Regular Meeting

Introduction

• Meeting Type: Regular
• Date: 2024
• Location: NUSD Boardroom (in-person/YouTube livestream)
• Key Themes: Academic progress updates, budget/fiscal sustainability, equity initiatives, facilities improvements (Measure O), and student leadership revisions.

---

Agenda Items

Newark Middle School Spotlight

• Description:
  • Principal Vicente Gonzalez presented the school’s four core pillars: structure, trust, accountability, and academic progress.
  • iReady diagnostic data showed 38% of students 3+ grade levels behind in reading; 32% in math.
  • Motivate Program: New afterschool intervention targeting students 2+ years behind, combining small-group instruction and iReady adaptive learning.
  • Student Highlight: Sixth grader Juliana Ferrer Garcia (20 months of English proficiency) improved iReady math scores by 26 points and reading by 100 points.
• Decisions/Actions:
  • No formal action taken.

Employee Organization Updates

• NTA (Cheri Villa):
  • Raised concerns about FTE discrepancies (269.4 budgeted vs. 248 actual members).
  • Criticized the first interim report’s assumption of “no salary increases” for certificated staff.
• CSEA (Maria Huffer):
  • Highlighted progress in labor negotiations and thanked staff for resolving fiscal reporting errors.

MGT Fiscal Recovery Update

• Key Findings:
  • Recovered $1M in SELPA receivables, $262K from duplicate ROP payments, and $160K via SELPA revenue corrections.
  • Addressed $7M structural deficit through vacancy reductions, grant compliance, and improved fiscal practices.
• Next Steps: Develop procurement manuals and sustain collaborative fiscal oversight.

2024-25 First Interim Budget Report

• Certification: Positive (3% reserve maintained).
  • Revenue: $59.5M LCFF funding (declining enrollment impacts).
  • Deficit: Reduced to $5.1M (from $14M in 2023).
• Multi-Year Risks:
  • Declining enrollment (-4.6% projected) and unduplicated pupil count inaccuracies (50.69% to 42.94%).

Art Mural Approval (Newark Middle School)

• Description: PTSA-funded mural to enhance school identity and community pride.
• Decision: Approved unanimously.

Student Board Member Bylaw Revisions

• Revisions:
  • Grade Eligibility: Changed from 11th to 10th grade at nomination (to align with state board opportunities).
  • Representation: Maintained single NMHS representative (Bridgepoint inclusion deferred).
• Decision: Approved with amendments.

---

Public Comments

• Key Themes:
  • Budget Transparency: Cindy Parks criticized incomplete explanations for the $10M deficit reduction.
  • Student Board Process: Requests to expand eligibility and ensure equitable representation.
  • Facilities Identity: Urged renaming Newark Middle School to resolve signage discrepancies.

---

Follow-Up and Commitments

1. Facilities: Begin planning for Measure O bond projects (facility upgrades, technology).
2. Equity: Address unduplicated pupil count reporting errors through centralized registration.
3. Policy: Finalize procurement manuals and staff training for fiscal sustainability.
4. Labor: Continue negotiations with NTA/CSEA on 2024-25 contracts.

---

Conclusion

• Outcomes:
  • Measure O Passed: $205M bond for facility improvements approved by voters.
  • Leadership Transition: New board members (Gabriel Aguiano Jr., Austin Block) to be sworn in.
  • Next Steps: Focus on academic interventions, budget stabilization, and community engagement.
• Farewells: Recognized departing members Phuong Nguyen and Carina Plancarte for their advocacy on Measure O and equity initiatives.

[375] Aiden Hill: So 5 p.m. Okay, so roll call, Ms. Lemus.

[390] Toya Lemus: Member Thomas? Here. Member Nguyen? Here. Member Plancarte, absent. Vice President Jones?

[399] Toya Lemus: Member Hill?

[400] Aiden Hill: Here. Moving on to 1.2, meeting practices and information. Members of the public may observe the meeting via the NUSD YouTube channel or in person at the NUSD boardroom. Spanish translation will be available in person. Public comment, the public will have the opportunity to address the Board of Education regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items requested by email at publiccomment at newarkunified.org or in person by submitting a speaker card with the executive assistant. And do we have any public comment? that was sent in to you, Ms. Lemus?

[436] Toya Lemus: We do not have public comment at this time.

[438] Aiden Hill: Great. OK. OK, so moving on to closed session. So we have four items. 2.1, student expulsion at code 48918. 2.2, conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation. Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to government code 54956.9, case 10-10, 10-11, 10-15, 10-16, 10-17, and 10-18, six cases in total. 2.3, Conference with Labor Negotiators, Government Code 54957.6, Subdivision A, Employee Organizations, CSEA and NTA. And finally, 2.4, Public Employee Performance Evaluation, Government Code 54957, Subdivision B1, Title Superintendent. And with that, we are going to reset to closed session.

[4867] Aiden Hill: So there were no reportable actions from closed session. So we will move on to 4.1, Pledge of Allegiance. If I can get everybody to stand. Please repeat after me. 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. OK. Moving on to 4.2, meeting practices and information. Members of the public may observe the meeting via the NUSD YouTube channel or in person at the NUSD boardroom. Spanish translation would be available in person. Regarding public comment, the public will have the opportunity to address the Board of Education regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items requested by email at publiccomment at newarkunified.org or in person by submitting a speaker card with the executive assistant. Okay, moving on to 5.1, approval of the agenda. So staff would like to pull 13.2 and with With that exception, can I get a motion to approve the agenda absent 13.2? I'll make a motion.

[4951] Tracey Vackar: Just to clarify, item number 13.2 is the resolution of committed funds. This had been done as a previous board action, and so it's not necessary to do it again.

[4963] Carina Plancarte: I'll make a motion to approve the agenda.

[4966] Aiden Hill: I'll second. Ms. Lemus, are we going to do this through board docs?

[4973] Toya Lemus: Yes, we can do it through our docs. Online voting is open.

[5002] Aiden Hill: I'm sorry, we have to ask. Sorry, I forgot. So student member?

[5007] Toya Lemus: Yes. OK. Student board member Lee. Yay. Votes are in. Six ayes.

[5016] Aiden Hill: Great. Motion carries. OK. So moving on to 6.1, student report. Student board member?

[5026] Joy Lee: Good evening, board, executive cabinet, and community. Newark Memorial and the Fremont schools are currently in a winter spirit week. In our friendly competition with the schools, points are collected by student and staff dress-ups, as well as the number of coins collected. And as of today, Newark Memorial is in fourth place. Today we had dress-up as a Disney day, and tomorrow we will have wear your school spirit merch day. Last Saturday was our Newark Memorial's winter formal. Now I will share some upcoming events and important upcoming events for our district. First, mark your calendars for the choir and band winter concert happening on Wednesday, December 13th at 7.30 PM in the theater. This is a wonderful showcase of our students' talent and tickets are just $10 for adults and $5 for students. We hope to see you there for a magical evening of music. So December 13th at 7.30 PM at the Newark Memorial High School Theater. Lastly, After School aides is offering free teacher assistance to educators across Newark Unified School District. Teachers, if you're interested in the support, you can reach out to them at jochoa at newarkunified.org. And lastly, final season is coming up, so students are currently preparing for their finals. So I want to thank you guys for your attention, and thank you.

[5119] Aiden Hill: Thank you, student board member. Questions for a student board member? OK, moving on. 7.1, school spotlight, Newark Middle School. Superintendent.

[5133] Tracey Vackar: Thank you. I'll let Assistant Superintendent Karen Allard introduce this item.

[5141] Karen Allard: I am super excited for the board to have the opportunity. Am I on? Yep. Am I on? Yeah. I'm super excited for the board to have the opportunity to hear highlights and efforts of Newark Middle School staff as they are working ferociously together to increase student outcomes at all the, in all classes. So I'm handing it off to you, Mr. Gomez.

[5169] Vicente Gonzales: Good evening, distinguished board members, Superintendent Vackar, parents and community members. My name is Vincent Gonzalez, and I'm the proud principal of Newark Middle School. Good evening, everybody.

[5182] Toya Lemus: Do you want the clicker, or do you want me to?

[5183] Vicente Gonzales: Just a second.

[5197] Vicente Gonzales: This year, Newark Middle School has embraced the four core pillars. Structure, trust, accountability, and academic progress. To cultivate a positive and impactful school culture, these priorities focus on essential areas that drive student success and strength staff collaboration. Structure. Clear routines and expectations provide stability and clarity, helping students and staff understand the roles and responsibilities, maximizing confusion and enhancing productivity. And before I continue, I just want to preference that These four pillars have been implemented with our school, school-wide with staff, students, and parents. So I forgot to mention that. The second one is trust. The reason we're doing this is building trust among students and staff. And families fosters mutual respect, collaboration, and open communication, paving the way for strong relationships and innovation practices. Accountability, high standards, and fairness ensures consistency and responsibility throughout the school community, supporting personal growth and collective progress. And lastly, academic progress, a focus on academic achievement, empower students with support they need to excel, aligning with the school's commitment to educational excellence. These pillars serve as a foundation for addressing the diverse social, emotional, and academic needs of our school community, creating a framework of growth, unity, and success. With that, I would like to bring Mr. Shaun Fuller, one of our teachers up here, please. I'm honored to introduce Mr. Shaun Fuller, a dynamic, caring veteran teacher who's an integral part member of our leadership team at our site. His dedication to fostering these pillars and his commitment to student success make him invaluable asset to Newark Middle School. And this is not about Mr. Fuller, but the story is going to continue. Mr. Fuller will provide a forward-thinking perspective on academic progress, offering a glimpse into the transformational steps we are taking to elevate student achievement and drive meaningful growth across our school community. Mr. Shaun Fuller.

[5346] Shaun Fuller: Thank you. Good evening, everyone. to be here tonight to talk to you about our academic progress at Newark Middle School. To support students in achieving their academic goals, we provide them with a range of resources and targeted support. At the beginning of the school year, we administer the iReady diagnostic to assess where students are academically, allowing us to tailor lessons to their needs. We are currently administering the second diagnostic and seeing massive gains in reading and math. At sixth grade, every student receives some form of academic intervention. either through RSP, ELD, and or our built-in flex intervention and enrichment period, which is direct instruction that takes place during every school day. Our sixth grade cohort teams closely monitor academic growth through the iReady platform, an invaluable tool that allows us to move students in and out of cohort flex classrooms based on academic performance and their areas of need. Our standard assessments in grades seven and eight help monitor progress and guide our instruction, which often includes spiraled lessons to reinforce or reteach key concepts. By integrating both online and pencil and paper assessments, we ensure a comprehensive approach to evaluating student understanding. We provide our students with multiple opportunities to practice taking the focused interim assessment blocks to help our students prepare for the CAS testing in the spring. We are preparing to roll out an additional intervention program, which we're calling Motivate. The Motivate program is an after-school initiative utilizing the iReady platform to address academic gaps in both math and ELA. This program targets students who are two or more years behind grade level and emphasizes responsibility and accountability. Special focus is placed on ensuring equitable access to support all students, including EL, RSP, SDC, and sixth grade students who test two or more years below grade level. Big things are happening at Newark Middle School, and we look forward to sharing even more academic success going forward. As always, it takes everyone being on board to accomplish student success. Students, teachers, site and district administrators, the board, and very importantly, the community. We are so amazed and grateful by the parent support that we are receiving this year, and it has led to a ton of positive change and student growth. It truly takes a village. And a prime example of what's possible with a village mentality is a student named Juliana Ferrer Garcia. Juliana is a sixth grader at Newark Middle School in Mrs. White, shout out to Mrs. White, and my cohort. She has only been speaking English for 20 months. She is one of the hardest working students her teachers have ever worked with. willing to sacrifice brunch, lunch, and her free time to become a better student. She embraces learning and maintains a positive attitude in everything she does. Juliana is resilient and is always asking clarification questions, whether I like it or not, particularly during math and reading instruction. Her hard work and dedication is paying off. Juliana just completed her second iReady Diagnostics. In math, she went up 26 points overall, and is now on grade level. In reading, she went up a massive 100 points. From grade three overall to on grade level, which is incredible for a student who has only been speaking English for a year and a half. Juliana embodies what it means to be an NMS Cougar. We are so very proud for her and her accomplishments. She is an example of the amazing things that can happen for kids at our school when teachers and students build relationships that foster growth and assist the child in meeting his or her potential. And we have a special award for her tonight. First time getting this award. This is the Cougar Resilient Spirit Award, and this certificate is proudly presented to Juliana Ferrer Garcia in recognition of your dedication, hard work, perseverance, and determination.

[5629] Vicente Gonzales: You want to say something?

[5632] Juliana Ferrer Garcia: I'm thankful to be here. I'm so thankful to my teachers because they were so strict, seriously. They always want me to be better at everything that I do, and they're so special for me. Plus, I want to say that I don't know what happens to you, but whatever is happening, you can do it. You can make what you wish if you really effort for it.

[5661] Tracey Vackar: Thank you. Juliana.

[5665] Jose Quintana: Juliana.

[5667] Tracey Vackar: Mr. Gonzalez.

[5675] Vicente Gonzales: And we'd also like to give a hand to their parents who are back here as well.

[5679] Tracey Vackar: Thank you.

[5687] Vicente Gonzales: And this just happened today. So when we found the news, I said I could not be a better spotlight to bring my students. So congratulations again to you. And I'm very proud of you, OK? All right.

[5699] Tracey Vackar: Juliana, congratulations. Thank you for the great work you're doing.

[5705] Vicente Gonzales: So I'm done. Thank you guys for tonight. Well, you know, this is what it's all about. Spotlight is not about the principal. It's really about the student. It's not about the staff. It's really about the student. It's not about the adult. It's really about the kid. And tonight, we just proved that. And the success of the students comes from the whole village, which is the teachers, the school, and the parents. So we're really grateful to everybody. So we're going to continue on. So we're going to be talking about our path to success, academic success. We talked a little bit about it, but we do have some news for you tonight. You read the board packet, of course. The data doesn't lie, right? So we're just going to highlight a couple of things. If you can see on our slide there, The overall placement, out of 978 students, 927 tested, the performance levels, the green with the black stripes are mid to above grade level, 188 students at 20%. I'm going to go all the way down to the three-year at the bottom of the overall placement. The red with the black stripes, three or more grade levels below, 352 students at 38%. And we have a lot of work to do. The data is very clear that we have to start focusing a lot more in regards to the reading for our students. And we are very prepared to start doing that. As Mr. Fuller stated, we are starting to get these interventions in place. The ELL breakdown, which is the slide below there, the performance levels, the green and with black stripes, 12 students at 7%. Out of 191 students tested, excuse me, out of 191 students, 179 were tested, 12 students at 7%, and the red with black, three years or more grade levels below, 116 students at 65%. So the data's telling us we have a lot of work ahead of us. Staff is prepared. We have had a lot of conversations, a lot of collaboration. Our department chairs and instructional leadership teams I have been working diligently to make sure that we start focusing on what we need to be doing. We know that the insights of that would be the three or more grade levels behind in reading. And we also know that the performance appears to decline at the higher grade levels, with grade eight having the highest proportion of students significantly behind. So as they're going forward, we're starting to lose them. So as you can see, sixth grade came here. We're losing them at eighth grade. So we have to start making some changes right away. Our goal, of course, is to increase ELA scores for all students with a specific focus on multilingual learners. The key focus in our plan of action, let me go to the plan of action real quick, is to achieve this goal, we are implementing target instructional strategies tailored to diverse needs of our students, ensuring that every learner receives instruction at their level. Utilizing multi-tier support systems. The approach provides tier interventions, ensuring students who need additional support receive timely and effective assistance. And lastly, leveraging the iReady, a personalized learning platform. You guys all know about it. To diagnose students' needs and to provide adaptive, individualized lessons that address specific skill gaps. Sixth grade has proven that. iReady does work. Now is about to get our seventh grade and eighth grade on board with that. continue them moving forward. That was our English report. There we go. So this is our math report, Paths to Academic Success. Of 978 total students, 886 were tested. At the performance levels at the top, you can see there the overall placement. Mid or above grade level, 87 students at 10%. If you go lower, all the way to three or more grade levels below, 280 students at 32%. A lot of work to do with our math. Our EL breakdown at 191 students tested, 171 students. Three students at 2% were mid or above grade level. Three. So the data is telling us very clearly, if we go down to the red and black stripes, three or more grade levels below 92 students, 54%. So the math is definitely, it's been a state focus for years. And we know it's our focus as well. So we're going to be working really diligently to make that happen. So in regards to our insights, grade level trends, eighth grade has the highest percentage of 43% of students three or more grade levels behind. And again, as we go up to grade level, seventh through eighth grade, that's when we start dropping. So we have to start getting these targeted interventions in place and really train our staff in regards to interventions to really start using these small groups and strategies in the classroom first before we can do anything else. Our goal, again, is to increase math course for all students. We know that our plan of action this year is implementing target instructional strategies designed to address the diverse learning needs of our students. And again, utilizing multi-tier support systems. This ensures students receive tailored interventions to close gaps or enrichment to advance challengers. So not only are we going to be working with our students who are low in math, but also these enrich, give some enrichment to their students who need it, who are high in math, and start pushing them a little higher. So our students who are doing really well, there has to be some more enrichments for them. Going to our bright spots, I'm very proud of the staff, because coming in as a new principal, one of the things we really try to do right away is build relationships with staff, because they're in the trenches. I've been very proud and very honored to be working with the staff at our site, because they bought in right away. So with that buy-in, we're making things happen right away. So I'm excited about that. As you can see on this slide here, Shifting culture and climate, this has been one of our biggest things so far. If you guys have heard, the community has heard, the parents have talked about, students are talking about, the shift is happening. And in our school, that's the word we use. We don't use change. It's shifting. Shifting our mindset from fix to growth and making sure that we're going forward. We have clear expectations for adults and students. And when I say adults, it's all the adults on campus. We want our adults to be talking to kids. If you go to our site and we talk to our campus supervisors, everybody has to talk to kids. And if you ever go to our site and ask a student if you ever got a fist pump from the principal, probably 997 students will tell you they have. So all adults are making, when you make a physical contact with a student, you're building a relationship. So that's very important. Effective consequences, we're really working hard to make sure that the kids who are not behaving properly are getting an effective, redirection of behavior consequences. It's not about suspending students. It's about redirecting their behavior, putting them back in the classroom so they can begin learning. That's what we're trying to do. The second part of that is our active listening, excuse me, our active leadership practices. Collaborative leadership, shared responsibility. Mr. Fuller is part of our instructional leadership team. We're getting these people to the table, our teachers, our leaders, and having them share the responsibility with the principal. The principal cannot be the only person on site leading the school. It has to be the leaders of the school and the teachers in the trenches. And lastly, we want to make sure that we have a visible leadership presence and practice. So we are in the classroom with classroom visits, regular walkthroughs and observations, active presence during key times before and after lunch, during brunch, You'll see all the administrators outside talking to kids. Our goal is to make sure that every kid gets a fist bump from an adult, especially the administration, so they won't be afraid of administrators, but they know we're there as a partner. And lastly, again, we want to make sure that we're approachable. Sometimes my haircut doesn't get that, but my smile does. So I thought I'd throw that one out. So we're really proud of that. We really want to be approachable to our parents, to the community, to our teachers, everybody. We want to make sure that our offices are always open for that collaboration and communication. We do have some campus initiatives. Those campus initiatives. At Newark Middle School, we are committed to fostering academic excellence through targeting exclusive initiatives designed to meet the diverse needs of our students. Our focus on increasing academic performance for EL students includes differentiating ELD sessions, engaging instructional methods, collaborative learning opportunities, and the use of data-driven tools like iReady to ensure personalized support and measurable growth. Additionally, our Motivate Afterschool Program and Advisory iReady Initiative provide essential interventions and enrichment opportunities, empowering students to build confidence, master skills, and achieve their academic goals together. These efforts underscore our dedication in creating a supportive and thriving learning environment for all. Our parent engagement and academic support initiatives At Newark Middle School, we are dedicated to fostering strong partnerships with families to enhance student success through a combination of workshops, collaborative spaces, and support services. We aim to empower parents with the knowledge and tools they need to guide their children effectively. Every month, there's a coffee with the principal. I'm very, very happy with the turnout we're having. Parents are coming in the morning at 9 o'clock, spending time asking questions. And at that time, we're sharing a lot of information about the school with them. Sometimes they hear outside of the school. We want to make sure they know the truth inside of the school. We also have a weekly parent cafe. We're facilitated by our parent partners. These gatherings create a welcoming space for families to share experiences, again ask questions and collaborate on strategies to support their children's success in school and beyond. And lastly, the support services. We connect families to vital school and community resources. Parent Partners has been vital for our school. We have an office for them at the main office, where parents are able to come in and get the services from them. So we're excited about having their presence in our school. Our evolving intervention literacy supports. Again, the key components of this literacy intervention is the tier instruction, data-driven decision making, professional development, and family and community engagement. This is a cornerstone of the tier, the literacy interventions, how we want to put forward. At Newark Middle School, it's committed to improving literacy outcomes for our students through the comprehensive response to intervention framework. This proactive multi-tiered approach ensures that every student receives the level of support needed to thrive academically and develop essential literacy skills for life. long learning. Our tier instructional approach is high quality evidence-based classroom instruction. It starts in the classroom. These teachers with the professional development are going to be highly qualified. They are highly qualified teachers. We have to be able to provide highly qualified instruction. Tier two provides these small targeted groups where teachers are part of the motivate program is that teachers will be working with five students at a time in the after school programs. Those teachers will be ELA and social studies have been matched up. They'll be dealing with those five students individually, one day a week. And then the second day, there'll be 15 students working on iReady and all these other classes. We'll provide more of that information. Going over to our PBIS at North Middle School. Newark Middle School implements a positive behavior interventions and supports framework to foster safe, inclusive, and positive school environment. Key components include clear expectations. This is part of our disciplinary chart we use daily with students. Clear expectations, establishing and teaching consistent behavior expectations across the campus. Recognition and reward, acknowledging and celebrating positive behaviors to encourage supportive and respectful culture. And data-driven practices, we look at the data all the time, using behavior data to identify trends, address challenges, and guide decision-making. And then, of course, our tier support, providing target interventions for students needing additional behavior support. So when the student comes to the office, our assistant principals have been directed to spend at least minimal time with students in regards to redirecting behavior and getting them back in the classroom. If there's additional services that are needed, they're directed directly to our counseling staff. And that counseling staff will work on the social and emotional piece with the students. So we do have a system that we have at the site where administrators are trying to redirect the behavior with the BBIS chart, get them back in the classroom. If they need additional services, they're addressed there. And they're sent over to our counseling department. And as you can see, we have some events coming up in December. We just have a tupi field trip, selling winter dance tickets. I think we're going to be, we didn't have enough students come out for that one. I think it's too cold. They didn't want to come out. So we may be looking into counseling that. Promoting kindness and generosity is something we're doing all December. in progress promoting anti-tobacco and anti-vaping culture at our school. As our counselors are working diligently, Mrs. Celine, she works very hard with the Tupi. She's our coordinator at the site. And she's been putting presentations on for our staff and our students so they can know more about the health problems with vaping. And I know there was a passing bill at the city level where vaping is And no longer I think they're going to be passed a bill in regards to not allowing certain age students to buy or get vaping. And that's another thing that we've been addressing as well. So in closing I want to thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to Newark Middle School. Together we will achieve remarkable progress and the future holds incredible promise. We are energized by the opportunity to collaborate with the board and our vibrant community as we champion our students' academic excellence and personal development. Here's to continuing this journey of success side by side with all of you. Thank you so much, board. Thank you, Superintendent Vackar.

[6720] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Fuller, and Juliana. for the excellent presentation. So questions from the board?

[6732] Nancy Thomas: Mr. Gonzalez, thank you so much for a great presentation. And Mr. Fuller and our student, Juliana, that's great. Congratulations, Juliana. That's a great achievement you've made. My question, I guess. My question is more about, which I find very exciting, your after school motivate program. I mean, with as many students as are two and three levels behind in math and language arts, how many are invited? How many that are invited are able to participate? Do you have enough teachers to deal with and help these students after school?

[6779] Vicente Gonzales: Yeah, we do have enough teachers. We're going to be starting the program mid-January of next semester. The goal is to get as many students, right now we're starting with the five with each teacher and then another extra 10 to go into the second day with iReady. So we're going to go doing targeted interventions, the five with the one teacher and then the next day they're going to be going into a classroom with another teacher, 15 students with the iReady. And how many groups of five do you have? We're looking at, so We're looking at probably 20 groups of five starting.

[6819] Nancy Thomas: So you have 20 teachers that are willing to come in. Absolutely. Boy, kudos to those teachers, because that's a lot of work after a full day of teaching. And the kids need that help. And so kudos to the teachers.

[6833] Vicente Gonzales: Yeah, congratulations to our school. Yeah, and it should be noted that the first part of this was teacher-driven. Teachers came up to me as well, and we're ready to start getting these interventions in place. But we wanted to do it right. So the reason the name Motivate came in, it's self-motivate. We really want kids to come, parents to encourage, and then get the help they need.

[6856] Nancy Thomas: Have you talked to parents? Are they pretty open?

[6858] Vicente Gonzales: That's going to be the next step. We're going to be actually making personal phone calls, teachers will, to those parents, inviting the students, and then getting a form so that they can make that commitment, a pledge to that program. Thank you.

[6873] Aiden Hill: Member Nguyen.

[6874] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Fuller, and Juliana for coming tonight and presenting. You guys, everything that's happening and progressing at the middle school is wonderful. And I wish you continued success there. And I just also want to really express thanks to the teachers, self-driven motivation for our teachers to really do the intervention work with our students. I know that parents who I've talked to outside our meetings have been asking, when are we going to start intervention programs back again? I know that it hasn't happened at the middle school in quite a while, I mean, post-pandemic. And prior to the pandemic, we did some, but not in a planned way like you are explaining it. And I really do appreciate that. appreciate all the teachers who want to be involved in building those relationships with our students, because that's when great things happen. And the success of our students is based on the students, but also a relationship that is built between the student and the teacher. So I really appreciate that. So thank you for everything that you're doing. And I think it's getting, I hope that next year at this time, when you come back to present the, assessments will look much different and much more improved. So thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[6966] Aiden Hill: Additional questions? Student member.

[6972] Joy Lee: I just wanted to say thank you and like I have a younger brother who goes to the middle school and he like he said it's really really improved and so I just want to thank you the teachers and the staff for all the work you've been doing and I also wanted to Juliana, your comment was absolutely amazing and it was so inspirational. And being able to say that as a sixth grader, I'm so excited for what's to come for you in all your middle school years and your high school years and just the rest of your life.

[7012] Juliana Ferrer Garcia: Thank you.

[7021] Carina Plancarte: I'd like to say something. Thank you so much for your presentation. And Mr. Fuller, thank you for all of the effort and the support that you provide to the students. And it truly, your presentation truly shows that it is making a difference. And Juliana, I'm very proud of you. Your family should be very proud of you. And really, you have such a great support system. And it really gives me some hope And it's a breath of fresh air to really see all of the great things that your staff and yourself are doing to really help inspire and motivate these kids. I also really appreciate the fact that you're taking an equitable approach to what the assessments, what the data is telling you, where we're failing the students and where we can better support them so that they can increase their academic achievements. But also what I really, truly appreciate is the fact that you said we've also got to focus on our high achieving students and we've got to push them and drive them because really we can't let any students fall behind whether they are failing or whether they are on the trajectory to being a little bit more ahead or advanced. So I really want to thank you for that and I appreciate the staff and like you said and Mr. Fuller it truly takes a village and a community of not just the parents, but also the people in the community to make a difference and to really start to change how we are approaching what the data is telling us and where we're coming short, but also where we can continue to strive and thrive. So thank you so much.

[7133] Aiden Hill: Thank you. Vice President Jones.

[7136] Kat Jones: I'm just going to say that I definitely echo everything that the other members have said, and just am really proud to see what's going on on the school site, to hear good things from students and parents who contact me and let me know. Juliana, great job, my dear. So just keep up the good work. And the communication that's going on between staff and administration is fabulous. And Mr. Fuller, good job. Keep it going.

[7178] Aiden Hill: Yeah, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Fuller, and also your whole team at the middle school, because as you said, it takes a team, can see the great work that you're doing. It's really appreciated. And the thing that I also would like to appreciate, both from you, but also from Superintendent Vackar and Ms. Allard, is I've attended various meetings with California School Board Association, where they talk about, they've analyzed the amount of time during a board meeting that various topics are discussed, and they talk about how often academic achievement is kind of put on the back burner and isn't really discussed, but the fact is, What you focus and what you discuss is what you focus on, and that's where you're going to achieve results. And so I'm seeing a theme here of every single time we have a spotlight, that each school is coming up with their iReady scores. We're talking about this. This is the way that we're going to do great things. And I appreciate your candor in where we are, but that doesn't mean that's not where we stay. That's just where we are right now, and you're putting together a plan to take us to greatness, so thank you.

[7254] Aiden Hill: Thank you very much. Thank you.

[7259] Tracey Vackar: Mr. Gonzalez and team, thank you so much for being here this evening and for your presentation. We are really excited to work with you in the middle school.

[7266] Vicente Gonzales: Thank you, Superintendent Vackar.

[7273] Aiden Hill: OK, moving on to 8.1, employee organizations, NTA. Ms. Villa. Ms.

[7283] Cheri Villa: Villa, could you pull your microphone down just a little bit? Thank you. Can I adjust now? We want to make sure we capture. Yeah, what I was saying, great presentation. Hard act to follow right there. But I've been saying it since the beginning of the year. Big things, shift is happening over there. And I would like to point out, I want to make it very clear that our intervention is not I-ready. Please don't be confused with what I-ready is. Our intervention is not I-ready. Our intervention and our growth is 100% the teachers. the direct instruction, the support staff, the counselors, the assistant principals and principal events. That's what our intervention is. So when we finally start having some quality professional development, investing in our teachers, like you said, Board President Hill, we're gonna do great things here if we invest in our teachers. Okay, so and that leads me to another part, you know, talking about intervention, our sixth grade teachers have been doing, When our middle school, when it became the middle school, when sixth grade went up to the middle school and we incorporated their flex time during the school day, our sixth grade teachers are actually gonna be doing double intervention during the school day and after school. So big shout out to our sixth grade teachers who are doing this direct instruction. And it ultimately is our student success. She's not here anymore. But that's a good example of our teachers And I'll ask every, I've been asking since, I don't know for how long now, we need to invest in our teachers, okay? Now this leads me to the second part. Every year I stand for some time now, every year there's always a question around our FTE count. Okay, in our budget, our 24-25 budget, we're budgeting for 269.4 FTE. Our first interim on page 23 says we have 250.2 FTE certificated. But I want to make it clear for the record, I have 248 NTA members, OK? We have BGI 11 NTA, BGP 25, Coyote Hills 20, McGregor has 8, Kennedy has 23, Lincoln has 16. The middle school, 47, the high school, 64, Shilling, 22, our special ed department, eight, and home sites for the district office of four. That's how many NTA members I have. We have six of those, our job shares in elementary, 3.8 at the middle school. And it gets a little bit more complicated at the high school. But I can't remember a time when our FTE count in our paperwork here, in our budgets, that matched what we really have. So that's something that I look forward to when we negotiate to talking about what our real, if we're talking about 1% or investing in our teachers, 248, that's what we have, 248 NTA members. So there's no confusion. Now, it was a little bit disappointing to come here and read the executive summary of the first interim report. on page nine of the executive summary in the multi-year projection assumptions and expenditures, letter A. I'm gonna read it for everybody to hear. The NYP assumes no salary increases projected in the current and two subsequent years for certificated employees. I'm gonna read it again. The NYP assumes no salary increases projected in the current and two subsequent years for certificated employees. Now let's think about, we've had 92, roughly, new teachers in the last three years. Okay, if I'm a new teacher, why would I wanna come here? And hearing information that there's gonna be no salary increases. What would make a new teacher want to stay here? If they're in three years from now, might have to make cuts. So again, it's time. to invest in our teachers. And I hope that this no salary increases changes soon. Thank you.

[7588] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Villa. OK, do we have a representative of CSEA?

[7599] Aiden Hill: Welcome.

[7601] Maria Huffer': Good evening, Newark board members, superintendents, and executive cabinet and community members. So mine's not as bad. You guys usually see the negative side, but I'm actually not bad today. I haven't been here in a couple of weeks, and I just wanted to kind of touch back on Thanksgiving. And I hope that everybody had a great Thanksgiving. You guys were able to spend some time with your families and maybe friends and have some good talks. and I'll call it, you know, and just kind of spend some time. I'm going to be honest with you. In the last couple of years, there's been going through a lot. And so we always kind of make sure you take that deep breath and acknowledge the people that are around you because we never know when that last time that we're going to speak to those people. So we need to make sure we do that. So I hope that you guys all had a great Thanksgiving. I just want to let you know that CSEA had their holiday event last week on December 9th. We all met at La Piana. We actually had a great turnout. We all had some fun, some laughs, some door prizes, some little gifts that everybody got to enjoy. It was great to see everybody. I don't actually get to see everybody all the time, so it was great to at least see at least 50 of us. So it was great for all that. I'm looking forward to the holiday break. I need some sleep. I hope that you guys all have plans for your holiday break, at least maybe either spend it with family, or you guys are going on some vacation trips, or what have you. But hope that's something that you guys at least get away. Sometimes we just need to kind of step away from work a little bit and just kind of daily de-escalate, because there's a lot that's been going on. And so we kind of just need to refocus and come back fresh. I'm looking forward to the holiday break. I'm hoping you guys have a great. I'm not sure if I'm going to be here next time. So that's why I'm just kind of taking the steps going ahead. With that said, I want to give a big thank you out to Jose Quintana and Chris Williams. The first interim report was obviously posted and was shared with us. And there was a mistake on there. want to acknowledge them and appreciate them literally jumping on that phone, getting us to meet right away to put out fires and kind of not only talk to me, the CSEA president, but actually reach out to NTA president as well. So we were all together as a unit there. I appreciate that. Believe it or not, it caught me off guard. It was great. It was a good feeling. made me walk away thinking, you know what? We haven't had this kind of communication in a long time. We all are human. We all make mistakes. It wasn't where I was going to hound anybody for it. Mistakes were acknowledged and great. But moving forward, I hope that we can continue that open dialogue, open communication, and at least have that transparency and honesty back and forth with each other. I will tell you, the last couple of years, it's been ugly. And I'm hoping that maybe we can turn that around. And so again, thank you, Jose. I really appreciate it. That meant a lot. That took, I will say, guts to come and at least acknowledge what had happened. But as far as CSEA goes, we totally appreciate that. Last, we are going to be in negotiations next week on the 18th. So we are hoping that we get to finally wrap up this, our 24-25 successor contract, the last part of our contract, so that we can actually start on where we should be at already. We're always behind, but we need to look at our three-year re-opener, which would take us from year 25 to year 28. So we are hoping that when we meet on the 18th, we can actually come to a tentative agreement on some things that we've been holding on for, because we've been waiting for this interim report to come back. So we're keeping a positive outlook on that meeting. So I'm hoping that we come out of there with some better information, and at least with some answers, because we haven't had answers in a very long time. Other than that, I hope everybody has a great night, and I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the interim report. Hope you guys all have a good holiday and that you guys, like I said, have time with your families. And again, thank you, Jose. And I know Chris is in here, but I wanted, if he's watching, probably not because his wife's going to tell him to get off the TV. But I want to say thank you to Chris as well. OK? All right, good night.

[7901] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Huffer. And do we have any representation from NEWMA? I'm sorry, say again? No one from NEWMA?

[7912] Tracey Vackar: No, no one from NEWMA.

[7913] Aiden Hill: OK. Great. OK, moving on to 9.1, public comment on non-agenda items. So according to the speaker cards that were presented, I didn't see any public comment on non-agenda items. Was there anything that came in through email, or was there anybody online, or anything like that?

[7935] Toya Lemus: No. No public comment.

[7936] Aiden Hill: Great. OK. So then moving on to 9.2, public comment on agenda items. So Ms. Parks, you have a number of these. Do you want to address them right now, at the time the item comes up? Do you want to address them all together? OK, so you're going to wait till they come up, OK? Let me put these away. OK, so then moving on to 14.18, board bylaw update. So Ms. Canales?

[7979] Sara Canales: Hello, good evening everyone. My name is Sara Canales. I'm the activities director at Newark Memorial High School. I want to start off by thanking members Nguyen and Plancarte for their contributions to our district by serving as board members. Thank you both for everything you've done for our students throughout your terms on the board. We appreciate it. I'm here to express my thoughts and concerns regarding bylaw 9150 and the potential changes being brought to the selection of our student board representative. In my position, I oversee the associated student body and the elections for those positions for the student board rep, and that's, yeah, which is including the student board representative. So first of all, I noticed that revision four states that nominees must be in the 11th grade at the time of nomination. This means that only seniors would be eligible to serve on the board. As of now, the way that our ASB runs it is the position can be held by a junior or a senior. And I believe it should remain this way and should not be limited just to seniors. This will give students an earlier opportunity to engage in civic responsibilities and also help them develop leadership skills that are critical for their future. In addition, we've had some amazing student board reps in the past who served during their junior year. Joy also served during her junior year. There's one specific student who comes to mind. He served during his junior year. his role and contributions to the board because of what he was able to do. We were in the talks of him possibly applying to run for the California State School Board student rep position. We didn't end up moving forward with that because he had other ideas, but had he not been able to serve his junior year, he would not have had the opportunity to even consider running for that position. And so I don't want to Well, I hope that nothing would pass through that would prevent our students from being able to have these opportunities in the future, especially if it's something that's going to set foundation for them for their future endeavors and interests and passions. I also wanna highlight the value of including a student representative from Bridgepoint. I think it's an excellent idea. It's gonna allow for different student perspectives to the board and the community. Revision 13 suggests that the responsibility should be split and students will rotate bimonthly. I wanna suggest that both students be allowed to represent at all meetings. There are other districts that have multiple student school board representatives. As a continuation school, a lot of times Bridgepoint students are able to return to Newark Memorial High School and graduate from our school. If only 12th graders are allowed to hold the position and the Bridgepoint rep opts to return to NMHS, there will be a vacancy in that student board rep position. So until that position is filled, the NMHS student would take on the full responsibility of the position. It would benefit both of the student reps to be able to sit at all meetings, not just in that case, but also to be involved with civic engagement. Finally, I want to discuss the timeline. So as of now, there were some dates that were potentially added in there as far as like when these elections should happen. I'm not sure if the, if you guys move forward with this, it seems it would be removed from ASB and the responsibilities of the election would be held by the principal. If that's the case, the timelines would be okay. But however, as of now, we're starting next week. So we're having a meeting next week to let students know about the ASB elections, including the student rep election. We're starting early because we basically want to get going once the school, the second semester starts, that students can start turning in their applications and making sure that the process is fair for them to have enough time to complete their applications but to also promote, what am I saying, promote themselves for elections. So it's my suggestion that the process remains the same for the school year and we're able to go through with elections as we normally would and that further discussion is held in regards to this item before you are voting on it tonight. So that's all, thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak on this tonight.

[8206] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Canales. OK. And one last comment. Mr. I shouldn't say. Addison Wolf. I'm sorry, Miss.

[8221] Aiden Hill: Miss Wolf.

[8225] Addison Wolf: Hello, board members and community. My name is Addison, and I am a student at Newark Memorial High School. One of the main issues I came across while reading the new board agenda is the age limit placed to be an 11th grader at the time of nomination. My understanding was these changes made to the bylaw is meant to allow for more students inclusion, but it places limits on the amount of people able to run for this position, contradicting the objective. There can be a case where a more passionate junior is more qualified than a disinterested senior because age is only a number. As for the rest of the election process written out, I ask why change what is currently working? Are the new suggestions being proposed in best of the students or for the board? Thank you.

[8270] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Wolf. OK. So this concludes public comments. So moving on to 10.1, superintendent report.

[8289] Tracey Vackar: Thank you for the opportunity to share a few comments with the board. First of all, I just want to thank our community. We do have official election results. Measure O received more than 10,616 yes votes, which equaled 67.63, 63% of the voters who chose to support this particular measure. This brings over $200 million to our schools. And there will be a lot of planning that needs to happen with this. We're gonna need to add another committee, which we'll be talking about next week at the organizational meeting. This will be a need for facilities and and property meeting to be able to talk about what the future of our facilities looks like. So that's exciting. It's exciting news for our students. And I look forward to being able to help and support our schools as we move forward with a good foundation and as we look at the most important things first that need to happen. There will also be a series of study sessions that will be happening. be able to help inform the board and the community about next steps that need to happen with the sales of the bonds, timelines that will need to take place, the increments that will actually be doing the sales of the bonds, and what those monies will be going for. So there's a lot more work yet to be done. And it will definitely be a very inclusive process that will include community board members and students and faculty to be able to help us really help navigate what needs to be done in the best interest of everyone. Again, I just want to thank our community for that. Also, congratulations. We do have three new board members that will be seated next week. That includes Austin Hill. I'm sorry, Aiden Hill, Austin Block, Gabriel. Oh, I had to work on that. And Gabriel Aguiano, Jr. This past week, we attended CSBA last week. And there were a plethora of trainings and workshops. I really want to thank our two new Perspective board members will be starting next week. They came down early to be able to attend the new board member training. I know Kat Jones attended the president's training. There was just a lot of information that was shared. I know we were all pretty excited to be able to come together and talk about what we heard at various sessions. And I know there was a lot of information that we're all bringing back to be able to utilize this coming year to be able to really help our school district continue to improve and do better. and also to think about some visionary things that could happen for the future for our students. So very exciting. Also, I am thrilled to be able to share with you some news from our Newark Educational Foundation. On Tuesday, December 11, the officers of our Educational Foundation, Andrew Klein and Lynn Siebert, who is the secretary for the organization, They handed out checks to our principals of four schools, BGI, Schilling, Kennedy, Coyote Hills Elementary. And this was for the science camp. And they gave a tremendous contribution to each of our schools, a total of $18,050. So we want to really thank our foundation for the work that they did in supporting the importance of our children being able to attend science camp. And what they did is, actually, this donation is based on $50 for each fifth grade student to be able to attend science camp. And they gave me a wonderful breakdown. So again, we just want to thank them for their partnership, for advocating for our kids to be able to continue going on these field trips. And the importance of that is here in our community. So thank you to our foundation. We can't say enough how much we appreciate all that you do. Lastly, I want to just share, it's coming up this evening, we've got a couple of presentations. One is from MGT. Some of you may remember MGT are the contractors that came in to assist us at a time when we were without some major important key positions here in our district. They also helped us in navigating some of the errors that we had within our budget to be able to help us truly right size and get our budget to a better and healthier standpoint of where it is today. And you'll hear more about that in the first interim. With that, we also have new practices that we have to put together. And internally, we've already started some of those things. So those systems and practices have already been initiated by staff as we've come together and we've identified some big areas. And I will give you some examples. We've looked at our stipends and we are also creating some forms, things that will help us to be able to make sure that departments are talking to each other. We're working on looking at sublists. And Ms. Villa brought up a really great point. We want to make sure that we compare our list to her list that she has for members. It's possible. I don't know exactly what the answer is, but we may still have a couple of positions that we're still recruiting for that might be still on our books, but maybe not yet on her books. So those will be things that we want to go back and go take a look at. But together, these are where we start to really start looking at some deeper dives. Between first and second interim, I think it's going to be important for us to bring together another budget advisory committee to really look at where we are when we present the first interim report and how we get to the second interim report and work that needs to be done. I understand our employees are looking for support and making sure that we look at sustainability and part of that is to make sure that we are able to be competitive with salaries. There's no doubt in my mind that that's important. The board has talked about the importance of sustainability and how do we do that and what do we need to do to navigate that. The good news is our first interim is at a place where it's positive, so we're actually giving a positive certification. Doesn't mean that we can't go off and do raises, but if we do, then we have to do other things to be able to adjust, and we'll have to make those adjustments on the second interim report, so that will be important to do. Again, I think the budget advisory piece, if you come back and take a look at that, will be an important telltale sign, and I hope that with that we'll have a couple board members, representatives from both of our unions, from our management team, as well as from some community members to help us navigate that as we sit there and continue to look and move forward. It's something that we don't want to move backwards on. We don't want to fall deeper into a hole. We're probably getting ourselves out of a really dark place of where we were. And it's not necessarily that the money maybe wasn't there, but some things weren't credited exactly the way how they should have been. We've also done a lot of things to help rebuild our budget and make sure that we've got good practices that we're using for purchasing. We still have more work to do in that arena. But there's a lot of different things that go into the budget and lots of things that we can do to help support to make it healthier and that we have systems in place that have some checks and balances. Those are the things that I would hope that both our staff as well as our community when we come together and start exploring some of these things and start learning about some things that we can do better to help ensure that our budget stays as healthy and fiscally solvent as possible will be important. So I just kind of wanted to share a couple of those things before we go into the next couple of presentations. They are important presentations. We've asked MGT to come back. They were our contractors. Some of you may remember Bill O'Lean. We had a chance to see Bill at the conference. And it was really great to see him. And he's doing well. And so I just wanted to share that with all of you. I know we all miss Bill. And I just want to let you know that we did see him at the conference this past week. So with that, I'm going to, can we just move right into the MGT report?

[8775] Aiden Hill: That's the next one. Are you finished with your?

[8778] Tracey Vackar: I am finished with my superintendent report. I am.

[8781] Aiden Hill: Great. OK. Moving on to 11.1. I'm sorry. Let me stop. Questions from the board? OK. Moving on to 11.1, management report. MGT report update.

[8800] Tracey Vackar: Well, I don't know. That's dangerous. You might be on the naughty list. OK. Oh, sure.

[8824] Patrick Dyer: Thank you for having us back. My name is Patrick Dyer. I'm the vice president of our fiscal group. You may remember me speaking remotely with you back in November. I've got Craig McAlpin with me today as well. We talked to Bill last night. He wasn't able to make it up here, but spoke fondly of everybody at the district. And we're excited to go through what we did since we started working with you back in April. This is the back. So I'm going to give you a recap of the resources and the efforts and the timeline and what we were doing during certain months of our engagement with the district. Craig's going to go over the summary of the fiscal improvements that our team was able to uncover for the district and then we'll go through some final thoughts and take your questions. Back in April, you were briefed by FCMAT and we were brought in to support the district when there was a $14 million structural deficit. There was a combination of needs, needed cuts, reduced reliance on reserves, support leadership where there were voids, mentor staff, training, document processes. There were four different key areas. We had a management consultant who Tracy spoke of, that's Bill, supported with special projects and district leadership. We had some fiscal support staff that supported the accounting staff and the fiscal closeouts. We also had a payroll specialist that helped with system support, documenting processes, and reconciling payrolls. We also had a purchasing support person that is in the process of documenting the procurement support. supported staff with POs, and other purchasing-related efforts. Each of those resources had several functions. Starting in April, there were some key projects that you may recall that Bill worked on. There was a roofing project, there was a fencing project, and a new athletic field, and some other management support that Bill provided from April through July. The fiscal support staff worked on the estimated actuals, the year-end close, and documenting those processes. The payroll person, as I mentioned, reconciled for payroll months and supported the staff and the systems. And then the last person was supporting with contracts, facilities, projects, requisitions, and documenting overall PO processes. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Craig to go over some specific financial highlights.

[9007] Craig McAlpin: Thank you, Patrick. And good evening, board president, board of trustees, staff, community as well. Thank you for all being here this evening. And from the November board meeting, I think it was asked to just kind of share some of the highlights, some of the main things that we did to, as superintendent mentioned earlier, fiscal solvency and how do we play a part in that. Because really, at the end of the day, it's all about giving back dollars to what's most important, which is students, which I was going to point to them, but they've left now. But that's what this is all about, right, is giving the money for the students to go in the classroom and give them the best education possible. So this evening, we'd just like to kind of touch on really the four main pieces, if you will, to just kind of quantify them down to a dollar amount to kind of share some of the things that we did to overall improve your financial standing. And so we're going to share at the end, obviously, kind of where do we stand now going into this first interim, but the work that we did while we were here. So the first thing that we put on here was, $1 million in prior SELPA receivables. What essentially that is saying is that the district books some receivables in the past and they did them right. The staff that you have did everything correct. But what happened, probably through change or maybe time, people leaving the, excuse me, their positions, some of those receivables were done, but then the district never went and got that money. So it wasn't that the SELPA did anything wrong. It's nothing that anybody intentionally did wrong. It's just to go out and get that money to then help your ending fund balance when all is said and done. That's what that money was needed for, to help out your cash flow as well. So really what we were involved in is reconciling, finding those issues, and start the reconciling. Essentially finding the issue and then reconciling backwards to figure out what happened, what was missed. Not pointing the finger to anybody. Nobody's to blame for anything per se, but it was really just reconciling to find the money. And then at the end of the day, the good news, getting that money back for the district. So that's what that first one is about. So it was just in this, it was in the SELPA arena, but it wasn't that the SELPA did anything excuse me, incorrectly, or anybody did anything intentionally as an error. So it was really just grabbing a receivable. And then the second one, $262,000 for a duplicate ROP payment. What this one was done was reconciling the ROP payments for the year, the overall ROP revenues and expenditures that had happened. It was noted that there was, You know, as we were reconciling, we found two different payments that looked exactly the same. And that's just essentially what happened. Unfortunately, it was that ROP had billed for the same function, if you will, the same expenditures twice. So what we did is work with the ROP to figure out what had gone on and then getting the money back. So again, this is another example of working with the staff, with the team. We thank you again, Jose and team as well, for working with us as well because it obviously helps the situation when you have Teamwork going along with that, so I did want to make sure we thank you right off the bat for that as well. But that was the same thing as working, just trying to find that money, found it, and got it back for the ending fund balance improvement overall. Any questions? Maybe I'll kind of stop at those first two. I know we usually ask questions at the end, but it may be easier while we're talking about them. Or we could wait till the end.

[9184] Aiden Hill: Could you tell us where, so that self-bowl receivable, who would be billed for that? And when approximately would they be? for that?

[9195] Craig McAlpin: That would be like a year-end type function. Calendar year. It would be probably the August, would that be a correct statement?

[9202] Tracey Vackar: That's what I'm... No, not necessarily. So, depending on when when SELPA receives their their apportionment from the state, we would get our share of an apportionment back. It may have been sitting in a threshold from what I understand that was sitting in a receivable account, but hadn't been actually credited onto our budget site had not been marked. That's my understanding. So I believe the funds were actually here. It just didn't get credited to the actual balance to be able to be showed as being actual funding that we would have available to us.

[9236] Aiden Hill: Gotcha. So you're saying we received the money. It just didn't get credited.

[9241] Tracey Vackar: That's my understanding from what I recall from that particular error that was happening. OK.

[9250] Aiden Hill: OK.

[9251] Aiden Hill: Thank you. Any other questions from the board so far? And actually, if you just go back one prior slide. Sure. Or one more. For each of these roles, is it one person per role, or is it multiple people per role?

[9269] Craig McAlpin: Well, we had involved with the fiscal support staff. That was two people involved. OK. OK, great. And that doesn't mean that they were 40 hours a week, per se, or equivalent to one FTE type situation, but two people. Right, got it. OK, thank you. Great question. Thank you. OK. Then this next one, $160,000 increase in current year SELPA revenue. What this was doing was, again, working with the staff here. And with the revenues and expenditures that are going to fall within the SELPA arena, there's different grants, right, that the SELPA department uses for the students in this bed department. And what had happened was some of the expenditures were essentially kind of moved over kind of into the local assistant, which is a large grant, if you will, within SELPA. And so what we did is work with the staff. And basically what happened was if those expenditures were not moved correctly to the exact grants, some of the smaller ones, then you would have had to make a contribution. So what it was doing is essentially just kind of working on reclassifying, making sure that expenditures were correctly placed in the correct grant that it should be charged to. So again, if that action hadn't been taken, again, it was great work and asking a lot of questions that we did with the staff to make sure that they were correctly put in the right grants. That, again, saved a contribution of $160,000. $1,000 of having to be made because that's what would have happened if they weren't correctly, expenditures correctly and put in the right grants. Okay. And those take a lot of time and again, a lot of communication, a lot of investigating, a lot of reconciling. You know, you kind of think you might have it figured out and all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute. So again, it takes some time, but I know that we correctly worked with your staff so that those are inputted correctly in the budget. And then the last one, this one is really very important, if you will, because this is where a lot of the money that comes to not just your district, but districts throughout the state of California, and even in the federal government, because again, some of these, we referenced ACES, ESSER, CSEI, Art and Music Block Grant. There's also federal dollars that are involved in those. The money that comes into schools that we want to make sure, and that's what we work with Newark on, is making sure that no reporting deadlines were missed. Because a lot of times if, you know, there's dates on some of these documents that are saying, hey, we want you to turn in for, For example, for the 23-24 school year, you got $100,000. What exactly did you spend that money on? Because we're going to give you the money, but we want to make sure that you're documented correctly, that you're showing the correct account functions, all the correct categories of what the money was spent. But a lot of times, they're very strict. Right, wrong, or indifferent, they're very strict. That if they say the deadline to turn in the expenditure report so that you will get your money is August 30th, if you miss August 30th, they might say, we're sorry. We told you what was going on. So we were very diligent for a lot of the money that might have potentially been lost. So again, working with the staff, making sure that we're putting the correct data in as well. Because again, we don't want to miss any students. A lot of times, the money is based on how many students. So we want to document and work with the staff to make sure that we're showing exactly how many students, exactly what all the expenditures are, so that we can essentially get the money that we were expecting to get. So that's what a lot of this was involved in, that if some of these grants were missed and the staff that we didn't communicate with, we would have missed out on some of those. So we want to thank the staff again, but also had a chance to really kind of work with them and train them on some of these deadlines that have to be met and showing them. Some of them are very technical. Some of these reports are very technical. So I think a great asset that we gave the staff here was to show them how some of these work. So what are some of the reports that we need to run so that we get the correct data for some of these reports? So just again, very, very detailed, but at the end of the day, still very important because a lot of these are dependent on reporting deadlines, and if they're missed, a lot of times the dollars can be missed out on. So any questions on those two? Again, I don't want to talk too quickly, but also I don't want to necessarily dig in the weeds. I just want to make sure we're giving you kind of the data of some of the dollars that, again, I'll jump to the last slide, not to skip ahead, but really the good news. You know, with all the work that we were able to assist this district with this last kind of quarter of the fiscal year, which was in the last four months of the fiscal year, the ending fund balance approved by $7 million. So I think that's a great testament to the superintendent, to you as the board, to everybody working together to really improve the fiscal solvency of the district. So I do commend you. We just appreciate being a part of it. We thank you that we were able to be part of this process in terms of getting dollars again, back in the classroom. So just wanna again, thank everyone and then upcoming work as superintendent mentioned, we're gonna be involved with some purchasing support and what really is gonna happen at the end of the day is that we want to work and create a manual that anybody who comes into that position can basically grab that manual and say, OK, here's what I need to do to take on this position. Here's the functions. Here's the responsibilities. Here's the acts that Newark USDA has specific for being a purchasing analyst, whatever the title would be at that time. But they can come in and hit the ground running. And so that's what we're going to, that's the end result that when we're done assisting with that, that we can walk away with and know that we are leaving Jose and the team in good hands of having a document that they can correctly do the purchasing procedures correctly because it is truly very important. That is very, you know, truly one of the most important parts I think Jose would agree with me in a fiscal office, so.

[9577] Aiden Hill: Great, thank you. Questions from the board? Vice President Jones?

[9588] Kat Jones: So, I think... Believe I heard you say that when you were doing the work, that you were working with staff to teach them kind of what you were doing. Did I understand that correctly?

[9599] Craig McAlpin: Correct, yeah. Yeah, mentoring is a big part of what we do. You know, a lot of things that we say when we go to the CASBOs and the CSBAs is that we're school people helping school people. So the staff that our staff, excuse me, was working with your staff are people who had that roles before. So we're coming alongside to support and mentor. That's truly what the, and to make sure the work gets done, but it's really to mentor and teach and train and help. Great, thank you.

[9626] Nancy Thomas: Member Thomas. Could you break down, I recall during our last conversation that there was a $14 million deficit down to, in other words, we saved about a million dollars. I mean about $10 million. And between last year and after the actuals, but you've only mentioned roughly $2.5 million that you were able to collect from the SELPAs and duplicate ROP payment. Where was the rest of those savings?

[9670] Craig McAlpin: Right. Yeah, we were just sharing some of the parts that we did. I don't know if, Jose, if you want to share some of the superintendent, any of the work that was done, but there was, I'm trying to think, Those were the ones that we specifically had our hands in, but there's other stuff that had been done as well. Great question. I'm just trying to rack my brain here for a second on some of the details.

[9695] Tracey Vackar: So I think I can explain some of it. So when I first came in back in December of 2024, the first interim did not, 23, I'm sorry, 23, a year ago, you know, we were, Definitely upside down. Between the first and second interims, we were able to come up with about $6 million, as I recall, of where we found savings. And I had to go back and go look at that report exactly. The other part really comes from looking at where we're at with where we're moving forward in our budget for our budget development part of the process. and making sure that that is a solid number that we're using. Some of the assumptions that had been used before in the past were not good solid assumptions. So we use very conservative assumptions when working on our new budget. The other pieces really came from savings of multiple positions that had been budgeted. And I'll give you a good example. We have a number of special education contracts that we had to bring in contractors because we couldn't find people. However, we actually had funded the people We just couldn't find them, right? So they were sitting on one side of the accounting, and then we brought in the contractors for special education who provided the services. Really, this amount of money over here should have been unencumbered for positions that we couldn't fill to be able to cover the cost savings for that. There was a lot of that within the budget, millions of dollars, quite frankly, that was sitting out there. So I can tell you that was some of the work that was used as we continued to push forward. The other thing that I think we had on there is there were a lot of positions that over the years all of the district I think did some attrition. Some of those folks never came actually off of our books. And so we had to make sure that that happened as well. That actually was some of the work that was done more recently as we went through the unaudited actuals and kind of got to those numbers we were looking at. The MGT staff did help us as we were sitting there looking at that along with some of the other prior consultants that we had brought in for both the first and second interim. I don't know if that will help you exactly, but those are just some of the pieces that are sitting out there that was there. The piece going back to the grant, and if you can go back one more slide, please. When you're looking at the $1 million increase in savings from program funding, this was something that when I first came on board and I was working with Mary Stark, Mary was actually starting to do our grant reports. And one of the things that we found is that there seemed to be monies that were sitting out there that the district had not bookmarked as being there. The MGT staff continued looking into that matter after Mary Stark exited. And this was the result of what they found with some additional funds that were sitting out there. We felt they were there. We wanted to go back and verify it. We were working with both state and federal grant compliance folks to make sure that we actually had those funds. And those were put back into our budget to be able to be utilized for what they should be for our kids.

[9881] Nancy Thomas: You had about one FTE working with purchasing. Is there a new procurement process that you have defined that's written? Because we don't have a purchasing manager, and that person's going to have to come in and kind of learn from what you put in place.

[9905] Craig McAlpin: Correct, yeah, we just want to be able to leave, if you will, instructions on how that department would function, and what are the tasks, what are the responsibilities, what are the services that are going to be done. A lot of it will be technical as well. You know, the financial system that the district uses, there's a lot of things that you're just going to show like, you know, we all kind of learn it when you, you know, we get a brand new computer or something at the store, how to turn it on, or a new cell phone. It's kind of that same thing, like here's step one, here's step two, here's step three, for all the different functions that fall within that department. And a lot of that will be screenshots. You know, it'll be, here's the first thing you're going to do. You're going to click here, and then you're going to click here. Just trying to make it easy and very user friendly. So again, it can be used for that person, whoever that will be, but then also for the future as well.

[9945] Nancy Thomas: OK. I noticed also that you had a function called audit support. And I know that our audit is being delayed because they didn't get all. Did you find that documentation for the auditors insufficient or anything?

[9963] Craig McAlpin: No, we weren't involved to that level at all. We were just involved in some of the documents that we know from our experience that are going to be needed and just making sure some of that stuff is prepped and ready. But we didn't actually get involved with putting stuff out on the table or anything for the actual audit process, just knowing what's going to be needed and assisting with that.

[9984] Aiden Hill: And then as sort of a follow-up to Member Thomas and Member Jones' comments, So obviously, if there's a position that we haven't filled yet, we can have those people participate in writing SOPs, Registered Operating Procedures. But the other areas where you're working on that, just a suggestion that you have staff do it, and you review it. Because if you just write it for them off to the side, and then just hand them a book, You know, there may not be sufficient knowledge transfer or buy-in. And so just want to make sure that you have a collaborative process working there.

[10031] Craig McAlpin: I was just thinking that. I should have said that word earlier, which would be collaborative. That's the exact word I was just thinking as you were explaining it. So yes, that will definitely be the process. Because again, we as an outsider can't come in and help with that kind of thing. We need to have the shoulder-to-shoulder type communication. Correct. Great.

[10048] Aiden Hill: Any additional comments, questions?

[10052] Tracey Vackar: OK. I do want to just say one more thing. I think it's important to talk about the work of our consultants and when they came in and the timing of our new employees also starting. There's a little bit of overlap, but sometimes it's not very much overlap. And so that's a piece that I think all of you need to be aware of. As quickly as we were getting someone hired, we were in the process of also transitioning out our consultants in order to be able to keep monies as tight as possible. What we did try to do is we tried to build in a few additional hours for technical support to be able to help and support those positions. So I did want to share that particular piece with you. I don't think there was a tremendous amount for brand new employees coming in with lots of feedback that happened there. The other thing is I think the work that was done by MGT and I worked pretty closely with A few of the folks that came in to help us, whether it was through some of the payroll issues that were going on, some of the fiscal issues. Bill kept us pretty well apprised in cabinet as to what was happening. Sometimes I was sitting in on some of the network calls that were happening as they were working on problem solving. Some of it was really working on just the technical aspect. Took up the majority of the time just trying to do the cleanup. And not as much time was really probably spent on staff training as much as it was the cleanup. Now, with that, staff was around. Staff was aware that we were working on certain things. And I would hope that they would have picked up on what was being done. But I would say the majority of it was really technical work, because we were in crisis. And I don't know how else to say it to you, but we were in significant crisis at the time last spring. Many of you might remember. We were without a lot of key positions here during March, April, May, going into June. It was really kind of quiet up here on the dais, and it was quiet within some of our office in many of the different positions that we had there. So I do want to thank the MGT team. They did come in. I think they came in, I think they did as a service. We are in a much better position today with our budget to be able to discuss it. to be able to make really healthier decisions for our district moving forward. I feel confident being able to help make recommendations. I don't even mind making some recommendations that might take us a little deeper into being in the negative, knowing that if we continue rightsizing, we can do some things the right way. And I think collectively together, that's something that we need to work on with our employee associations, with all of them employees to be able to do the right things. But those are going to be important elements that we have to do together and collectively.

[10225] Aiden Hill: Thank you, gentlemen.

[10226] Craig McAlpin: Thank you.

[10226] Aiden Hill: Appreciate it. Thank you. Have a good evening. And Miss Parks, I believe you would like to come and speak.

[10242] Cindy Parks: First of all, I'd like to say very nice decor. Last month during the district's fiscal health report, we heard about a dramatic shift in our projected deficit from $14 million down to $3.9 million. As a community member, I expressed my frustration with the lack of detailed explanation for this $10 million reversal. MGT said they could address in detail the $10 million drop in the structural deficit. Tonight's eight-slide presentation accounts for only $2.5 million of this deficit reduction. $1 million revenue Owed by SELPA, $262,000 as a corrected ROP duplicate payment, $160,000 SELPA revenue increase, and $1 million additional state funding. But what about the remaining $7.5 million? Where's the transparency our community deserves? Let's be frank. MGT has supported this district since April, initially working with the interim CBO and his team. I'm not here to criticize, but to advocate for our community's right to understand this financial turnaround. The Newark Unified School Board staff and residents deserve a comprehensive explanation of this $10 million deficit reduction. Partial transparency is simply not enough. Thank you.

[10327] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Parks. OK. Sorry. OK, moving on to item 13.1, 2024 first interim budget report. Ms. Parks, you also have a card on this. Do you want to speak before or do you want to speak after? First interim.

[10362] Cindy Parks: As I just mentioned, during the staff report from MGT, it's very frustrating. I'm very frustrated with the budget process. While I understand that many parties are involved in the development, I don't recall ever seeing a budget that required so many substantial revisions. From the $5.1 million reduction in salaries and benefits to over $5.3 million increase, most of which pertain to services and other operating expenditures, to new budget items, most notably the omission of the $6.9 million improvement projects, along with multiple financial exceptions cited in the technical review, such as combinations for the resource and object codes are invalid. Resource reflects no current fund balance. Let's view this from the new NUSD staff member perspective, which Ms. Villa kind of numbered how many new ones there are. Budget development begins with a forecast of a large structural deficit causing springtime anxiety over possible pink slips. Budget approval is typically accompanied by a dire forecast of a deficit in the third year out. A 45-day revise results in minor adjustments. The release of the unaudited actuals in September miraculously reveals extra money. First interim is delivered in December and second interim in March with a budget adjustment starting the cycle all over again. Now consider how this process feels to a new staff member with one to five years of seniority. How would they feel knowing their employer consistently projects a $5, $10, or even $15 million deficit two to three years in the future? Would they feel secure in their job? Would they believe a pay increase is possible? Year after year, these forecasts of doom and gloom erode trust and morale. By the time the unaudited actuals come out in September showing underutilized funds and painting a brighter picture, the damage has already been done. Talented staff members who couldn't risk the uncertainty of a pink slip have already left for a district with a stable financial outlook. This ongoing pattern is unsustainable. I implore the district leadership to take a hard look at this process and commit to delivering a transparent, accurate, and realistic financial picture. It's time to break this cycle of uncertainty and start building trust, stability, and hope for our future of our district. Thank you.

[10512] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Parks. So 13.1 first interim budget report, Superintendent.

[10520] Tracey Vackar: Thank you. I'm excited to be able to introduce to you our first report for the 24-25 school year. This report will be presented by our team over in the Business Services Department with our Assistant Superintendent, Jose Quintana, and with Nancy Chen, our Director of Fiscal Services.

[10543] Jose Quintana: Good evening, board and trustees, community, and our esteemed cabinet members here. We want to thank you for not only being attentive to this report coming out, but some of the processes that we've done here to get this put out to all our community members. And with this, I'm going to get started here with our 24-25 Newark Unified School District first interim report, along with Nancy Chen, our fiscal director, and myself. If we can go to the next slide, please. And we're going to go right into our report and our assumptions here. If we can go to the next slide. Does Nancy have the slide? Thank you. Next slide. So our first interim is one of the three financial statements that districts are required to report to the state. The three reports, starting with the United Actuals that we just presented September 15th. This covers a period of time of July 1st through June 30th. Going into our first interim, July 1st through October 31st, which is presented here today. And we file it on December 15th. Our second interim covers from July 1st to January 31st, and that is filed on March 15th. Next slide, please. The first interim report here is the budget incorporates updates and changes since the adopted budget in June, and unadded actuals presented in September. This also includes updated fund balances from prior years to staffing, spending, reconciliations, and final state budget assumptions. This also includes changes for this year and the two subsequent years of multi-year planning. The first interim budget for this year's cycle has been very fluid as we have reviewed and updated district spending and changes in state assumptions. And this also includes attendances, updated enrollments, staffing, spending, as we see changes in our current positions, one of the things that was mentioned earlier today was in regards to a lot of the work that's been put into these vacancies and closing out vacancies and bringing in these dollars. So all these assumptions are being put into this first interim budget thanks to the help with not only different departments here from student services, HR, but also a fiscal department that is identifying these vacant positions. The first interim subchips is to continue right sizing and the district and the support of budget reduction strategies. And this is something that is going to be key to meet Newark Unified School District spending over the next two years. The good news is that we have a positive certification here that we're going to present tonight for first interim. Next slide. We're going to go an overview of comparisons from the first center to the approved budget and multi-year projections, one-time fundings, and fiscal alerts and unexpected contributions. We have been consistently putting emphasis on fiscal awareness and responsibility on budget reduction strategies. And we're going to go through that here briefly. Next slide. This are beginning balances and carryovers. This is both unrestricted and restricted adjustments here for the fiscal year 23-24 of $33,843,000. The categorical revenues and expenses here outlined and adjusted local control funding formula revenues of $59,912.683. We have salaries that were adjusted for step and column. And benefits were adjusted due to higher costs due to the cost of living allowance. Next slide. Our ADA funding is based on the computed average of three years in the FICBAT calculators, what we've been using for these calculations and assumptions. Newark Unified School District 2425 funded ADA is 4,707 students. Next slide, please. Our unduplicated pupil count, three year rolling average is 50.69%. And that's not what, that's a different color that I have here. So apologies that you can't really see any of those numbers there. Our total enrollment numbers there is 49, 52 for 22, 23, 23, 24, we're 48, 28. For 24, 25, we're at 46, 68. And for 25-26, we have an assumption of 45-28, and then to 26-27, 43-92. Our unduplicated pupil count here, last year was 26-41, but this year has dipped to 19-75. And with these numbers, we've identified significant drops in this UPP that is highlighted and are a concern to us, and it's been prompted discussions and strategies among executive cabinet here to improve our UPP accountability in collaboration with our CALPADS and our sites to lower our fiscal impact for upcoming fiscal years. This is something that can be right-sized, and we are currently seeing this in our current CALPADS calculation that are up to date that are much higher than these assumptions. Next page, please. Our enrollment versus our daily attendance. We see here our last 10 years that we've seen a declining enrollment. Next slide, please. Compared to our ADA. We see our year over year increase and decreases here that have been not only affected for our school district here, but throughout California and most school districts, for the last 23, 24, we've had quite a bit of declining enrollment throughout California. And we have seen over 420,000 students in the last 10 years alone. And so we're seeing quite a bit of numbers here that have been declining due to their birth rates, attrition, people moving out. And so these all affect school districts throughout California. Next slide. We're going to compare the adopted budget that we presented here in September to our 24-25 first interim here today. We see our unrestricted fund balance component here, what our adopted budget numbers were in first interim, and the change with that. We do have revolving cash and stores here, warehouses, We are meeting our state required 3% minimum for economic uncertainties, which is great. And we have other committed funds. Committed funds are our facility improvements, deferred maintenance, technology, declining enrollment and ADA mitigation, instructional programs, strategies to increase enrollment, and planning and advisory services. Our inappropriate fund balance, these are funds that we've reserved. for specific purposes that would not only provide funding for reserves, but provide for non-contingent expenditures. So that's just a highlight on that. Next page, please. Our general fund revenues here goes into our local control funding formula entitlement here. And this is found on page one of the executive summary for those that are listening. This falls under the Prop 98 for California that mandates a minimal amount of state funding for public schools. And so this is our allotment here in this first interim of $59,509,000. We also have other state revenues that are allocated that are specifically intended for some programs. So we have $1.2 million in that first interim revenue. Next slide. Our expenditures. These are certificated salaries that we'll find here. And you will find that in our report on pages 34, 33 and 34 that give, wow. OK. We do have a printout and we do have a PDF on this. I don't know why Google is forecasting this color. That just washes everything out, but you should have a PDF on this. It's a Google sheet that converts, and it just doesn't allow the colors to go. It just bleeds through. So hopefully we get reports, and we can print out reports for everyone. We do have this uploaded as well for public view and board docs. That's going to be very different from what's forecasted here. I was saying page 33 and 34 of the actual, First interim report, you will find a summary there of these costs, not only for classified staff and certificated staff, but as well as management staff that's classified and certificated along with the benefits. So you'll see that in page 33 and 34. Books and supplies, these are for specific funds earmarked for programs for students. And services and operating expenditures here, As we know, our expenses and costs of service are going up, as we've seen on monthly warrant reports, stipends, and overtime reports here. Next slide, please. Oh, that went backwards. Let's go forward. OK. So we're going to go into our multi-year assumptions, our enrollments, and ADA projections that are adjusted since the adopted budget. Our local control funding formula, COLA adjustments for the latest projections, partial tax rate adjustments for inflation, continued employee costs increases, pensions and stepping column. Federal and state restricted programs that use current funding assumptions and we can report that we maintain the minimum required 3% reserve. Next page, please. Here we see in our revenues for our low control funding formula, statutory cost of living is 1.07%, and into the multi-years, 2.93% and 3.08%. We see our unduplicated percentage for three-year average at 50.69% and 46.89% for next fiscal year, and into the third year, 42.94%. This is the dollars we receive per student here, currently $12,643. We do get different money pots here when it comes to funding for students, depending on their grade level. Here, 4 through 6, 7 through 8, 9 through 12. The higher the education, the more we get in funding. We do see the numbers here of enrollment going down in our assumptions of 45, 28 into the next fiscal year and 43, 92. This is something that we can, in fact, correct or right size when it comes to the unduplicated percentage that we can correct that 46.89 with some strategies of correcting enrollment, registrations, being strategic about it and getting multiple disciplines involved with this from the site level to different departments, to tuition services and CalPADS to assist in this lift. Our average daily attendance is 4,294 and For 25-26, our assumptions are declining slightly, 42-11 and 41-06. Our LCFF projections are matching these decline. Next page, please. We do have our categorical revenues under COLA. So federal programs or none have been projected. And under COLA, state categorical programs are at 1%. And the next category is lottery per ADA. Unrestricted is $191 and restricted at $82. Next category is mandated block grants. K-8 ADA, $38.21. And 9-12 ADA is at $73.62. Next slide, please. Here we see our expenditures for our retirement rates. CalSTRS at 19.10%. and our PERS at 27.05%. That seems to be pretty steady across the multi-years into the third year out, 28%. Our unemployment insurance rates are at 0.05% for the next multi-year projection. And supplies and services. This is something that we've been conservative about these services and trying to taper down. And supplies as well, we do see that number Slightly going down in some supplies. These have to do everything from software licensing to equipment that has a multiple year shelf life to it. So some items we don't continue to purchase here for these supplies. Our routine restricted maintenance account is 3% of our general fund that we've met at $2.7 million and into our multi-year projections. Salaries, those are pending negotiations for both NTA and CSEA. So we do start that next week. And so representatives are aware of that situation. So next slide. Continuing our NYP assumptions here for our LCFF statutory COLA augmentation is at 1.07% and to our next year 2.93 and 3.08. Our operating deficit surplus This here is where we bring up the existing rollover from our previous year carryover and currently forecasting a deficit of $5,117,924. We are meeting our reserve for economic uncertainties at 3% that we discussed over the previous slides at $2.4 million. And we have a remaining balance above the 3% reserve for economic uncertainties, which is at $2,553,283. Next slide. Which brings us into some considerations due to our declining enrollment. And that's not only just at this school district, but neighboring school districts. These are all considerations that we'll need to focus on budget adjustments. fiscal responsibility. We no longer have the one-time ESSER funding that we would count on. And so we need to go after grants and strategize with that. State funding is shrinking as well. So this is important in communicating and collaborating among departments and sites to address budget rightsizing. So any, there's the next slide. We can, at this point, just want to acknowledge the first interim budget district personnel assisting with this and the budget department fiscal team rather that has really put a lot of time into this. Next slide. I do want to ask if there's any comments or questions at this time.

[11553] Aiden Hill: Questions from the board? I have a question. So When you're talking about revenue, I don't remember which slide it was. And you're talking about assumptions coming from LCFF and then from first interim to page 16, maybe. One more. One more. Right there. No, keep going back. Well, yeah. Actually, you can look at that one. No, no, no. No, this isn't it. No. Keep going back. Back, back, back, back, back, back, back. We're at the beginning. Keep going. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sorry. Where was it? A little before. Maybe it was that washed out slide that you had.

[11621] Tracey Vackar: It's a three-year-old in average with UPP.

[11624] Aiden Hill: No, next one. Keep going. Year after year.

[11631] Aiden Hill: Unrestricted fund balance. Yeah, maybe. So my question was, I was seeing, I remember seeing revenue, but then revenue was going down. And was that because of enrollment slash ADA? The adjustment that we've had? I don't remember where I saw that slide.

[11651] Jose Quintana: Oh, I think I know which you're discussing here.

[11654] Jose Quintana: Going down into our... It probably was that one there. We were talking about enrollment numbers there and how we're going into the multi-year at 21. It was definitely, I want to say, Ms. Toya was 16. I think it was 16 there, talking about our LCFF and our student count.

[11675] Aiden Hill: No, no, no, that was it. Go back one. Go back one. There we go. So we started out, adopted budget, 59,866, and now first in and we're at 59,509, right? So because we're seeing the total delta go down by, what, about $200,000. And then most of that's obviously, I think all of it, yeah, all of it's coming from LCFF. And so is that because of ADA? We had a projection around enrollment slash ADA. in when we were adopting the budget, and now those numbers are coming in lower, and that's why our revenue's lower there?

[11716] Jose Quintana: That's correct. Our local control planning formula comes through our ADA and what's computed. And so we are seeing that right size now. So we have to reflect this time stamp, this snapshot from July 1st to October 31st. So that's what we're projecting there. Not the revenue assumptions there for CINRAM at 59,509. OK, great. OK.

[11741] Tracey Vackar: And then your adjustment is really coming from the adjustment of the minus $356,877 is coming from your UPP. So our unduplicated pupil count, this continues to be a problem in our district. There was a slide that was whited out that kind of showed you the trend over the last couple of years. And then also moving forward, this is the one area that I would say the district has not been able to do well for a number of years to truly calculate their unduplicated pupil count. You guys have seen errors of up to a million dollars that you have been fined with by the state. We continue to have errors in our CalPAS reporting and then calculating with the calculator that we get from the state. There is a continuous set of errors. So if it comes because it has a multiple year, and I've talked to Mike Fine, about this and FCMAT, about how can we help self-correct some of the things that get put in the calculator when we enter in the one year so that we can self-correct for the following year. It's very, very difficult to do. But that UPP continues to be a problem for us with not collecting the right kinds of data on our families. Mainly because now that we've got free and reduced lunch, people don't think that they have to fill out all those forms anymore because they're automatically getting it. So that's one of the shifts and changes. We're actually working on some strategies internally. We've been working with staff. I want to thank a lot of our staff members for working so hard on this. We're going to be moving to a centralized registration system here at the district office starting in January. And so we will be sharing those dates with our families so they can come down here and actually register here. We wanna make sure that they know about the menu of services and that they get all their forms filled out correctly, so that we make sure that students count. We also are gonna be working on some site incentives to be able to help collect information in our families that already are enrolled in our school district. To ensure that we're actually collecting the data that we need to try to increase that UPP number to where I think it probably should be. And I think we are really reporting quite low, and that has a hard financial impact on us. I can tell you some of the work that Roseanne and Mary Stark had done early on last fall, or I'm sorry, last spring, late winter, early spring, had to do with looking at, you know, making sure that we were pulling out enough information. That also continued, I think, with the MGT team as well, with trying to make sure that was being maintained as we were bringing in and creating and adopting our budget for last year. But the problem is we fell short once we looked at our P1 reports, that unduplicated count really brought it down. And that's really where you see that differential there.

[11917] Aiden Hill: And as you're describing, right, so there's a lot of ground level work that needs to happen to get reporting to be accurate. And that will probably take some time. But what I'm wondering is that if now, if we understand there's a discrepancy, obviously there's an error rate that, well, if we just apply the same error rate to both activities, right, where if we assume, okay, our UPP is X, then that same, you know, and we find out that it's Y here, right, so now we see the delta. So whatever the percentage is, right, so maybe it was, I don't know what the percentage is. But let's say we guessed 90%, and it turned out to be 85%. So there's a delta of 5% that we're seeing. And so what I'm wondering is now we can take that information, and now we know, yeah, actually, this is the amount that still hasn't been quantified. So when we come back in the summer and put this together again, now we're not forecasting at 90%. We're forecasting at 85%. I mean, I just think that when we have these deltas, that it makes people freak out. So if there's a way that we can, I mean, we have to do the ground level work of trying to get the actual number, but can we improve our forecast as well?

[12015] Jose Quintana: So to answer, going back to your question, President Hill, First page of the executive summary, we'll go over the revenues there and it shows us our graph there because it does have both our unrestricted and restricted budgets together having those numbers. But I did want to point out on page eight of the presentation that has that unduplicated pupil count that you were just discussing now about our rolling average and how we need to right size and correct that. If we can go to page eight, it goes back a little bit more. Just where we have the UPP 50.69%. Go back, back, back. No, you're going forward.

[12061] Aiden Hill: Go back a little bit more.

[12071] Jose Quintana: Right there. Fortunately, it's the washed out one there. I can't even read that. But it's 1975, President Hill. for our current year to your previous year, 2641. And this is what we're discussing about having the strategy to increase not only our funding, but our UPP average. Yes, sir.

[12101] Tracey Vackar: It actually isn't. We actually were dropped down also in 22, 23, and 23, and 24. In 22, 23, you were fined. Because you didn't report correctly, right? So I just want to call out, yes, that's what we reported. But then we got called out for not having it done right. And we were able to get it back up last year, but we're not able to maintain it. So there's still something wrong within our system in how we are either collecting data or how we're entering data that's causing this problem. So it's something that we have to go back and then go work on. I don't have the answer for you, but I can tell you that we need to have strategies in place to help improve upon this. You all know I've had concerns with our student information system. I still continue to have concerns with it as to whether or not it talks well to all the other agencies that it needs to talk to, both statewide and federally.

[12158] Jose Quintana: And I will say it is a process. When we do get these CALPAD numbers in our information system, we do need to verify every student. So that takes a process. It does take time. Unfortunately, we continue on having instruction, but we get stuck with that snapshot there of 1,900 students. But currently, we are reflecting, after verification, our total unduplicated pupil count is at 2,279. So it is right sizing. And that's just verification, right? But if we put a strategy in place moving forward, I think we can definitely capitalize on these numbers.

[12203] Aiden Hill: Additional questions from the board? Member Thomas.

[12207] Nancy Thomas: Going over to the expenditure side, I'm noticing a big shift from previous years of 68% of our budget is in salaries and benefits. only 68% when it's been upwards of 80% plus. And yet our services and operating and books and supplies have gone up 30%. So what, you know, you're talking about huge shifts in our expenses going up and our salaries and benefits going down.

[12250] Jose Quintana: Yes, and so that's a great question. And so when we deal with our salaries, you know, certificated and classified, I think the district and key positions here from our HR and student services and special ed, everybody identifying some positions that have been vacant that need to be closed out. So we're seeing a savings over what we brought into the adopted budget or previous years. So we're putting in the work to get that reflecting accurate numbers. So that's great, so that shows, that's what it's showing there, even though we had initially thought that we had 248 certificated members, we actually have 250.2, and we're opening up other certificated positions. So we've done a terrific job in identifying some of these positions, but we're also looking at the budget closely and looking at some positions that are just not Not there. They've been vacant for a while. So we've been cleaning house. HR has done a terrific job doing that. Student services identifying some of the services contracts that who's at the sites. So that's a lot heavier lift looking at our services and contracts on what's sustainable and what is not. So we have some more work to do with services.

[12328] Nancy Thomas: To me, though, it points out in looking at other districts that that maybe our salaries and benefits are right-sized now, but it looks like we're oversized in services and operating and books and supplies. And cutting in those areas to appropriate levels would probably get rid of our structural deficit.

[12357] Jose Quintana: It's a multi-pronged approach that we need to look at as a district, so I agree with you, Member Thomas.

[12369] Aiden Hill: Okay, other questions?

[12371] Tracey Vackar: Yeah, I think it's important, because I think Mrs. Thomas first brought up a really important point. So, like, when you look at the staffing and the fact that it's changed so dramatically, again, some of this is some of those double-booked positions that we had, right? And so we've been changing that, right? We've been making that shift. So, I want to really commend our amazing team over in Human Resources. Chris and his team have worked diligently to sit there and try to go through every single position. They've been going back and working with budgeting to make sure that those positions have either been defunded, if we don't have them out there on the books anymore. They've worked really hard at that. The other person I think that's worked really hard has been our special education director, Dr. Walker. She's been working really hard, too, to make sure that, because she's got so many contract positions, that we all are communicating exactly what they're covering, what their services are, who they're covering this year, going back and really making sure that everybody is actually counted and that we know where they're at. That's been tremendous work that's been done also by our special education department in communicating and working very closely with our human resources. And then really the rest of the team, really strong collaboration efforts. I know this past week, I know Ms. Trudy's sitting out there, and I know she was working with Jenna Lee, most recently, on some new tools that will help us. I think as we move forward, right, I think you're working with Inform K-12 on some tools. Is that? Yeah. I think it's Frontline. Frontline. I'm sorry, Frontline. To be able to make sure that our systems are working well together and collaboratively and making sure that they know what the steps are. I'm sure there will be staff training and probably some additional documents that we'll probably have to do that will probably integrate with all that work that they're doing. But it's that great. collaboration and synergy that makes a big difference. And being able to talk across departments and being able to work together is going to be really important as we continue to look for other resources that will help us for our future.

[12508] Aiden Hill: Great. OK. Thank you, Mr. Quintana, and thank you, staff.

[12514] Jose Quintana: And I just want to say thank you to Nancy Chen, our fiscal director, who put countless of hours, weekends, and emails at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, and texts at 10 PM or 7 AM, and just, OK, let's get to it. Let's get to work. So thank you so much for all of your effort and your work in making this possible and meeting our deadline. Thank you.

[12538] Aiden Hill: Thank you.

[12543] Aiden Hill: OK, moving on to item 13.3. Oh, I'm sorry.

[12547] Tracey Vackar: You need to adopt this.

[12549] Aiden Hill: Yes. Oh, I thought we pulled it.

[12552] Tracey Vackar: No, you pulled the resolution.

[12553] Aiden Hill: You need to adopt the first interim report. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. OK, I'm sorry. We have a recommendation. OK, so can I get a motion to adopt the 24-25 first interim budget report?

[12566] Kat Jones: I'll make a motion. I'll second.

[12570] Aiden Hill: And does the student member vote on this? Okay, student member, how do you vote?

[12576] Joy Lee: Yes.

[12581] Toya Lemus: Okay, student board member Lee? Yes. Online voting is open. Perfect. Votes are in, six ayes.

[12615] Aiden Hill: Great, motion carries. OK, moving on to item 13.3, art mural at Newark Middle School. And Ms. Parks, you have a speaker card for this.

[12636] Cindy Parks: I'd like to give a huge thank you to the Newark Middle School PTSA for coming up with this idea. and providing financial support to bring it to life. The beautiful mural offers a warm and welcoming message to Newark Middle School campus. That said, I would like to address an ongoing issue. Newark Middle School is experiencing an identity crisis. For example, in the mural photo, notice the marquee in the upper left-hand corner, which identifies the site as Newark Junior High School. Similarly, the long sign by the parking lot and the painted signs near the parking lot steps refers to the site as Newark Junior High School. Additionally, NJHS is still utilized in various district descriptors. When Superintendent Dave Markin proposed merging Milani and Bunker Elementary Schools, a significant budget was allocated to renaming them Birch Grove Primary and Birch Grove Intermediate. Similarly, when snow merged with the Graham Elementary, funds were allocated to rename the site, Coyote Hills Elementary. I respectfully request the board and administration consider allocating funds, perhaps from Fund 40, to complete the renaming process for Newark Middle School, resolving this identity issue once and for all. Also, perhaps the district can address the lack of the flying flag, the flag flying on the site so that it's in compliance with Education Code 38117. Thank you.

[12733] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Parks. OK, so it looks like we have presenters for the mural project.

[12742] Jose Quintana: Welcome.

[12742] Aiden Hill: We do.

[12743] Jose Quintana: Actually, I'll be doing the presenting. I just would like to give acknowledgments here to not only Ms. Cara, our PTSA president here for Newark Memorial Newark Middle School, but also our artist that is here from Illuminaries, who is going to be, yes. If you can just please introduce yourselves, your full names, that'd be great. That way.

[12772] Cara Kundrat: Hi, I'm Cara Kundrat. I am a parent, resident, teacher for the district, as well as the current Newark Middle School PTSA president. Thank you.

[12784] Steve Ha: My name is Steve. two children that go to the, one to Schilling, one to Newark Middle School. I've already painted a mural at Schilling. So I'd love, I painted two, but I would love to just continue, you know, adding color and community pride and vibrancy to the community that I live in. So thank you for hearing me out.

[12810] Jose Quintana: And so we would have loved to hopefully come up with our presentation here, but we're seeing if we can put it up. But really, in all reality, this is a community effort where we have not only our artists that's here that's willing to put an in-kind donation and providing the painting and execution of the mural, which is huge. And this kind of in-kind donations really says a lot about community and spirit for the school site there. The principal who gave our presentation today for Newark Middle School on Some of the achievements there would is really rooting for this and and assisting as much as he can He's been emailing making sure that I I push forward on this this This project, but really miss Cara. I really have to hand it to you and and how you have really gathered the troops and providing funding for this mural and so we want to assist in any way possible and promoting this and throughout our community so you can get those funds for like the supplies that will go out there. If we're able to put it up, that'd be great. I know we do have it in our board docs if, well the board members do have it, right? You do have it there.

[12892] Nancy Thomas: Oh, it's beautiful. I mean, have a picture? Yes. Yes, they do have a picture. I wish it could be up on the screen. It's amazing. Right, and this is, yes, go ahead.

[12900] Tracey Vackar: I just really wanted to thank the collaboration effort. I know we had a couple of Meetings where we talked about, you know, what was the vision for the school? Where are we going to with it? And I really just want to thank the artist support that came with this and helping to really create what that future culture looks like and what we want for our middle school students. And I think you captured it beautifully. So thank you so much for... Thank you. Appreciate it.

[12925] Jose Quintana: Absolutely. So just thank you for that here tonight. And we would love to obtain board approval to paint the mural at the Newark Middle School. that would be placed on the external wall of the school building facing the parking lot that would beautify the school facility.

[12942] Aiden Hill: So questions from the board on this?

[12945] Joy Lee: Just a comment.

[12947] Phuong Nguyen: Do you want to go first?

[12949] Joy Lee: I just had a question. Our Newark Middle School mascot is a cougar or a is a cougar? It's a cougar. Is the picture a cougar or a jaguar?

[12963] Steve Ha: It's a cougar. It's a cougar. But it's still a little bit of reworking that needs to be done. I know, is there a certain part that you're looking at that dictate that it's a dry water or?

[12972] Joy Lee: She's questioning the spots on the face of the cougar. I don't want to, I don't want to, like, artistic pretense.

[12978] Steve Ha: Oh, no, no, no. Yeah, we're going to get rid of it, because that's kind of, like, leopardish, you know, when I was looking at it. So now I'm going to get the ears right to make it look like a cougar. Yes. Thank you for bringing that up.

[12987] Joy Lee: I'm so excited. You're right on there.

[12992] Aiden Hill: Additional comments or questions?

[12995] Phuong Nguyen: I just want to commend Ms. Kundrat. She's been working on this for a long time. And Cara, I'm so proud of you. You know that. And she has three kids in the district and has stepped up to run PTAs. We've ran PTAs together. And so I really commend you and all the work that you do and your dedication to this district. And on your free time, you sub in the district, too. So thank you so much for everything that you do. And my kids are grateful to have you in their life. So thank you so much. And to, I'm sorry, Mr. Steve Ha. Thank you so much for volunteering your time and to paint this mural for the district. I know that your work at Schilling, everybody loves it. So I'm excited for you to start this project. And like you said, more positive vibes and bringing life to our community is something that I'm always going to be supportive of. And so thank you so much.

[13068] Nancy Thomas: Could you say some more about the fundraising? Are you still fundraising? And how much more do you need?

[13076] Cara Kundrat: So let me first thank you, board member Nguyen. Those are very kind words. Yes. Ms. Thomas, thank you. You were the first to donate. So we started fundraising, I believe, last year when it, it was actually to address what the former speaker just said, which was sort of this identity crisis, right? We were Newark Junior High School, but we had been Newark Middle School for several years. Both my older kids went to Newark Middle School slash Junior High, but none of the signage addresses that, right? So all of the students who attend are going to Newark Junior High School. So that was in part for that. We started fundraising, and I applied to a mini-grant under the Rotary Club. And I also applied for a mini-grant with the Alameda County Tobacco Control Program. So we awarded $3,000 as well as $1,500. And then for our PTSA Association, we'll be giving Steve Ha and his company, Illuminaries, $4,000 for his designs. And as far as how far we have to go, I asked him for an estimate of how much his mural design and the execution of it would typically cost. And it was, I believe, just over $31,000. Whatever we can't give him, that's what he's donating to our school. So I just wanted to be clear on that. We do have a poster at the end of this room. And so if anyone would like to donate, that would just go all towards his cause. So hopefully, I just saw that last week they chopped down all of the trees on the side of the wall in front of Newark Middle School. So now it's just nothing but blank space. So hopefully, on his design, it will say Newark Middle School, as well as have Cougar design. Thank you. Does that answer your question?

[13218] Aiden Hill: Vice President Jones.

[13219] Kat Jones: So my first question is, why were the trees removed? Were they old, damaged, diseased? Do we know? Somebody just got chop happy?

[13230] Jose Quintana: I'll follow up with you on that question.

[13234] Kat Jones: I would appreciate that, because that tree in the picture is gorgeous. I absolutely love this. The artistry is fabulous. I agree we need to fix our signage. Here's my concern, and I don't want to put a damper on the whole idea and the project, because I think it's really important that we do this. And it just says so much. But as we move forward and we look at our facilities, one of the first things that I believe, in my personal opinion, is we need to paint them. So my fear is, if we do this and then we paint the schools, how do we not damage this beautiful piece of artwork? So I'm just throwing that out there in the pot of things that we really should look at and think about before you begin to put your blood, sweat, and tears literally into this, Steve. But it's beautiful. I am wholeheartedly behind doing this. I have seen your other work. It's beautiful. And it really does create a spirit at the school site to have something like this. there on the wall. I just want to make sure that we are working with the fact that if we're going to paint, this isn't going to be harmed.

[13327] Jose Quintana: Vice President Jones, we did have those discussions with Steve. And the quality of products he's using are definitely UV resistant. But I don't think they're graffiti resistant. I think we had discussed about a coating of some sort. Maybe you might?

[13346] Steve Ha: We've talked about the ceiling for sure. We haven't talked about the graffiti correct surface yet,

[13348] Jose Quintana: So so that might be something for us to consider It's one of the things that I believe is gonna probably come up first with bond monies One of the things that we need to do is to you know, really give the schools a facelift and that's going to mean paid.

[13381] Jose Quintana: There is a facility master plan that's a draft right now currently that we're looking at exploring and that's one of the items on that list. So you know it's one thing for you to donate this Steve you know but we need to maintain this. So I think that's important for us to understand here as a district that although this will be put in place we need to maintain this and That means anti-graffiti coatings of some sort to protect this artwork.

[13409] Kat Jones: Absolutely. I think that's that is really important. And you know I would say sooner than later. You know I believe in what I would be in favor of putting the middle school first on the list of when we do paint that it's done first so that this can get going as soon as possible. Or finding a way to figure out how to just take care of that one wall somehow. That would be another option.

[13437] Nancy Thomas: Yeah. We could paint that one wall if we know what the school color is going to be. Right.

[13444] Kat Jones: And that's a discussion that needs to happen first.

[13448] Cara Kundrat: I think that typically before painting, you would have to clean the wall anyway. I did stand up close to the wall, and it actually doesn't look It looks like it almost has been painted recently. And I don't know when it has been, but I would ask the board to maybe look into that.

[13470] Phuong Nguyen: Yeah. Oh, for sure. I know several years back, a lot of the school sites were repainted.

[13477] Nancy Thomas: They were all painted with Measure G, and I don't think it was that much more than 10 years, maybe eight years.

[13483] Phuong Nguyen: And some of them recently got retouched. during the pandemic and stuff also.

[13489] Tracey Vackar: We can look into that. And I think Mrs. Parks, just to kind of tag up on her comments that she made on the process about the identity crisis that's kind of happening with the school. I think branding for a lot of our schools is going to be an important element that we've talked about, that we've heard about from our community and from our schools, that they would have a bigger sense of identity themselves. And I think it also brings a certain pride right to the students. And I think we had those conversations. I'm excited about the project. I'm excited about this artwork. I think it adds a new dimension to the school and brings in some character and really just kind of shows that middle school age, I think, that is looking to figure it all out, right? Curious, innovative, excitement.

[13540] Nancy Thomas: Thank you.

[13541] Aiden Hill: Yeah, it's fabulous. Thank you so much.

[13544] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you. We have to make a motion to approve. I'd like to make a motion to approve.

[13553] Nancy Thomas: I'll second.

[13557] Aiden Hill: Student member, how do you vote?

[13559] Joy Lee: Yes.

[13568] Toya Lemus: To confirm, the motion was made by member Nguyen and seconded by Thomas. OK. Board member Lee. OK. Online voting is open. Votes are in. Six ayes.

[13596] Aiden Hill: Great. Thank you. Motion carries. Given that we are at a quarter to 10, I need someone to make a motion to extend our meeting until 11, please.

[13607] Joy Lee: I'll make a motion to extend our meeting to 11.

[13609] Aiden Hill: Student member moves.

[13611] Joy Lee: I'll second.

[13613] Aiden Hill: And member Plancarte seconds.

[13624] Tracey Vackar: Staff, I'll put the coffee on tomorrow.

[13636] Aiden Hill: I have coffee right now. Student member, how do you vote?

[13640] Joy Lee: Yes.

[13640] Aiden Hill: OK. Did we just vote? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Did I just? So OK. All right. OK, motion carries. All right. Okay, so we've we've moved we've moved this to 11 o'clock Yes confirmed correct, okay, wonderful Okay, so we're now on to the consent agenda and we have an item public comment 14.5 from Miss Parks On this item

[13696] Cindy Parks: I have to say that I was a little confused on exactly what this was. And reading through the purpose and the background on the agenda actually gave me more insight as to the scope of work that this contract was alluding to. The contract is lacking the agreement here. It doesn't have a scope of service. It talks about various other things, but really, most, the biggest description, the largest description of what this is going to entail is in the purpose, which to me only seems to be something about a school-wide assembly, facilities, small breakout group sessions, collaborate with staff. It doesn't really tell you what he's going to do for this $10,489. I understand he's going to have, offer up a parent night, but As far as what the scope is, what is this going to teach the students? I don't understand what this actually is even going to, how this benefits the students. I understand it's being paid with anti-bias grant, so I'm assuming it's somewhere along that line. But there's really nothing here that tells you what he's going to be teaching our students. So I just wanted to bring it to your attention if you hadn't noticed that in the contract agreement.

[13781] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Ms. Parks. So do we want to pull any items from the non-personnel items agenda? I mean, agenda items, the consent agenda.

[13808] Phuong Nguyen: Item 14.18.

[13811] Aiden Hill: OK, so 14.18, is there anything else that we want to pull? OK, I would like for us to pull that item, that 14.5 as well, just to get a little bit of clarity around that. So if we can pull those two items. Can I get a motion to approve 14.2 through 14.4 and 14.6 through 14.17?

[13841] Nancy Thomas: I move that we approve 14.2 through 14.4 and 14.6 through 14.17. Member Thomas moves. I'll second. Student member, how do you vote? Yay. One second.

[13881] Toya Lemus: Student board member Lee, yay, online voting is open. Votes are in, six ayes.

[13896] Aiden Hill: Great. OK. So 14.5, so superintendent, I'm not sure who's the right person to speak to this particular contract.

[13907] Tracey Vackar: Well, ASB, probably at the school, is probably the best person to probably speak on this. But let me see if I can take a stab at it. This is a motivational speaker. And board member Lee, please let me know if I get this wrong. I don't know if you're familiar with this. I thought he came out last year to your school. Does this sound familiar to you?

[13927] Phuong Nguyen: This is not. This is not the.

[13929] Joy Lee: This is not the same person, but it's a continuing that.

[13936] Phuong Nguyen: Challenge day? Yeah, challenge.

[13939] Tracey Vackar: It's like a continuation. Yeah, that's my understanding, too, is that he's actually coming out as part of a motivational speaker to be able to relate with the students, talk about how they build a collaborative team approach, being able to work together, kind of a synergy to be able to really bring the students together, but also to be able to conquer some of the anti-bias elements that are sitting out there. within, I think, all of us. I believe that's part of this. It's all about character building. It's really meant to be a high motivational piece for the students of Newark Memorial High School.

[13977] Karen Allard: Yeah, I can go ahead and add a little bit to that. It is focused on equity, and the goal would be for leadership development at the site, so building resilience, facing challenges, setting goals, and then also creating leadership teams on site so that it becomes like a restorative practice student-led approach on campus.

[13997] Aiden Hill: Any additional questions from the board?

[14002] Joy Lee: Additional comments. It says in the background, the program is going to be mainly based on resilience and building resilience within our students at the high school. And the contractor will do that through several different things, staff development meetings, school-wide assemblies, student breakout sessions. and a parent development night.

[14029] Phuong Nguyen: Yeah, but I'm also in agreement with Ms. Parks. Is there in this, it just seems like it's a general contract, but is there supposed to be an attachment for actual services delivered?

[14045] Jose Quintana: So if the board takes action tonight, we would put our Newark Unified School District contract in place with our contract assigned moving forward. it would identify that scope of services as well as some of the identifications requested or required for this individual. OK, great.

[14064] Carina Plancarte: Thank you.

[14068] Aiden Hill: And just to confirm, I mean, because normally how it works, right, is that they identify the services and then that adds up to $10,489. So they're going to have to make sure that whatever those services are add up to that amount. OK. OK, can I get a motion to approve?

[14091] Carina Plancarte: I'll make a motion to approve.

[14093] Aiden Hill: Member Plancarte moves. A second. Member Nguyen seconds. Student member, how do you vote?

[14101] Tracey Vackar: Yes. Just a comment on the motion. Oh, you guys already voted.

[14108] Kat Jones: Yes? No, no vote.

[14109] Tracey Vackar: We're just taking one, but not the rest of us. I think one of the things that we can add to the contract is that we can actually ask for the scope of service. And I think we can get some assistance from the high school to make sure that that's spelled out, just so we have a document to go along with the contract.

[14125] Phuong Nguyen: Would you like us to remake the motion?

[14128] Tracey Vackar: No, but I just want to let you know that I think we can take care of that. I feel like we've had great conversations with the high school on this particular speaker and bringing this forward.

[14137] Joy Lee: Yeah, and also it would really build more culture that's going on at our high school right now. And it can continue that momentum that we're pushing for.

[14149] Tracey Vackar: I just want to let you know that we can support the document by making sure that there's some backup to go along with it. Yeah.

[14160] Aiden Hill: Miss, have you sent that to us?

[14164] Toya Lemus: Online voting is open. Great. It's wonderful.

[14166] Aiden Hill: Yeah, I've sent it.

[14170] Aiden Hill: Yes, you did.

[14182] Toya Lemus: Votes are in, six ayes.

[14184] Aiden Hill: OK, motion carries. OK, moving on to 14.17. And so member Nguyen, I think you were the one that pulled this item.

[14194] Phuong Nguyen: Yes. I pulled this item so that we can have further discussion. I really do appreciate the comment that Ms. Canales came and made her comments earlier regarding what she had pointed out. I do believe that for opportunities for our student board member to be able to have the opportunity to be a state board member, I would also take her suggestion in allowing and amending number four to 10th grade at the time of nomination. And then also, I would like for us to be able to have two board members, two student board members, one from Bridgepoint Representation and one from Newark Memorial. So I would also ask that 13 be amended and that we do not have a split rotation of student representatives and that they should be serving on the board for the entire year, attending every meeting. And then lastly, I'm also, I really like her suggestion about implementing this not this year, but the following year so that we can get our processes in place and have communication to staff if we are taking it out of ASB and having the principals run this or manage this process. Thank you.

[14305] Aiden Hill: Additional comments from the board? Member Thomas.

[14313] Nancy Thomas: Well, I'm trying to remember. Maybe Ms. Jones can help me remember why we said or suggested that they be 11th graders.

[14330] Kat Jones: I believe one of the... Part of what we spoke about was it is a one-year term, and that having a little bit more life experience under their belt, I think, is an important thing. Yes, it can depend on the student, for sure. But I do feel like it's a position that should be held by a senior.

[14363] Nancy Thomas: Well, I certainly can go either way. I think the idea of them being able to go to state or be nominated to state school board.

[14373] Kat Jones: What was that? It's a state school board. I did speak with Ms. Canales about this, and I thought she was going to be getting back to me. She never got back to me, but we did talk about it. We haven't had anyone from Newark Memorial go on to do that. So yes, offering it to a 10th grader so that they could be in the position during 11th grade and be able to do that. To me, that would be a case by case. If somebody came to us and said, I really, really, really want to do this in my senior year, so I would have to be the district board member in my junior year. To me that, and I just feel like that would be showing a reason why we should add it to 10th grade. We've never had a student, at least in, when I was talking with Ms. Canales, she was never able to tell me about any student that had come and done that. So.

[14439] Nancy Thomas: I guess on the other hand, hopefully it's a competitive process. In the past, sometimes they've only had one applicant. So now if we have a multitude of applicants, and we open it up to 10th graders, and so we would weigh the 10th graders against the 11th graders that apply, it would work out if there's an ideal 10th grader. And that gives.

[14466] Kat Jones: Well, I'm not, you know, I mean, it's not my final decision, I think. Right.

[14471] Nancy Thomas: I know, but.

[14471] Kat Jones: If everybody says, no, it needs to be 10 and 11, then, you know, I'm just stating why I feel it should be a senior. I'm not opposed to listening to other people's ideas as to why it would be really important to make it a junior or a senior.

[14488] Aiden Hill: I agree with you. And it's my understanding that we, the board, are not selecting this person. So there's nominations that are coming to the board, and then some select members discuss with the candidates what the requirements are. the board is not not filtering or anything like that and so then whoever those candidates are who decide yes I'm gonna run they would be on the ballot right so and that there's there's no you know it could be it would be whoever is agreeing that's my understanding the way it's written correct okay other questions or comments from the board so I guess the question I'm just gonna be

[14536] Kat Jones: I'll let you talk in just a second. So the question to me on number four would be, if it's important for everyone on the board to say 10th and 11th, then we can add that back in. But knowing, to me, I feel it should be a senior. It's an honor to be in the position. I mean, yes, you're voted on by your peers, but it is an honor to be in the position.

[14564] Aiden Hill: I mean, I agree that I think we should, and I think it especially complicates things if we have multiple classes running. Because if you had somebody who was a senior that wanted to make this their kind of capstone experience in high school, and they lost out to an underclassman, that underclassman, I mean, now, I'm not sure if in our language we have, do we state that it's one term?

[14594] Kat Jones: That's a one-year term. Yes, it is also in the high school's constitution in Article V. It is stated in there that it's a one-year term also.

[14605] Joy Lee: But what I wanted to mention about your comment is if a junior, let's say a senior really wanted this position, but a junior won, wouldn't that mean that the junior is more capable and they want this position even more than the senior?

[14620] Kat Jones: It could be a popularity contest.

[14623] Phuong Nguyen: I'm just gonna say it's a popularity contest no matter what however you want to spin it but at the end of the day why would you limit someone who wants to run and be in this position to learn about civic rights and responsibilities and also take away an opportunity for a potential senior who wants to be a state board member I mean we're taking up we are the the board is taking an opportunity, a possible opportunity away from a student. And just because in the past that there hasn't been a student who's motivated to do it, but what happened if we have a student who's motivated in the future?

[14664] Joy Lee: Yeah. And so the arguments for like having, like lowering the student board member like nominee eligibility to 10th grade, would allow them to have more opportunities, like the state board, being on the state board. It provides more opportunities for various students to run for this position, not only limiting. Because that's what this election process is for, right? You guys want to create more inclusivity. That's why we're adding Bridgepoint also. And so those are the two reasons that make it better to lower the grade back to 10th grade, instead of having to add back in. Yeah, to add back in.

[14728] Aiden Hill: Other comments?

[14735] Joy Lee: I had another. Go ahead. Yes. Um, on page 5 it says elimination of the student, oh here, sorry, my alternate student board member on page 4-5. It says if the board determines that a student board member's duties are not being fulfilled, the board may appoint another student to serve out the term of the student board member. I would like to suggest to, um, changing the wording to having an election for the, like having an elected student. That's too cumbersome.

[14769] Aiden Hill: So I think that the intent of that, right, and that comes from CSBA, right, is that you might have somebody that thinks this is a great idea and runs, but then they realize that they've overcommitted and then all of a sudden they're not showing up at meetings, they're not doing things that they need to do. And so this is really a backfill that essentially says, okay, this student has not been able to perform their duties. And so the board needs to make an appointment just as if we had a real board member, an elected board member who couldn't fulfill their duties and resigned. We wouldn't hold a special election because that's very costly and time-consuming. We would do an appointment process.

[14818] Joy Lee: And then just to clarify, do you have an idea of that how that appointment process works or like if it's ever occurred before like while on the board?

[14829] Aiden Hill: I haven't seen it since I've been on the board. It's never happened since I've been on the board. So if we go back to the other question, I'm hearing my viewpoint is, so I'm hearing that we want to potentially make this available to people that are not just seniors. I'm potentially open to that, but I don't think that it should extend beyond 11th graders so that we would make it available to 11th and 12th graders, but not to 10th or 9th?

[14865] Kat Jones: So at the time of nomination, they would need to be in 10th or 11th grades. So that means that they would serve as a junior or senior.

[14874] Aiden Hill: So yeah, so I'm OK with that. But going to 9th and 10th grades, I think that that's too junior. So are there any other thoughts on this?

[14883] Tracey Vackar: I have one thought. Joy, I just wanted to share with you that I understand your concern about the process should a student board member not be able to continue. I would say that I think from staff, I think also the mentorship from the board, I would hope that they would be reaching out to that student to see what they could do to help maybe mitigate that. I think that's a part of the process. And I think one of the great joys, I think, with having a board that really believes in student voice is that they want to help be that mentor. So I think that also comes with it as well. And I guess I would trust that our, board members to be out there helping out that outreach as well as the superintendent and any of the cabinet members to be able to help and support that student with whatever resources they might need. In addition, I think the school site itself also I think, you know, has that surrounding support system, right? I mean, coming from ASB, there's support systems there, there's support systems with the principal and with Ms. Canales, and with other elements of leadership over there. So just something to kind of think about.

[14952] Carina Plancarte: I would like to add that I don't have an issue with extending it to those students who are at the time in 10th grade and who become juniors. I mean, I definitely don't want to hinder any student aspirations that they might have, especially if they are very forward thinking and they want to apply for state. I just wanted to offer my two cents on my opinion.

[14986] Phuong Nguyen: Oh no. Are we and also can we on item 13 the board will announce student board members for each school year and determine how responsibility will be split by the two site representative brought forward alternating bimonthly. Can we agree to have or to allow two student board members, one from Newark Memorial and one from Bridgepoint as representatives, and then take out the second part?

[15020] Aiden Hill: So when we talked about this topic over the past couple of meetings, I think that the idea started to get floated to include Bridgepoint. And it's because we saw the student members come, and we wanted to try to increase representation. And so I think that that was the spirit. But as I've heard more and thought more about this, I am a little bit concerned just because they are, we don't know what their status is going to be at that school, right? So they might be there a month, or they might be there six months. And so it seems to me that, you know, It could get very complicated. And I'm wondering whether we should maybe come back to the original position of just having Newark Memorial. And I'm just asking the question.

[15077] Phuong Nguyen: I would be in agreement with that. I'm OK with that. I mean, that is our current process. But if we do reach out, if we reach out to Bridgepoint and it's something that they would like to do moving forward, I hope that the board can consider making adjustments at that time. But for right now, I'm fine with your suggestion, President Hill.

[15107] Aiden Hill: Are there thoughts on this?

[15109] Joy Lee: I would also be in agreement.

[15113] Tracey Vackar: Just sharing one additional thought on that. Maybe it's something that whoever the future board members are, or even, Joy, even right now, I think in your capacity, I think to be able to reach back out to their leadership team and maybe be able to learn about some of their activities and be able to share that information with us, I think that representation piece could possibly happen.

[15134] Phuong Nguyen: Correct. In our prior board meetings in prior years, we always, when we had students come from the junior high and from Bridgepoint once a month to make the announcements, before our NTA members or CSEA. So we should definitely bring that back because it also helps with their leadership articulations at the junior high and for them to be able to get comfortable in these roles and possibly, you know, sit up here as a student board member representing later on when they're a junior or senior.

[15181] Aiden Hill: So member Jones, are you ready to make a motion? Vice President Jones.

[15188] Kat Jones: I think the first thing I would like to respond to 13, which is I totally hear what you're saying. And I think one of the reasons why I brought this up and felt that it was really important to be inclusive of Bridgepoint is that I would love to hear from the school on a monthly basis. And after having the gentlemen, the kids that were here, you know, gentlemen, boys, kids, here to present earlier this year, I saw the value in them standing up and presenting and the gratification that I saw in themselves. But it was really good to see that. That was kind of where I was coming from when I brought up the whole idea of opening it up. I can go either way, but I feel like if we are going to cut it back to just the high school, or just to Memorial and not to Bridgepoint, that I really do want us to reach out and make sure that we are getting monthly you know, reports from Bridgepoint, because it is important and it's good for them.

[15270] Nancy Thomas: We did it like clockwork for the many years I was on the board before I resigned. And we always had, every month, we had a presentation from the middle school and a presentation from Bridgepoint. And it was very informative. And it was just short and sweet. But it made us feel connected to those schools. more so than when they stopped doing it.

[15298] Kat Jones: Right. I mean, and that's part of what I think I'm trying to do is to get more involvement. So with that, I am happy to make a motion for this. So in number four, we would be adding back in 10th graders during the nomination process. And in number 13, we would drop, let's see, just eliminate number 13.

[15334] Phuong Nguyen: And you have to make a modification to number three.

[15340] Kat Jones: Oh, yes, and the modification of number three to drop the Bridgepoint so that the sentence ends at Newark Memorial. So with those changes to 3, 4, and 13, I would make a motion to approve this. And Toya, I'm happy to sit and work with you on it. OK. OK.

[15363] Nancy Thomas: And I will second that. Oh, you want to second? It's OK.

[15367] Joy Lee: Wait, actually, I will second that.

[15374] Nancy Thomas: OK. I wasn't looking at you. That was a problem.

[15379] Aiden Hill: OK, so Vice President Jones moves, student member Lee seconds. Similarly, how do you vote?

[15387] Toya Lemus: Yes Online voting is open

[15421] Nancy Thomas: Oh, sorry. Oh.

[15442] Aiden Hill: Ms. Lemus, get the votes in.

[15445] Toya Lemus: Waiting for Member Thomas. Member Thomas. And Plancarte. I voted.

[15451] Nancy Thomas: I voted.

[15458] Aiden Hill: Why don't you just do your roll call vote?

[15459] Toya Lemus: OK.

[15460] Aiden Hill: Do you have it? Oh, there it goes. OK. OK.

[15463] Toya Lemus: Votes are in. Six ayes.

[15466] Aiden Hill: Great. Motion carries. OK. Moving on to 15.2, personnel reports. Anybody want to pull the personnel report? I make a motion to approve consent agenda personnel items.

[15490] Kat Jones: I'll make a motion to approve.

[15495] Aiden Hill: Vice President Jones moves, and I second. Student member, how do you vote? Or no, she can't vote on this. Sorry.

[15506] Toya Lemus: So we're ready for the roll. I didn't hear the second. I'm sorry.

[15509] Aiden Hill: Me.

[15518] Toya Lemus: Online voting is open.

[15522] Aiden Hill: That could be an interesting moniker.

[15533] Toya Lemus: Votes are in. Five ayes.

[15535] Aiden Hill: Great. Motion carries. Moving on to item 16, student expulsion. Reentry and completion, student expulsion case number E2324-10. Can I get a motion to approve?

[15549] Kat Jones: I'll make a motion to approve. I'll second.

[15552] Aiden Hill: Vice President Jones moves. Member Thomas seconds. And student member does not vote on this.

[15575] Toya Lemus: Online voting is open. Votes are in, five ayes.

[15591] Aiden Hill: Great, thank you. Motion carries. Okay, moving on to item 17, Board of Education Committee Reports, Announcements, Requests, Debriefing, Discussion. And I know student member Lee needs to leave soon. She's already kind of passed her time commitment. But if you'd like to kick it off.

[15610] Joy Lee: Yes, thank you. Firstly, I would like to start off by saying it was an honor to serve on this board member Nguyen and member Punkarte. They've just been such an inspiration and such a joy to work with them and just see you guys at every board meeting truly advocating for the students and it'll be so sad to not see you guys on the same board anymore but I will truly cherish the memories that we've had and our run-ins at the Newark Memorial High School. And I truly wish the best for you guys. Now that you guys have so much free time, that you guys will pursue things that I know you guys will continue to pursue things that will benefit our Newark community. And I know I'm not going to be the only ones who will miss you guys. So I just want to say thank you truly from the deepest bottom of my heart. And also, I was wondering if there's any updates on the computers that we had approved, the 300 computers that we had agreed to implement at the high school? Or if we're getting an update on that?

[15700] Tracey Vackar: I do know that there was a lab that was recently completed. I'd have to get a report from the General League headquarter to find out.

[15709] Jose Quintana: We can follow up with you. Thank you, and then also how do you guys know how the football field is coming along if completion is gonna happen before graduation That's what we're we're pushing for we had a owner construction meeting today with OC Jones and the architects and The lime treatment is complete and so that's going to be able to create a hard ski for that so that moisture can dissipate much quicker and continue on with the construction, so O.C. Jones will be out there tomorrow, including Monday, and working before and after the holidays for this next week coming up. And so they have given us some preliminary construction impact schedules. And so although in writing I might say it's pushed back a little bit, they're really going to be gauging it out three weeks out. That's a three-week look ahead that we look at for construction. It gives more of an accurate picture of what's going on out there. in operation. So that's actually a good point, Joy. I should probably bring it up in our January board, just an update on that project.

[15779] Joy Lee: Thank you. Yes, that's everything. Thank you.

[15785] Aiden Hill: OK. Thank you, Member Lee. Member Thomas.

[15789] Nancy Thomas: Well, Joy said it well. We're going to miss the two of you. You've been great on the board. And as a team, The bond, congratulations, we've got the bond. You guys did great. We're going to miss you. The other thing is I went to the ROP meeting and they had their audit report with no findings. It was nice. And their first interim was presented and accepted. Everything's going well. ROP and thank you board for approving the continued funding with for them for the future year.

[15848] Phuong Nguyen: Thank you President Hill. I just wanted to start by thanking all the individuals that I worked with on the board committees. I wanted to thank council members Jorgens, Quiazzo, and Mayor Hannon, who I was able to work and serve on the NUSD liaison committee with the City of Newark, and also with Member Hill. So, I will miss the liaison committee meetings. I always thoroughly enjoyed them when we had interaction to be able to work the City of Newark, so I just really wanted to appreciate them. And then on the Bond Committee, I just wanted to really thank Member Plancarte for all of our hard work and dedication to the Bond Committee and seeing through this very hard work and sometimes it was a little frustrating at times, but I just really wanted to appreciate her and also Mr. Quintana for all the fundraising efforts that you contributed to. We couldn't have passed it without that effort. And then to Bonnie and her staff at Clifford Moss and to Tracy for really advocating for us to be able to go ahead and be, take a risk and go out and put the bond on and get the board, you know, full support on it. And we did it, so it was a total team effort, and I really appreciate everybody's hard work on that. And then lastly, I just wanted to acknowledge it has been a privilege and honor to serve Newark students, families, teachers, administrators, and staff. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve, learn, and grow in this position. It hasn't always been easy, but it was worth the time and effort put into it. I'm proud of the fact that I fully embraced participated and immersed myself in every opportunity to visit schools, attend events, interact with students and parents, be part of the culture and school spirit at every school in the district. I got to meet some truly amazing and selfless individuals who are extremely dedicated to our students. I took my role and responsibilities as a board member seriously and served with integrity, compassion, accountability, empathy, and transparency. I'd like to thank my family, for their unwavering support. They are the reason why I was able to do this job with so much dedication. Thank you, Mom, for making sure that everyone was fed and for not harping on me, for not taking care of my husband and daughters properly all these years. I was able to help others while you took care of us and supported me serving on PTOs, PTAs, and volunteering all of us for everything. Thank you, Nick, for making sure to be there for our girls and shuttling them to all their activities and being present at their events when I couldn't. You allowed me to be me and never once tried to stop me from doing things for others. You are always on board and I am so grateful you never asked why and just understood. Thank you to my two beautiful daughters who are always encouraging and understood the work I did was for the betterment of all students. They never complained and we managed as a family to find quality time for each other. I love you all very much. I'm also grateful to my friends and community members who have supported me the last five years. Your encouragement kept me uplifted. I'm so grateful to former board members, Ray Rodriguez, Bowen Zhang, Elisa Martinez, Lucia Gutierrez, Terrence Grindell, Alicia Marquez, and our student board members past and present, Cesar, Castillo, Wahab, Salemi, Estina, Resendez, Diego Torres, and Joy Lee for their support, guidance, and leadership. It means a lot to me to have been able to serve alongside them and learn from them as well. To our teachers, administrators, and staff, please remember that each student has their own unique story and that you all are their guiding lights. The positive connections that you make with them lasts forever. Their love of learning should start at home, but that isn't always the case. So I encourage you to keep making connections and build relationships with students who don't have the support they need to succeed. Your positive impact will last a lifetime. I am still forever grateful to all my teachers and coaches here at NUSD. Thank you for everything. Thank you, teachers, and for everything that you do day in and day out. It is a labor of love and is so appreciated. To our students, remember to never take your education for granted. Having the ability to learn and get an education is a privilege. Make your learning experiences fun and memorable. Take advantage of your teachers, ask questions, advocate for yourselves and others. Work hard to create future opportunities and believe that you can set yourself up for success. There is nothing that you can't do if you set your mind to it. Most importantly, always remember to thank everyone who has supported you along the way. Gratitude is everything. To our parents, please support and encourage your children to work hard and help them establish a growth, oops, I read the wrong thing. To our parents, please work with your children's teachers and principals and staff to help encourage a love of learning and growth mindset to build so that they can build a academic success, so that we can build academic success together. To our current district leadership, I thank you for your service. I would like to give a special thank you to our longtime NUSD teachers and staff members. Thank you for your unwavering dedication to our community, your hard work. It doesn't go unnoticed. I will miss student board member Lee the most. She will be spreading her wings and flying off to pursue college and do amazing things after graduation. I'm excited for her. It has been a privilege to learn from you, student board member Lee, and also to coach you this tennis season. And congratulations to our newly elected board members, Gabriel Anguiano and Austin Block. I'm excited for our two newly elected board members to start their journeys. Our community has voted in two wonderful individuals who will do great things for the district. During this campaign season, they showed their commitment to students, families, teachers, and staff by helping to campaign and pass Measure O alongside me and fellow council City Council candidates Jacinta Arteaga, Lucia Gutierrez, and mayoral candidate Elisa Martinez. I had three main goals this campaign season, and I'm extremely proud and happy to have accomplished them. Getting Measure O passed, helping two new board members get elected, and running a positive campaign. Nothing better than to end my journey on a high note. I will be stepping down with confidence in our new board members on Guiano and Block. Part of the legacy that I get to leave behind for our students is the $205 million bond that we worked tremendously hard to pass, securing bond monies to help improve facility conditions for our beloved school sites. My favorite memory throughout the campaign season was the students canvassing for Measure O, watching them take initiative and stepping up to knock on doors and speaking to potential voters and telling them why they should support the measure. It was inspiring. And more importantly, they participated in an election process and learned about civic duties, rights, and responsibilities. That was one of my proudest moments to be part of. Thank you to our community for coming together and supporting this bond and giving us this huge gift for our students. You are a huge part of this legacy, and we are forever grateful. I leave the board with great pride, having been able to give back to the community that has given so much to me and my family. So thank you.

[16377] Aiden Hill: Thank you, Member Nguyen. Member Plancarte.

[16382] Carina Plancarte: I don't have any updates, but I did want to go ahead and say a few things, given it's my final school board meeting. I really want to take a moment to reflect on my time serving this community as a trustee for this district. Tonight is truly bittersweet. While I decided not to run for my seat, I can't help but be a bit saddened by the realization that I will no longer be here as a trustee. When I initially decided to apply for this position, I wanted to be a voice for students, teachers, staff, and families while also working collectively with the board to bring much needed stability for the district. I wanted to ensure our school district always maintained a lens maintains a lens on equitable distribution for every student while putting kids' academic achievements and the safety of kids and staff first. Additionally, at that time, as a board, we had a big job of bringing on a superintendent to ensure kids and staff had a strong support system and a phenomenal leader to steer the district in the right direction. Looking back on the past 18 months, it has been an exceptionally busy time As a board, we have voted on many issues. Some were not easy, and others definitely not popular. And we have had to deal with a rapid succession of timely important events and situations, many of which are still unfolding. First, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the privilege of serving our community. My commitment to advocating for our students, teachers, and families will always remain strong. This community means a lot to me. Thank you to so many in this district who have and continue to do so much. You and our community have been through a lot of interesting dynamics, tough discussions and challenges, and I truly feel we've come a long way in such a short amount of time. And overall, the district, I feel, is in a really good position right now, which is a relief and a breath of fresh air. Further, I have also learned a great deal, and these are simply a few of the proud moments of holding this job. As a board, we adopted district-wide goals focusing on student achievement, safe, secure, and healthy learning environments, parent and community engagement, and communication and fiscal health. Collectively as a board, we made tough but important valuable decisions that will lead us to a more fiscally solvent district. Steps were taken to ensure that the track and field project continued and will be successful while keeping overall costs of the project in line and from ballooning. I really want to thank you, Jose Quintana, Tracy, Bonnie, Clifford, and Moss, and member Nguyen, Kat Jones, and member Thomas for all of the work that was put into the passage of Measure O. A $205 million extension bond measure to repair and renovate our NUSD schools, which are in dire need of that. I also really wanna thank the community for passing that bond. While highlighting a few accomplishments, I do not want to gloss over the fact that our district currently faces several challenges. These challenges include continuing the work to raise the low academic scores for all of our students, especially our students of color, the economically disadvantaged and students with special needs. We also continue to face decreasing student enrollment and our educators and staff suffer from lower wages in comparison to surrounding districts, which truly impacts staffing and the stability throughout. While these are certainly big challenges, we must continue to work together in order to provide the support for our students and our staff that addresses academic achievement and safety at our schools, but also taking extreme care to ensure our budget continues to be balanced so that we can get to a place where we are sustainable while at the same time resetting to allow for an increase of salaries for educators and staff who are not only deserving but overdue for such competitive salaries and wages. Looking back, I am proud to say we have made some great strides towards achieving that vision. Moreover, I have learned so much in a short amount of time. And as a new incoming board member, there is definitely a misconception that you need to know everything. However, I would like to offer to those that will come after me that you don't need to know everything, but it is critical to keep in mind what a trustee does. You're here to govern and not administrate or meddle in the day-to-day operations of running the district. The board sets the limits, the floors, the ceilings of where the district should be, and is tasked with hiring one person, the superintendent, to run the district within those parameters. I would like to share the following that sums this up nicely. Trustees need to be advocates for our students and make sure that the community and the state provide all that schools need to do their jobs. Trustees need to be the eyes and ears for the professionals in the district, the lookouts for icebergs or red flags that will impede progress. Trustees need to find the ways to beg, borrow, barter, and acquire every bit of funding needed to provide the best education for our students. Continuing on, during my tenure, I have worked with two superintendents. Most recently, Tracy, the car, and the new administration that you've brought on. I must commend you, Tracy, on a job well done. You came in at a time where there was so much political divisiveness and vitriol throughout our community at the time that we were in a crisis. But I can attest that you navigated your way through that difficult time and truly put kids first and went straight to work. I love the agenda that drives you. and it's for the good of our students. Your care and compassion for education, your integrity, dignity and your love for our students is very inspiring. Tracy, this community is so privileged to have you and I'm so grateful to have met you. I appreciate you and I feel very honored to have worked with you and Tracy and the rest of your support staff and I will truly miss all of you. My hope is that the, community and the incoming board will continue to appreciate and value your work and understand where your heart lies and they will continue to support you so that you can see your vision through for the betterment of our kids in this district. It is time that NUSD is the recipient of stability and continues on the path of positively changing the culture and the narrative that has plagued Newark for so many decades. And the apparent political grievances that affect our community about the past need to be left aside. The egos simply need to be checked at the door if we are to move in a positive direction. We need minimal fighting and more collaboration and respect for differences of opinions. In the end, as leaders and adults of our community, it is up to us to show up and be examples to the kids of how to be accepting of others and how to treat each other with respect and be professional even if there are disagreements because there will always be disagreements. As I stated earlier, I'm grateful that as a board we adopted a board pledge to provide the adults with the reminder to be respectful and listen with no preconceived judgments when someone has something to say even if others may not agree or see eye to eye on the matter. I can attest that it's difficult to be an active listener and participant when that is not top of mind. My hope is that all future incoming boards will keep this pledge a priority in order to allow for more productive conversations, collegiality, and decision making. I would like to express my desire that all individuals on this board and in our community listen for understanding and not be so quick to judge. I have no doubt that the building of bridges and the forging of common grounds and engagement of all stakeholders will help determine how successful we are in carrying out the most important work at hand. the success of each NUS student. Our kids and staff deserve the district that they are proud to be a part of. Someplace where they grow their dreams, they feel safe or challenged, respected, valued and heard so that kids can continue achieving their best self. And that work starts here in this boardroom. But Tracy, you and the staff cannot do this alone. My hope is that time will be invested in figuring out ways of truly bringing together the entire community. Yes, this expectation is surely high and some people have more capacity than others to lend a hand, but I sincerely feel that mostly everyone can do some part in whichever capacity to ensure that the focus is always on the kids, their safety, and overall success. And to our students, Joy, it's been an honor serving with you, and you're the reason why we're here. So many of you, including yourself, have inspired me with your passion for learning and enthusiasm for life, and you have challenged me to consider new ideas and other points of view. You are who make this job such a positive experience for me. Some of my fondest memories and what I will miss the most are visiting school sites, classrooms, and seeing students learn and have fun. Kids, I want to tell you, each and every one of you is capable of more than you know. I want to share a few life lessons from the last lecture, including some of my own sprinkled in. They are as follows. Always take advantage of your opportunities. Cherish the people who truly root for you. They can often be the difference in your own self-belief. Constantly ask yourself if you're spending time on the right things. Give yourself permission to dream and dream big. Manifest positivity and it will reveal itself to you. Understand life will not always be fair. And the sooner you accept this, the easier it becomes to deal with life's inevitable challenges. You have less time than you think, and you should manage your time wisely, just like your finances. If you're able to go out and travel and explore the world and other cultures, do it. This truly makes you appreciate life and opens your eyes like nothing else. Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us the chance to show how badly you want something. Your voice truly does matter. Find it and do not let it be silenced. You matter and so do your aspirations. Go out and find yourself and love you first and then you will realize you're on your way to true happiness. To finish off, I want to give a huge thank you to my family. First, for supporting me with the decision to be a part of this board. My mom, my husband, my sister. And my ultimate goal was to make my children feel proud of their mom. And I can say that I have accomplished that goal. I too am proud for rising to the challenge and showing up for the kids. in my community. I want to thank my near and dear friends as well for being there for me and providing endless amounts of support. And to those in the community who believed in me and to my fellow board members who ranked me high enough to seat me during the appointment process, I hope my service lived up to the expectations set forth. I look forward to continuing to work with the school district and I'm excited for the future of our community as we continue to take an all hands on deck approach to ensure continued financial stability and to keep our community voice strong. I truly am looking forward to seeing what the district continues to do with a foundation that has started to build. Finally, I want to thank all of my fellow board members for their service to our community. It's not easy stepping up and taking so much time away from one's personal life. But at the same time, it's important and ultimately rewarding to help be a voice for our students. My biggest gift I take away from my time here is a friendship that I have built with Member Jones and Member Hill. You two care so much for our kids and I truly wish our community takes the time to understand where your heart truly lies and that your intentions are truly for the success of all of our kids in our district. Member Thomas, your knowledge is so vast and I want to thank you for teaching me so many things. And Member Nguyen, working with you again on the bond initiative, it was no easy feat. But you rallied our community so hard, and I'm grateful to have been a part of the bond committee alongside of you. Thank you.

[17159] Aiden Hill: Thank you, member. Vice President Jones.

[17168] Kat Jones: I don't think I'm going to make any additions to what's been said. We do have a little presentation that we want to do. So I'm going to hand that off to Tracy and let her go for it.

[17182] Aiden Hill: So I'll make my comments quick. So one of my favorite quotes comes from Teddy Roosevelt. And he gave a famous speech when he was in France around 1910. And a part of that has kind of gone down into history. But I'm going to modify it slightly so that it's gender appropriate. So the original title of the snippet is called The Man in the Arena. So I'm going to retitle it The Women in the Arena. And the quote goes as this. It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong women stumbled, or how the doers of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the women who are actually in the arena, whose faces are marred with sweat and dust and blood, who strive valiantly, who err, and come short again and again, who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends themselves in a worthy cause, and who, if they win, know the triumph of high achievement, and who, if they fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their places shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. So I just want to thank you both for all of your service. And this is a very hard job. And unless you've actually sat up here on the dais and attended all the myriad of meetings, both in public and behind the scenes. You don't know how much effort and blood and sweat and tears goes into this. So I wanna thank you both for all of your contributions to our district. And that's my, those are my comments. Superintendent.

[17307] Tracey Vackar: Thank you very much. I will just share with you, there is life after board. And you're about to get to find out what that's like to be able to reunite with your families a little bit. We all wanna thank you on behalf of My entire team here at the district for the countless hours that you've given of service dedication you've given up so much time with your families to be able to sit there and study issues be out there in the community to be able to advocate for good things that need to happen for kids. We truly commend you for your role and your time your energy. We are grateful for your guidance. We do listen and we care very much so about the direction that our board gives us is we come together and we try to make for a better system to do the most important thing, and that's to provide a quality education for our children. So for that, we just thank you so very much. On behalf of the board, we do have some parting gifts for you. And maybe I could ask my helpers to help me go down there and go grab those and share those. Is there a particular?

[17376] Aiden Hill: Do they need to wear elf hats?

[17380] Tracey Vackar: I said helpers. I did not call you elves.

[17382] Phuong Nguyen: Can we adjourn?

[17385] Tracey Vackar: No. This needs to be a put. We still have 10 minutes, 12 minutes before the bewitching hour. So in thinking about giving back a Tuesday evening, inside your little gift basket, There are some extra goodies to help you enjoy Tuesday nights again and reconnect with your families. We thought that maybe perhaps you might like sitting back on your couch and watching us in action, eating some popcorn, having a little toast, eating some chocolate, and finding good reasons to laugh. There's some extra bubbles in there and some things just to make life just that much more joyous. We want to thank you so much for your service. This is from all of us to the two of you. We truly hope that you have a wonderful, wonderful time. Your service is not done. I do have ideas for both of you. I'm so glad we've connected. Because there is plenty of work to still do and plenty of roles within our district to share, not only with our board, but with our entire community. And we would really encourage anyone who's got time to give. There's plenty of things here to do within our district to help guide and help us move forward. Anyway, thank you very much for your service. We sure appreciate you, Doug. Enjoy the gift baskets they have been put together lovingly for the two of you.

[17503] Nancy Thomas: I'm the president of the ROP meeting and I pulled up the gavel and I said, Motion to adjourn, and boy, they didn't let me because they said, no, you don't need to have a motion to adjourn. All you have to do is adjourn. So Mr. President, you get a meeting adjourned.

[17531] Aiden Hill: Meeting adjourned.

1. CALL TO ORDER

1.1 Roll Call

Type                       Information, Procedural

IN-PERSON MEETING INFORMATION:

Please see the attached meeting information in English and Spanish.

OBSERVE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT:

The public will have the opportunity to address the Board of Education regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items requested by email at PUBLICCOMMENT@newarkunified.org, or in-person by submitting a speaker-card with the Executive Assistant.

File Attachments
Board Meeting Protocols_ENG(1).pdf (69 KB)
Protocolos de la Reunion de la Mesa Directiva_ESP (1).pdf (65 KB)
Original Board Meeting Guidelines.pdf (259 KB)

1.2 Meeting Practices and Information

Type                       Information, Procedural

IN-PERSON MEETING INFORMATION:

Please see the attached meeting information in English and Spanish.

OBSERVE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT:

The public will have the opportunity to address the Board of Education regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items requested by email at PUBLICCOMMENT@newarkunified.org, or in-person by submitting a speaker-card with the Executive Assistant.

File Attachments Board Meeting Protocols_ENG(1).pdf (69 KB) Protocolos de la Reunion de la Mesa Directiva_ESP (1).pdf (65 KB) Original Board Meeting Guidelines.pdf (259 KB)

1.3 Public Comment on Closed Session Items

Type                       Procedural

PURPOSE:

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

If a constituent wishes to address the Board on any agenda item: In-Person Comment: please submit a completed speaker card to the Board's Executive Assistant before the start of the meeting, or prior to the calling of the section for public comment.

Please see detailed instructions for public comment on the link: http://go.boarddocs.com/ca/nusd/Board.nsf/goto? open&id=C4Q2D4019F40

File Attachments Board Meeting Protocols_ENG(1).pdf (69 KB) Protocolos de la Reunion de la Mesa Directiva_ESP (1).pdf (65 KB)

1.4 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.

2. CLOSED SESSION

2.1 STUDENT EXPULSION (Ed. Code, � 48918):

Type                         Discussion, Information, Procedural

PURPOSE:

For the Board to review expulsion cases that are eligible for readmission.

BACKGROUND:

California Education Code Section 48916 requires that "an expulsion order shall remain in effect until the governing board orders a readmission of the pupil."

The following expulsions are up for termination. The Board will discuss this in closed session and then take action in open session. Staff recommends the following actions: e2324-10 Terminate Expulsion.

2.2 Conference with Legal Counsel regarding Anticipated Litigation - Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code, � 54956.9- Case 1010, 1011, 1015, 1016, 1017,1018 (6 cases)

Type                         Action, Discussion

Fiscal Impact                Yes

PURPOSE:

To discuss three potential litigation for HR, 6 cases

BACKGROUND:

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

Type                         Discussion, Information, Procedural

PURPOSE:

Information and update will be provided by the Interim Superintendent regarding CSEA negotiations and NTA negotiations.

2.4 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (Gov. Code, � 54957, subd. (b) (1)) Title: Superintendent

Type                       Action, Discussion, Information

Fiscal Impact              No

Budgeted                   Yes

Budget Source              General Fund

Recommended                For the Board to discuss Superintendent's evaluation.
Action

PURPOSE:

For the Board to conduct/review the employee performance evaluation for the Superintendent.

BACKGROUND:

3. REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS

3.1 Report of Closed Session Actions

Type                       Action, Procedural

PURPOSE:

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

4. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION

4.1 Pledge of Allegiance

Type                       Procedural

PURPOSE:

The Governance Team will recite the Pledge of Allegiance

4.2 Meeting Practices and Information

Type                       Information, Procedural

IN-PERSON MEETING INFORMATION:

Please see the attached meeting information in English and Spanish.

OBSERVE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING:

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

PUBLIC COMMENT:

The public will have the opportunity to address the Board of Education regarding non-agendized matters and agendized items requested by email at PUBLICCOMMENT@newarkunified.org, or in-person by submitting a speaker-card with the Executive Assistant.

File Attachments Board Meeting Protocols_ENG(1).pdf (69 KB) Protocolos de la Reunion de la Mesa Directiva_ESP (1).pdf (65 KB) Original Board Meeting Guidelines.pdf (259 KB)

5. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

5.1 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.

6. STUDENT REPORT

6.1 Student Report: Student Board Member, Joy Lee

Type

PURPOSE:

The Student Report gives the Board of Education and the public an opportunity to hear the highlights, achievements, and initiatives from the viewpoint of the student board member.

BACKGROUND:

The information will be provided by the Student Board Member, Joy Lee.

7. RECOGNITIONS AND CELEBRATION Subject 7.1 School Spotlight: Newark Middle School

7.1 School Spotlight: Newark Middle School

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 from the principals.

BACKGROUND:

The presentation and information will be provided by: Principal Vicente Gonzalez

File Attachments NMS Spotlight Board Presentation.pdf (2,870 KB)

8. EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS

8.1 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

2. CSEA

3. NEWMA

9. PUBLIC COMMENT

9.1 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

File Attachments Board Meeting Protocols_ENG(1).pdf (69 KB) Protocolos de la Reunion de la Mesa Directiva_ESP (1).pdf (65 KB)

9.2 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

File Attachments Board Meeting Protocols_ENG(1).pdf (69 KB) Protocolos de la Reunion de la Mesa Directiva_ESP (1).pdf (65 KB)

10. SUPERINTENDENT REPORT

10.1 Superintendent Report

Type                        Information

PURPOSE:

The Interim 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 Interim Superintendent

11. STAFF REPORT Subject 11.1 MGT REPORT UPDATE

11.1 MGT REPORT UPDATE

Type                        Discussion, Information

PURPOSE:

This is an informational presentation to the Board of Education and community on the Fiscal Health and significant progress that has been made to reduce the deficit and to provide fiscal stability to NUSD. This information will be presented by the Superintendent, Fiscal and MGT Consultant team.

BACKGROUND:

The district as part of a strategic fiscal health plan hired MGT To support the district to identify and provide technical support to NUSD.

File Attachments Newark USD PPT Draft v2 to NUSD 12-9-24.pdf (1,000 KB)

13. NEW BUSINESS

13.1 2024-25 First Interim Budget Report

Type                        Action, Discussion

Fiscal Impact               Yes

Budgeted                    Yes

Budget Source               All Funds

Recommended                 The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the positive certification of the
Action                      2024-25 First Interim Report.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is for the Board of Education to approve the positive certification of the 2024-25 First Interim Report.

BACKGROUND:

At each interim reporting period, the District must make a certification as to its fiscal health for the current and upcoming two years.

A POSITIVE certification indicates that the District WILL be able to meet its financial obligations for the current and upcoming two years. A QUALIFIED certification indicates the District MAY NOT be able to meet its financial obligations for the current and upcoming two years. A NEGATIVE certification indicates the District WILL NOT be able to meet its financial obligations in the current or upcoming two years.

The First Interim Budget Report is a "snapshot" in time of the District's revenue and expenditure forecasts for the current fiscal year as well as a projection of the two subsequent fiscal years. It is a good time to adjust the budget based upon any known changes. The First Interim Budget Report covers the period of time from July 1 through October 31 each fiscal year. AB 1200 requires all California school districts to submit two interim reports to their County Office of Education. This year, the First Interim Report is due to the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) by December 15, 2024.

File Attachments 24-25 1st Interim Full Book.pdf (5,190 KB) FY2425 1st Interim Presentation.pdf (768 KB)

13.2 Resolution 2024.25.17 Committed Fund Balance

Type                       Action

Fiscal Impact              Yes

Dollar Amount              $8,595,835.00

Budgeted                   Yes

Budget Source              Committed funds and LCAP Carryover

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve Resolution 2024.25.17 for the
Action                     Committed Fund Balance.

PURPOSE:

To approve the designations to the fund balances as presented in Resolution 2024.25.17 Committed Fund Balance for $7,937,006 for savings for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years to support funds and services. And for the LCAP Carryover of $658,829 for the 2024-25 school years.

BACKGROUND:

On June 25, 2024 the Board adopted Resolution 2023.24.48 Budget Adoption for 2024-25. The MYP Savings resolution will support FY 25-26 and FY 26-27, while the LCAP Carryover will support the current FY 24-25.

File Attachments Resolution 2024.25.17 Designating Committed Fund Balance.pdf (66 KB)

13.3 Art Mural at Newark Middle School

Type                       Action

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the art mural at Newark Middle
Action                     School.

PURPOSE:

To obtain Board approval to paint a mural at Newark Middle School. It will be placed on the external wall of the school building, facing the parking lot, and will beautify the school facility.

BACKGROUND: Murals provide a sense of community, school spirit, and pride to the campus. The proposed mural will add to the aesthetic of the school for years to come. The designs will be paid for by the Newark Middle School PTSA. Illuminaries, is providing the painting and execution of the mural as an in-kind donation.

File Attachments Newark Middle School Courgar Mural.pdf (226 KB)

14. CONSENT AGENDA: NON-PERSONNEL ITEMS

14.1 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.

14.2 Report: Donations Report

Type                       Action

Fiscal Impact              Yes

Budgeted                   Yes

Budget Source              General Fund (Fund 010) Donations

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education accept the Donations Report as
Action                     presented.

Purpose:

The purpose is to acknowledge receipt of donations to the District.

Background:

Throughout the year community members, groups, parents and other individuals make monetary and in-kind (supplies and equipment) donations to NUSD. The exact nature of the source of the donation is submitted to the Business Office on a standard form. It is critical that any restrictions on the funding be indicated and the budget developed based on the donor restrictions. If there is no indication of the school or use of the funding, any proceeds or cash donations received are placed in the NUSD local revenue in the unrestricted general fund. It is recommended that the donations be processed through the Business Office and ultimately approved by the Board so that the funding can be publicly acknowledged and budgeted properly according to donor restrictions. There is acknowledged and budgeted properly according to donor restrictions. There is acknowledgement at the public Board meeting and a letter of thanks is sent to the donor by the Business Office for NUSD.

File Attachments Summary of Donations for Board_12-12-2024.pdf (19 KB)

14.3 Report: Warrant Report for November 2024

Type                       Action

Fiscal Impact              Yes

Dollar Amount              $2,832,424.47

Budgeted                   Yes

Budget Source              Various Funds Per Warrant

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 $2,832,424.47, made from District funds for November 2024.

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 November 2024.pdf (432 KB)

14.4 Resolution 2023.24.16 Declaring Surplus Equipment

Type                       Action

Fiscal Impact              No

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approves Resolution 2023.24.16 -
Action                     Declaring Surplus Equipment.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this item is to obtain Board approval of Resolution 2023.24.16- Declaring Surplus Equipment, which lists items to be declared as surplus equipment as recommended. 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 2023.24.16 includes Information Technology equipment. Staff determined that items are obsolete and/or beyond economical repair.

File Attachments Resolution 2024.25.16 Declaring Surplus Equipment.pdf (1,644 KB)

14.5 Contract with Dee Hankins, Life, Curveballs, Homeruns

Type                       Action (Consent)

Fiscal Impact              Yes

Dollar Amount              $10,489.00

Budgeted                   Yes

Budget Source              Antibias Grant

Recommended                The staff recommends the Board of Education approve the contract with Dee Hankins, Life,
Action                     Curveballs, Homeruns.

Goals                         MISSION: The Newark Unified School District will inspire and educate all students to
                              achieve their full potential and be responsible, respectful, and productive citizens.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this contract is to provide Newark Memorial High School students with valuable insights on resilience and equip them with the skills necessary to overcome challenges. The speaker will conduct a school-wide assembly, facilitate small breakout group sessions, collaborate with staff, and host a community event for parents.

BACKGROUND:

Contractor will implement his At-Best Student Development program at the 8-Resilient Level which include the following: Staff development meeting, school wide assembly(ies), student breakout sessions, and a parent development night. Services will be provided at Newark Memorial High School on Tue, Jan 21, 2025

File Attachments Dee Hankins Service Agreement - contract - 1 - Contract.pdf (1,181 KB)

14.6 Contract: CSW/ST2 Topographic Mapping and Location Mapping of Existing Underground Utilities at Newark Memorial High School

Type                       Action
Fiscal Impact              Yes

Dollar Amount              $119,707.00

Budgeted                   Yes

Budget Source              Developer Fees

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the contract with CSW/ST2 to
Action                     provide topographic mapping and location mapping of existing underground utilities at
                           Newark Memorial High School.

PURPOSE:

Approve the contract with CSW/ST2 to conduct topographic mapping and locate existing underground utilities for the Newark Memorial High School Track and Field Project. This survey will help identify any blockages throughout the site, which are impacting the restroom facilities.

BACKGROUND:

Approving the contract with CSW/ST2 will help identify outdated infrastructure that have caused blockages throughout the site over the years. Previous efforts to address sewer blockages have pinpointed specific problem areas but have not provided a complete mapping of the underground infrastructure.

File Attachments CSW ST2_NMHS Topographic Mapping and Underground Utilities Mapping.pdf (4,422 KB)

14.7 POLICY UPDATE: Board Policy 0200-Goals For The School District

Type                       Action (Consent), Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Board Policy 0200-
Action                     Goals For The School District

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated board policy.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

File Attachments Policy 0200 - Goals For The School District.pdf (110 KB)

14.8 POLICY UPDATE: Board Policy 0410 Nondiscrimination In District Programs And Activities

Type                       Action, Action (Consent), Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Board Policy 0410
Action                     Nondiscrimination In District Programs And Activities

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated board policy.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

Board Policy 0410 - Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities Policy updated to reflect NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS (89 Fed. Reg. 33474) which (1) clarify that discrimination on the basis of sex, including sex-based harassment, for the purpose of Title IX includes sex stereotypes; sex characteristics; gender identity; sexual orientation; pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation, including related medical conditions or recovery; and parental, marital, and family status, and (2) require a district with knowledge of alleged conduct, which occurs in a district program or activity on or after August 1, 2024, that reasonably may constitute sex discrimination under Title IX, including sex-based harassment, to follow Title IX grievance procedures when investigating and resolving a complaint based on the alleged conduct. Additionally, policy updated to reflect NEW LAW (SB 153, 2024) which prohibits the Governing Board from adopting or approving the use of any textbook, instructional material, supplemental instructional material, or curriculum for classroom instruction if the use would subject a student to unlawful discrimination in accordance with specified state law. In addition, policy updated to reflect NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS (89 Fed. Reg. 31320) which include specified technical standards to ensure that content available through a district's web and mobile applications are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Board Policy 0420.41 - Charter School Oversight

Policy updated to delete language for which the Governing Board is not responsible, clarify that the Superintendent may designate someone to attend meetings of the charter school governing body, move the section "Monitoring Charter School Performance" to keep material reflecting district responsibility for oversight of charter schools together, and clarify that board approval is required for the charter school to contract for administrative or other services. Additionally, policy updated to amend the section "Material Revisions to Charter" to clarify which situations certain standards and criteria may be used to review a proposed material revision to a charter

File Attachments Policy 0410 - Nondiscrimination In District Programs And Activities.docx.pdf (260 KB)

14.9 POLICY UPDATE: Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 0450 Comprehensive Safety Plan

Type                       Action, Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Board Policy and
Action                     Administrative Regulation 0450 Comprehensive Safety Plan

PURPOSE: The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated board policy and administrative regulation.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

Board Policy 0450 - Comprehensive Safety Plan CSBA Last Update: 2024-03-01 | NUSD Last Update: 2022-10-06 Policy updated to reference NEW LAW (SB 323, 2023) which (1) authorizes a school employee, a student's parent/guardian or educational rights holder, or a student, at specified times, to bring concerns about an individual student's ability to access disaster safety procedures described in the comprehensive safety plan to the principal, and if there is merit to the concern requires the principal to make appropriate modifications, and (2) requires comprehensive safety plans to include adaptations for students with disabilities in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Additionally, policy updated to clarify that portions of the comprehensive safety plan that include tactical response to criminal incidents are not required to, but may be, publicly disclosed.

Administrative Regulation 0450 - Comprehensive Safety Plan Regulation updated to clarify that written notifications to specified persons and entities are required when those persons or entities are available and to reflect NEW LAW (SB 323, 2023) which (1) authorizes a school employee, a student's parent/guardian or educational rights holder, or a student, at specified times, to bring concerns about an individual student's ability to access disaster safety procedures described in the comprehensive safety plan to the principal, and if there is merit to the concern requires the principal to make appropriate modifications, and (2) requires comprehensive safety plans to include adaptations for students with disabilities in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Additionally, regulation updated to reflect NEW LAW (SB 671, 2023) which requires a district's comprehensive safety plan to include procedures to assess and respond to reports of any dangerous, violent, or unlawful activity that is being conducted or threatened to be conducted at the school, an activity sponsored by the school, or on a school bus serving the school. In addition, regulation updated to reflect NEW LAW (SB 10, 2023) which requires schools that serve students in any of grades 7- 12 to include in their comprehensive safety plans a protocol in the event a student is suffering or reasonably believed to be suffering from an opioid overdose. Regulation also updated to reference NEW LAW (AB 1023, 2023) which provides schools increased cybersecurity support.

File Attachments Policy 0450 - Comprehensive Safety Plan.pdf (123 KB) Regulation 0450 - Comprehensive Safety Plan.pdf (238 KB)

14.10 POLICY UPDATE: Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 0510 School Accountability Report Card

Type                       Action, Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Board Policy and
Action                     Administrative Regulation 0510 School Accountability Report Card

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated board policy and administrative regulation

BACKGROUND: The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

Board Policy 0510 - School Accountability Report Card Policy updated to reflect that when 15 percent or more of a school's students speak a single primary language other than English, the school accountability report card (SARC) is required to be translated into that other language. Additionally, policy updated to reflect that the SARC is required to be provided in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that parents/guardians can understand.

NEW - Administrative Regulation 0510 - School Accountability Report Card New regulation provides required contents of the school accountability report card.

File Attachments Policy 0510 - School Accountability Report Card.pdf (159 KB) _Regulation 0510 - School Accountability Report Card.pdf (168 KB)

14.11 POLICY UPDATE: Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 3460 Financial Reports and Accountability

Type                       Action, Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Board Policy and
Action                     Administrative Regulation 3460 Financial Reports and Accountability.

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 3460 Financial Reports and Accountability.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies.

The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

(BP revised 9/23) Policy updated to add material related to districts facing insolvency who are considering applying for an emergency apportionment, including that the Governing Board is required to discuss the need for an emergency apportionment at a regular or special meeting at which parents/guardians, the exclusive representatives of employees of the district, and other members of the community have the opportunity to provide testimony.

(Revise BP/AR revised 12/22) Policy updated to reflect the predictors of fiscal distress as identified by FCMAT in its 2019 "Indicators of Risk or Potential Insolvency." Updated policy also revised to reflect the law more clearly with respect to studies, reports, evaluations, and audits, that the County Superintendent of Schools is required or authorized to consider when reviewing a district's budget.

Regulation updated to add a new section - "Lease Accounting," to reflect GASB Statement 87 which, starting June 15, 2021, changed the rules for the financial reporting of governmental entities' leases, including the rules for the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of such leases in financial statements. (AR revised 10/18) Regulation updated to add new section on "Report on Expenditures of State Facilities Funds" reflecting state law, as amended by NEW LAW (AB 1808), which requires districts that receive state facilities funding under the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act to annually report a list of expenditures for completed facilities projects and conclude an audit within one year of project completion.

(AR revised 9/16) Regulation updated to add general language on the need to audit federal grant funds, while deleting detailed material regarding the submission of records related to the audit of federal funds, now addressed in AR 3230 - Federal Grant Funds. Section on "Other Postemployment Benefits Report" updated to reflect Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 75, which supersedes GASB Statement 45 for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2017, although earlier implementation is encouraged. Revisions reflect the requirements to report the total unfunded liability for OPEBs and to perform an actuarial valuation every two years regardless of the number of members in the OPEB plan, although an alternative method is still allowed for plans with fewer than 100 members.

(AR revised 4/14) Regulation updated to reflect NEW TITLE 5 REGULATIONS (Register 2013, No. 49) aligning the state standards and criteria for interim reports with the local control funding formula (LCFF), effective in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Regulation also updated to reflect NEW LAW (AB 97, 2013) which requires the annual audit to include a determination as to whether funds were expended in accordance with the district's LCAP.

(BP/AR revised 4/13) Policy updated to reflect NEW LAW (AB 2662, 2012) which gives the County Superintendent of Schools the authority, upon receipt of a district's interim fiscal report, to change the district's qualified certification to a negative certification. Policy also contains material formerly in AR which refers to Board actions regarding the statement of unaudited actual receipts and expenditures, Gann appropriations limit resolution, interim reports, and audit report. Regulation updated to reflect current law regarding restoration of the reserve threshold and to add material regarding submission of audit report pertaining to federal funds to the federal Office of Management and Budget.

(AR revised 7/10) Updated regulation deletes detailed discussion of the contents of the audit report since it is the responsibility of the auditor to complete that report. Regulation also adds new section on "Fund Balance" reflecting GASB Statement 54, which makes changes in the way fund balances in the general fund must be reported in external financial reports.

(Revise AR 11/09) Regulation updated to add Note in "Interim Reports" section reflecting NEW LAW (ABX4 2) which prohibits the County Superintendent of Schools or the State Superintendent of Public Instruction from assigning the district a qualified or negative certification based substantially on a projected loss of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Section on "Audit Report" revised to reflect NEW LAW (SB 680) which requires the audit for a district participating in the "school district of choice" program to include a review of compliance with specified program requirements.

(Revise BP/AR 11/08) Updated policy contains list of Board responsibilities with respect to various financial reports and deletes section on Fiscal Policy Team. Updated regulation revises section on "Interim Reports" to add state criteria and standards, specify that the reports must be submitted using the state's standardized account code structure, and to delete paragraph re: allowing county office of education 10 days to review proposed collective bargaining agreements if district has a qualified or negative certification (previously moved to BP 4143/4243 - Negotiations). Section on "Audit Report" revised to add language encouraging the Board to review the report prior to the date specified in law. Regulation also adds new section on "Negative Balance Report" and revises section on "Non-Voter-Approved Debt Report" to reflect NEW LAW (AB 2197) which establishes a timeline for notice of the issuance of certificates of participation. Section on "Other Postemployment Benefits Report" expanded to clarify reporting obligations under GASB 45 and to delete material on prefunding the debt (moved to BP 3100 - Budget).

File Attachments Policy 3460 - Financial Reports And Accountability.pdf (151 KB) Regulation 3460 - Financial Reports And Accountability.pdf (145 KB)

14.12 POLICY UPDATE: Administrative Regulation 4154 Health and Welfare Benefits

Type                       Action (Consent)

Fiscal Impact              No

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Administrative
Action                     Regulation 4154 Health and Welfare Benefits.

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated Administrative Regulation 4154 Health and Welfare Benefits.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies.

The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

(BP/AR revised) Policy and regulation updated to reflect the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, applicable to districts with 50 or more full-time employees. Policy includes information about the calculation of full-time employees for the purpose of determining the applicability of the Act and reflects requirements to provide an affordable health insurance plan which includes specified minimum coverage and pays at least 60 percent of the medical expenses covered under the plan. Policy also reflects NEW LAW (SB 1306, 2014) which defines "marriage" as a personal relationship arising out of a civil contract between two persons rather than a man and a woman. Regulation adds section on "Affordability of Health Coverage" which includes methods by which districts may determine that each employee's contribution for employee-only health coverage does not exceed 9.5 percent of his/her household income.

(BP/AR revised 7/12) Updated policy and regulation delete material related to temporary premium subsidies for COBRA/Cal-COBRA for "assistance eligible individuals" who were involuntarily terminated, as the date for program eligibility has now passed. Policy also reflects the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which prohibits employers from providing higher benefits to "highly compensated" individuals, as defined. Regulation also reflects legal requirement that an eligible retiree or surviving spouse may be denied the opportunity to enroll for benefits if he/she does not do so within 30 days of losing active coverage, and reflects change of age at which person ceases to be a "dependent child" for purposes of eligibility for COBRA/Cal-COBRA.

(Revised AR 3/10) Updated regulation (section on "Temporary Subsidized Premium for COBRA/Cal-COBRA") reflects NEW FEDERAL LAW (P.L. 111-144) which extends eligibility for the subsidized COBRA/Cal-COBRA premium to include employees (1) who were involuntarily terminated (other than by reason of gross misconduct) between September 1, 2008, and March 31, 2010, or (2) whose COBRA eligibility was caused by a reduction in hours and who subsequently experienced an involuntary termination between March 2, 2010, and March 31, 2010. Regulation also reflects NEW FEDERAL LAW (P.L. 111-118) which extends the period of the subsidy to 15 months.

(Revise BP/AR 7/09) Policy and regulation updated to clarify the effect of state and federal laws on benefits for registered domestic partners and to reflect NEW FEDERAL LAW (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) re: temporary subsidized premium for COBRA and Cal-COBRA for "assistance eligible individuals." Policy also clarifies the requirements for confidentiality of health records and expands the material on retired employees to include other individuals eligible under COBRA or Cal-COBRA. Regulation also revises section on "COBRA/Cal-COBRA Continuation Coverage" to more directly reflect law re: program eligibility based on reduction in hours of employment.

File Attachments Regulation 4154 - Health And Welfare Benefits.pdf (126 KB)

14.13 POLICY UPDATE: Administrative Regulation 4161.2/4261.2/4361.2 - Personal Leaves

Type                         Action, Procedural

Preferred Date               Oct 15, 2024

Recommended                  The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Administrative
Action                       Regulation 4161.2/4261.2/4361.2 - Personal Leaves .

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated administrative regulation (First Reading).

BACKGROUND:

This is the attached regulation 4161.2/4261.2/4361.2 Personal Leaves. The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies.

The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the regulation will be brought back for an additional reading.

Administrative Regulation 4161.2/4261.2/4361.2 - Personal Leaves

Regulation updated to clarify that one of the conditions for the district to terminate the employment of a certificated employee who was on leave of absence for 20 or more consecutive working days after April 30 of the previous school year, is for the employee to continue to be absent from work for 20 consecutive working days beginning from the date the employee was to report to work.

File Attachments AR 4161.2 Personal Leaves 10.15.2024.pdf (172 KB) AR 4261.2 Personal Leaves 10.15.2024.pdf (162 KB) AR 4361.2 Personal Leaves 10.15.2024.pdf (162 KB)

14.14 POLICY UPDATE: Board Policy 7110 Facilities Master Plan

Type                         Action, Procedural

Recommended                  The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Board Policy 7110
Action                       Facilities Master Plan.

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated Board Policy 7110 Facilities Master Plan.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies.

The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading. File Attachments Policy 7110 - Facilities Master Plan.pdf (121 KB)

14.15 POLICY UPDATE: Administrative Regulation 7140 Architectural and Engineering Services

Type                       Action (Consent), Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Administrative
Action                     Regulation 7140 Architectural and Engineering Services.

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated Administrative Regulation 7140 Architectural and Engineering Services.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies.

The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

(AR Update 9/2023) Regulation updated to more closely align with law and to reflect NEW LAW (AB 185, 2022) which enables a district to enter into an alternative design-build contract with a single entity for both design and construction of any school facility if the contract is in excess of $5,000,000.

File Attachments Regulation 7140 - Architectural And Engineering Services.pdf (109 KB)

14.16 BOARD BYLAW UPDATE: Bylaw 9010 Public Statements

Type                       Action, Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Bylaw 9010 Public
Action                     Statements

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated bylaw 9010.

BACKGROUND: The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

Board Bylaw 9010 - Public Statements Bylaw updated to focus on public statements by Governing Board spokespersons made on behalf of the Board or by individual Board members. Additionally, bylaw updated to permit a Board spokesperson to disclose confidential information or information received in closed session when authorized by law. In addition, bylaw updated to reflect NEW COURT DECISION (Lindke v. Freed), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district official who limits or prevents critics from speaking, such as by blocking them on social media or deleting their posts, violates the First Amendment only if the official (1) has been granted the power to speak on behalf of the district and (2) claims to be actually exercising that power. Bylaw also updated to suggest that a Board member make clear when they are speaking as an individual, and not on behalf of the district, such as by adding a disclaimer to the member's social media page.

File Attachments Bylaw 9010 - Public Statements.pdf (142 KB)

14.17 BOARD BYLAW UPDATE: Bylaw 9012 Board Member Electronic Communications

Type                       Action, Procedural

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Bylaw 9012 Board
Action                     Member Electronic Communications

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated bylaw 9012.

BACKGROUND:

The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

Board Bylaw 9012 - Board Member Electronic Communications Bylaw updated to reference suggestions regarding how to avoid Governing Board member electronic communications that violate the Brown Act. Additionally, bylaw updated to provide that Board members shall make every effort to ensure that their electronic communications conform to Board Bylaw 9010 - Public Statements. In addition, bylaw updated to reference that the Public Records Act applies even to Board member electronic communications regarding district business sent or received on a Board members' personal account or device. Bylaw also updated to reflect NEW COURT DECISION (Lindke v. Freed), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district official who limits or prevents critics from speaking, such as by blocking them on social media or deleting their posts, violates the First Amendment only if the official (1) has been granted the power to speak on behalf of the district and (2) claims to be actually exercising that power, and provide that the bylaw does not apply to Board member electronic communications not related to district business or not conducted by a Board member in the Board member's official capacity.

File Attachments Bylaw 9012 - Board Member Electronic Communications.pdf (154 KB)

14.18 BOARD BYLAW UPDATE: Bylaw 9150 Student Board Members

Type                       Action (Consent)

Recommended                The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the updated Bylaw 9150 Student
Action                     Board Members

PURPOSE:

The purpose is for the Board of Education to review the recommended changes and approve the updated bylaw 9150.

BACKGROUND:

This is the (Third) reading of the attached policy. The language is sanctioned by the California School Board Association. California School Board Association notations can be seen in the documents for the benefit of the Board. These notations will be removed from the final, Board approved policies. The Ad Hoc Policy subcommittee and the administration have reviewed the recommended updates for accuracy and made revisions to reflect district practice. If any revisions are recommended by the Board, the policy will be brought back for an additional reading.

Bylaw updated to reflect NEW LAW (AB 824, 2021) which specifies circumstances under which a governing board may adjust the term of a student board member. Bylaw also updated to enhance legal accuracy and clarity.

CSBA Last Update: 2021-12-01 | NUSD Last Update: 2019-10-25

File Attachments Bylaw 9150 - Student Board Members (1).pdf (214 KB)

15. CONSENT AGENDA: PERSONNEL ITEMS

15.1 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.

15.2 Personnel Report

Type                           Action

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 12.12.2024.pdf (375 KB)

16. STUDENT EXPULSION

16.1 Re-Entry and Completion - Student Expulsion Case# e2324-10

Type                           Action

Recommended                    The recommendation is that the Board of Education approve the completion of the student
Action                         expulsion as it relates to the expulsion case e2324-10.

Goals                             MISSION: The Newark Unified School District will inspire and educate all students to
                                  achieve their full potential and be responsible, respectful, and productive citizens.
                                  VISION: The Newark Unified School District, in partnership with the community, will be a
                                  model of world-class education that develops the unique abilities of every student.
                                  1b. Student Achievement

PURPOSE:

For the Board to take action on expulsion case e2324-10 for completion of their program.

BACKGROUND:

California Education Code Section 48916 requires that "an expulsion order shall remain in effect until the governing board orders a readmission of the pupil."

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

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

                              AGENDA REQUESTS

Type                          Information

PURPOSE:

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

19. ADJOURNMENT

19.1 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.

19.2 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.

No minutes available.