areas at the high school. So that total, actually, we were pleasantly surprised when we did a cross comparison. Approximately $878,000. These are earmarked in lottery funds, which is pretty typical for curriculum adoption. And again, this is over the course of eight years. So I want to be upfront and transparent with the costs. We're absolutely happy to respond to clarifications or questions, but ultimately our purpose is to formally recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the TK-12 History Curriculum. And again, this has gone through the History Adoption Subcommittee with the names that were presented on the screen, as well as Curriculum and Assessment Council. So we feel confident with the recommendation. Thank you.

[12760] SPEAKER_49: Thank you, Mr. Talowich.

[12764] Phuong Nguyen: And thank you to your team of teachers and staff who helped pilot the history curriculum for the students. Any comments or questions from a student board member?

[12778] SPEAKER_61: I would just like to add that I am so glad that not only was this a cooperation of teachers, but it was also piloted with students. And to see the collaboration, I'm truly glad we're doing that type of thing.

[12791] SPEAKER_29: Member Marquez. Yes, thank you. Good evening. My question is, will all the teachers receive their own licensing and automatically renew in these eight years as long as they're with Newark Unified, or will it be a shared so they have access to online resources along with the curriculum?

[12809] SPEAKER_08: If I'm understanding your question, yeah. Each of the teachers, they'll receive their own access. As a teacher, they'll have professional development, and they'll be able to utilize it as long as they're a Newark unified employee.

[12822] SPEAKER_29: Okay, thank you.

[12825] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill.

[12826] Aiden Hill: Thank you Mr. Delawich. So three questions, so one directed to you and then one directed to Ms. Rust and then the other one directed to Ms. Hanley. So just to you Mr. Delawich, I want to make sure I understand and get a clarification. So when we talk about curriculum, we're not We're not saying that we're changing what the state's standards are, right? So there's state, you know, standards for history and then also there's ELA standards. And so really it's more that we're taking the the textbooks, et cetera, that we're going to use that are in alignment with that, and then we're choosing, you know, which set of textbooks and resources each level feels is best. Is that a correct statement? That is a correct statement. Okay, perfect. The question I had for Ms. Rust was, I was just curious, you said you had indicated that you were seeing issues with kids not being able to process as they were looking at things. And I was just curious if you could share a little bit more about your perception of what's happening there.

[12894] SPEAKER_27: So right now, what we had before was Studies Weekly. And it was basically a worksheet with a bunch of words on it and foldable, everything like that. And I work with students with learning disabilities. And that is way too much words on a paper for them to process and them for going, OK, just look at this one corner. impossible for them to focus on that thing because, ooh, there's a picture over here that I want to draw on instead. So this is a consumable textbook where they can pull out the pages. They have the bold and highlighted vocab space for things to be drawn in and answer questions. And it's a lot more based on the age range, like the kindergarten has a lot more pictures and a lot less vocab and a lot less words. But it's also meant to be done as a group versus independently, where fourth grade, obviously, the text gets smaller, the questions get a little bit harder, and there's a little bit more words on the page. But it's not just, here's one page, four sides like a newspaper, that here's all the information, figure out what you're going to do.

[12953] Aiden Hill: OK, great. And then it sounds like what you're saying is that, There are certain challenges around maybe kids that are in the SPED area, maybe in EL kids. But does this curriculum allow for differentiated instruction? Okay.

[12973] SPEAKER_27: So this one has on the online option it does have some EL support. I think they said everything they are going to have. I think they said almost everything's in Spanish already but if not they're working on finishing the last couple of worksheets for our EL students in case we have students that need everything everything in Spanish. But it does have things like, on the online platform, it will read it aloud to them. And it will let you go back and reset things. And you can pull from multiple grade levels. So if I have a second grade student who's reading at a first grade level, I can give them stuff that's first grade level, but still meet the second grade standard.

[13008] Aiden Hill: Great. And then just one last clarification, because there's a group that, in my opinion, sadly, oftentimes gets left out, which is, I think, a unique group. And that's the gifted kids. And so you talked about situations where you maybe need to allow kids to go back to a more foundational understanding. But are there opportunities for gifted kids to maybe move ahead a little bit?

[13030] SPEAKER_27: So as I mentioned, the level readers, they have three of them. One's on grade level, one's above grade level, and one's below grade level. So it gives them the opportunity to do that. They also have a lot of research projects built in, which you can go, OK, I expect this out of this gifted group versus everybody else. So you can differentiate in that way.

[13049] Aiden Hill: OK, awesome. Thank you. And then the last question is for Ms. Hanley. So the TCI curriculum, is this the curriculum that was developed here locally? I don't know, it was like 10 years ago or something? It is local, yeah. OK, that is like an awesome curriculum. It is, yeah. So you guys are going to love it. I mean, it's just awesome.

[13069] SPEAKER_13: It's excellent, yeah. The hands-on, really, that's what I love about it, as I mentioned. It really gets the students engaged and getting the feedback from them.

[13079] Aiden Hill: Great. Thank you.

[13080] Phuong Nguyen: Well, I'm excited to see Member Hill excited. So that's awesome. You guys got him excited. That's awesome. Member Condell?

[13092] Terrence Grindall: Yes. Just one pointed question, and then I have more general comments. Mr. Crosby or Mr. Dulwich, can you indicate why the economics curriculum is so much more expensive than the other pieces?

[13111] SPEAKER_08: I would imagine the cost to make that specific textbook. And I don't know why. So I could get a response for you. But in all honesty, I don't know why it's significantly more expensive. OK. I was hoping.

[13136] Terrence Grindall: Yeah. It'd be good to know. I'm not going to have a problem moving forward at this point. But it'd be good to understand what we get for that money.

[13147] Aiden Hill: Cost-benefit analysis. Yes.

[13149] Terrence Grindall: And there's got to be a yield curve in there, too, I think. Are you sure you didn't write that, Member Grindel? The other comment I just wanted to make is I very much appreciate the effort and the process that you've gone through. I particularly value that the teachers that are boots on the ground on this played a key role in the testing and the process. So this process where it's inclusive of the students and the teachers, I really applaud that and I'm going to be supporting it. Thank you.

[13185] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dolowich, and thank you to all the teachers and everyone involved in the curriculum adoption. Thank you for all your hard work and the collaboration that you shared amongst yourselves and your fellow teachers. So thank you so much. Ready to make a motion?

[13207] Terrence Grindall: Can I make one more comment? Yes. I noted in Mr. Crosby's presentation that he liked having the curriculums go to the high school so they could look at it in their own time, on their own time. And I expect, I would guess that a lot of these teachers that worked on this did extra work to make this happen. And it's just appreciated very much.

[13232] SPEAKER_15: Yeah, we kind of struggled with that at the beginning where it was here. It's nice to have it in one central location, but being the only high school in the district, why not have it there? So we put it in our departmental office, and then we pick and choose. brought it back as we went through the process.

[13246] Terrence Grindall: Right. So prep period, you looked at, you looked at curriculum, that's fantastic. So thank you.

[13253] Phuong Nguyen: Oh yeah, no worries. Okay. Member Marquez, would you like to make the motion?

[13260] SPEAKER_29: Okay. Yes, thank you. I move that we recommend, I move that we formally approve the adoption of the recommended history curriculum for grades TK through 12 as presented this evening.

[13269] Phuong Nguyen: Motion made by Member Marquez. I second. And seconded by Member Hill. How do you vote, student board member?

[13276] SPEAKER_46: Yes.

[13277] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill?

[13280] SPEAKER_31: Yes. Member Grindel? Yes.

[13282] Phuong Nguyen: I'm also a yes. It passes five unanimously. Thank you. OK, on to item 14.2, math progressions.

[13300] Nicole Pierce-Davis: With that, we're going to invite Mr. Dolowich back up. Although we may not have to, really this is a chance for us to sort of formally approve the progressions that have come before the board on multiple occasions. Is there anything you'd like to add, Mr. Dolowich?

[13316] SPEAKER_55: With my message? Mm-hmm, yeah. Are we ready? Yeah, come on up.

[13326] SPEAKER_08: Yeah, I think as Miss Pierce-Davis mentioned, we presented it once in January. So this is a reiteration. And again, thank you to the teachers that were a part of the history adoption. I'm going to ask Miss Haley and Mr. Jorgen. So Yvette Haley is the department chair from Newark Junior High School and Tyler Jorgen's in addition to being an athletic coach, is the instructor for both of the blended courses that are a part of our updated math progression. So a little bit of a recap, and then I'm going to turn it over to them. And same idea, I think it's really powerful to hear that math, from a secondary standpoint, hasn't been addressed in recent years. And so for our presentation, again, just providing for the board the rationale for improved math progressions. California Department of Education is coming out with a new mathematics framework this July. So we want to be conscientious of aligning ourselves with the mathematics framework. And then again, I'll turn it over first to Ms. Haley from Newark Junior High School and again Mr. Jorgens from Newark Memorial High School to talk a little bit about their own experience with students, teaching students and the need and I think their excitement. And then finally, just recommend that we receive board approval for the adoption of math progressions. And then we really have a framework for ourselves in Newark, which we can use for both the middle school and for the high school. So we mentioned this before, and this is not aligned the way we currently stand with our mathematics offerings, especially at the junior high. We offer two accelerated options, which I'll show you. One of them ends in eighth grade in geometry, which means if you take seventh grade in algebra and you take eighth grade in geometry, you're not taking math seven common core standards, and you're not taking math eight common core standards. And those are foundational courses in order to succeed long term in mathematics. And so our current progression is not aligned with mathematics framework. Or is it common core aligned? So how do we maximize the opportunities, both providing opportunity at the middle school level and also at the high school level for students that can earn the ability to complete calculus? And so that's part of the conversation this evening. So the vertical alignment would improve grades 6 through 12. It would be a logical progression, as the state recommends, as colleges and universities look to, and ultimately what's best for our students. We've had numerous consultations with the junior high. and the high school math departments. And then these updated progressions, they do align with our UC, CSU, and our private institutions at the college level. At this point in January, I showed a little video clip. I'm not going to show the same video clip, but it made the point that we can't accelerate through algebra. And if we do so, if students take only algebra and geometry as a seventh and eighth grader, they skip math seven and math eight standards, And I made that point. And then it can be a disservice later in their high school career. And so the California Department of Education Mathematics Framework in July, it details a lot of what we're discussing this evening, learning progressions to make math more accessible to students at different points in the career, not just as seventh grade as a gatekeeper. Yes, seventh grade for accelerated options. if they've earned that with a grade, with a math assessment, and with teacher recommendation, and then yet again at the high school level. So there's two entry points in our updated proposal. And then it outlines opportunities at the high school level for students to accelerate in order to complete calculus AB or BC. So I'm going to pause there. I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Haley to speak about her experience with students. the alignment with the math framework, and then the perspective from her math department in the junior high, likewise for Mr. Jorgens. But just to say, in a little context, I think it will probably help Ms. Haley, that's what's currently offered. And so what we're really detailing are two things specifically. Those bottom two lines, let's look at the purple first. So this would not be offered in our updated math progressions, because that's what we're discussing around algebra and geometry. They're missing math 7 and math 8. And then right now, they have accelerated math 7 and a little bit of Math 8, and they go right into algebra. And so we would modify that middle course in the middle trajectory right there. And so that's what's currently offered in terms of two accelerated options. And then if you look at ours, you can see there are two clear progressions, recommendation that the majority of students take Math 6, Math 7, Math 8. And then what's new is a compressed course. So they get all the standards of Math 7, Math 8 in one year. And if they get a B or better, then they're able. to move on to algebra in eighth grade. So still accelerated that opportunity. If they are not successful in math seven and eight, I think what's advantageous about this is that they can just go back to math eight in eighth grade. They don't need to go on to algebra and accelerate through. And then we'll talk a little bit about the high school next. So I'll turn over first to Ms. Haley.

[13671] Marie dela Cruz: Good evening.

[13673] SPEAKER_32: Tonight I'm speaking on behalf of the wonderful math teachers that we have at the Newark Junior High School. We're excited about this math progression described in the slideshow and we've been advocating for change for many years and so we're excited that this time is hopefully coming. Unfortunately we've seen some very negative effects when incoming seventh grade students are allowed to skip seventh and eighth grade standards to take an algebra class. When students skip these very important building blocks, the algebra teachers must fill in the gaps, and this leads to less time actually teaching the algebra class. Some of our students have gaps in their knowledge just coming in from Common Core. Each year, unfortunately, we've seen a decline in our students' abilities to demonstrate basic skills, such as multiplication, division, working with fractions and decimals. We believe this math progression will allow students to grasp a concept they may be lacking. If we can provide students with the ability to complete 7th and 8th grade standards before moving to a more advanced class, we believe students will be more successful in those advanced classes. Offering the math 7th and 8th compressed class to those who qualify and then pass with a B minus or above to move to the Algebra 1 the following year allows us to be aligned with the California Department of Education, which identifies algebra as the course most appropriate for accelerated at the middle school level. Because there will be opportunities for students to take accelerated paths at the high school level, we feel that it is imperative that we make this needed change at Newark Junior High School. Thank you.

[13776] SPEAKER_08: Tyler, Mr. Jorgens, we've collaborated as well as with Ms. Hankey, the department chair, and the math department at the high school. And so just a little bit of a refresher, the purple courses are new. Mr. Jorgens is teaching the first ever blended geometry algebra 2 course. And what the board approved this year is a blended algebra 2 math analysis. And so that opportunity for students at the 10th and 11th grade levels allows them to, and you can see here, accelerate to various options after their 11th grade year. So I'll pause there and turn over to Mr. Jorgens.

[13825] SPEAKER_25: Hey, thank you, Mr. Dowlitch, and good evening, board. I'm excited to take a look at this. I had the opportunity to teach our blended geometry algebra 2 class this year, which was new for the first time. And yeah, it was a really good opportunity ever since I started teaching here. You teach Algebra I classes freshman year, and the kids know going in that they're behind and they have no chance to get to calculus. And if you're looking at certain majors or potential career opportunities, not taking calculus in high school is a really Big setback. And so it's been really great to teach that class. There are three sections of it this year. And one thing that I actually really appreciate about this is that I feel like these pathways are much more flexible, because there's about one third of the students that are in the first blended class are going to go to Algebra 2 next year. And about two thirds, there's going to be two sections of the blended two. And so I like that you can kind of Aggressive is the wrong word, maybe, but you can kind of try to take the more advanced option if it doesn't work out. They're really flexible in allowing you then to go back to Algebra 2 and still complete your A through G, be on track for college, and all that. And I'm also really excited that it means, I think, more students at Newark Memorial will be able to enroll in a calculus AB class than in the past. And I think it will increase just I don't have data yet, but I think we'll have data soon. I think it will increase some of the diversity in those classes. Because in the past, students are kind of set on a track in seventh grade. And I think progress isn't linear. So some students who may have had challenges earlier on may later on grow and be ready to be on the more accelerated pathway. And I think this really gives them the opportunity to do that. Also, just to reiterate something that Ms. Haley said there, that students wouldn't be skipping over standards in Math 7 and Math 8. I've taught many freshman Algebra 2 students who are double accelerated at junior high, who have significant gaps in their learning, and sometimes they end up farther ahead, and it makes it really challenging in ninth grade to then go back and try to fill those holds in while also teaching Algebra 2 at a high level to the point where they can be ready to pass the Calculus 8B exam in two years. So just on behalf of my kind of experience this year teaching blended geometry Algebra 2, if you have any questions for me, I'm happy to answer them.

[13982] SPEAKER_08: Mr. Jordan's is an athletic coach, so I've never seen him so dressed up So community engagements So like I said, actually back in 2019 when I first arrived, I think this was one of my first conversations with Miss Haley and then going out to the high school math department. We've done that multiple times. We've met with groups of parents and individual parents that have had questions and we've held an all community engagement as well. And so and then finally, multiple times we've brought this to Curriculum and Assessment Council. We have the chair of the high school math department on the council and we have another math teacher on the council as well. And so they've recently formally approved this. Again, and the board, thankfully, you've approved the blended courses, so we have Mr. Jorgen's perspective there. So it's the recommendation of Curriculum and Assessment Council that the NUSD Board of Trustees formally approve the updated progression of mathematics courses offered in grades six through 12 as presented this evening. So that concludes our presentation, and we're, all three of us, happy to field questions.

[14059] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you so much, Mr. Dulowich. Any comments from the board, student board member?

[14070] SPEAKER_61: Plenty of questions, actually. Going back to the slide where we showed the progression line for the high schools, first of all, I'd like to say that I truly appreciate the emphasis that we're setting for more diversity in these classes. I do know that seventh grade or eighth grade, that's your track. And for now, it's like you continue on to that until senior year. And it's definitely difficult for other students to want to get ahead. So I appreciate that emphasis. But my question is, if we're trying so hard to set an emphasis in learning the core standards in seventh grade and eighth grade math, why is it that we're allowing students to go from math analysis to Calculus BC, which is one of the most rigorous courses we offer in math?

[14115] SPEAKER_08: You're saying from math analysis honors to Calc BC?

[14119] SPEAKER_61: Math analysis honors or math analysis, correct? First green dot on the third row.

[14128] SPEAKER_08: And then leading to Calculus BC?

[14131] SPEAKER_61: Yes. Will students not lose fundamental concepts from Calculus AB?

[14139] SPEAKER_08: So that is a very good question. And different districts teach Calculus AB and BC differently. One way AB, and I think Ms. Pierce, you have a good background. She's helped partner with me with this, is AB, and I'll allow her to add on to it, AB is not the complete series of calculus that you would receive your first year in college. And BC is that. And so for the students that are able to complete the full year of that, I think that would be based on the fact that they've earned that ability and that they've shown that they could complete the full series. It is very demanding. But I don't think it's necessarily setting them up for failure because you have the calculus AB option, which is not the full sequence of calculus, if that makes sense. I think I'll turn it over to Ms. Pierce and maybe Mr. Jorgens to provide a little bit of context.

[14208] Nicole Pierce-Davis: Yeah, and I'd love for a math teacher. So generally, the way, and again, because it's so much content and such rigorous content, in practice is different than the actual curriculum or the standards themselves. But generally, calculus AB is the first semester of that first year of college, whereas BC is the first full year. So it's spread out, AB would be spread out that first semester of college, spread out over the full year, whereas BC is that whole year over that whole year. Now, some students do take AB, BC, some in practice in the way we teach, just because it's so much content. So that would be a pretty huge jump. Obviously, Calculus BC is about as high rigor as it possibly gets in high school mathematics. And different programs might adjust it in different ways. But the intent of Calc AB is not that AB builds on BC, although you can take them. You can take Calc AB and then BC. But the actual curriculum, the way it's written, is that AB is the first semester spread out over the year, whereas BC is that full year spread out over that full year.

[14271] Mark Triplett: Can I just add to that? So AB is the first semester in college of BC. In other words, AB is embedded in BC.

[14282] SPEAKER_61: All right. So from what I'm hearing, we'd be allowing students to basically hit the ground running once they enter BC. like they'd have to know some minor concepts of derivatives and integrals from AB to be able to get to BC?

[14298] Mark Triplett: No, it's that once you get up to AP calculus, if you take AB, you're taking a full year of what would be half a year in college. But if you take BC, you're taking the full college year in high school. AB is the first part of BC. So you could, as a student, you could say, you know what, I want to take AB and then I'll finish the calculus work in college. Then you could do that. Or for those who are extremely accelerated, you could take the whole thing in 12th grade. But you wouldn't take AB in 12th grade and then also BC. You wouldn't take AB in 11th grade and then take BC because BC has AB embedded within it. Does that make sense? Yes. Yeah, unless you wanted, unless you needed like some repetition or something.

[14358] SPEAKER_08: And I needed multiple iterations of that as well in terms of.

[14362] Mark Triplett: Yeah, well I think where it gets, oh sorry, I think where it gets complicated is sometimes it sounds like some high schools are calling it ABC or, is that right? They're using other terms, but when you go to college, when you look on College Board, and it sort of breaks down exactly what those two courses, how they're defined, they are defined as A, B, and then B, C, and such.

[14386] SPEAKER_61: All right, and a follow-up question to that. Mr. Dolowich, you mentioned that students earning to get to B, C, and the accelerated students being able to take B, C. Who is making those decisions as to who gets to get to B, C?

[14401] SPEAKER_08: the teacher, their teacher, from the previous course.

[14405] SPEAKER_61: All right. Is it? I don't know how to ask. I'm sorry, were you saying something?

[14411] SPEAKER_08: I was going to say, and that was part of the rationale for if you see Algebra 1 in ninth grade. So then, because we didn't have accelerated opportunities at the high school previously. And so the teacher who teaches Algebra 1 ninth grade has a very, clear understanding if the student is able to move on to blended geometry algebra 2 with Mr. Jorgens. Otherwise, if they didn't earn that, then they would go from algebra 1 to geometry 10th grade. So it's providing that opportunity for the math department and the math teachers to be able to teach the students on campus and then make recommendations based on the work they've done that year.

[14459] SPEAKER_61: All right. Thank you. Sure.

[14462] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez?

[14463] SPEAKER_29: I was going to say, she stole my thunder. That was my question. It was actually an excellent question. So yes, thank you for all the hard work. And to the department heads, especially when it comes to math, I know it's tough work. And I appreciate the progressions that were put in place so that that way now the students have options. So thank you.

[14484] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Member Marquez. Member Hill?

[14487] Aiden Hill: And thank you. And this question is directed at the junior high school chair. And I'm sorry I didn't catch your name. Miss Haley. Miss Haley. So could you go a slide back to show or maybe one more. Or no, I guess, sorry, the other way. Go the other way. Yeah, there you go. So for somebody that hasn't been in seventh and eighth grades for a long time, can you remind or can you tell me when you're talking about this blended seven and eight and you're saying that it's really important, what are the concepts that are being covered in that particular course?

[14523] SPEAKER_32: So it's all the seventh grade concepts and all the eighth grade concepts. Things like volume, things like one-step equation, two-step equations, being able to solve problems, being able to draw a blank on all the eighth grade standards that we've just taught. So everything that's in eighth grade and everything that's in seventh grade, they're all in one year now. So we have to move quickly with it so the kids They have lots of homework. They have a new concept each day that we're teaching. So it's a very fast-paced classroom.

[14563] Aiden Hill: And again, I'm not sure if I understood, but were we skipping over that in the prior?

[14568] SPEAKER_32: So in the prior years, what was happening is if a student would come in and go to algebra as a 7th grader, they didn't get any of that foundational information as a 7th and 8th grader. They skipped over 7th and 8th grade concepts. They moved to algebra. So when you get an algebra and a teacher is trying to explain something, maybe using a two-step equation, they haven't had that. So now the teachers had to go back and explain how to use the two-step equation.

[14594] Aiden Hill: So it was slowing down the algebra.

[14597] SPEAKER_32: Exactly.

[14598] Aiden Hill: Exactly. OK. Thank you. Thank you.

[14601] SPEAKER_49: Member Grindel.

[14604] Terrence Grindall: I want to thank Mr. Hill for that question, because now I know why I was so confounded by algebra. Sorry, that was a little levity. All right. I have a couple of questions. Actually, the main part is, and this may be impossible to answer, we have financial problems in our district. We've spent some time looking at it. How does this change? Although, you know, I support it. I like the fact that we're on the cutting edge, that we're ahead of what the state's going to do, and that we're really thinking about how we can best educate our children. But I am interested in the implications of this change in terms of keeping our classrooms full and and not having major problems with master's scheduling.

[14652] SPEAKER_08: So financially, there's no cost because we're still teaching the same. I'm sorry.

[14658] Terrence Grindall: But if we have classes that have 10 students in them, then there's a cost.

[14663] Nicole Pierce-Davis: Yeah. In some ways, this actually supports being. We did have some of those. If you go back to the middle school progressions, we did have some of those sort of early geometry classes with maybe eight students in them, 10 students in them. That was something that when I joined the district last year around this time we were getting into these parent meetings kind of talking about what this kind of actually a little bit full circle a year later. So that it actually helps in that way. And so part of the beauty of that other than the high school sort of added on top of this is that it has that built in flexibility without having to without having to completely pull kids out into separate classes, effectively tracking them, right? This allows for flexibility of movement with sort of less of that fully tracking model where you were stuck in this path and now you're going to be with these kids in this way. Now it's like I can try to kind of push myself a little bit. And if it doesn't work, that's OK. I can go back to this class. So in some ways, it's actually fiscally more responsible while still providing that flexibility. There are some aspects to it I'd love to push us on around tracking, but I think this is a really beautiful compromise. And I think it, again, it adds in that flexibility.

[14737] Terrence Grindall: Thank you. That was really my concern. I don't have any inside knowledge. I just wanted to, I assumed you were on top of that. But, you know, it's a concern. And, you know, the other issue is that because of low enrollment in some of these classes, we could end up sort of, this could be flexibility on paper only if we can't actually offer the class. So that's all I have.

[14765] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. And I'd just like to personally thank Ms. Haley. My daughter had June class for a teacher. And I have to say that she was struggling in sixth grade with math. And I think it wasn't struggling. She was not confident about her math abilities. But she had you in seventh grade, and then over time, built that confidence back up. And I think the new math progression fits her pretty well, because now in ninth, she's really excelling in Algebra 1. And next year, she's going to be hopefully getting Mr. Jorgens in the blended class for Geometry and Algebra. So I really do think that this progression does allow for a lot of flexibility for our students and to build the confidence that they need. And also, you never know with math. Their ability to excel could be later on. And it's definitely true for my daughter. So I just wanted to thank you guys both for really advocating for this. And thank you. And with that, oh, yes.

[14832] SPEAKER_61: Two more questions that I just thought of. As currently, some students are allowed to take Ohlone courses or online courses to advance on their own pace to a bigger course, I suppose, a more advanced course. Would that still be allowed, say they take a course at Ohlone to move on to math analysis instead of algebra?

[14853] SPEAKER_08: Yes. We're going to still maintain our relationship with Ohlone.

[14856] SPEAKER_61: All right. And I just wanted clarification one more time. In my opinion, at least, there's a reason why there is the process of AB and then BC. And will it not be extremely demanding on students to have to adapt to the process and the speed of BC?

[14877] Phuong Nguyen: So can I answer that? I'll answer that. We had a student at Newark Memorial who came here and spoke at the board meeting. Alan Mayer. Alan Mayer. Thank you. And his story is actually very inspiring. He also did not find math exciting or interesting until later on in his career. in his later school years, right? And with help and mentorship from the math department teachers there, he also took classes at Ohlone to be able to get into the AP Calculus BC and he passed with a five. So I think it's definitely, I would never want to shortchange any student's ability to be able to take any of these classes. And if our teachers, unlike other AP courses that we have in the district that you guys can definitely pick to take, I think in math, there's definitely a progression that they're monitoring and making those recommendations for students to be able to excel and succeed in those classes.

[14950] SPEAKER_61: And I definitely agree. Alan is truly an amazing person for math. And a lot of us go to him for help in tutoring. I don't know. Not all of us are at that standard of being able to accelerate amazingly at these math courses. Some of us take a while to process things. And while I don't mean this in a negative connotation, in my personal experience, I've tried taking advanced courses while skipping some of the minor courses. And it wasn't that I wasn't good enough for these courses. It was just that I wasn't ready and needed to take more basic concepts to understand these accelerated courses.

[14988] Phuong Nguyen: But you, as a student, realized that you knew that you needed to do that. And you guys, and you talked to your teachers about that, right? Your teachers aren't pushing you on to making these choices.

[14998] SPEAKER_61: But I didn't realize that until second semester throughout that course, where you can't take out a course. The only fear I have with this math progression is that the students who want to push themselves more than they know they can will not be able to make it as they expect it to. And then they're left with a lower grade that in the end can ultimately get an acceptance or decline from a college. So I'm just worried, is it too much to expect from a student?

[15027] Nicole Pierce-Davis: I think what I'm hearing you say is what you'd really like to make sure that is happening before they jump into a course that rigorous is that they sort of go in eyes wide open, fully understanding the sort of rigor. No one's going to fully understand the rigor of anything, right? You do your best. And I think that counselors and teachers can really support and guiding. But I think what we don't, we also don't want to lose student voice in the process, right? So when you have a student I keep calling him young Sheldon. I shouldn't. I'm so sorry. Alan Mayer. When you have a student like Alan Mayer, we don't want to place barriers. And I think I discussed a personal situation where I once said, I want to take this class. And the counselor said, no, you can't do that. And so bias creeps in and things like that. But there is a balance there. No one's saying we're going to just push kids into BC. I think they need to be very fully aware. I think there's also a kind of a standard progression where we're going to sort of guide kids into. But I think we have to be careful about saying no. But I think you're also right, we have to be careful about educating and making sure that folks really know what they're getting themselves into and what's recommended for them. So I think that that's good feedback that we can take back. And I don't know if our teachers can talk about what that process looks like. Or, I don't want to put you on the spot, or if that's just something we can take back to our high school math departments or counselors around what is the message we're telling students as they're making these choices? Is there something else we can do to help better educate students who are interested in that path before they get there?

[15114] Phuong Nguyen: Quick question, just like at the junior high, for kids to maintain a B minus to be able to continue in the class or they have to drop back, is that something that we can consider for these math progressions at the high school as well? Or is it already in place?

[15130] SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that is a part of it. If they're not successful, for instance, in the blended courses, then they revert back to, for instance, Algebra 2. And to your point, it's not for everyone, right? So that's why ninth grade at the end of algebra, that conversation with counselors and the teacher is important. Not everyone's going to go into those blended courses, that progression, but that's one opportunity that never existed before. So we're building it in, but it's not for the entire student population.

[15164] SPEAKER_61: All right, thank you.

[15165] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. And if there's no other comments, may we get a motion to approve?

[15173] SPEAKER_34: I'll move approval.

[15174] Phuong Nguyen: I second. Motion made by member Grindel, seconded by member Marquez. Student board member, how do you vote? Yes. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill? Yes. Member Grindel? Yes. I'm also a yes, so unanimous. Thank you. Onto our next item, 14.3, and we do have a public comment speaker, Mr. Brian Foster on credit recovery.

[15224] SPEAKER_21: Hi, and thank you. This will be my second and last time tonight, I promise. Okay. President Wynne and members of the board, I obtained certification in APEX functionality on June 15th, 2015. I became aware of our APEX abuses when I substituted for an APEX lab as a teacher here in Newark Memorial on February 16th, I'm sorry, 6th of 2019. Throughout the spring of 2020, I learned how our use of APEX undermines teacher authority in grading, especially among graduating seniors when they were replacing regular classes with APEX. I had a discussion then with Interim Principal Rangel, and she agreed with me that APEX was a problem that needed to be corrected. On June 22, 2020, the Mercury News ran a story about the 2019-20 Alameda County Grand Jury report on APEX abuses at Castlemont High School in Oakland. I forwarded the links to both the article and the grand jury report to Ms. Rangel, along with the recommendation that she fix this problem as we had discussed. Ms. Rangel responded, quote, we need to revise our board policies anyway. Sometimes encouragement to do something that you have been meaning to get done comes in rare form like a grand jury decision, unquote. Clearly, Ms. Rangel's response confirmed that she shared my positions on APEX. Through the spring semester of 2021, it became clear that APEX was continuing unabated. And I made public comments to this board on June 3rd, 2021 to that effect. I spoke again about APEX abuses at the August 18th and September 2nd study sessions, as well as at the September 16th board meeting. Again, I have documentation to support everything I stated at those meetings. This past week, students informed me that they are still able to complete a semester of APEX in as little as a day, that they are using cheating websites, the new one that I just learned about, called Brainly.com and Quizlet.com to get APEX answers, and that they can take final APEX exams as many times as necessary in order to get a passing grade, all of which should qualify as violations of the school's academic honesty policy, which should result in zero credits and possible suspension. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that among the polled comments of the 13 APEX students in your presentation, that they want more of APEX and they want more unlocked APEX lessons so that they can complete more of the lessons at home unsupervised. Note as well that the staff surveyed in tonight's presentation was sent to only four teachers. three counselors, and two administrators, a total of five of whom responded. The broader NTA teaching community was excluded from the survey, and very few teachers who know best the content of the courses for which students are given passing credit have not been heard. I still stand behind all that I have reported to you tonight, and all of which I have stated previously, and I invite you still to come to the side of academic integrity. Thank you.

[15390] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Mr. Foster. Dr. Triplett?

[15398] Mark Triplett: Thank you, President Nguyen. So as the board knows, this is a topic that has come in front of the board a number of times, had a number of discussions. And this year, the board made a decision to have APEX be the credit recovery system, which is now becoming Admentium. And and that the board asked to for us at the end of this year to bring this back for further discussion to determine if if we were to continue with Apex as the credit recovery platform or switch to a different credit recovery platform and So I'm going to turn it over to Miss Pierce-Davis I think there's been Oh, and I do want to appreciate student member, Resendiz Ortiz, who supported with some of the student polling and getting student surveys out and input from students. So I'll turn it over to Ms. Pierce-Davis.

[15462] Nicole Pierce-Davis: When we get to that part, please feel free to add anything I may have missed, OK? OK, so we've been talking about APEX and credit recovery for some time. I'll go through these first slides quickly because you've seen them before and because it's getting late. So technology can make a differentiated and equitable credit recovery easier for students, teachers, and schools, but it doesn't replace high quality teaching from educators who set high expectations that help make curriculum come alive. We have this quote from a teacher earlier talking about diverse learning needs. Again, thinking about credit recovery, not as just taking the same course over and over again, because again, we know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, but rather targeting the areas where the student struggled the first time around. So not, in a sense, giving the entire course a second time, but really targeting gaps and trying to address those gaps strategically. In those study sessions and staff reports, we covered a variety of topics. On August 18th, we looked at credit recovery sort of overview from APEX, some efficacy studies, and then usage, about 1% total amount of credits taken at Newark Memorial were earned through APEX in 2021. We learned that the average student who enrolled in APEX recovered about 1.8 courses. Implications for moving online, we talked about that just in that, again, definition of insanity, master schedule challenges, and then the fiscal cost of really unfilled sections when you do have to go back and create those courses a second time. On September 2nd, we talked about really focused on answering your specific questions that you had regarding APEX. So we presented some data that demonstrated most students who took APEX courses passed the subsequent courses, which shows the level of rigor that happened in that course. We also showed you data that showed students who were taking APEX courses were less likely to graduate. And we sort of expected that, right? Because if you are taking a credit recovery course, you've already failed a course. So we sort of expect that you might be struggling in school in some classes. And so that data was to be expected. We reported on some other embedded intervention that you inquired about, whether it was pause, tutorial, or so on. We considered how to integrate technology to enhance student and teacher experience. And then we considered some of the really pushes such as AB 104 that really explicitly references credit recovery and sort of fifth year senior options. And then we did raise some student voices as well. And then on September 16th, we talked about the accountability structures that were implemented this year, as well as anticipated enrollment, fiscal implications, neighboring districts, and then teacher and student voice. We continue to bring that to the table. That brings us to today. We want to continue to consider equity, cost, and master schedule. I just don't want us to forget these. These are three major buckets related to credit recovery and why so many districts employ it as a strategy for credit recovery, using an online tool I mean. So I just don't want us to forget that. The board did direct us on that day. It was a bit of a complicated request. It got bigger and bigger. So I just wanted to remind us of exactly what that request was. You did approve APEX for this year as a site-based accountability structure for credit recovery. But you also directed us to research impacts of the existing accountability structures, as well as research other possible options, and pull the student perspective of new accountability measures. So that was the ask that night. So, when you ask us, you know, how are these accountability measures impacted, it makes the most sense to ask the people using the platform if the accountability, if they feel like the accountability approaches are useful. If I were to ask a teacher not using APEX or a counselor not using APEX, they wouldn't know if these new accountability structures this year were effective or not. So that is why we did survey who we surveyed. We ended up getting six responses before I closed the forum, but unfortunately that didn't make it before these reports were due over the weekend. So ultimately we sent out the survey to all of the staff at Newark Memorial who are involved with APEX, which included four teachers, three councils, and two administrators. Ultimately, we got six responses. That sixth response was in the four category here. So on a scale of one to five, how effective is APEX at providing credit recovery opportunities for students with appropriate academic rigor and differentiations? And this was the. the response that we got. There were some other just narratives that I'd like to raise. Areas of appreciation, where that students are given a second chance to receive credit in a smaller environment with teacher's assistance. Time restraints are different, so they feel less rushed. It gives students the opportunity to work at their own pace. And this system in particular allows text to be translated in several languages, which seem to be supportive of students who need it. And they actually appreciated the fact that you could retake tests and quizzes as part of the process. And then again, just finding alternative ways to support student learning rather than doing the same thing over again. There were areas of improvement lifted. They wanted to include additional assignments that would be graded by Newark Memorial High School staff. They did note that some of the answers for basic quizzes could be looked up online. I would argue that's the thing. same as homework and quizzes that we take in school. The ability to make accommodations for SPED students, they really wanted that as an accommodation. So if we have a special education student, how can we accommodate for their needs? And then determination of when it can be used to make up a grade, just getting clarity across the school site around that. What are your thoughts regarding these accountability measures? The sixth response actually was in the sustained category there. So if that helps, just know what the sixth response would be. 20% thinks they should be decreased, 80% with these five, and again, I think it went to maybe 86% and 16%, something like that, want to sustain for future years what we are doing currently. And none of the staff wanted to increase the accountability measures at this time. Just as a reminder, the accountability structures that are in place, there are limits on allowable credits recovered per year. So 20 credits, one course at a time, starting with the class of 2022. So that's this year. Students are allowed to take Apex credit recovery courses only after taking and failing of the traditional course, unless they're extenuating circumstance. Students must perform 60% or higher. Tests and quizzes are locked now during school hours and can only be taken under the supervision of a Newark Memorial High School staff member. Finals are proctored by Newark Memorial High School credentialed teacher. And teachers of Apex courses must be credentialed in the subject of the course except for some approved electives. And there is a Apex learning agreement as well. So just as a reminder, those are the accountability structures that we're talking about when we say, were these things working or were they not? These are sort of what is being done regionally. I won't go back into it, but I did find some data that out of the 354 districts in California, of those, they, in California, are Edmentum customers. Of those, 182 districts in California are currently using Apex courses as their credit recovery solution. So it is a pretty common practice in California. Types of online programming, again, I just want to sort of differentiate because one of the requests was to kind of look at some other solutions. And we have jumped into edgenuity this year with our crossroads. Edgenuity, that is, but those are different ways. So edgenuity currently is being used for independent virtual instruction. It is different than credit recovery. Credit recovery targets gaps. Virtual instruction is giving you a full course the first time around. So not only is it more expensive, it's just a different type of instruction. So this comparison that I'm bringing to you, I personally did not put together. This was put together by a teacher at Newark Memorial High School. And they wanted to kind of compare Apex with Edgenuity and Ascelis, which is a nonprofit option. And so you've all had this ahead of time. I'm not going to read the slides directly. But we looked at this comparison as we As before, we looked at this comparison before we asked the staff to look at the accountability measures and see whether or not they felt like they were effective. And just a little bit on cost, when we think about our district in particular, if we're looking at about just getting through summer school this year, which is coming very quickly. If we just looked at about 100 licenses, the quote for which is now, I'll speak to this later, is now Edmentum. They're combining together now. So it's a whole new ballpark. We have to repeat this whole process over again. But that would be around sort of, I want to say, $28,000 for Apex. But because we have an existing partnership for us, it would be around just under $21,000. And that would be for 270 licenses, not just 100. And so those could be reused over the course of the year. For edgenuity, it would be closer to 70,000 to 85,000 for those same 100 licenses, which then again can be reused over the course of the year. So there is quite a big difference of cost there. And then a cellist would be much less, but because it was not raised as one of our top choices from our staff, I'm not going to speak to that one quite as much this evening. And then there is the instruction with purely an NUSD teacher and with less, there is an NUSD teacher in both circumstances, but one, the NUSD teacher is doing most of the heavy lifting, whereas the other one, the NUSD teacher is really supporting and mentoring and stepping in where they can. So it's just a different type of license. You can kind of go down a rabbit hole with these programs in this way. And then the course offerings. APEX at the time of comparison really aligned with Newark Memorial. Most of the courses did for edgenuity, but there were some missing. And then the same there with Asellus. I do want to note that when we surveyed staff, there was a slight preference to stick with APEX Edmentum as the online credit recovery tool. It wasn't overwhelming, but there was a slight preference there. When Oh, this, then we then we pulled our students. So again, the task here was to pull students. This was not with an intention to prove one thing or the other. We just wanted a sense of student experience. And this is where we got a lot of written feedback. I tried my best to put the key things that I saw, but our student member may have saw something different. So I want to just be transparent about that and invite you into the conversation if you want to raise some additional things that I may have missed. So after knowing a little bit about APEX, do you think it's beneficial? These were the responses from two different surveys taken at different times. If you have taken an APEX before on a scale of one to five, one being terrible and five being the best, what was your experience like? And so that was for our second poll. And then again, I think the richness of our student feedback was actually in text, but this is a lot of text to read. So this is where we sort of get this qualitative data. There's a couple of things without reading every single quote. Some students really focused on sort of getting a second chance. Other students talked about excuse me, learning in some of the beginning lessons. It sort of treats you as if you already know the subject, versus having to retake the full course again. Some students did note that they felt like it was boring, and it took way too long to get through. And so that's something we also want to note. Some just said, listen, I wanted to graduate. And so this helped me not to fail a course, and so I could graduate. I think some talked about really to sort of maintain their progress in their academic career. Some asked for it to be a complete sort of separate class embedded within the day, although I'm not sure if a quote got up there for that. And then there were some notes, I think that was referenced earlier, where they actually, it was frustrating to them that things were locked. They wanted them unlocked so they could take them at home, at night, during the evening, in the mornings, on weekends, which is when they said they were really working on the content. It became a bit of a frustration to have those things locked. Again, I would say the staff recommended that we maintain these adjustments. So just consider this in mind. And again, student member, please feel free to rebut that if you'd like. I do want to just raise one quote that sort of touched me a little bit personally. This last quote on there, I believe Apex is super helpful for anyone that really needs to make up their credits. I honestly thought I was going to fail at life until I was given a second chance. And I just want to know, when we are talking about high school students and graduation, we really are talking about their lives and their futures. Having a high school degree is critically important, and some students need second chances. Anything you'd like to add there that I may have missed?

[16282] SPEAKER_61: Another honorable mention is the fact that many students mentioned that it adjusts to their own pace in the way that some students take longer to grasp concepts and others will understand it quickly enough. So it's definitely able to different students, which is nice.

[16301] Nicole Pierce-Davis: We did this, this came directly from your survey, member Resendiz-Ortiz, and you asked these questions. So, what were the benefits of taking APEX? Second opportunity, good learning system, making up credits, it lets me manage my own time, and overall easier. I think that slide sort of speaks for itself. Anything you'd like to add, please do so. Has APEX program beneficial to your learning journey? Yes, no, and unsure. And then this is just, I wanted to take a moment to say, Apex, as of July of this year, and it's taken about a year for them to really kind of make this shift, has now been taken over by Edmentum. So there are new things coming down every single day. I actually just met with our representative from Apex earlier last week and he was talking a lot about the excitement about, you know, it used to be sort of different layers and with Edmentum and Apex sort of joining together, it kind of felt like two large forces kind of coming together and that both programs would be improved. I think that that We'll need to see that. Obviously, he's selling a product there. But they are two of the largest. credit recovery options for online platforms that exist. So the staff recommendation at this time is to continue with now Edmentum. So you see a quote there attached because we do have summer school starting very soon. So we do need to approve an online credit recovery tool for part of that portion. The credit recovery will not be all Apex, but we do and we're hiring teachers now, NUSC teachers for that program. So we just wanna make sure we're ready to hit the ground running for summer school this year. So the staff recommendation is that we continue with this as an online credit recovery platform, which means we are approving the quote this evening, that we're maintaining our current accountability adjustments. And again, you can rebut that if you'd like, based off of some of the student feedback while continuing to consult with site-based staff for overall program alignment and improvement. I don't think any program or any class is perfect and so I know that it's easy to sort of go after a computer or an online system because it's not a human teacher. But all of our programs need improvement, so I just want to keep that in mind. And I also want us to keep in mind that we should continue researching alternatives, especially since this is a new partnership. We just want to make sure we're being mindful, keeping an eye on it, and making sure that this continues to be what our staff is recommending. Thank you.

[16467] SPEAKER_49: Thank you, Ms. Pierce-Davis.

[16470] Phuong Nguyen: Any comments? Student board members?

[16475] SPEAKER_61: As you can tell from helping out with the survey with Miss Pierce, I definitely favor Apex. Recalling back to the meeting in September 16th, 2021, where we were discussing whether or not we would be keeping Apex. I personally find it a bit crazy that we have to put ourselves in the perspective of students for some of these situations. Because given a second chance is something that a lot of students do need and Succeeding at the first chance isn't always what's going to happen. So getting that second chance and at least having a passing grade rather than a failing grade that can ultimately affect your entire college career is huge. So I definitely believe that a second chance is nothing wrong with it as long as the student is being honest with themselves. Through the reports I was just reading through them, a lot of students favor it. Like Ms. Pierce said, they believe it offers a second chance. It adapts to their work schedule. Teachers are guiding it, which is good in any way of cheating and if any possibility. As I restated in the September 16th meeting, our community is a lot of first generation students, a very diverse community, which is amazing. But it also means that we aren't at the standards of students who have parents who have already guided them through those courses or have family members who know how to do those advanced courses that they maybe not even got to experience. So it's a huge factor that we have to take in and what type of community we live in. That is all for now. Thank you.

[16566] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, student board member. Member Marquez, any comments?

[16571] SPEAKER_29: Yes. Good evening. So first of all, I went to go I went to approach the accountability structure. We're discussing quite a bit of accountability structure when it comes to the students. What I'm looking at is accountability of the staff that are overseeing the apex and allowing it to happen. Both ingenuity and momentum allow for the different levels, right? So as an administrator, an administrator can sit and log in and see how many times a teacher let a student retake or pass something. even with a failing grade. They can print out the report. They can see all the activities that are happening. So my concern would be with what students, right? And it's not 13, because I'm amazed. So there's only 13 students that responded with the amount of students that take credit recovery. And that'll be my second part to my question. But the information where if we know that's happening, why isn't it blocked, meaning than if we know that the kids are retaking and retaking and retaking. It's not about not being given a chance. It's about educators willing to work with a student so that what they are learning helps them in their future, building their successes. It is not successful to allow a student to do retakes, to sit there and use Quizlet, to use Brainlead Quizlet, or to have cheat notes. take a class that's already considered a recovery course. My second concern is, and what I'd really like to know with information, because my light switch did not go on before, is which courses are the primary courses that our students are taking in credit recovery? Because if they are core subjects, we this evening are supporting core subject matter, histories, and math. But if we are allowing our students to turn around and take a credit recovery and go to what we've invested in for them, we have a problem. We do, because we are the decision makers for what we are trying to help them build for their future. All right, so when we talk about accountability structures, It's human nature, right? We may find a way or the easier path. But if we as educators are not working with these youth and saying, OK, if you struggled in English 10, you need to take English 10 in summer, not Apex to make up an English 10 course. We need to help you because that is a foundational course that will help them in their future, in their lives. So that is my concern. And then the other concern is that If you go back, it's to slide. And this really stuck out to me. Slide 21, the fourth bullet says, as it is like an online course, students don't have to face with teachers and to be afraid of them. We have a student who's telling us in the poll that they're afraid of their teachers. That is troublesome because Our student board member is saying that we need to give opportunities. That's what we should be about is making sure that they have the ample opportunities. But if we have someone who's telling us anonymously out of only 13 students that were polled or that responded because they're afraid of their teachers, I'm highly concerned. So what I'm asking as a board member is that the accountability structure, yes, it needs to exist. But it needs to make those who are overseeing it accountable. So if I'm sitting here and I pull up my report like what my principal does for me every weekend for ingenuity and says, wait, Marquez just gave this student five bypasses, then they can see the amount of time I spent on that lesson. And it's 0.50 seconds, not even a minute. It speaks for itself. I didn't teach it. And that's where it's no longer fair. And we are disservicing our students. And that's my biggest concern.

[16860] Nicole Pierce-Davis: I appreciate that you raise those concerns. I think I have a couple of concerns as well. I think we're making a lot of assumptions without seeing that data. So I would love to sit down with you and maybe pull that report up with Principal Rangel and say, let's pull up the report and let's start targeting that. So if that's an additional accountability measure, we can approve this with that additional accountability measure. And maybe that's what we're looking at every semester is, how often are we retaking these quizzes? And that can be an additional accountability measure. I do want to say, though, that, you know, Without seeing that data, I don't want to make that assumption. I'm not going to just outright assume that our students are cheating in that way. I don't think it's appropriate. Frankly, I want to make sure that we're rooted in the data. So that's step one. And I think we can make that accountability measure. And to be honest, I'm interested in looking at that data now. So let's look at it together. And then two, on September 2, that's exactly what we did. We did share exactly which courses, which subjects were the most frequently used in APEC. So I encourage you to go back to the, which is linked in this report. And you can see exactly which courses are being retaken and how many. And I just want to remind us that it's about 1% of the total credits taken in a student's career. So just a couple things to note. And I think it would be great if we could approve that tonight with that additional accountability measure.

[16947] SPEAKER_29: I would request then that it not be semester. I'd like it to be weekly, especially for those that are responsible for the student's success.

[16961] SPEAKER_61: I would also like to add to your first comment about only 13 students responding. Last semester, there was only eight responses. So I consider it a really good growth that we got more responses. But it is hard to get responses in general with students after so many surveys we've taken over the pandemic.

[16980] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill?

[16981] Terrence Grindall: It's not just students. It's hard to get responses in general.

[16986] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill?

[16988] Aiden Hill: Thank you. Fellow board members, I'm incredibly troubled by what I've heard this evening regarding our credit recovery program and what it has morphed into. Under the guise of providing a quote personalized learning experience end quote, it appears that the district has created a parallel system. that at a minimum allows students to skirt a true demonstration of the academic proficiency and career readiness required by the state of California to achieve a high school diploma. Even worse, however, The district has turned a blind eye to allegations that students are, with school counselor assistance, gaming the system by using Apex and BYU to successfully recover credits in a matter of weeks for coursework they had been failing for almost an entire academic year. And now we are learning that not only has the district refused to investigate these allegations of academic fraud, but they are also retaliating against the whistleblower who's brought this information to our attention. This conduct is not only immoral, but it is illegal and it must stop. Apparently, Superintendent Triplett and district staff are unaware that, quote, it is the public policy of the state of California to encourage employees to notify an appropriate government or law enforcement agency or person with authority over the employee when they have reason to believe their employer is violating a state or federal statute or violating or not complying with a local state or federal rule or regulation. Apparently, the superintendent and staff are also unaware of California Labor Code 1102.5, which states that this whistleblower support extends to employees of school districts. And finally, the superintendent and staff are apparently unaware that this same statute states that it is against the law for an employer to retaliate against a whistleblower. And it has set up explicit whistleblower hotlines to protect against this kind of abuse. Sadly, when confronted with evidence of academic performance issues in our district, it seems that Dr. Triplett and staff's response is not to confront and investigate, but rather to shoot the messenger. when last year's abysmal Illuminate standard test scores came to light in January. Superintendent Triplett's response wasn't to examine the root causes, but instead to try to explain them away and later ask that we, the board, cut the budget for this testing software. Don't work to raise scores, get rid of the test. Now, as we have had ongoing allegations of systemic cheating at our high school, Rather than spend one minute reaching out to the whistleblower who has made these claims, instead, Superintendent Triplett and his staff are retaliating against him, hoping that it will silence him and make the problem go away. But covering up a problem never makes it better, only worse. And our students, in the end, are the ones who are being cheated. Board, the district, through its recent actions, is now putting us in legal jeopardy. Not only does this retaliation increase the likelihood of state and law enforcement intervention, but there is a good chance we will face a future lawsuit over this. According to AB 1947 signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2021, plaintiffs who bring whistleblower retaliation claims under California Labor Code Section 1102.5, in addition to damages, are also eligible to recover attorney's fees if they prevail. In a time of fiscal crisis, this is an expense we can ill afford. Superintendent Triplett and his staff may think that thuggish retaliation will make their problems disappear and intimidate other potential whistleblowers into silence. But I am here to tell Mr. Foster and other district employees who see malfeasance in our district, do not be afraid. The law is on your side. If you see wrongdoing, do not hesitate to escalate these issues to the board. And if you are concerned about whether or not the board will take action on these issues, then I encourage you to raise your concerns anonymously with the proper authorities. For issues of professional impropriety, you can reach out to the Alameda County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit at 510-272-6222. For issues where laws, regulations, or district policies are being violated, you can reach out to the California State Attorney General's Whistleblower Hotline at 800-952-5225. And for issues related to financial fraud or malfeasance, you can reach out to the California State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline at 800-952-5665. Board, the superintendent and his staff are taking us down a dangerous path. I hope we agree to take action to stop this behavior before it is too late. And I echo many of member Marquez's comments and concerns. And I'm asking the board that we actually not refund Apex for the coming year until we get to the bottom of these cheating allegations. Thank you.

[17339] Nicole Pierce-Davis: Just to respond to that, I would say I think that we are also making some really dangerous assumptions here without data to back it up. And I just want to be careful as a team that we're not continuing to make assumptions, again, without the data to back it up. We've had a year to investigate this. Earlier we had a student who we applauded having just accepted to Harvard. And she was talking about what those counselors meant to her. And then maybe an hour later, we're having a similar discussion around how counselors are cheaters and not supporting our students. And so again, I just want to make sure I am all about supporting our students. supporting increasing transparency measures. I think Member Marquez had some great solution-based sort of thoughts around how we can do that. I am all about working together with as many people as possible who want real solutions that don't actually increase barriers for students. But I just want to be really careful that we don't continue down this path. of making really, really big assumptions without the data to back it up. And we don't throw our own staff and our own students under the bus calling them cheaters or not, who happen to be some of our most vulnerable students. It's incredibly important to me. It's an incredible value to me and it's one of the reasons I joined this district. So I just wanna be, I think these are two dangerous paths and I think we can work together to solve them.

[17429] Aiden Hill: We've had a year to investigate these allegations and we've done nothing.

[17433] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Pierce. And I'm going to let member Grindel speak first before I call you back. Student board member, go ahead.

[17441] Mark Triplett: Sorry to interrupt, but I just want to make sure we're aware 948 is the current time.

[17446] Phuong Nguyen: With that, I'd like to make a motion to extend the meeting to 11 o'clock. May I have a second? I second. Motion made by myself and seconded by member Marquez. Student board member, how do you vote?

[17458] SPEAKER_46: Yes.

[17460] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez? Yes member Hill yes member can tell us I also a yes to extend the meeting to 11 o'clock. Thank you superintendent for the remind reminder. Member can tell you have a floor.

[17476] Terrence Grindall: Thank you. There's 2 this 2 separate issues here. In terms of member Hill's accusations. which are really irresponsible. To make these claims, to say things like thuggish and to call our students and our counselors and our teachers cheating with no evidence whatsoever except the hearsay of a few people is simply inappropriate. But it's really not what's in front of us today. What's in front of us today is whether we're going to have a whether we're going to have a credit recovery option going on into the summer, and what staff has done to address the Board's as a whole's comments on increasing and experimenting with accountability standards, and that has that has yielded fruit, and we've got students who are indicating that it's been beneficial to them. There's a couple points that were indicated by staff that I want to stress. What's really telling to me is that students, and please correct me if I'm wrong, if I'm misstating it, students that do credit recovery in APEX, when they take the next class in a series, very likely to succeed. If Apex was being cheated, if they were cheating on Apex and just being passed through, they just failed the previous course, their success rate would be expected to be very low. And yet, if I remember, it's actually quite high. It's actually above average for those courses. Again, correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have the data right in front of me. That's really where the proof is in the pudding If Apex were just a scam as is being accused, that wouldn't happen. So in addition, these tests are being taken with proctored with certificated teachers live or online, but there's a, are they live or online? The proctoring of the quizzes of the finals.

[17620] Nicole Pierce-Davis: They're, yeah, sorry, the live and online. They're online, but in school.

[17625] Terrence Grindall: Got it. Yeah. So these accusations are boiling around to saying that our certificated teachers are somehow conspiring to advance students who then are successful in the next round of classes. So excuse me for being a little bit fired up about this. So we need to provide our students options going forward. I think that we need to continue to monitor what happens. What happens particularly with the combining of the companies. I'm not not exactly buying the sales pitch and I don't it sounds like staff isn't either. So we need to watch. We need to watch how these things happen. But with the accountability measures that we have And with the options that it provides, we need to do this now and staff needs to continue to be diligent in looking at accountability measures. I certainly don't think this should be relaxed. I understand the students find it inconvenient, but I believe that we should keep our accountability measures where you have them and continue to explore as your response to Ms. Marquez, I'm sorry, Member Marquez's comments indicates. If there's new ideas on how to double check, that's something we should do. But when it comes to a personnel matter and an issue about accusations and counter accusations of retaliation, this is this is something that's irresponsible for the board to be throwing out with no evidence. So I'm going to leave it at that. And thank you for the time.

[17729] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Thank you, Member Grindel. Back to our student board member.

[17738] SPEAKER_61: I feel absolutely frustrated, annoyed, and almost even angered that a lot of us, a couple, a few, are making these blatant statements, assuming the worst over everyone, counselors who have done everything in their power to empower and help students. I would love for you to have this discussion with them. This person that I am today, both academically and professionally, is a great deal towards my counselors, Mr. Luna, Ms. Torres, Ms. Hernandez, and Ms. Venegas. It's an awful shame for making these assumptions on people who only wish to do good on students. That's beyond what I can understand of. Secondly, the alleged whistleblower you state about is not being reprimanded over his alleged truth, but perhaps because they are most literally causing a harsh and damaging environment to both students, counselors, and other staff members. How do you think a student feels when their own teacher reprimands the idea of taking a second chance? Students who have failed a course not because they're not good enough or because they can't do it, but because maybe there's an actual language barrier and they can't get through it, or maybe because they're working two jobs or they are doing so much more to support their family because we are diverse and low income. How would that make a student feel? That they're not being allowed to get that second chance, or that their teacher is literally saying no to that. It's causing a harsh environment, and it's causing a lot of students to feel unsafe at school by the idea that we aren't allowing them to give a second chance. And if you're taking this, you're a cheater, and you're this and that. We have no data behind us. If I see data, I would love to discuss this. But with no data, why are we making these terrible assumptions that, in the end, are only causing harm to students? We, as a board, are working for students, to students, to make our environment a better place for students. I would love each and every one of us to question what our actions and our statements and what we're saying is for the better of students and if we are hurting anyone in this process. Because the last thing I would want to do is making someone feel invalidated over their own feelings or not feeling like they should be able to have a second chance. Yes, there are issues in what we are seeing in Apex and possibly minor fixes. But like Ms. Pierce said, nothing is going to be perfect. We are always going to have to work for something better. That doesn't mean that we're going to start pinpointing the most craziest assumptions over no data. I don't know how to feel about this, and that is a big statement. So let's please have a reminder that we are here for students, for our community, And we are a board representing this community. Let's please do that.

[17903] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you so much, Student Board Member Resendez-Ortiz. I cannot follow that because she stated it very eloquently and that's exactly how I feel about this whole situation. I'm ready to make a motion to approve. May I get a second, please?

[17918] Aiden Hill: Ma'am, you are allowed. So each board member is allowed two responses. You've given Member Ortiz an opportunity.

[17924] Phuong Nguyen: There's a motion on the floor. May I get a second, please?

[17927] Aiden Hill: Ma'am, point of order. OK, you are the person that runs the meetings. You need to follow Robert's Rules of Order. I am allowed a second commentary.

[17935] SPEAKER_54: Point of order. At this point, Robert's Rules of Order have not been formally adopted. President Nguyen, you may continue.

[17942] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. I have a motion on the floor. May I please get a second?

[17948] Aiden Hill: Well, then I guess we don't have any rules to follow then. OK, well, so then I'm going to just keep talking then.

[17953] Terrence Grindall: I'm just going to talk over everybody. I'm going to second the motion. And I'll be supporting. keeping APEX going forward and in the motion, if the motion maker will concur, will be to continue to work to assure accountability in this process and use your best efforts to do so, to add that to the recommendation.

[17979] Phuong Nguyen: Yes, so I would like to, I concur. Thank you. We have a vote on the floor. Student board member, how do you vote?

[17992] SPEAKER_46: Yes.

[17993] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez?

[17996] SPEAKER_29: My vote is yes. I just want to reiterate the accountability structures.

[18001] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Member Marquez? Member Hill? No. Member Grindel?

[18006] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[18008] Phuong Nguyen: My vote is a yes as well. Four ayes and one no by Member Hill. Thank you. OK, on to item 15.1, resolution number 2021.22.36, Day of the Teacher. Superintendent Triplett.

[18038] Mark Triplett: Thank you, President Nguyen. So I'm delighted to have this resolution on the table here, because as we all know, and as has been said so eloquently by board member Resendiz-Ortiz, our teachers are so important. And we have so many teachers who deeply, deeply care about their students. And so I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Ingham-Watters to take us through this.

[18068] SPEAKER_35: All right, so in California, Day of the Teacher is celebrated next week, May 11th, but nationally and across our sites, teachers and staff are being acknowledged this week. So we're very excited to have you consider adopting this resolution. Newark teachers continue to provide outstanding instruction and learning opportunities. Students, parents, administrators, and the Board of Education appreciate the efforts of our credentialed instructional staff. As such, we ask that Resolution 2021.22.36, State of California, Day of the Teacher, May 11, 2020, to be adopted.

[18113] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Ingham-Watters. At this time, I'd like, may we have a motion to approve the resolution?

[18125] Terrence Grindall: I'll move approval of the resolution.

[18129] Jodi Croce: I second the motion.

[18130] Phuong Nguyen: Motion made by Member Grindel, seconded by Member Marquez. How do you vote, Student Board Member? Yes. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill? Yes. Member Grindel?

[18141] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[18141] Phuong Nguyen: I'm also a yes, unanimous.

[18145] Mark Triplett: And this is one of those delightful ones we get to read out loud. Yes.

[18148] Phuong Nguyen: Would you like to start us off, Superintendent?

[18151] Mark Triplett: Yes, sure, thank you. So State of California Day of the Teacher, May 11th, 2022. Whereas the annual day of the teacher will be observed in all schools and educational institutions of the state on May 11th, 2022, and. Student board member.

[18170] SPEAKER_61: Whereas the Board of Trustees of the Newark Unified School District wishes to commend and express its appreciation to the teachers who serve the students of the Newark Unified School District, and.

[18181] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez.

[18184] SPEAKER_29: I'm not ready, I was on September 16, 2021's agenda looking for the information I requested. Okay, Member Grindel.

[18191] Terrence Grindall: Oh, sure. Whereas the Board of Trustees and the Superintendent recognize the unique and highly specialized skills are required to meet the very needs of the young people served by the district instructional programs and are proud of the success that these programs have achieved and... Ms.

[18208] Phuong Nguyen: Delacruz.

[18213] Marie dela Cruz: Whereas it is further recognized that the quality and success of students depends significantly upon the instructional outstanding performance of the teachers who have committed their considerable skills, talents, and energies to meeting the needs of their special students.

[18231] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez, are you?

[18233] SPEAKER_29: All right. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Trustees and the superintendent do hereby thank and commend.

[18239] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill.

[18241] Aiden Hill: the teachers of the Newark Unified School District for the outstanding and meaningful contribution they are making to students and families served by Newark schools.

[18250] Phuong Nguyen: Passed and adopted by the governing board of the Newark Unified School District this fifth day of May 2022 by the following votes of five ayes. Thank you. Okay, on to item 15.2, resolution number 2021.22.37, Classified School Employee Week. Dr. Triplett.

[18277] Mark Triplett: Thank you. So in addition to teacher appreciation, we know that our classified staff are also educators. And they educate our kids every day and support our children's learning. And so it's wonderful that we have both the appreciation of teachers and then the following week, appreciation of our classified school employees. Sorry, I'm missing one.

[18307] SPEAKER_35: Should I just take all your... Okay, so as such, this year the week of May 15 to 21 has been designated as Classified Employees Week. Not only do our support staff have an impact on students, they support our classrooms, offices, maintenance, grounds, cafeteria, and other support areas. And so we would like to appreciate their efforts with adopting this resolution to acknowledge their contributions to the entire district.

[18341] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Ingham-Watters. With that, may I get a motion to approve?

[18346] Terrence Grindall: I'll move approval.

[18350] Phuong Nguyen: I second. Motion made by member Grindel, seconded by member Marquez. Student board member, how do you vote? Yes. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill? Yes. Member Grindel? Yes. I'm also a yes. Five ayes. And Dr. Triplett, would you like to start us off?

[18369] Mark Triplett: Classified School Employees Week, May 15th through 21st, 2022. Whereas the legislature of the state of California has officially designated the third full week in May of each year as Classified School Employees Week, as time to recognize the many contributions of classified school employees to public education. And?

[18390] Phuong Nguyen: Student board member.

[18392] SPEAKER_61: Whereas the members of the board of trustees and the superintendent are personally aware and appreciative of the high standards of quality and service provided by the members of the classified staff. And?

[18404] SPEAKER_29: Whereas the services provided by the members of the classified staff have a profound and significant effect on the operations of programs operated by the Newark Unified School District.

[18415] Aiden Hill: And whereas it is further recognized that all adults in a school environment are important to the success and well-being of our students.

[18425] Terrence Grindall: Now therefore be it resolved that the board of trustees and the superintendent do hereby recognize and commend the members of the Newark Unified School District California School Employees Association Local 208 for their outstanding efforts in serving the district and meeting the needs of the students, staff, and parents of the Newark Unified Schools.

[18444] Phuong Nguyen: Passed and adopted by the governing board of Newark Unified School District this fifth day of May 2022 by the following vote of five ayes. Thank you. Okay, on to item 15.3, audit report, measure G bond. Dr. Triplett.

[18468] Mark Triplett: Thank you very much. So this item is specifically about the measure G bond, and so it's not the larger audit report, but as Ms. Dela Cruz will explain in more detail, this is the audit specifically of the bond.

[18489] Marie dela Cruz: Thank you, Dr. Triplett. In addition to our regular financial audit, we are required to have an audit of our bond funds. The Citizens Oversight Committee reviewed the report on April 25th and accepted it. And this evening, we do have Mr. Kyle Montgomery from Christie White to give you a little bit of a presentation on the audit report.

[18517] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you.

[18520] SPEAKER_07: Thanks, Marie. So yeah, I'm Kyle Montgomery. I'm a partner with Christy White down here in San Diego, and I'm here to go over the audit results of the Measure G Bond Building Fund for the year ended June 30, 2021. As the summary kind of outlines in the background there in the agenda item, there are two opinions included in this audit report, one on the financial statements and one on the performance side. Those are going to be outlined on page 17 of the audit report. Within the PDF, that's going to be page 23. And both of those opinions were unmodified. On the financial statement side, what that means is that the financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2021, were presented free of material misstatement, and that we believe that the Measure G financial statements were, therefore, fairly presented. And on the performance audit side, what that means is that the expenditures that took place during the year ended June 30, 2021, were in line with the voter approved ballot language and that we didn't note any sort of question costs that would potentially be unallowable uses of those funds. So with that, we didn't have any sort of findings or question costs or audit adjustments, so pretty clean audit all around. just about sums it up. So, if there's any questions on the report, please feel free to let me know.

[18612] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you so much. Are there any comments by the board? Member Grindel?

[18619] Terrence Grindall: I just want to thank you for your report, particularly the succinctness of it. Thank you.

[18624] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Any other comments? Member Hill? Okay, great. With that, I'd like to make a motion to approve and accept the report as is. May I get a second?

[18639] SPEAKER_31: I'll second.

[18640] Phuong Nguyen: Motion made by myself and seconded by Member Grindell. Student Board Member, how do you vote? Yes. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill?

[18650] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[18650] Phuong Nguyen: Member Grindell?

[18651] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[18652] Phuong Nguyen: I'm also a yes. Five ayes. Thank you. Okay, on to consent.

[18657] Marie dela Cruz: Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Sorry.

[18659] Phuong Nguyen: Oh, sorry. Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Okay, on to consent agenda, personnel items. Are there any items that, there's no public comments on any of these items? And did any of our board members have discussions for any of the items? If not, yeah, for consent personnel agenda. If not, make it a motion to approve items 16.2 to 16.8.

[18692] SPEAKER_29: I move that we approve, excuse me, 16.1 through 16.8. I'll second.

[18700] Phuong Nguyen: All right. Motion made by member Marquez, seconded by member Grindel. Student board member does not vote on personal items. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill?

[18710] SPEAKER_31: Yes. Member Grindel?

[18711] Phuong Nguyen: Yes. Also yes. Four ayes. And then on to consent agenda non-personal items. Are there any? There is one public comment. Ms. Parks. OK, well, we're going to pull item 17.1 for discussion and which out 17.11 and 17.11. So make it and pull 17.2, please. 17.2, 17.7 and 17.11.

[18752] SPEAKER_57: Make it a motion to approve every... Sorry, sorry, Board President, we have four items that were pulled, .1, .2, .7, and .11.

[18761] Phuong Nguyen: Oh, no, no, we only have three items, 17.2, 17.7, because we have a public speaker, and 17.11. Thank you. Make it a motion to approve all remaining items other than 17.2.

[18777] Terrence Grindall: I'll move approval of the other items.

[18779] Phuong Nguyen: Okay, great. I second. Motion made by member Grindel, seconded by member Marquez. We're approving 17.2, I'm sorry, 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, 17.6, 17.8, 17.9, 17.10, 17.12, 17.13, 14 and 15. How do you vote a student board member?

[18812] SPEAKER_46: Yes.

[18813] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill? Yes. Member Rendell? Yes. I'm also yes. Five ayes. Thank you. OK. We'll start with item 17.7. So because we do have a... Come on up, Ms. Parks. We're going to go out of order. If that's okay.

[18840] Cary Knoop: Okay.

[18841] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you.

[18843] Cindy Parks: Welcome, Ms. Parks. Hi, good evening. So I'll just be 100% honest. I'm not somebody who is some guru or anything about the consolidated application or net cars as it's now known. But there were a couple of things in my working my way through. First of all, I wanted to bring to your attention on page 16 of 25 of the the CARS Winter 2021-22, which is the 13.26 KB on your attachment there. This has the information regarding the Title I allotment for this year, which shows it as being only $72,663.50. And if you recall, Back on April 7th, you approved a middle school assistant principal position at $170,000 to be paid for out of Title I. And I brought to your attention at that time that the allocation in the SPSA reported last June was that the junior high was only going to get an allocation of $95,000 for this year, which was already consumed by positions. And I questioned where the $170,000 was going to come from to pay for this position. The position was still approved, but here is the documentation that shows that you're only, with this con app, you're only going to actually get $72,000 for this year, not the $95,000. And then I also, I wanted to, when I was looking through all of this, I didn't have time to look through all of it, but I should say, but on what was page 16 of 25, the same document, it shows that the junior high had a 68% of low income. And that kind of jumped out at me because that seemed awfully high. On page 11 and page 12, it shows the school sites, and it shows their enrollment, and it shows the low income numbers. And that actually only shows that you have 44% with that of low income when you do the numbers there. That was only 44%. And so, because you have 679 students enrolled and 299 that are eligible for low income. And it's on another page that it says 44, and I can't find it right now in front of me, sorry. But anyhow, again, I think that that is a typo on page 16 of 25. It shows 68% low income. Anyhow, I think that that's a typo. So anyhow, I just wanted to bring that to your attention. But you deal with it as you please. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ms. Parks.

[19020] Phuong Nguyen: All right. So with that being said, do we want to address Ms. Parks' concern?

[19041] SPEAKER_55: At this point, you can provide direction for staff to review.

[19044] SPEAKER_46: OK.

[19045] SPEAKER_55: Or you can move forward with it.

[19050] Phuong Nguyen: We'll pull it for review. OK, we'll pull it for review. And then can you bring it back at the next board meeting for approval? Or is there a deadline?

[19069] Marie dela Cruz: There's really nothing to change. I think the comments were mostly just questioning whether we have Title I allocation for the assistant principal that we added at the junior high. I don't think it's going to change anything in the report as far as the numbers are concerned.

[19088] Phuong Nguyen: OK. Member Grindel?

[19091] Terrence Grindall: I'll move approval.

[19093] Phuong Nguyen: May I get a second? Second. Student board member, how do you vote?

[19099] SPEAKER_61: We're approving 17.7? Yes. Yes.

[19102] Phuong Nguyen: Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill?

[19106] Aiden Hill: No. I voted no earlier because I didn't think that we had funding for this position. And now it seems that it's worse than we even knew. So I vote no.

[19115] Marie dela Cruz: Just to be clear, these are 21-22 allocations. They're not for next year. So the 22-23 allocations is what the assistant principal budget would be based on.

[19129] Phuong Nguyen: Okay, thank you for the clarification, Ms. Dela Cruz. Member Gondel, how do you vote? I vote yes. I'm also yes. I can't count. Four ayes and one no. Thank you. Okay, on to item 17.2.

[19146] SPEAKER_29: Yes, that would be me. Okay. In reviewing the information, I wanted to make sure that we did not oversee this request and that we actually spotlighted Mr. Rodriguez. And the reason that I say that is the amount of time and effort that went into not only putting this actual sponsored trip together, but the fact that he was able to get parents. So if you read the second and third pages, you would see that the day is long. It's going to be more than the 11 hours. We're probably looking at a 13 to 14 hour day. Aside from that, the amount of parents, without saying the full names, we have excuse me, New Glasses, The Blaze, The Davilas, The Mendez, The Cow, The Cannon, Casa Nieves.

[19190] SPEAKER_57: Sorry, Member Marquez? Yes. You can say the number of people. Okay.

[19194] SPEAKER_29: Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, plus seven, 15 plus. And the reason I want to bring this to your attention is because oftentimes our students, especially, they are not afforded the extracurricular activities. And because this is a fine arts or considered a secondary versus a core course. I want to make sure that the students that are participating in the Great American Music and the Park Ship are recognized and highlighted, just as we did with the Rocketry Club and thanking our teacher that put that together, Ms. Jane, putting that together with our students and making sure that we as a community come together to make sure that the students are able to meet their goal for the rocketry. I want to applaud Mr. Rodriguez because in reading through, it was at zero expense. And that really caught my eye because I know that takes a lot of work. So if there's anything that we as a board can do to support, I urge my fellow board members to join me in making sure that Mr. Rodriguez and that the choir and the band have the support that they need in order to be successful on their one day trip.

[19259] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Ms. Pratt. Thank you, board member Marquez. With that said, make it a motion to approve. I move to approve. Thank you. Motion made by Member Marquez, seconded by Member Grindel. Thank you. How do you vote, Student Board Member? Yes. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill? Yes. Member Grindel?

[19283] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[19285] Phuong Nguyen: I'm a yes as well. Five ayes. Thank you. Yes, I just want to also thank the junior high PTSA for also donating to and supporting Mr. Hernandez's event for the students. Thank you. And on to item 1711, member Hill.

[19316] Aiden Hill: Thank you. So this is the purchase order report. I don't have it in front of me. But when I was looking at it earlier, there was one item that I had questions about. So there was a vendor named Learner Leadership Academy. Can somebody tell me what that is?

[19346] Phuong Nguyen: So I just want to make a comment on future questions regarding our monthly purchase order. If you have a question in regards to a vendor, please make sure to ask staff prior to the meeting so that they have the information to present it to you. And you can re-ask the question at the board meeting. Thank you. So that our staff is not put on the spot and are now looking for it?

[19378] Mark Triplett: Yeah, and we're trying to actually just see where it is, but it's not coming up in the search of the documents. I'm not sure about any learner leadership academy. But yeah, any questions like that, you can let us know in advance. We're happy to research it.

[19399] Aiden Hill: Yeah, I mean, when I'm able, I will. But as you know, you guys give us a lot of stuff on short notice, so sometimes we don't catch it until late. I mean, how many warrants are there in the warrant report? I don't think I can turn that around in 24 hours.

[19414] Mark Triplett: Yeah, any time if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

[19418] Phuong Nguyen: Are there any other questions?

[19420] SPEAKER_61: Yes. I do have a question on the monthly reports. I don't necessarily know on what page, page five, There is a purchase order for, this is more of a curiosity, not necessarily something to point out, Susan's phone charger. I was wondering why that's on the district monthly report of $10.18. Just out of curiosity.

[19444] Phuong Nguyen: Oh, Susan's phone charger.

[19449] Mark Triplett: Oh, that one I can answer. So some of our staff, depending on their job, they actually have a district phone. And so in this case, I think it's one of the, yeah, the director of MOT, she's one of the people that carries a cell phone paid for by the district because of the nature of her work. She has to travel around a lot. And so I think she must have, I don't know for sure, but it's sounding like her phone charger must have broken or something, and so we had to get her a new one.

[19483] SPEAKER_61: All right, it was just out of pure curiosity of mine.

[19485] Mark Triplett: It's interesting how just the first name is on there.

[19489] SPEAKER_61: Another question. This is, I guess, more to know how the money is allocated for the monthly reports. Because I've seen a lot of purchase order from Artegas Food Center, and I was wondering if there is a certain allocated money, or like, At least for ASB, we divide our money into classes. So is there money divided certainly for money? Well, it's too late. Certainly for food.

[19513] Marie dela Cruz: Yeah, the Child Nutrition Department, they have their own fund. Oh, OK.

[19518] SPEAKER_61: All right. Thank you. Those are all my questions. OK.

[19521] Phuong Nguyen: Any other questions? If not, I move to approve. May I get a second? Motion made by myself and seconded by Member Marquez. Student Board Member, how do you vote? Yes. Member Marquez? Yes. Member Hill? Yes. Member Grindel?

[19540] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[19541] Phuong Nguyen: I'm a yes as well. Five ayes. Thank you. And on to item 18.1, Board of Education Recognitions and Announcements. Student Board Member, do you have any announcements to make?

[19555] SPEAKER_61: I have so many, it would take another hour. I would definitely love to recognize all the teachers in our district, not only because it's Teachers Week, but because they truly do everything they can and I absolutely admire a lot of them. So a recognition and appreciation to all the teachers out there. And again, I would like to give serious recognition to all the students going through AP testings. It is a huge thing to take three hour tests and it is not easy. So the students do deserve the hopefulness and peace of passing those AP tests. That is all. Thank you.

[19590] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Member Marquez.

[19594] SPEAKER_29: Thank you. I just wanted to give a shout out to the Kennedy ELAC chair. I received information with regards to celebrating diversity with the Kennedy International Day. The ELAC has welcomed and asked that we join them and immerse ourselves in the diversity of their annual International Day at Kennedy Elementary, which is actually tomorrow evening, May 6. from 3.30 to 7 p.m., and it's going to be held outdoors, in person, in front of their library. Thank you, Kennedy.

[19629] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill?

[19630] Aiden Hill: I just want to echo student members' comments about recognizing the students that are taking APs. So I'm having the same situation with many of my students in my school, and I know that everybody's stressed out, and so just hang in there, take it over the finish line.

[19651] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill, I mean Member Grindel.

[19654] Terrence Grindall: Yes, seconding other comments, but just to really reiterate appreciating our teachers, appreciating our classified employees, all the adults that are working hard to see our children succeed and learn and love learning as well. Very much appreciated. wanted to just sort of note that we were able to have a ribbon-cutting event at the high school, which celebrated really both the high school and the junior high school solar panel array. So proud to see that alternative energy being generated at no cost to the district with a contract and was able to go and the principal was able to take us on a tour to see the the charging sort of umbrella in our little stands. And that's another great thing. So the students are getting that. Not only are we saving money by energy, and we were able to do that without putting any capital forward, but the students are given this daily reminder that it's possible to move to a world where we don't have oil. And hopefully we don't have to pay anything to Putin anywhere anytime in the future. little diversion there. So, second of all, the, and really that's, it's really to staff's credit, that's a project that's been worked on for a long time. So it's a previous board, previous boards and staff who brought it home, just very, very much appreciate it and looking for more of the same. from me. In addition, I just wanted to also, speaking of ribbon cuttings, the city is finally cutting the ribbon on their Civic Center. The Civic Center includes the best library in the Bay Area, I think, as well as a city office building and probably the best police station in the Bay Area. Sorry, Milpitas. But we have, and so we have this, we're gonna have really a community celebration put on by the city on May 14th, Saturday, starts at 8.30. They really, if you read their instructions, they really want the community to come out and have children be able to participate. We have a unique partnership in this community with our city, with our library, and we're all working to help our children, and we're gonna keep doing that. And hopefully the community can come out in force, and that'll be visible to everybody. Also, just as Superintendent said, celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo has morphed into really a celebration of Mexican-American culture in this country. It's not really celebrated in Mexico. In fact, it's one battle they won and a war they lost. But since it's turned into really a celebration of that, I'm going to go right along and celebrate Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates Mexican-American heritage in this country. And that's it for now.

[19863] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Member Grindel. With that, I just wanted to echo all the positive things, comments that our board members had made in recognition of our staff and our teachers. Tonight, we got to, you know, learn about the new curriculum in environmental literacy that's going to be is being planned out and adopted soon I hope and then also with all of the work with the history curriculum adoption and the math pathways and also with cost there's some there's a lot of exciting things happening in the district other than financials and worries so and and it's all for our students and and so I'm really excited about that and I'm so appreciative of all of the teachers who taking part in in helping you know improve our students lives and preparing them for their futures, whether they continue on to higher education or continue into a career path. And I just want to thank all of them for their hard work, dedication, and mentorship, and inspiring our young minds and our future minds. So with that, I just want to say again, thank you so much for all your hard work. And we appreciate you so much for everything that you've done persevering through the last couple of years. It's been difficult. But you guys are doing a tremendous job. And we are so, so grateful for that. And then lastly, I kind of lost my train of thought because Ms. Ortiz raised her hand. So I'm going to. I'm going to let you go, and then I'll come back to me.

[19982] SPEAKER_61: Go ahead. I just wanted to say a quick gratitude and appreciation to the Rocketry Club. And if anyone would like to and can to donate to the Rocketry Club GoFundMe page that is going to be on the slides and in the video, it would be most beneficial. And they are truly amazing.

[19999] Phuong Nguyen: Yes, so with that said, I will end on a note for their students. Congratulations to our Rocketry Club for making it to nationals. And to our students who are taking AP classes, work hard. You guys will do fine. And I hope you get the fives on those tests. And that's it. I know. I don't want to go. 18.2, Board of Education Committee reports. Any updates on Mission ROP? Yes.

[20040] Terrence Grindall: Yes, I want to let the rest of the board know that Mission Valley ROP Board approved an investment of $40,000 in the STAR Academy. Sorry, $59,000. Thank you, Marie. In the STAR Academy, which will which will allow us to further enhance that area. In addition to that monetary help, it's really a representation of, because it was resoundingly supported by the board, it's a representation of how the STAR Academy can be a resource for our entire community and the opportunities we have to share with, to share opportunities with ROP and with other school districts. And so it's just very exciting to have that done. So thank you.

[20091] Phuong Nguyen: All right. Any updates from SELPA?

[20095] SPEAKER_29: None at this time. I would like to piggyback, though, with regards to Mission Valley ROP, to let everyone know that they will actually be celebrating Students of the Year, their ceremony, for 2022 virtually this year. And they're going to continue with the virtual celebration. And that's going to be Wednesday, May 11 at 7 PM. And they'll be celebrating the successes of students who are also working diligently to complete their courses and to become certified in CTE courses and pathways that they have chosen.

[20129] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. Any updates from EBIC? Any updates from the Audit Committee? No updates. Any updates on the Bond and Parcel Committee? We just did the survey. It went out. But the survey hasn't been, the tally of the survey has not been completed yet, correct? OK. So it'll be coming up at the next board meeting. And then lastly, I'll let Member Grindel update us on the Liaison Committee.

[20168] Terrence Grindall: Nothing particular to report. We were able to meet for the first time in the new Civic Center building, which was interesting. And we're going to continue our cooperation. We're going to start working to understand the different organizations that provide services to youth in concert and perhaps better coordinate. So the library is going to be providing a presentation soon to the liaison committee so we can we can start we can start really fine tuning the cooperation we have between all these organizations and continue to partnership with them.

[20207] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you.

[20208] Terrence Grindall: And then I'm sorry. And one more thing there. There was progress on looking looking at a looking at a movement of a of us of a crossing guard to the junior high school location from the music location.

[20227] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you member can tell me on to item 18.3 board of education requests. Remember kids do you have any requests. None at this time member Hill.

[20238] Aiden Hill: I have 2 requests or I should say one request and one potential request start with the potential one first it just depends on on status. So in our last meeting when we were talking about the budget and and potential cuts there were recommendations for a variety of areas, and one of the recommendations was that we cut the funding for the Illuminate platform, which does a variety of things, including some of the testing that we've been doing. So, is the staff going to be coming back with a final request to cut this, or is this still under evaluation?

[20294] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill, that was a question to staff whether or not.

[20297] Aiden Hill: Correct. So there were a variety of recommendations for cuts. I think we all provided input into that. My question is, when you come back regarding Illuminate, is Illuminate still on the table to be cut?

[20313] Phuong Nguyen: So we had a study session on the budget cuts. And one of the items on there is illuminate to be cut. But nothing, we haven't, we haven't, we haven't solidified any of the decisions on there. So it's still up for discussion.

[20331] Aiden Hill: Okay, so then my request, if it's still, if we're not really sure, is, you know, I think that this platform does a variety of things. And I think that if we're, and I think that given that we're, we've been using it, I just know having been involved in a lot of system implementations that migrating from one system to another is never a straightforward thing. And so if so, I think that we need to identify if we're talking about Cutting illuminate that I would like staff to come back with a recommendation One explanation and a recommendation for what the replacement system is and then also what a plan would be to to to migrate the the data and and what the associated costs would be So that's my first request

[20389] Terrence Grindall: I'm not clear what the exact request is. This, they're, this.

[20394] Aiden Hill: So let me, since you're not clear what my request is, I'll clarify. So I don't think that we should, we can cut something unless we have identified a replacement. And so what I'm asking for is to say, if we're going to cut the Illuminate platform where we're doing a variety of things, what is the replacement system? That's the first part. And then the second part of the request is if you eliminate the Illuminate platform, you're going to have to migrate the data. You're going to have to do basically a system swap. And so I want to make sure that we understand what's involved and what the costs are. So I can't vote to eliminate something unless we have more data on what we're moving to.

[20440] Terrence Grindall: I'm just going to state my opinion, because that request sounded more like an opinion and direction rather than actual request. We don't have in front of us the proposed budget cuts or changes. When we do, we'll be able to have that analysis. Is that correct?

[20458] Mark Triplett: Yeah, what we saw in that study session were potential cuts. And so we'll eventually be returning with a proposed budget, which would possibly include cuts, depending on the situation, the final situation with the legislature.

[20476] Terrence Grindall: Is that correct, Mr. LaCruz? Right, so given that, I don't support this request, because it'll be addressed as part of that.

[20484] Aiden Hill: So I don't believe that we have plans for a variety of things that are being cut. And so that's why I'm making this request. And so I think it's a pretty straightforward request. And quite frankly, if you go and work in any business that is involved in systems, that's the first thing that executives would be asking. So I think it's a pretty straightforward question. I cannot cut something until I understand what the replacement is and the process for moving to the replacement. So I'm requesting that we have an explanation of that before we make any decisions on cutting.

[20520] Phuong Nguyen: OK. Do we have a second? OK. There are no seconds, so the request.

[20531] Aiden Hill: So my second request is So I'm shocked to learn this evening that apparently we don't have any rules around how we run our meetings. And that there's been a presumption for, I think, probably decades that we use Robert's Rules of Order. And so we cannot function as a board if we don't have rules for running our meeting. And I would like to remind all of the board members that we've all been elected by the public, we all have an equal voice, and that the role of the president is to run the meeting and enforce the rules, not to make up rules. I didn't make up rules. And so my request is that we put on a future agenda item an adoption of Robert's Rules of Order as the rules that we will use to run this meeting.

[20596] Terrence Grindall: I did not support that request.

[20602] Phuong Nguyen: Wow.

[20603] Aiden Hill: OK. So I guess it's going to be a food fight going forward. No, I... So what rules are we using?

[20615] Phuong Nguyen: Member Grindel, do you have any requests?

[20618] Aiden Hill: So we don't have any rules at this point, so I can continue to speak. What rules are we going to use to run this meeting if we don't adopt? Point of order. Point of order.

[20626] SPEAKER_57: There's no point of order. At this point, we do have a governance handbook, which you guys did adopt, which you guys did approve.

[20632] Aiden Hill: Excuse me? Which you guys did approve. There's no rules. No, this isn't about rules. This is about courtesy. You can't pound the gavel. You can't do any of this. OK, so I think that's all I'm saying, President.

[20641] SPEAKER_57: So please tell me. You have this.

[20646] Phuong Nguyen: We had our discussion it did go over the time limit of our discussion point so that's why I made the motion in for that particular you had the longest voice you made you had a prepared statement that you read and I allowed. and the state of Oregon.

[20662] Aiden Hill: There's no allowing. You follow the rules. You enforce the rules. You do not make rules. I did enforce the rules. No, you didn't. But you're telling me there's no rules, and we're refusing to adopt Robert's Rules of Order, which is the standard protocol for any meeting. Point of order. There's no point of order if we don't have Robert's Rules of Order. We have in the governance handbook. So why don't you pull it out for me, Terry, right now, and you show me. All right, you should be ashamed of yourself for not supporting that we put Robert's Rules of Order in so that we can conduct our meeting.

[20693] SPEAKER_34: What meetings have you been a part of?

[20695] Terrence Grindall: What is your request? How dare you?

[20697] Aiden Hill: How dare you? You've been leveling attacks at me since the beginning.

[20701] Phuong Nguyen: OK, enough. Thank you, Member Grindel. Do you have a request?

[20708] SPEAKER_31: No.

[20708] Phuong Nguyen: OK, thank you. OK. So I only do I have one request and that for us to circle back on the IT assessment and make and see if we will be able to see through with some of the items that were pointed out especially possibly expanding our IT department and especially since we're discussing discussing the budget. I second. Thank you.

[20744] SPEAKER_34: I agree.

[20744] Phuong Nguyen: OK, so we have a majority.

[20746] Mark Triplett: Thank you. Sorry, President Nguyen, could you just repeat it?

[20750] Phuong Nguyen: Oh, yes. I would like us to circle back on and bringing back the IT assessment and going through the items that were pointed out of course of action that we should take and then also see if there's a possibility for us to be able to expand the IT department. Thank you.

[20768] Aiden Hill: President Nguyen, you didn't ask me how I vote. You just went and assumed and said, we have a majority.

[20775] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill, how do you vote?

[20778] Aiden Hill: I support your resolution. Thank you.

[20781] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you for being diplomatic. I appreciate it. OK. With that said, superintendent, superintendent concluded comments, updates 19.1. All right.

[20795] Mark Triplett: Thank you, President Nguyen. I'm sorry that Member Resendiz-Ortiz is not here because I just wanted to appreciate her. She's a student and a board member who really speaks from the heart and really has a deep, deep level of empathy and compassion for her fellow students and really wants to represent them. And so I just wanted to appreciate her comments this evening. And appreciate all the students, not just AP testing, but they're going through the CASP SPAC testing right now. And I know that's a lot. Having been at the, every week going to the junior high, I noticed that they're a little more squirrelly this week than normal, based on having to really concentrate on all those tests. And I did want to say, we are excited to be celebrating the opening of the Civic Center. And we will have a table there. And different folks are going to be at that table. And then lastly, the thing that we forgot tonight was appreciating Mother's Day. It is Sunday. And I just, as I'm thinking about it and I'm looking around, we have three, four, five, six, seven, no, six, six incredible mothers here leading this district, both as board members and as leaders of the district. And this is just an incredible group that I'm super proud to be a part of. It's, I fully recognize that as a male, we have no idea how hard it is to both be a mom and to be a professional and to be a leader. And you all personify that every day. So thank you for all you do.

[20911] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Superintendent Triplett. Okay, with that said, we will be adjourning. May I get a motion to adjourn the meeting? I'll move to adjourn the meeting. May I get a second? Second. Motion made by myself and seconded by Member Marquez. How do you vote, Member Marquez?

[20933] SPEAKER_31: Yes.

[20933] Phuong Nguyen: Member Hill? Yes. Member Grindel? Yes. Yes as well. Four ayes, meeting adjourned at 10.47.

1. CALL TO ORDER

Meeting Practices and Information

Type Information, Procedural IN-PERSON MEETING INFORMATION:

NUSD has opened its boardroom for in-person meetings and will follow the State's and Alameda County's safety guidelines for public gatherings. Please refrain from attending in-person meetings if you have any of the following symptoms: Loss of taste/smell Difficulty breathing Vomiting Diarrhea Fever Cough Headache Sore Throat Runny Nose

For additional COVID-19 information please go to https://www.newarkunified.org/covid-19 or https://www.acoe.org/guidance

OBSERVE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING:

Members of the public may observe the meeting via the NUSD YouTube Channel, live transmission on Comcast Channel 26, or in- person at the NUSD Boardroom. Spanish translation will be available via Zoom.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

The public will have the opportunity to address the Board of Education regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items with a live audio-only comment via Zoom with advance notice requested by email at PUBLICCOMMENT@newarkunified.org, a written comment by submitting a speaking card via email at PUBLICCOMMENT@newarkunified.org, or with live in-person comments by submitting a speaker-card with the Executive Assistant.

Roll Call

Type Procedural TRUSTEES:

President Phuong Nguyen Vice President/Clerk Terrence Grindall Member Aiden Hill Member Alicia Marquez Member Bowen Zhang

STUDENT BOARD MEMBER:

Member Estaina Resendiz Ortiz

2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Approval of the Agenda

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the agenda for this meeting. Action PURPOSE:

Members of the Governance Team may request that the agenda be amended or approved as presented.

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the agenda for this meeting.

Motion by Terrence Grindall, second by Phuong Nguyen.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz
Not Present at Vote: Alicia Marquez

3. STUDY SESSION

Environmental Literacy

Type Discussion, Information PURPOSE:

To update the Board of Education on the development of the Environmental Literacy Plan and engage in a dialogue of how this plan can continue to grow the District's STEAM initiative.

BACKGROUND:

In 2020-2021 the NUSD Environmental Literacy Vision was developed by the Science District Leadership Team, (which consisted of Science teacher leaders, district administrators, principals, local community organizations, and our Bay Sci partners) and presented to the Board of Education. This vision is now an integral part of the growing comprehensive plan. This NUSD Environmental Literacy Plan is in alignment with District and Superintendent's goals; this plan delineates the curriculum, resources, classroom, and extra-curricular activities for students TK- 12.

File Attachments BOE Study Session 050522_ The Env Lit Plan.pdf (33,999 KB) 21-22 Newark USD Environmental Literacy Plan.pdf (486 KB)

4. CLOSED SESSION

Public Comment on Closed Session Items

Type Information PURPOSE:

The Board of Education encourages the community's participation in its deliberations and has tried to make it convenient to express their views to the Board. If a constituent wishes to address the Board on any agenda item, please fill out a virtual speaker card via email at PUBLICCOMMENT@newarkunified.org.

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE (Gov. Code, � 54957, subd. (b)(1))

Type Action, Information, Procedural PURPOSE:

Information will be provided by the Superintendent and Executive Director of Human Resources.

CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS (Gov. Code, � 54957.6, subd. (a): Employee Organizations - NTA and CSEA

Type Action, Information, Procedural PURPOSE:

Information may be provided by the agency negotiator, Executive Director of Human Resources. Assistance from the legal firm Dannis, Woliver, Kelley, Attorneys at Law may be provided.

The employee organizations include NTA & CSEA.

CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS (Gov. Code, � 54957.6, subd. (a)): Employee Group - NEWMA, Unrepresented Supervisors, and Contracted Management

Type Action, Information, Procedural PURPOSE:

Information may be provided by the agency negotiator, the Executive Director of Human Resources, and the Superintendent. Assistance from legal firm Dannis, Woliver, Kelley, Attorneys at Law may be provided.

The employee organizations include NEWMA, Unrepresented Supervisors, and Contracted Management

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL � ANTICIPATED LITIGATION Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code, � 54956.9, subd. (d)[(2) or (3)]

Type Action, Information, Procedural PURPOSE:

Information may be provided regarding significant exposure to litigation pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 54956.9: One case

Recess to Closed Session

Type Procedural PURPOSE:

The Board will recess to Closed Session, and reconvene to Open Session on or about 7:00 p.m.

5. REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS

Report of Closed Session Actions

Type Action, Procedural PURPOSE:

If available, a report of the closed session will be provided by the Board President.

6. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION

Pledge of Allegiance

Type Procedural PURPOSE:

The Governance Team will recite the Pledge of Allegiance

7. STUDENT REPORT

Student Reports from Newark Junior High School, Alternative Education, and Newark Memorial High School

Type Information PURPOSE:

At regular Board of Education meetings, a spokesperson of each secondary school may make a brief presentation.

Discussion items may include updates, celebrations, and upcoming events.

1. Newark Junior High School - Mohammed Lulu and Poorvi Sharma

2. Alternative Education - Alexis Blanco-Barron

3. Newark Memorial High School - Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

8. RECOGNITIONS AND CELEBRATIONS

Staff Spotlight

Type Information PURPOSE:

To recognize the wonderful accomplishments of our NUSD Team.

BACKGROUND:

The presentation will be provided by the Superintendent.

School Spotlight: Crossroads Independent Studies Program

Type Information PURPOSE:

The School Spotlight gives the Board of Education and the public an opportunity to hear the highlights, achievements, and initiatives at each school directly from the principals.

BACKGROUND:

The presentation and information will be provided by Crossroads Independent Studies Program Principal, Julie Calderon.

File Attachments Crossroads School Spotlight - 2021_22.pdf (6,241 KB)

9. EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS

Employee Organizations

Type Information PURPOSE:

At regular Board meetings, a single spokesperson of each recognized employee organization (NTA, CSEA, NEWMA) may make a brief presentation.

BACKGROUND:

Discussion items are limited to updates, celebrations, and upcoming events.

1. NTA: Sean Abruzzi

2. CSEA: Sue Eustice

3. NEWMA: Vicenta Ditto

10. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS

Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items

Type Procedural PURPOSE:

The Board of Education encourages the community's participation in its deliberations and has tried to make it convenient to express their views to the Board.

BACKGROUND:

Please see the instructions on the link below for public comment information on non-agenda items and agenda items.

http://go.boarddocs.com/ca/nusd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=C4Q2D4019F40

11. SUPERINTENDENT REPORT

Superintendent Report

Type Information PURPOSE:

The superintendent will provide the Board of Education with district information, updates, news, or anything in the jurisdiction of the board or the superintendent.

BACKGROUND:

The presentation and information will be provided by the Superintendent

12. STAFF REPORT

Parent Family Resources

Type Information PURPOSE:

To inform the Board and public about the work that Parent Partners are providing to the district, families, and community.

BACKGROUND:

Family and community partnerships are necessary components of high-quality and culturally responsive instructional programs. They are also critical to students' social and emotional learning and health and wellbeing. To address this need and district priority, NUSD has established a robust Coordination of Services Team (COST) that includes Parent Partners and connects both site-based and district-level initiatives. This presentation serves to provide a brief summary of this work.

File Attachments NUSD School and Community Resources_2021 - 2021_22.pdf (88 KB) Parent Engagement Spotlight - 2021_22.pdf (1,487 KB)

13. PUBLIC HEARINGS

Public Hearing on Joint Initial Proposal for Reopeners between the California School Employees Association (CSEA) and the Newark Unified School District

Type Information PURPOSE:

The purpose is to publicly disclose or "sunshine" the proposals for reopeners at which time the public has an opportunity to provide input on the proposals prior to the commencement of negotiations between the Newark Unified School District (NUSD) and the California School Employees Association (CSEA).

BACKGROUND:

Effective June 30, 2022, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Newark Unified School District (NUSD) and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) is set to expire. The California Education Code requires parties to publicly disclose or "sunshine" their proposals for reopeners at which time the public has an opportunity to provide input on the proposals prior to the commencement of negotiations. Both the California School Employees Association (CSEA) proposal for reopeners and the Newark Unified School District proposal for reopeners are attached and are "sunshined" at this meeting. Copies of the proposals are made available to the public. This is the public's second opportunity to express itself regarding these proposals.

File Attachments CSEA Initial Proposal for 2022-25 Negotiations.pdf (162 KB) NUSD Initial Proposal for 2022-25 Negotiations (1).pdf (18 KB)

14. OLD BUSINESS

History Curriculum Adoption

Type Action

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $878,143.40

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source Lottery Funds

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education formally approve the adoption of the Action recommended history curriculum for grades TK-12, as presented. PURPOSE:

The History Adoption Committee comprises K-12 staff who reviewed and piloted History textbooks and curriculum for adoption for grades K-12. The purpose of this presentation is for members of the History Adoption Committee and Ed Services to recommend to the NUSD Board of Education formal approval of the history curriculum for grades K-12. A public viewing of piloted materials has occurred in order for the History Adoption Committee to make a final recommendation to the Board of Education for the adoption of the new curriculum for the 2022-23 school year. The Committee adhered to a detailed process and timeline, including the use of an evaluation rubric with staff input, in alignment with criteria outlined in the history-social science framework established by the California Department of Education.

BACKGROUND:

The subjects of English-Language Arts, Science, and Mathematics have been the most recently adopted curriculums within Newark Unified School District. In fact, the last time the History curriculum was formally adopted in Newark Unified was in 2006. As a result, staff and students have expressed widespread interest in adopting a new History curriculum for grades K-12 that will include a state-adopted program and is aligned with the current California history-social science framework. A process for history curriculum adoption was reviewed with the Board on November 18, 2021. In turn, Ed Services convened a History Adoption Committee during the 2021-22 academic school year in order to review and pilot publisher materials and, ultimately, make a recommendation to the Board of Education to adopt a new History curriculum for the 2022-23 school year.

File Attachments History Adoption 5.05.22.pdf (1,264 KB) TK-5 SAAVAS Quote.pdf (39 KB) Cengage HS Quote_RTD.pdf (190 KB) McGraw Hill HS Quote_RTD.pdf (61 KB) TCI Middle School Quote_RTD.pdf (23 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education formally approve the adoption of the recommended history curriculum for grades TK-12, as presented.

Motion by Alicia Marquez, second by Aiden Hill.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Math Progressions

Type Action

Fiscal Impact No

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education formally approve the updated progression Action of mathematics courses offered in grades 6-12, as presented. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this presentation is to recommend that the NUSD Board of Education formally approve an updated progression of mathematics courses offered in grades 6-12 in NUSD. The presentation will explain the rationale for updating the district's secondary mathematics courses and detail steps taken to engage with staff and community members. The articulated mathematics progression for the secondary level is aligned with the California Department of Education's newly proposed Mathematics Framework, the Common Core State Standards, and meets college and university admissions expectations, including those outlined by the UC and CSU systems.

BACKGROUND:

The State Board of Education last adopted a Mathematics Framework in 2013 in anticipation of the Common Core State Standards. The state now has a new Mathematics Framework that is set to be adopted in July of 2022. Partnerships between the state board of education and college and university systems have outlined new guidelines and recommendations for a progression of secondary mathematics courses to specifically support and prepare students in grades 6-12. During these years, Newark Unified School District has not updated its articulation of a progression of mathematics courses at the secondary level and is, therefore, not aligned with the state's Mathematics Framework. Through engagement with the NUSD community, NUSD mathematics departments, and the Board of Education, Educational Services aims to improve the alignment of secondary mathematics courses, effective for the 2022-23 school year.

File Attachments Math Progressions 5.05.22.pdf (739 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education formally approve the updated progression of mathematics courses offered in grades 6-12, as presented.

Motion by Terrence Grindall, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Credit Recovery

Type Action

Preferred Date May 05, 2022

Absolute Date May 19, 2022

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $20,850.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P)

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education select and approve Edmentum (APEX) as Action an online platform that will serve as one of multiple options that NUSD students have to recover credit, as presented. PURPOSE:

To approve an Edmentum (APEX) as an online platform that will support credit recovery for NUSD students.

BACKGROUND:

Per request of the Board of Education, on August 18, 2021, September 2, 2021, and September 16, 2021, Educational Services presented the purpose and options for credit recovery as it relates to NUSD high school students. During these sessions, the Board of Trustees learned about the background and usage of NUSD's current credit recovery program delivered through APEX, how APEX is currently utilized in NUSD, and what shifts/changes our secondary schools have made to program implementation in response to recent community input.

Board members determined that an online credit recovery option should be utilized, approved of use of APEX for the 21-22 academic year, and requested that Educational Services return during the second semester to report on the following: (1) provide a comparison of online platforms that are used locally and could be used for credit recovery to ensure rigorous and equitable student access to high-quality educational experiences in NUSD during 2022 summer school and beyond, (2) report on the effectiveness of accountability measures that have been put in place for the 21-22 academic school year, and (3) report the results of student polling regarding their experience with APEX.

File Attachments Edmentum Renewal_Apex Courses_Newark USD_04282022.pdf (172 KB) Credit Recovery Online Support Platform Renewal 4.7.22 (1).pdf (1,268 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education select and approve Edmentum (APEX) as an online platform that will serve as one of multiple options that NUSD students have to recover credit, as presented.

Motion by Phuong Nguyen, second by Terrence Grindall.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz
Nay: Aiden Hill

15. NEW BUSINESS

Resolution No. 2021.22.36 - Day of the Teacher

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education adopt Resolution No. 2021.22.36 Day of Action the Teacher. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to adopt Resolution No. 2021.22.36 recognizing the Day of the Teacher, May 11, 2022.

BACKGROUND:

Newark teachers continue to provide outstanding instruction and learning opportunities for each Newark student. Students, parents, administrators, and the Board of Education appreciate the efforts of our credentialed instructional staff. Newark teachers are dedicated professionals who commit long hours beyond the school day in the interest of our students. Our teachers continue to study and prepare themselves to provide for the success of all of our students. Resolution No. 2021.22.36 acknowledges the contributions of the District's certificated employees.

File Attachments Res. No. 2021.22.36 Day of the Teacher.pdf (45 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education adopt Resolution No. 2021.22.36 Day of the Teacher.

Motion by Terrence Grindall, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Resolution No. 2021.22.37 - Classified School Employees Week

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education adopt Resolution No. 2021.22.37 Action Classified School Employees Week. PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is to adopt Resolution No. 2021.22.37 recognizing Classified School Employees Week, May 15-21, 2022.

BACKGROUND:

Classified employees continue to provide valuable services to support the district's mission to ensure success for all students. The valuable contributions of our dedicated classified support staff have a broad impact on students, classrooms, offices, maintenance, grounds, cafeterias, and other support areas. This year, the week of May 15-21 has been designated as Classified Employees Week. Classified employees provide support to both students and staff in the Newark Unified School District. Students, teachers, administrators, and the Board of Education appreciate their efforts. Resolution No. 2021.22.37 acknowledges the contributions of the District's classified employees.

File Attachments Res. No. 2021.22.37 Classified Employees Week.pdf (46 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education adopt Resolution No. 2021.22.37 Classified School Employees Week.

Motion by Terrence Grindall, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Audit Report - Measure G Bond

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education accept the Measure G Financial and Action Performance Audit Report for the year ended June 30, 2021. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is for the Board to receive information and accept the Measure G Financial and Performance Audit Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.

BACKGROUND:

On April 25, 2022, the Citizen's Bond Oversight Committee reviewed and accepted the Measure G Financial and Performance Audit Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.

In accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards, the independent auditing firm of Christy White, Inc. has completed their Financial and Performance Audit Report of the Proposition 39 (Measure G) Bonds of the Newark Unified School District for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021. The comprehensive summary of auditors' results on audit report page 17 outlines the following: The opinions on the financial statements and performance were both unmodified, which is the best opinion that can be provided in an audit. There were no findings, questioned costs, or audit adjustments in relation to this audit.

File Attachments NewarkUSD MeasureG FINALRpt21.pdf (630 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education accept the Measure G Financial and Performance Audit Report for the year ended June 30, 2021.

Motion by Phuong Nguyen, second by Terrence Grindall.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

16. CONSENT AGENDA: PERSONNEL ITEMS

PLACEHOLDER - One Consented Vote

Type Action

Recommended It is recommended that the Board of Education approve, under one consented vote, the Action agenda items under Consent-Personnel, except for agenda items: PURPOSE: (This is specifically a placeholder, and will only be used if multiple agenda items are approved under a consented vote.)

BACKGROUND: Items within the Consent Agenda are considered routine and will be approved, adopted, or ratified by a single motion and action. There will not be a separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be pulled from the Consent Agenda upon the request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately.

Motion & Voting It is recommended that the Board of Education approve, under one consented vote, the agenda items under Consent- Personnel.

Motion by Alicia Marquez, second by Terrence Grindall.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez
Abstain: Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Adopt the NUSD Initial Proposal to CSEA for Reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year

Type Action, Discussion

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education adopt the NUSD Initial Proposal to CSEA Action for reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year. PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to adopt the Newark Unified School District (NUSD) proposal to the California School Employees Association (CSEA) for reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year.

BACKGROUND:

Effective June 30, 2022, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Newark Unified School District (NUSD) and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) is set to expire. The California Education Code requires parties to publicly disclose or "sunshine" their proposals for reopeners at which time the public has an opportunity to provide input on the proposals prior to the commencement of negotiations. Both the California School Employees Association (CSEA) proposal for reopeners and the Newark Unified School District proposal for reopeners are "sunshined" at this meeting. Copies of the proposals are made available to the public. This is the public's second opportunity to express itself regarding these proposals. Following the public hearing, the Board of Education must adopt the NUSD initial proposal to CSEA for reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year.

File Attachments NUSD Initial Proposal for 2022-25 Negotiations (1).pdf (18 KB)

Receive CSEA Initial Proposal to NUSD for Reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education receive the CSEA initial proposal to NUSD Action for Reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year. PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to receive the California School Employees Association (CSEA) initial proposal to the Newark Unified School District (NUSD) for reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year.

BACKGROUND:

Effective June 30, 2022, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Newark Unified School District (NUSD) and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) is set to expire. The California Education Code requires parties to publicly disclose or "sunshine" their proposals for reopeners at which time the public has an opportunity to provide input on the proposals prior to the commencement of negotiations. Both the California School Employees Association (CSEA) proposal for reopeners and the Newark Unified School District proposal for reopeners are "sunshined" at this meeting. Copies of the proposals are made available to the public. This is the public's second opportunity to express itself regarding these proposals. Following the public hearing, the Board of Education must receive the CSEA initial proposal to NUSD for reopeners for the 2022-2023 school year.

File Attachments CSEA Initial Proposal for 2022-25 Negotiations.pdf (162 KB)

Release of Special Term, Retirees, and/or Long-Term Guest Teachers

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the release of Special Term, Action Retirees, and/or Long-Term Guest Teachers. PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to approve the release of Special Term, Retirees, and/or Long-Term Guest Teachers.

BACKGROUND:

Each year certificated staff is hired to fill positions for permanent staff that may be on a leave of absence, in a job share, or in a special assignment. Permanent teachers have the right to return the following year to an assignment for which they are credentialed.

Special Term, Retirees, and Long-Term Guest Teachers do not have automatic rehire rights and may be released by the district at the conclusion of their assignment. Attached is a list of certificated employees to be released as per California Education Code 44954.

File Attachments California Education Code.pdf (110 KB) HR Long Term Sub Release 05-05-22.pdf (350 KB)

Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the Declaration of Need for Fully Action Qualified Educators as presented. PURPOSE:

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing requires that each school district file a Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators for the pending academic year.

BACKGROUND:

The declaration specifies the number of teachers the school district anticipates hiring in designated subjects and at designated levels on emergency permits and the number of interns the school district anticipates hiring. The declaration is valid for one academic year and is a prerequisite to the issuance of any emergency permits to the school district from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The declaration may be amended throughout the academic year as needed.

File Attachments NUSD CTC DON 2022-2023.pdf (339 KB) CTC Annual Statement of Need 2022-2023.pdf (275 KB)

Classroom Aides (6) for TK Classrooms

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $124,000.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source General Fund

Recommended The recommendation is that the board approve six (6) classroom aide positions for Action Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classrooms. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this agenda item is to approve six classified classroom aide positions for 2022-2023 to satisfy the new 12:1 ratio in Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classrooms.

BACKGROUND:

Assembly Bill 130 established an early education initiative to expand access to classroom-based prekindergarten programs offered by school districts. The legislation provides for a 12:1 student to staff member ratio in 2022-2023. Newark Unified's model will include one (1) certificated teacher and one (1) classified classroom aide for a TK class of 24 students. The district is slated to have six (6) TK classrooms next year, so this agenda item is to approve the six classroom aides that will be needed. The classified classroom aide position at each site will be 20 hours a week (0.5 FTE).

New Coordinator of Access & Equity Position

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Dollar Amount $170,000.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source A�G Completion Improvement Grant Program

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the Coordinator of Access & Action Equity position and job description. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to approve the Coordinator of Access & Equity position and job description for 2022-2023.

BACKGROUND:

California SB-309 states the A�G Completion Improvement Grant Program is to "provide additional supports to local educational agencies to help increase the number of California high school pupils, particularly unduplicated pupils, who graduate high school meeting the A�G subject matter requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University." On March 17th, the NUSD Board of Education adopted a plan for leveraging state funds to address the strategic outcomes of the grants. The plan included a new position to support the execution of this grant under the title Coordinator of Equity and Access. This position is on the certificated management salary schedule range of 132, 205 workdays, $110,294.10-$132,883.05.

File Attachments Job Description Coordinator of Access and Equity .docx.pdf (68 KB)

Personnel Report

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education ratify the personnel report as presented. Action

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to ratify the Personnel Report as presented.

BACKGROUND:

All personnel activities including new hires, changes in status, resignation, leaves, and retirements are routinely submitted to the Board for ratification.

File Attachments HR PAL 05-05-2022 Revised 1.pdf (380 KB)

17. CONSENT AGENDA: NON-PERSONNEL ITEMS

PLACEHOLDER - One Consented Vote

Type Action

Recommended It is recommended that the Board of Education approve, under one consented vote, the Action agenda items under Consent Non-Personnel, except for agenda items: PURPOSE: (This is specifically a placeholder, and will only be used if multiple agenda items are approved under a consented vote.)

BACKGROUND: Items within the Consent Agenda are considered routine and will be approved, adopted, or ratified by a single motion and action. There will not be a separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be pulled from the Consent Agenda upon the request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately.

Motion & Voting It is recommended that the Board of Education approve, under one consented vote, the agenda items under Consent Non- Personnel, except for agenda items: 17.2, 17.7, 17.11,

Motion by Terrence Grindall, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Curricular, Non-Curricular Trip for Newark Jr High Band and Choir to travel to Milpitas and Santa Clara, CA

Type Action

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $1,100.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source ASB Musick Funds

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the curricular, non-curricular trip Action for Newark Jr High Band and Choir to Milpitas and Santa Clara, CA. PURPOSE:

The Newark Jr High Principal and Band and Choir Director request permission to take Newark Jr High Band and Choir students on a curricular trip to Milpitas and Santa Clara, CA. Transportation will be by private vehicles. This trip is for students to perform in a music festival in front of professional adjudicators and receive critiques.

    School: Newark Jr High
    Dates: May 14, 2022
    Location: Milpitas and Santa Clara, CA

Chaperone requirements met Grade K-3, one adult for every 5-8 students; Grades 4-12, one adult for every 10 students; Board Policy requires at least two adults on every trip regardless of the number of students (BP 6153 and AR 6153) No student will be denied due to a lack of funds

BACKGROUND:

According to Board Policy 6153, all trips in excess of 100 miles, non-curricular trips, and overnight trips require Board approval.

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the curricular, non-curricular trip for Newark Jr High Band and Choir to Milpitas and Santa Clara, CA.

Motion by Alicia Marquez, second by Terrence Grindall.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Non-Curricular Trip for Birch Grove Intermediate Fifth and Sixth Grade Classes to travel to Fremont, CA

Type Action

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $7,150.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source Students and ASB Funds

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the non-curricular trip for Birch Action Grove Intermediate Fifth and Sixth Grade Classes to Fremont, CA. PURPOSE:

The Birch Grove Intermediate Principal requests permission to take Birch Grove Intermediate Fifth and Sixth Grade Classes on a non-curricular trip to Fremont, CA. Transportation will be by chartered bus. This trip is an End of Year trip for fifth and sixth grade students who have met academic and behavioral standards.

    School: Birch Grove Intermediate
    Dates: May 23, 2022
    Location: Fremont, CA

Chaperone requirements met Grade K-3, one adult for every 5-8 students; Grades 4-12, one adult for every 10 students; Board Policy requires at least two adults on every trip regardless of the number of students (BP 6153 and AR 6153) No student will be denied due to a lack of funds

BACKGROUND:

According to Board Policy 6153, all trips in excess of 100 miles, non-curricular trips, and overnight trips require Board approval.

Addendum to the Master Contract with Welldom Inc.

Type Action

Preferred Date May 05, 2022

Absolute Date May 19, 2022

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $20,000.00

Budgeted No

Budget Source Resource 6500 - Special Education

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the addendum to the contract Action with Welldom Inc. as presented. PURPOSE:

To approve the Addendum to the Master Contract with Welldom Inc. for physical therapy services and assessments in the amount of $20,000.

BACKGROUND:

Welldom Inc. provides physical therapy services and assessments to ensure compliant practices in supporting students' Individual Education Programs (IEPs). Physical therapy services and assessments are legally mandated per the Individual Disability Education Act (IDEA). Without Welldom Inc.'s services, Newark Unified School District would be out of compliance.

      The Master Contract for Welldom Inc. was approved by the Board of Education on October 21, 2021, in the amount of $65,000.
      The total amount of the contract for Welldom Inc. for the 2021-2022 school year including the proposed addendum is in the amount
      of $85,000.

File Attachments Welldom Inc. Master Contract 21-22 SIGNED.pdf (464 KB) Welldom Inc. Addendum 5.5.22.pdf (83 KB)

Addendum to the Master Contract with Ed Sped Solutions, Inc.

Type Action

Preferred Date May 05, 2022

Absolute Date May 19, 2022

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $62,700.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source Resource 6500 - Special Education

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education ratify the Addendum to the Master Action Contract with Ed Sped Solutions, Inc. as presented. PURPOSE:

To ratify the Addendum to the Master Contract for Ed Sped Solutions, Inc. for instructional/1:1 aides in the amount of $62,700.

BACKGROUND:

The services provided by Ed Sped Solutions, Inc. are essential services for ensuring compliance requirements are met for students with disabilities, that includes assessment timelines, and related services are provided per the students' Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Related services and assessments are legally mandated per Individual Disability Education Act (IDEA). Without Ed Sped Solutions, Inc. services, Newark Unified School District would be out of compliance. The contracted positions provide services for unfilled district positions.

     The Master Contract for Ed Sped Solutions, Inc. was approved by the Board of Education on August 18, 2021, in the amount of
     $987,640.
     The Addendum to the Master Contract dated 3/17/22 was approved by the Board of Education on March 17, 2022, in the amount of
     $893,400
     The total contract amount for Ed Sped Solutions, Inc. for the 2021-2022 school year including the proposed addendum is in the
     amount of $1,943,740.

File Attachments Ed Sped Contract Master Contract 2021-22 SIGNED.pdf (710 KB) Ed Sped Addendum_3.17.22 SIGNED.pdf (282 KB) Ed Sped Addendum 5.5.22.pdf (10 KB)

Contract with Falcon Ridge Ranch

Type Action

Absolute Date May 05, 2022

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $169,729.00

Budgeted No

Budget Source Resource 6500 - Special Education, Resource 6546 - Special Education Mental Health

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the contract with Falcon Ridge Action Ranch as presented. PURPOSE:

To ratify the Master Contract and Individual Service Agreement with Falcon Ridge Ranch for residential treatment services for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 school year.

BACKGROUND:

Newark Unified School District requires a highly intensive individualized residential program in order to meet students' unique needs per the consented Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This is due to a significant disability, behavioral, or programmatic need that has impacted the student's current ability to be successful within the general education setting.

     - In 21/22 academic school year, it is anticipated that $17,934 of mental health and residential services included in this program will
     be funded by mental health state funds that NUSD receives annually.
     - In 22/23 academic school year, it is anticipated that $107,310 of mental health and residential services included in this program will
     be funded by mental health state funds that NUSD receives annually.

File Attachments Falcon Ridge Ranch_NUSD Contract 21-22.pdf (282 KB) ISA Falcon Ridge Ranch 21-22 Redacted.pdf (246 KB) Falcon Ridge Ranch_ NUSD Contract 22-23.pdf (261 KB) ISA Falcon Ridge Ranch 22-23_Redacted.pdf (247 KB)

California Department of Education Revised Consolidated Application and Reporting System 2021-2022 Winter Data Collection

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education ratify the Consolidated Application and Action Reporting System (CARS) revisions as outlined by the California Department of Education. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to inform the Board that the California Department of Education revised the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Title 1, Part A and Title 1, Part D local educational agency (LEA) allocations resulting in approximately a 4.5 percent reduction in funding.

BACKGROUND:

On March 18, 2021, and April 7, 2022, the Board ratified the Consolidated Application and Reporting System (CARS), 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 Winter Data Collection, respectively. To complete these reports, NUSD used the California Department of Education (CDE) published FY 2021 Title 1 allocations.

All districts were notified by the CDE that the published FY 2021 Title 1 allocations for Title 1, Parts A and D were calculated in error. Therefore, funds are not available for allocation to LEAs and have been adjusted to reflect the actual funding available. The impact on LEAs is an approximate 4.5 percent reduction in their Final 2020-21 Allocations for Title 1, Parts A and D.

File Attachments

CDE Letter_Reduction to Final Allocations_Title 1_FY 20-21.pdf (155 KB) Revised Forms from Winter 2022 CARS.pdf (285 KB) CARS Winter 2020-21.pdf (1,164 KB) CARS Winter 2021-22.pdf (1,326 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education ratify the Consolidated Application and Reporting System (CARS) revisions as outlined by the California Department of Education.

Motion by Terrence Grindall, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz
Nay: Aiden Hill

HVAC Equipment Purchase Authorized under Resolution 2020.21-030 Authorizing Staff to Acquire Equipment Using Sole Source

Type Action

Fiscal Impact Yes

Dollar Amount $599,475.00

Budgeted Yes

Budget Source Fund 25

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education accept the update on costs associated Action with the implementation of Resolution 2020.21-030 Authorizing Staff to Acquire Equipment Using Sole Source. PURPOSE:

To update the Board on costs associated with the implementation of Resolution 2020.21-030 Authorizing Staff to Acquire Equipment Using Sole Source.

BACKGROUND:

On May 20, 2021, the Newark Unified School District Board approved Resolution 2020.21-030 authorizing staff to acquire equipment using Sole Source. The resolution states, in part: The Board hereby finds and determines that appropriate Carrier HVAC units and Alerton Controls be the sole HVAC and EMS control brands used on the Project and that doing so is in the best interest of the District, its students, and the community; and the Superintendent, or designee thereof, is authorized to take all other actions as necessary to effectuate the intent of this Resolution.

The district purchased HVAC equipment as part of the Phase 1 HVAC Replacement Project under Resolution 2020.21-030.

At the April 7, 2022 Board meeting, RGMK provided an update on the status of the HVAC Replacement Project, Phase 2. Due to the compounding supply chain issues, manufacturing lead times and anticipated price increases, staff recommends procuring the HVAC equipment now to save on further price increases and longer delivery timelines. The construction bidding process for installation is planned to occur this winter with a project start date anticipated in early summer of next year.

File Attachments RESOLU~1.PDF (156 KB) Carrier Corp CMAS Contract_4-21-10-1072.pdf (261 KB) POs_Russell Sigler_HVAC Equipment Phase 2.pdf (443 KB)

Resolution 2021.22.39 Declaring Surplus Equipment

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve Resolution 2021.22.39 Declaring Action Surplus Equipment. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to obtain Board approval of Resolution 2021.22.39 Declaring Surplus Equipment, which lists items to be declared as surplus equipment.

BACKGROUND:

Surplus materials will be disposed of per Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 3270 Sale And Disposal Of Books, Equipment, and Supplies. Education Code, Section 17546 states that if the Governing Board, by a unanimous vote of those members present, finds that the property, whether one or more items, does not exceed the value of $2,500, it may be sold at private sale without advertising, by a District employee empowered for that purpose by the Board; the property may be donated to a charitable organization, or it may be disposed of in a public disposal facility.

The property as described in Resolution 2021.22.39 includes equipment used at secondary schools for Child Nutrition Services. Staff determined that items are obsolete and/or no longer working.

File Attachments Resolution 2021.22.39 Declaring Surplus Equipment.pdf (60 KB)

Warrant Report for March 2022

Type Action

Fiscal Impact No

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the Warrant Report as presented. Action PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to present warrants, for the total amount of $4,273,560.49, made from District funds for March 2022.

BACKGROUND:

The warrant registers represent a complete listing of all payments made from District funds for a month. Because Newark Unified School District is a fiscally dependent District, each warrant must pass through two separate audits; first by the District's Fiscal Services department, and second by the County Office of Education. No warrant can be paid until such time as it is examined and approved by the County Office of Education.

File Attachments Warrant Report March 2022.pdf (402 KB)

Monthly Purchase Order Report

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the Monthly Purchase Order Action Report as presented. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to present a monthly report on Purchase Order transactions per Board Policy 3300, Expenditures and Purchases.

BACKGROUND:

Based on the discussion at the Board's Study Session on January 6, 2022, the staff is providing a monthly report on Purchase Order transactions per Board Policy 3300, Expenditures, and Purchases. The policy states that "The Board shall review all transactions entered into by the Superintendent or designee on behalf of the Board every 60 days."

File Attachments Monthly Purchase Order Report_5-5-2022.pdf (98 KB)

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the Monthly Purchase Order Report as presented.

Motion by Phuong Nguyen, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Contracts and Purchase Orders Authorized under Resolution 2020.21-025 (Delegate Authority to Procure Necessary Materials, Equipment and Services to Provide Distance and/or In-Person Learning for Staff, Teachers, and Students to Mitigate the Effects of Covid-19)

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education accept the update on costs associated Action with the implementation of Resolution 2020.21-025 (Resolution of the Board of Education of the Newark Unified School District to Delegate Authority to Procure Necessary Materials, Equipment and Services to Provide Distance and/or In-Person Learning for Staff, Teachers, and Students to Mitigate the Effects of Covid-19) PURPOSE:

To update the Board on costs associated with the implementation of Resolution 2020.21-025 (Resolution of the Board of Education of the Newark Unified School District to Delegate Authority to Procure Necessary Materials, Equipment, and Services to Provide Distance and/or In-Person Learning for Staff, Teachers, and Students to Mitigate the Effects of Covid-19) from April 1, 2022, through April 30, 2022.

BACKGROUND:

On April 1, 2021, the Newark Unified School District Board approved Resolution 2020.21-025 delegating authority to the Superintendent or designee to procure necessary materials, equipment, and services that are needed to provide distance and/or in-person learning to mitigate the effects of Covid-19. Language in the resolution states "the Superintendent/Designee shall make periodic reports to the Board of Education and the public regarding implementation of this resolution and the costs associated therewith"; requiring the update provided here.

On September 16, 2021, Amended Resolution 2020.21-025 was approved. The amendment extends it to on or around June 30, 2022, and states that updates will be presented at the first Board meeting of each month.

Updates have been provided to the Board June 17, 2021 for contracts and purchase orders between April 2, 2021 and May 31, 2021 October 7, 2021 for contracts and purchase orders between June 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021 November 4, 2021 for contracts and purchase orders between October 1, 2021 and October 31, 2021 December 6, 2021 for contracts and purchase orders between November 1, 2021 and November 30, 2021 January 6, 2022 for contracts and purchase orders between December 1, 2021 and December 31. 2021 February 3, 2022 for contracts and purchase orders between January 1, 2022 and January 31, 2022 March 3, 2022 for contracts and purchase orders between February 1, 2022 and February 28, 2022 April 7, 2022 for contracts and purchase orders between March 1, 2022 and March 31, 2022

VENDOR DATE PO NUMBER DESCRIPTION AMOUNT N/A*

• There are no contracts or purchase orders to report for the period of April 1, 2022, through April 30, 2022.

Minutes of the March 17, 2022 Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Type Action, Minutes

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the minutes for the March 17, Action 2022, Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

PURPOSE:

For the board to review and approve the minutes

BACKGROUND:

The attached minutes are reflective of the March 17, 2022, Regular Meeting of the Board of Education. The meeting may be viewed on the NUSD YouTube Channel HERE

Minutes of the March 23, 2022 Special Meeting of the Board of Education

Type Action, Minutes

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the minutes of the March 23, Action 2022, Special Meeting of the Board of Education.

PURPOSE:

For the board to review and approve the minutes

BACKGROUND:

The attached minutes are reflective of the March 23, 2022, Special Meeting of the Board of Education. The meeting may be viewed on the NUSD YouTube Channel HERE

Minutes of the April 7, 2022 Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Type Action, Minutes

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the minutes of the April 7, 2022, Action Regular Meeting of the Board of Education.

PURPOSE:

For the board to review and approve the minutes

BACKGROUND:

The attached minutes are reflective of the April 7, 2022, Regular Meeting of the Board of Education. The meeting may be viewed on the NUSD YouTube Channel HERE

18. BOARD OF EDUCATION: COMMITTEE REPORTS, REQUESTS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Board of Education Recognitions and Announcements

Type Information PURPOSE: The Trustees may acknowledge or recognize specific programs, activities, or personnel at this time.

Board of Education Committee Reports

Type Information PURPOSE:

The Trustees will provide an update, if available, on the committees of which they are members.

BACKGROUND:

Each year the Board of Education members liaise with schools and committees in order to build relationships, hear from staff, students, and families, and act as a conduit for information to and from the schools.

Board Committees 2020-21

Board Adopted on 12/16/21 RepresentativeAlternate

Mission Valley Regional Occupational Center/Program 1. Terrence(ROC/P)Grindall1. Bowen Zhang Executive Board

Regional Policy Board of Special Education Local Plan Area 1. Bowen Zhang 1. Alicia Marquez (SELPA)

Newark Teacher Induction Advisory Council (Formally 1. Alicia Marquez 1. Aiden Hill EBIC)

Audit Committee 1. Alicia Marquez 1. Terrence2. Aiden HillGrindall

                                                               1. Terrence

Bond/Parcel Tax Committee Grindall2. Phuong 1. Bowen Zhang Nguyen

                                                               1. Phuong
                                                               Nguyen

City of Newark � NUSD Liaison Committee 2. Terrence 1. Bowen Zhang Grindall

Board of Education Requests

Type Action, Discussion, Information PURPOSE: This is an opportunity for the Board of Education to suggest items for placement on future agendas and to review Board requests.

Approval from the majority of the Board will be required for direction to be provided to the Superintendent.

BACKGROUND: The following derives directly from the Board approved "Governance Team Handbook"

Authority is Collective, Not Individual: The only authority to direct action rests with the Board as a whole when seated at a regular or special board meeting. Outside of this meeting, there is no authority. A majority Board vote provides direction to the Superintendent. Board members will not undermine the ability of staff to carry out Board direction.

Bringing New Ideas Forward The Board will be open to having "brainstorming" discussions, or study sessions, around any idea that a Trustee may feel merits exploratory consideration. "New Ideas" are defined as any proposal brought forward by a Trustee, at their initiative or at the request of a constituent, which was previously discussed during a board meeting. Trustees will first notify the Board President and Superintendent of their interest in bringing forward a new idea at a board meeting. When initially agendized, the preliminary discussion of a new idea will not require staff research time. Initially, staff will be expected to respond to new ideas based on current knowledge. Only a majority of the Board may direct the Superintendent to conduct research regarding the exploration of a new idea. The Superintendent will decide on the delegation of assignments to District staff. The new idea may be agendized for discussion only. The Board majority will decide if the new idea should be further developed and studied by staff. The Board majority will decide if staff time should be invested in the "fleshing out" of new ideas. Individual Trustees, in the course of interactions with constituents, will be careful not to make or imply the commitment of the full Board to explore or proceed with implementing new ideas.

19. SUPERINTENDENT'S CONCLUDING COMMENTS, UPDATES FOR THE BOARD AND FUTURE AGENDA REQUESTS

Superintendent's Concluding Comments, Updates, and Future Agenda Items

                       AGENDA REQUESTS

Type Information PURPOSE: This is an opportunity for the Superintendent to make any concluding comments, updates, agenda requests, or provide information of future meetings.

20. ADJOURNMENT

PLACEHOLDER - Extend Meeting

Type Action

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education extends the meeting to ____P.M. Action PURPOSE: This is a placeholder, only to be used if the Board adds a motion and action to extend the meeting.

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education extends the meeting to 11:00 P.M.

Motion by Phuong Nguyen, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez, Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

Adjournment

Type Action, Procedural

Recommended The recommendation is that the Board of Education adjourns this meeting. Action PURPOSE: No items will be considered after 10:00 p.m. unless it is determined by a majority of the Board to extend to a specific time.

This action will conclude the meeting.

Motion & Voting The recommendation is that the Board of Education adjourns this meeting at 10:47 P.M.

Motion by Phuong Nguyen, second by Alicia Marquez.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Terrence Grindall, Aiden Hill, Alicia Marquez
Not Present at Vote: Estaina Resendiz-Ortiz

No minutes available.