Special Meeting

Introduction

• Special Board Meeting held on February 6, 2023, in Newark, CA.
• Key themes: Superintendent Dr. Mark Triplett’s resignation, appointment of an interim superintendent, and community backlash over board transparency and fiscal decisions.

Agenda Items

Public Employee Appointment (Interim Superintendent)

• Description:
  • Board interviewed Michael Milliken during closed session for interim superintendent role.
  • Negotiations for his employment agreement to be finalized at the next regular meeting.
• Decisions made or actions taken:
  • Milliken will be offered the interim position pending contract approval.

Superintendent Resignation Agreement

• Description:
  • Board reviewed and voted on Dr. Triplett’s resignation agreement.
  • Public comments highlighted concerns about costs (estimated $300,000+ for buyout and interim hiring) and lack of transparency.
• Decisions made or actions taken:
  • Agreement accepted via 3-2 vote (Thomas, Hill, Jones in favor; Nguyen, Zhang opposed).
  • Dr. Triplett’s last day confirmed as February 6, 2023.

Public Comments

• Key themes:
  • Support for Dr. Triplett:
    • Praised for navigating COVID-19, consolidating schools, launching STEM/dual-language programs, improving fiscal stability, and engaging students.
    • Criticized board for destabilizing leadership and disregarding community trust.
  • Board Accountability:
    • Allegations of Brown Act violations, personal agendas, and historical dysfunction (e.g., references to a 2019 Alameda County Grand Jury report on board interference).
  • Fiscal Concerns:
    • Frustration over costs of superintendent buyout, interim hiring, and potential delays to facility projects (e.g., track/field upgrades).
  • Student Advocacy:
    • Students emphasized Dr. Triplett’s accessibility and fear of leadership instability impacting academic progress.

Follow-Up and Commitments

• Interim Superintendent Michael Milliken’s contract to be finalized and approved at the next board meeting.
• Public demands for transparency on investigation into Board Member Aiden Hill’s conduct and fiscal impacts of superintendent transition.

Conclusion

• The board finalized Dr. Triplett’s resignation and interim leadership plans amid significant community dissent.
• Next steps include finalizing Milliken’s contract and addressing ongoing concerns about governance transparency and fiscal responsibility.
• Student achievement, facility improvements, and equity initiatives remain at risk amid leadership turnover.

1. CALL TO ORDER

[206] Nancy Thomas: Good evening, everyone. The special meeting of the board of education for Monday, February 6, 2023 is called to order. NUSD has opened its boardroom for in-person meetings and will follow the state and Alameda County safety guidelines for public gatherings. Regular board meetings will be held in person and transmitted via NUSD YouTube channel. and live television broadcast. Members of the public may observe the meeting via the YouTube channel. Information on the Board of Education meetings is... I understand my mic was not on. Good evening, everyone. NUSD has opened its boardroom for in-person meetings and will follow the state and Alameda County safety guidelines for public gatherings. Regular board meetings will be held in person and transmitted via NUSD YouTube channel and live television broadcast on channel 26. In compliance with the American with Disabilities Act and upon request, individuals who require appropriate alternate modifications of the agenda or accommodations in order to observe or participate in board meetings are invited to contact us by mail eight hours preceding the scheduled board meeting. So with that, may we have roll call, please?

1.2 Roll Call

[305] SPEAKER_32: Board Member Torres. Here. Board Member Nguyen. Here. Board Member Jones.

[310] Kat Jones: Here.

[311] SPEAKER_32: Board Member Jones. Here. Vice President Hill.

[314] Aiden Hill: Here.

[315] SPEAKER_32: President Thomas. Here. All appointed.

1.1 Pledge of Allegiance

[317] Nancy Thomas: Thank you. Please join me for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, And it is so, with liberty and justice for all. I would entertain a motion for approval of the agenda.

2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

2.1 Approval of the Agenda

[348] Bowen Zhang: I'll move to approve the agenda.

[351] Nancy Thomas: I'll second that. Thank you. Roll call, please. No. The vote. Why don't you do it in person? You can do it in person.

[372] SPEAKER_32: Board member Torres? Here.

[373] Diego Torres: Yes.

[374] SPEAKER_32: Board member Nguyen? Yes. Board member Jones? Yes. Board member Zhang? Yes. Board member Hill? Yes. President Thomas? Here.

3. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS

3.1 Public Comment on Agenda Items

[387] Nancy Thomas: I said yes. I will say yes. OK. Now item 3.1 is public comment on agenda items. 3.1 is public comment on agenda items. We have 14 speaker cards this evening. Usually we hold open comments to 30 minutes. At the pleasure of the board, we can extend that time. I would just ask for all of you to be as succinct as possible. If you are representing a group, maybe not repeat what others have said. Thank you. Rachel Bloom.

[437] Rachel Bloom: Hi, everybody. So I'll be representing myself, just me and what I need to say. So hello, executive board and school board cabinet, now all you guys. So I'm here to talk about the agenda item 4.2, the public employee appointment, the interim superintendent. So I don't think any of us know what's really going on, but that's never stopped us from giving our opinion. So that's what I'm going to do right now. So when I saw that agenda item on the district's website, I was shocked. I cannot believe that the school board would allow a superintendent to leave, thus requiring them to appoint an interim superintendent again. Now, the agenda does not make clear if Dr. Triplett is resigning because he found a new position or because he's being pushed out. So now things haven't gone perfectly in the past three years. I'll be honest, Dr. Triplett, when that first MOU didn't pass and then you kind of were disappointed in the teachers, but you could have blamed it on the HVAC But then a week later, you're like, happy teacher appreciation week. I'm still a little butthurt about that. Now, the sixth graders were sent to the junior high. And some people, again, are butthurt about that. But let's be honest, that should have happened 20 years ago. Snow and Graham closed. They combined. Now they're Coyote Hills. That left a lot of people butthurt. But let's be honest, school should have closed and consolidated 10 years ago. It was the school board and superintendent at that time that didn't do their job, all right? And Dr. Triplett came in with a huge mess. Mr. Sanchez was a silver-tongued snake that told the board exactly what they wanted to hear while he was doing nothing but spending money to come up with grand plans that we all knew he could never afford. Now, even Mr. Sanchez wasn't the cause of everything and all the situations we're in right now. So the fact of the matter is that we're in this situation because of poor school board and superintendent leadership 10, 15, and even 20 years ago. The superintendent and business office officials always gave the board good news and told them what they wanted to hear. The school board of 10, 15, and 20 years ago never made tough decisions. They were too busy trying to be everybody's friend, trying not to make their neighbors mad. In reality, they should have closed schools, acted with more fiscal responsibility 10 or more years ago. That was the inadequacy of the school boards 10, 15, and 20 years ago that put us in this situation. So whether y'all pushing out Dr. Triplett, if he's leaving on his own accord, or if y'all are pushing him out, I wish you good luck. Why would he want to stay in a district that has a history of school board members that act inappropriately and bully superintendents and teachers? Why would he want to stay in a district where it seems like every time a new school board member is voted in, they come and their single goal is to oust the current superintendent? Why would he want to stay in a district where he has only been for three years but seems to have been blamed for all the systemic problems that have been festering in this district for the past 10 to 20 years? And why would he want to stay in a district where the last time the community passed a parcel tax, the good news was spread on AOL email and it's the messenger. So goodbye, Dr. Triplett, and to your STEAM and STAR Lab initiatives, your environmental-led initiatives. So who knows what the next official superintendent will have us do, what their pet projects will be. I suppose they'll want us to focus on becoming a destination district for underwater basket weaving, monster truck repair, and horse race breeding, but who knows. So please stop being calculating. Get a parcel tax passed. Do your job.

[659] Nancy Thomas: Young Kim? Young Kim?

[664] SPEAKER_44: Here.

[664] SPEAKER_11: Hello. Hello. Thank you for opening your doors today and your minds to our ideas. This is a weird event here today, but being the spouse of a Newark elementary school teacher, I totally empathize with the struggles of her and her colleagues trying to earn you know, their hard-working and dedicated staff earning their deserved pay and benefits. But that's not what we're here to talk about today. When the latest school board election came up, I heard crazy rumors that certain candidates, if elected, may seek opportunities to oust current superintendent. Right away, I said that was crazy, because I knew the school board elected members are entrusted to help support, quote, successful leadership and governance involving an ongoing commitment to developing a unity of purpose and a governance team goals in a way that benefits children. OK, I believe Dr. Triplett's been here just less than three years. And so far, most of his time's been spent keeping our schools afloat during our recent pandemic. So how could one seemingly highly qualified leader have messed up so badly in Such a short time and badly enough to get fired It just doesn't add up in firing. Dr. Triplett We must be saying he's the primary and root cause the main cause of all our problems, right? So but actually Are we talking about nitpicking, hiring practices? Can it be? Anyway, regardless, it's well known that in mature, high-performing organizations, rarely is one single person the root cause of a problem. It's the systems and the culture that are at fault. And going back 10 years or so, there was a similar situation when another productive and driven superintendent was asked to resign by the school board. I found out back then enough parents complained and triggered an Alameda County grand jury investigation of what's going on. They found practices led to dysfunctional, quote, dysfunctional culture of interference in administrative affairs that poisoned relationships and created a crisis in district leadership. They further went on to say, such impositions inject confusion, division, and can create leadership crises akin to what happened in Newark. Again, the school board has succeeded in creating confusion, toxic division, and soon to be another leadership crisis. You can go online to read more interesting findings from the grand jury by Googling Newark Grand Jury or Newark Unified Grand Jury. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. As board members, it's up to you to take or leave the valuable prior lessons learned served from the Alameda County Grand Jury.

[871] Nancy Thomas: Thank you very much.

[872] SPEAKER_11: If we all don't learn from our mistakes, what are our chances in life? Let's all be the best role models we can be for our children. Thank you. Thank you.

[885] SPEAKER_30: Do the right thing.

[891] Nancy Thomas: Mr. Rodriguez.

[910] Ray Rodriguez: Good evening, President Thomas, Vice President Hill, board members, Superintendent Triplett, and staff. Thank you for allowing me to speak earlier, because Anna's not, you know, she's not feeling well. We thought her cancer had come back, and the test came out negative. So praise God, you know, she's doing OK. So anyway, I'd just like to say that, You know, one of the last functions I had being on the board was to bring in a new superintendent. We had to dismiss Mr. Sanchez. And a few years before that, we had the turmoil with Dr. Markin that tore the district apart. And we felt at the time that Dr. Triplett was the person to lead us forward. So it saddens me that a new board that's only been on a couple of months, without even probably doing the full evaluation that we normally do, that the board normally does, has decided to to let Dr. Triplett go. He'll end up somewhere where well and got a good experience here and he'll do well, but the district is left with what was left behind and which is dividing the district and the turmoil that comes with it. There's different costs, as everybody knows, to buying out a superintendent's contract. And some community members have estimated, with the interim superintendent cost, that it would be well over $300,000. So what I'd like to know is, we know it's dismissal without cause. How much is it going to cost exactly? Once the agreement is made, that has to become public, my understanding. And what fund is it coming from? Moving forward, when we do do the new superintendent search, get as many people in the community involved as possible. We've done that before. We probably need to do even more, spread it out a little more so we get as many individuals as possible so the community feels they have a buy-in on the new person that we pick to lead us forward.

[1041] Nancy Thomas: Thank you for hearing me out. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Wahab Salemi.

[1058] SPEAKER_14: Hello, everyone. My name is Wahab Salemi, and I'm a proud alum of Newark Unified School District. I'm here today because I'm concerned about the direction that our new board is taking. As I looked at today's agenda, I saw that there will be a vote to appoint a new interim superintendent, which to me obviously means the dismissal of Dr. Triplett. I want to take a few moments to thank Dr. Triplett for the work that he has done in the last three years as superintendent. In my initial conversations with him, he made me feel heard, seen, and like I had a voice that mattered as a student. He successfully guided Newark Unified School District through difficulties of online learning and COVID-19 pandemic. Even with the struggles of being online, he managed to lead the implementation of the new dual immersion program, outreach campaigns with the public, and made an effort to get to know our community. He's a visible administrator who made sure to reach out to student groups and put our voice at the center. For instance, he was involved in student-led conversations and regularly heard from student leaders. Dr. Triplett frequently visited our campuses, which is something I rarely saw in the years leading up to him taking on this position. He helped shine a light on the importance of supporting students' mental health through the adoption of social-emotional learning curriculum. But overall, he has put NUSD in a position to establish innovative new programs at their campuses. For instance, the reopening of the STAR Lab at Newark Memorial High School. I love Newark Unified School District, and I want us to continue to grow. Dr. Triplett has been able to accomplish things that we have been trying to do for years. He genuinely cares and puts students first. It is unfortunate to think that we would be taking a step backwards with this vote. To the members who may be considering dismissal, I urge you to reconsider, especially as this would come during the middle of the school year, a crucial point in the academic calendar. We need stability and we need progress. We are tired of having interim administrators. And I know how much, you know, how much that lack of civility hinders work and progress on our campuses. We will remember these decisions and how you chose to prioritize personal grudges over continuing the amazing work of the past few years. To Dr. Triplett, as a former student board member, I've seen you carry out your work firsthand. It is difficult to sum up the hard work that you and your team have been doing in just a few minutes. And I want to appreciate what you've done for our district. I want you to know and the board to know that the students appreciate you. Thank you.

[1227] Nancy Thomas: Ms. Lucia Gutierrez.

[1239] SPEAKER_33: I hope you guys take all the public comments that are coming in because the topic is not over yet. So they are still allowed to comment. So first of all, Nancy, I'd like to point out that since you have become president, there have been at least three Brown Act violations. You previously resigned supposedly because of all the Brown Act violations that were happening in the board. So therefore, I recommend that you keep a closer eye on what's happening. Otherwise, you're going to probably have to force yourself to resign again. And well, Aiden, it looks like your wish finally came true. You harassed me, and you created such a hostile work environment that I left. And with the superintendent, you finally found people who would be your accomplice to all the dirty work that you are doing. Nancy, you promised you would get rid of Dr. Triplett, and you are doing it. I hope you're proud of yourself. I hope you're proud of the fact that you are letting many members of this community down. What is this, the fifth superintendent? The fifth superintendent that you are forcing out of NUSD. Why would we think that this time around things would be any different? Nope, same old Nancy. Congratulations to the three board members that are pushing out Dr. Triplett. You are going backwards. You are leading the district back into a bigger deficit, and you are definitely not going to win the Super Bowl with this. Dr. Triplett, I'll say that in Espanol. And because I know I still have time, your buddy here, board members, to you three, your buddy, Kerry Knoop, brought up to me that apparently there's some discrepancy in the agenda, that there's no clarity regarding agenda item. So maybe you guys can clarify if agenda item 5.2 is going to be in open session or in closed session. Because if it is in closed session, he brought up this case that he actually also had a conversation with your attorney about. He brought up this case, San Jose Police Officer Association versus the city of San Jose that says that this item cannot be discussed in closed session. Otherwise, it's another Brown Act violation. So I suggest you guys clear up if 5.2 is going to be discussed in public session or behind closed doors. So you guys do all your secret work. Thank you.

[1400] Nancy Thomas: Item 5.2 will be announced in open session. Elisa Martinez.

[1411] Elisa Martinez: Good evening. Board, Superintendent, Executive Cabinet. I'm going to give my disclaimer that I tend to give based on what my daughter tells me. Just as a reminder that my firm voice is the same as my angry voice. I'll let you figure out for yourself based on my words. First, I'll start with you, Dr. Triplett. It has been a privilege to get to know you. I appreciate so much the work that you have done for our kids for, I'm going to try to use your words, for always putting the young people first, making difficult decisions, and carrying them through and working with an amazing staff that for, I can't remember the last time I was able to say I'm so proud of our staff, of our central team. And I'm confident of the work that you guys are doing to move and drag this district out of the stone age as one of our previous speakers said. So I'm being firm, I wasn't angry with you there. But let me turn my attention to the board members. Nancy, Aiden, Kat, congratulations. I'm sure you already had your little patting on the back party because well Aiden, we all know how he feels if you watch any of the meetings. Kat, Nancy, you told everybody who would listen that your number one objective was to get rid of our superintendent. Didn't want to hear anything about his accomplishments and Didn't care that we were gonna have to pull money from the general fund or reserves to dismiss for cause Right, so I'm not saying am I saying anything? That's untrue Anyway, I hope you're really proud of yourself because now We have to pick up the pieces again. Not you. What do you do? What do you do for us? except bigger And listen to your sixth board member out here about agenda violations or how the staff forgot to put a period or forgot to post the agenda in the correct location. Right? When do we have the substantive conversations that Dr. Triplett finally brought to this boardroom? When do we actually finally get to make the progress that Dr. Triplett began to bring to us? Igual que Lucia, yo tenia esta nota tambien, Mark. And I'm going to speak in Spanish because these people don't understand what our community needs. This is the first time you made the effort to understand, to go out. I know there's a lot to do, but I know that a lot of people in this city of Newark finally felt heard. Finally felt that someone was trying to work so that the needs of their families and their children It's us who are going to suffer your loss. Gracias, Mark. Belindo Tavelera. Good evening.

[1621] SPEAKER_41: My name is Erlindo Talavera. I'm a guardian. I'm here to say goodbye to Dr. Triplett, and I wish him the best. To the board members, whoever I was emboldened, how sad that you guys did this to him. Thank you.

[1661] Guadalupe Lopez: Good evening to everyone, board members. Words can never express my disappointment in your decision to push out Dr. Triplett. Deja vu. Back to 2014. Our superintendent was named 2014 Superintendent of the Year. To our surprise, the superintendent notified the board that he was resigning effective September 30. citing an unworkable relationship with the board. His resignation reportedly was due to trustees' interference in the superintendent's role, duties, choices, and responsibilities. Move forward to 2019. A grand jury investigation was being conducted as the board allegedly was engaged in similar behavior. However, before the results were made public, a board member presented her resignation. Frankly, a blessing, and it was to some stability in our district. Fast forward to 2022, new school board member elected, and again, the board is engaging in similar behavior. The end result, turmoil, and the push out of Superintendent Dr. Triplett. Shame on you. Your personal interests are ahead of you, of the students. Dr. Triplett, thank you for the hard work despite the challenges of COVID. You managed to somehow unite the community as you consistently were present in community events, such as newer days, city hall events, and the most important one, our Avanzanda student recognition and scholarship event. You made our students feel they matter, and they do. You provided various opportunity to appreciate staff. This was not seen before. In fact, there was last year during the back to school teachers meeting, I had to provide breakfast for the teachers as there was not enough money to even buy them coffee. Under the board direction, you hired a highly qualified firm to improve the district's marketing, which board member Hill has highly criticized and falsely accused you of improper behavior. And with that regard, or Mr. Booth, experience, and credentials. You hire a knowledgeable and experienced team to lead the district in a positive direction. You implemented a dual language immersion program, and the toughest you conducted, a successful consolidation of schools due to decline in enrollment. This has been a temper for several years. Our merger schools have drastically improved our financial position. Thank you. Again, thank you. Your departure will be deeply felt. However, our loss will be some district's blessing. Thank you again.

[1853] SPEAKER_13: Hi. Hello. Hi, my name is Mateo Sanchez. I'm here to say goodbye to lots of triplets. I'll miss you. Thank you.

[1884] Nancy Thomas: Lorena Talavera.

[1895] SPEAKER_07: Good evening board members. My name is Lorena Talavera and I am a parent of four students at Newark Unified School District. I'm here to say goodbye to Dr. Triplett and I'm really sad about this decision. Some of the highlights about Dr. Triplett is that he implemented the wide STEM initiative that include marker spaces for all the elementary school sites, improved STEM classes at the junior high incorporating coding and robotics, the STAR Academy at the high school with focus being on computer science, AP courses offering, aerospace, engineering, robotics, and media increased the social presence, providing frequent communication with the community via town halls, newsletters, and emails. Thank you so much for all the work that you did, and I'm so sad to see you leave. And I just don't have any other words to express how good you were in the job that you did. Four of my kids know you. You made your way to go to their schools and say hello to them, and I know that you care about the students. And to Nancy Thomas, I saw you at the community center park when you were doing your campaign. And you told me that you wanted the best for the students. And this does not seem like the best for the students. Thank you.

[1988] Nancy Thomas: Luis Sanchez.

[1995] SPEAKER_22: Hello, my name is Luis Sanchez. I'm here to say goodbye to Dr. Triplett. I hope they appreciate you more where you go. Good luck. Thank you.

[2011] Nancy Thomas: Nicole Eisen.

[2016] Nicole Izant: I just want to start off by saying thank you very much, Dr. Triplett. I don't know the circumstances of why we are now going to have an interim superintendent, but You've done a lot in the brief tenure that you've been here, and I'm really sad to see you go. Everyone before me is already speaking of the wonderful accolades, and I really appreciate your time. I appreciate all the great staff that you have brought on with you and the existing staff that we had. Of course, I am a Newark Unified student, and I think some folks were probably still there when I was back in the system. I just want to express today, in addition to my gratitude for your work here, a little bit of disappointment and trepidation for the future of the school district. Fortunately or unfortunately, my daughter still has four and a half years here and I am actively looking for another program in place to put her because I have no confidence in the current school board members. I don't think you are putting students first. I think you are putting your personal agendas first and your own random, tangential, private investigations. And nobody's got the time for that. If your feelings are hurt, deal with it somewhere else. Don't bring it into the school board. So my point to you is a school board members, Katherine Jones, Aiden Hill, and Nancy Thomas couldn't even vote to get computers to kids last week or the last board member board meeting. How are you going to vote to bring in a new superintendent? I just don't even have any trust that you're going to be able to do anything right. A former teacher, I guess a current teacher, but you've done so many things in the private sector, I don't actually know what your current profession or expertise is. So I have no trust in your ability to do anything right going forward. I really hope that the one thing we'll get out of this is that everyone will be energized to vote in the next election, and maybe we'll get some fresh candidates with fresh ideas. Whoever you bring in, I really hope that they will do the job that Dr. Triplett started. And again, I have absolutely no confidence in the rest of you, and I'm looking forward to the next election cycle. Thank you.

[2152] Cary Knoop: Good evening, board, superintendent, staff. Well, the board, you guys must have a tough night. But you know what? Stand by your beliefs. That's very important. But I would want to highlight something. I see item number 5.2. And I think Ms. Gutierrez alluded to it in her interesting way. A review and a discussion really belongs in a public session. The means of termination is a contract as well, and it belongs in a public session. Because, for instance, let's say for the sake of argument that the board would make, I don't know, a $60,000 performance bonus for Mr. Triplett. It's possible. That needs to be discussed in public. And obviously all the clauses in the contract needs to be adhered to. We need to be honest. But if there's anything on top of that, the public has the right to know that. So I would really kind of urge the board not to discuss that document except in public session. And there is actually, you know, there has been lawsuits where judges have confirmed that termination agreements as other agreements, it's, you know, the terms of an agreement need to be discussed and voted on in public session. Thank you.

[2275] SPEAKER_13: Hello, my name is Sophia Sanchez. I'm from Lincoln Elementary. I am here to say goodbye, Dr. Triplett. And Dr. Triplett, this song is for you. Recuerda me. Hoy me tengo que irme, amor. Recuerda me. No llores, por favor. Te llevo en mi corazón y cerca me tendrás. A solas yo te cantaré, soñando en regresar. Recuérdame si mi guitarra es llorar. Thank you.

[2361] Nancy Thomas: Sophia Rollins.

[2371] SPEAKER_06: Hello, staff, teachers, students, parents, and board members. As some of you may know, my name is Sophia Rollins. I'm a junior at North Memorial High School. I'm a three-sport varsity athlete playing tennis, soccer, and lacrosse. I'm president of four clubs, including Black Student Union, Link Crew, Friendship Club, and Young Life. I'm also heavily involved in ASB and leadership. You might wonder why I bring all that up. Well, the reason is that I actually care. I actually care for my school, and when things go wrong, I do everything in my power to help resolve the issue. I am just a student, so of course some things are out of my power and I can't control. But one thing I know I have control over is using my voice. I remember coming here a few months ago, using my voice on something that not only me, but many others found important, which is a new track and field at Newark Memorial. Before getting into that, I want to thank Dr. Triplett for everything he has done. You want kids to feel safe and heard at school. The amount of times you have come to the school and asked me and other students what we want is incredible. Although it's sad to see you go, just know that you have definitely made a positive impact in my life. And I want to change lives like you have. And to address the other board members that find enjoyment to see him leave, especially you, Aiden Hill, last time I was here, you mean not only me, but my fellow classmates not heard. You sat on the board bashing us for fighting for what we need at NMHS. It makes me feel very unsafe to see someone like you on the board. Like I said earlier, some things are out of my control, but it would forever be crazy to me that you guys actually care more about your own paycheck than students you should be fighting for. Again, I will miss you, Dr. Chiplett. Thank you for actually caring about what's best for the students.

[2473] Nancy Thomas: Thank you. Thank you, Sophia. The last speaker is Mr. Nick Wolfe.

[2500] SPEAKER_44: Thank you, superintendent, staff, council, board members, sorry. Just something interesting that I know a lot of people are going to talk about, current accomplishments that the superintendent has done in his career. So not to repeat everything, but important to remember that he inherited a deficit, functional deficit, structural deficit for the district. They're now in surplus. He led the district through COVID times, which is unprecedented in this era. And so now you want a resignation, so that's about a quarter million dollars. And you're going to hire a firm to do a job search for a new superintendent, another $25,000 to $50,000. You're going to promote someone in the interim, but they're not going to do it for free, so there's another $25,000. And if you're lucky to get someone in six months, which is a pretty aggressive timeline, there's another $125,000. minimum. So you've done a good job so far with the surplus. Now you've managed to waste almost half a million dollars. So well done.

[2576] Nancy Thomas: Oh, we have two online speakers. Thank you for reminding us.

[2584] SPEAKER_32: We have Jennifer Correlio. Forgive me if I said your name wrong. Are you online? Yes.

[2593] SPEAKER_26: Go ahead. Good evening, President Thomas, members of the board, Superintendent Triplett, and district staff. My name is Jennifer Cirillo, and I'm the parent to a sixth grader and a ninth grader in the district. My comments tonight are very bittersweet and will be given directly to Dr. Triplett. I'm a big believer in trying to be a positive and helpful influence in my community. And I just do not have any positive comments to give to the majority of the board at this time. Dr. Triplett, I simply want to thank you for all of your never ending time and unwavering commitment that you have given this district. It has not gone unnoticed. You accepted your position to replace a person who did so much damage in their prior role. The trust was at an all time low and most of us in the community knew that it was going to be an uphill battle for you. You jumped into your role with enthusiasm and dedication to rebuild our trust, and it was quickly apparent to most of us that you valued putting students and people first in your responsibilities the way it should be in our district. You first started your outreach with the best Mark in the Park campaign and continuously showed us that you valued our input with community in town hall meetings, supportive community groups, and making sure you included all stakeholders and committees for major district decisions, such as the unfortunate but necessary closing of schools and formation of the middle school. Having served on the middle school design team, I watched you turn skeptics, including myself at times, into believers, and I really felt like my voice was truly being heard, as well as other district and community members. Not only did you tackle all of these big decisions, but you also helped guide us through a little thing called COVID, distance learning, which I will never look at a quadrilateral the same way, reintegrating students back into the classroom, and dealing with a handful of individuals who apparently suddenly had time to obtain their HVAC licenses. Dr. Triplett, thank you for your long late hours, never wavering dedication, and your biggest strength, your love and support for our students. I truly hope you're able to find a district that will appreciate you much more than you deserve and allow you a safe space to do what you do best, caring for our students. I'm so sorry that we failed to do that here in Newark. Thank you.

[2732] SPEAKER_32: We now have Michelle Padilla. Can you hear us Michelle. Can you hear me. Try again. Can you hear me now. Now we can hear you. Go ahead. Okay great.

[2752] SPEAKER_21: Sorry about that. Good evening. My name is Michelle Padilla and I have two sons in the district and three others that have graduated. Tonight, I wanna thank Superintendent Triplett and his staff for their work to make our schools better, for guiding us through all of the unknowns during the early days of the pandemic. Your transparency and communication has been so refreshing. I am disappointed to lose you, Dr. Triplett, but I also want to wish you well in your next role. I also wanna say, I'm sorry that you had to put up with such unprofessional behavior from this board. You did not deserve that. I want to turn my attention to this new irrational board. What are you thinking? For those that haven't been paying attention, two of these board members who have made no secret that they want to get rid of Dr. Triplett have been in their role just over one month. Nancy Thomas and Kat Jones. Kat, you were my son's third grade teacher two years ago. I voted for you and seriously disappointed. In these 30 days, here's what they have prioritized. The first thing they did was to replace the district law firm with one that Nancy Thomas prefers, even though this law firm cost us hundreds of thousands in the past two cases. They wanted this new law firm to review the investigation into Aiden Hill's improper behavior and sharing of privilege and confidential information. Why are you trying to protect him from the findings? Are you trying to sweep this under the rug so you can have your third vote, Nancy? By the way, when will you report to us, the public, the findings of this investigation? And now you three have arbitrarily decided to get rid of Dr. Triplett without explanation nor discussion in open session. Since when have you been colluding? You three have no idea how to serve this community and are clearly out of touch with what is best for our kids. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[2864] Nancy Thomas: Thank you, Ms. Padilla.

[2874] SPEAKER_14: Ms. Thomas? Ms. Gutierrez. Oh, Ms. Thomas?

[2878] Diego Torres: Pardon? Ms. Thomas? Oh, can I make a statement? Oh, yes. All right, is that okay? Yeah. Oh, okay. Good evening, Newark community. This has been a really difficult speech for me to write. When I write a speech for the board, it has always been for my school report, so this is something new to me. I'm sad that I even have to be up here at all. I did not expect to be here right now. I'm still learning how everything works here at the district, and let me tell you, I never thought I would find out what happens when the board decides to get rid of a superintendent. There are so many questions that need to be answered, but I want to start on a high note. I feel like all I have been doing is saying goodbye to people, so here it goes again. Thank you, Superintendent, for all the hard work you put into the Newark community. You are someone who shows up and cares about this community. From showing up to the graduation ceremonies, personally attending the Starr Lab opening, and meeting directly with students about the problems they face on campus, You have truly gone above and beyond in your responsibilities. It means so much to the community. We are grateful for everything you have done. The students love that they get to say their school is a fancy one with the solar panels recently installed. The Environment Club is excited and proud of the work they get to do with their recycling program, all thanks to you, who helped get them the supplies they needed. The student body is so happy that they are finally getting new water bottle stations and frustrated that all the hard work and progress made in acquiring a new field because of superintendent's efforts are now at risk of not happening. Joining the board, I didn't know how to read an agenda. I didn't know what I was allowed to speak. I didn't understand what responsibilities came with the position until Ms. Gutierrez and Superintendent Triplett helped me. I appreciate that Superintendent Triplett takes the time out of his busy day to meet with me one-on-one and help me understand the agenda. I appreciate that he is there to answer my questions and make me feel comfortable and confident about myself. It hurts me so much that Ms. Gutierrez and Superintendent Triplett won't be around anymore to lead this district to success. Superintendent Triplett came during online school. He was tasked with getting kids back to school safely, and he did just that. He oversaw the necessary closure of some of the elementary schools. He got the wonderful dual language immersion program started. He helped turn our junior high into a middle school. He came during a tough time, one that none of us saw coming, and worked day and night to better the lives of the Newark community and the Newark students. I would like to understand from my fellow board members how we're supposed to function with our fifth superintendent in just 10 years. Since I joined the high school, I have had multiple vice principals and principals. There has never been consistency in leadership. Changing the leader of the school or district is hard for everyone. We have to learn how the new person is and how they function, which takes so much time. The new person has to learn how their community works and how to best serve Newark. That takes even longer. So to have a sudden change in leadership in the middle of the year is outrageous. You can't make substantial and much-needed changes with new leaders all the time. From the way this board has operated, I'm scared for future generations and future leaders. I just question the legitimacy of this board and our ability to govern. No one has given the chance to succeed, which includes Superintendent Triplett. New board members think that less than two months is enough time to make major changes with someone they have barely worked with. There are heavy trust issues within the district, and so many people have been misguided and misinformed. I've sat here and witnessed people make false, misleading statements about issues that they don't know anything about. People who don't even visit or talk with the students are the ones that always have something negative to say about it and is disheartening. These same people are the ones that have the loudest voices and have the time to voice their opinions frequently, even though they are in the minority. Teachers, coaches, and staff are the ones whose voices matter, since they are putting in the hard work every day to improve the lives of the students. They simply don't have the time to consistently check what negative things are being said on social media about the district and to defend the superintendent even though they are in the majority. Who even would want to be under this board's control if they knew about this kind of misinformation being spread and if they do anything wrong then they'll be out even if it's been less than two months. This district has to invest in the system and that means getting to know the superintendent. Do they even care about the Newark community? The community deserves answers, and I hope you can explain why you complain about out-of-control spending while using money to buy out Dr. Triplett's contract and pay for a new superintendent when you could just wait for his contract to end. I would just like to end off by saying, as the decision makers of this district, what does the board exactly want in this superintendent? What is your end goal? At this moment, it seems to be putting students last since they weren't even included in any decisions. So I hope that one day you can answer why you're doing what you're doing. As students, we are always told we are too young to know what is going on, but this time we know what is happening. I want the superintendent community to know that the students are vehemently against this decision and wish the best for Superintendent Triplett and whatever life has to bring for him. Thank you.

4.3 Recess to Closed Session

[3189] Nancy Thomas: Before we go to closed session, I would like to announce that I did one week ago make a Brown Act violation. I failed to announce the issues that we would be covering in closed session. So I apologize for that, and I will try to do better in the future. We are getting ready to go into closed session, where we will discuss item 4.1, public employee dismissal, discipline, and release. And item 4.2, public employee appointment interim superintendent. Meeting adjourned to closed session.

[4006] SPEAKER_30: you

5. REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTION

5.1 Report of Closed Session Action

[9406] Nancy Thomas: The board has come out from closed session. The board in closed session interviewed Michael Milliken to serve as interim superintendent and will offer him the position subject to negotiations of an employment agreement, which will be brought to the board at the next regular board meeting for approval. And item 5.2, the board is Next item is to review, consider, and accept agreement with the superintendent. I would entertain a motion.

5.2 Review, Consider, and Accept Agreement with the Superintendent

[9448] Aiden Hill: I move to review, consider, and accept agreement with the superintendent.

[9455] Nancy Thomas: I'll second it. It's been moved by. Member Hill and seconded by Member Jones to review, approve, consider, and accept the agreement with the superintendent. Any discussion? Can we please call for a roll call vote?

[9482] SPEAKER_32: Board Member Torres, do you vote? No. Okay. Board Member Nguyen? No. Board Member Jones?

[9488] Kat Jones: Yes.

[9490] SPEAKER_32: Board Member Zhang? No. Vice President Hill? Yes. And President Thomas? Yes. Thank you.

[9499] Phuong Nguyen: President Thomas, I would like to state why I voted no.

[9504] Nancy Thomas: Certainly.

[9505] Phuong Nguyen: Member Zhang, did you want to go first?

[9509] Bowen Zhang: Well, do I need to say why? I think people are smart enough to realize that.

[9512] Phuong Nguyen: All right. Thank you, Member Zhang. I do have, I would like to read this. While I am 100% supportive of the superintendent's decision to resign, I do wish Superintendent Triplett the very best in his future endeavors and know that he will be highly successful at moving a different district forward, which saddens me very much because in the short time that he has been here, he has proven to this community that he is a tremendous leader and asset. I cannot in good conscience accept his resignation because there is still so much work that we need to work on together. I also want to take this time to address our community and be transparent as possible. As you are aware, back on August 4th, 2022, the prior board approved to extend the superintendent's contract for an additional year. He had every intention of staying on longer with the district. If he was the If he was the one who initiated this resignation from the district, Member Zhang and I would not have voted against it today. So what major thing happened since then and now? Well, the election happened, and it changed the makeup of our board. The new board members are now aligned with Member Hill, and he has made several attempts during prior open public meetings asking for the superintendent's and executive assistant's resignation on unsubstantiated claims of wrongdoing. Likewise, President Thomas has also made no secret of wanting to buy out the superintendent's contract if she was elected. So within a month of the two new board members joining the board, this is the expedited action that they have taken. The superintendent's contract is a public document, and in it spells out the different types of termination with cause and without cause and a buyout clause. A 3-2 vote indicates that we are not in agreement but must accept the board majority vote. It has not been a transparent process and the board majority very quickly approved the spending of public money without disclosing the fiscal impact and once again creating uncertainty for our community. This is disheartening and is not in the best interest of the district and especially our students. I strongly disagree with the board majority who are President Thomas, Member Hill, and Member Jones and the process they have taken. So I pose this to you. When we hire a superintendent, we are asked to consider community input. So shouldn't we be asking for community input when the board initiates a superintendent's resignation? Also, the life expectancy on average for superintendents in our district is roughly two and a half years based on a 10-year average. So we are on target for a new one. What is most interesting is the fact that President Thomas has been instrumental in hiring and firing superintendents in our district over her tenure as board member, and it has been well documented. Logically, along with the law of averages would indicate that we would eventually end up with a great superintendent, and we probably did and have in Dr. Triplett. So is it simply bad luck or is it the misuse of authority by President Thomas and board members who are like-minded? I would bet on the latter. So I want to bring this back and address Superintendent Triplett. So in the time that Superintendent Triplett has been here, while navigating us through an unprecedented time with the pandemic, these are the few of his major accomplishments. One, transition students to distance learning, hybrid learning, and safely reopen opening schools back to in-person learning. Two, pulled the district out of the structural deficit and made the district fiscally sound and exceeded our district goal of having a 17% reserve surplus. Three, he successfully oversaw the merger of two schools and the transition of the sixth grade to the junior high. Four, spent down the rest of the bond money on facilities improvement, HVAC replacements to improve air quality and safety for student and staff, completed the solar projects, repaving of school parking lots, new landscaping and beautification at all our schools. And prior to the new board coming on, he even got the previous board to approve the new track and field and water filtration system projects, which are now moving forward. Five, he led The development and launch of several innovative programs, the dual language immersion, and two STEM initiatives, environmental literacy and the STAR Academy, which culminated in maker spaces for the elementary schools, STEM coding and robotic classes at the junior high, new AP computer science courses and math pathways at the high school, redesigned a collaborative working and learning space, which is now the STAR Lab, for our students to be hands-on in their creations and empowering innovation. And six, he has been extremely committed to equity and ensuring professional development training for our teachers and staff. Superintendent Triplett, I thank you for your dedicated service, and I'm going to try to keep it together, and commitment to our community and the tireless and thankless hard work you have done for our students in Newark. We will be indebted to you in the years to come. You have jump-started us these past two and a half years And we were moving forward in the right direction because of you. Many of your predecessors have failed to do very little, even without COVID, to attend to. You should be extremely proud of all your accomplishments here. Once again, Newark's loss is another district's gain. You will always have my deepest gratitude and friendship. I wish you all the best. Thank you.

[9898] Mark Triplett: Thank you. Good evening to the board and to community and staff. I would like to say a few words. This is in particular dear to the Newark Unified Community. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the superintendent of the Newark Unified School District over the past two and a half years. I am so proud of our many accomplishments that we have achieved during this time. Not myself, but all of us together. because that's the only way that we can truly accomplish change. None of these accomplishments are the result of one person. Our success has been predicated on the deep collaboration and partnership between the board and the staff. The newly seated board is now interested in moving in a new direction, and we have decided to amicably separate and maintain a focus on what is best for the students, staff, and community. To this end, My last day in the district will be Monday, February 6th. Again, it has been a privilege, a deep privilege, to work with all of you on behalf of the Newark students and families. I am confident that Newark Unified will continue on the path to becoming a world-class school district under the leadership and the guidance of the Board of Education and the incredible dedication and hard work of the teachers and staff of our district. With deep respect, Mark Triplett.

[10022] Nancy Thomas: There are a number of, would you like to pass these out? The resignation agreement is available. There are extra copies. And there are also on the back table, and there are copies that will be put there momentarily of information about the interim superintendent. Thank you. Motion to adjourn. I would like to entertain a motion to adjourn.

6. ADJOURNMENT

6.1 Adjournment

[10056] Phuong Nguyen: I move to adjourn.

[10058] Bowen Zhang: I'll second it.

[10060] Nancy Thomas: Please vote. Roll call vote please.

[10068] SPEAKER_32: Member Torres. Yes. Member Nguyen. Yes. Member Jones. Yes. Member Zhang. Yes. Vice President Hill. Yes. And President Thomas.

[10077] Nancy Thomas: Yes. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.

4. CLOSED SESSION (Closed Session)

4.1 Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release (Gov. Code, § 54957, subd. (b)(1)) (Closed Session)

4.2 Public Employee Appointment/Employment: Interim Superintendent (Closed Session)

[206] 1. CALL TO ORDER

[305] 1.2 Roll Call

[317] 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance

[348] 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

[348] 2.1 Approval of the Agenda

[387] 3. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS

[387] 3.1 Public Comment on Agenda Items

[3189] 4.3 Recess to Closed Session

[9405] 5. REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTION

[9405] 5.1 Report of Closed Session Action

[9448] 5.2 Review, Consider, and Accept Agreement with the Superintendent

[10056] 6. ADJOURNMENT

[10056] 6.1 Adjournment

[99999] 4. CLOSED SESSION (Closed Session)

[99999] 4.1 Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release (Gov. Code, § 54957, subd. (b)(1)) (Closed Session)

[99999] 4.2 Public Employee Appointment/Employment: Interim Superintendent (Closed Session)

1. CALL TO ORDER

Pledge of Allegiance

Type Procedural PURPOSE:

The Governance Team will recite the Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call

Type Procedural TRUSTEES:

President Nancy Thomas Vice President/Clerk Aiden Hill Member Katherine Jones Member Phuong Nguyen

Member Bowen Zhang

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 Bowen Zhang, second by Katherine Jones.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Aiden Hill, Bowen Zhang, Diego Torres, Katherine Jones, Nancy Thomas

3. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS

Public Comment on 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

4. CLOSED SESSION

Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release (Gov. Code, � 54957, subd. (b) (1))

Type Action, Information, Procedural PURPOSE:

Public Employee Appointment/Employment: Interim Superintendent

Type Action, Information, Procedural

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 ACTION

Report of Closed Session Action

Type Action, Procedural PURPOSE:

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

Review, Consider, and Accept Agreement with the Superintendent

Type Action, Procedural PURPOSE:

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

Motion & Voting Motion to review, consider, and accept agreement with the Superintendent.

Motion by Aiden Hill, second by Katherine Jones.


Yea: Aiden Hill, Katherine Jones, Nancy Thomas
Nay: Phuong Nguyen, Bowen Zhang
Not Present at Vote: Diego Torres

6. ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment

Type Action

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 8:44 pm.

Motion by Phuong Nguyen, second by Bowen Zhang.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yea: Phuong Nguyen, Aiden Hill, Bowen Zhang, Diego Torres, Katherine Jones, Nancy Thomas

No minutes available.