School Board Meeting Bullets- March 8, 2022

MEETING OF THE GOVERNING BOARD 
March 8, 2022
(Notes are Abridged)

1. OPENING PROCEDURE
A. CALL TO ORDER  at 6:02pm
B. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM All Members Present, Quorum Established
2. REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE GOVERNING BOARD  
E. Gonzalez: I am a parent and employee but today I am coming as an employee. I saw the reductions in the agenda. I wanted to ask the board to look at the numbers and run the numbers on our P.E. program, including athletics. Over 60% of our students are serviced in the P.E. department. I am asking that as you discuss, to really look at the numbers. I love our programs and our low numbers will affect those programs. But if we have to cut a FTE in PE, the numbers do not add up. Every other class is over 30, with one at 29. Please look at the numbers. I appreciate your time. 

3. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION at 

A. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE/COMPLAINTS (Pursuant to Government Code §54957)

B. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR(S) (Pursuant to Government Code §54957.6, subd. (a)). San Gabriel Teachers Association & Teamsters Local 911

4. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION at 7:05

A. ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION
3 actions were approved. Votes were unanimous

B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE  by Dr. Scott

C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA  

D. REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE GOVERNING BOARD

E. Gonzalez: The proposed 1 reduction of FTE and it affects me. There are currently 76 sections. We are adding new sections next year. How, when we are cutting sections. Based on research, the courses that are desired by students do not have high numbers for enrollment. The numbers don’t lie. Are we cutting teachers or sections? 
I am saddened by the lack of communication. Our assistant principals or department chairs didn’t know. We used to always get a heads up about this. I have been at this school and this district for 21 years. I thought myself to be valuable to Gab and deserved a “heads up” . I respectfully ask to not approve the reduction. 

Sean Rossall: Our son will be in kindergarten next year. I am deeply knowledgeable regarding education policies and knowledge. I regularly present at board meetings and my mother is a superintendent. I am deeply disappointed with this district. Two weeks ago I reached out to transfer my child. Ms. Ruth Esseln finally responded to my requests and response in which she got the name of my child incorrect. She did not have any answers to my questions. I continued to reach out and did not get responses. I also expressed my concerns to Mr. Symonds. To date, I have not received any updates. I am a well-informed parent and had to go through tooth and nails to get responses to my questions. I do not feel supported. I made it clear to Mr. Symonds that I do not wish to waste precious time, but here we are. I feel like these leaders focus more on bureaucracy than on students. In my opinion, it feels like the climate from senior leadership is not the best for student outcomes considering the declining enrollment. Please hold people like Ruth Esseln and Mr. Symonds accountable.

Dena Dragoo: I am the president of the teacher’s association. We have a great working relationship with the administrators. I’d like the board to take a hard look at our LCAP plan. I have a good relationship with Ross and I knew layoffs were coming around the corner, but I need to mention some facts:

We’ve had 1 meeting all year long regarding our LCAP plan. Our February meeting was canceled, but why couldn't it be on Zoom? Our communication to our staff and parents regarding the LCAP is lacking. There’s no conversation with parents about what is going on with our LCAP plan. At the last board meeting, the LCAP was shared and approved and teachers did not even have the opportunity to fill out the LCAP survey and give feedback. There are no conversations about the Portrait of a Graduate in staff meetings either. We haven’t been able to address the LCAP plan in staff meetings, yet the LCAP has goals that address how to meet the needs of our foster, EL and unduplicated youth. These goals address how we will provide intervention for these studetns. So why did we hire so many intervention teachers last year if we were concerned about declining enrollment and were going to lay them off 1 year later?

How is this going to affect our students? These intervention teachers have been doing alot of work. Our kids are getting the support they need, now these teachers are finding out that they are getting laid off? It pains me that this is happening to our single subject teachers as well. They have been working for many years in the district. I’m taking a look at the spending in the LCAP plan, and I appreciate that Larry took the time to talk to our Budget advisory committee, but, we have to do something to save these jobs. 

The retirement package is just not enough to encourage some retirement eligible teachers. I love our retirees, and want to send them off on a happy note, and I think they deserve a good farewell. Please rethink the offer. This is one way to save jobs, and look at how we got to this spot. 

We all have good working relationships, but when we look at 16 FTE layoffs, we have to think, “What happened and How did we get in this place?” Let’s keep San Gabriel fantastic and wonderful. You’ve kept us safe, our students safe, you have gone beyond the call of duty during this pandemic. So please consider ways to keep our new teachers employed and to send our retirees off on a good note. 

5. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

A. Approve the Governing Meeting Minutes of February 22, 2022 
Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.

6. PUBLIC HEARING(S)


7. SPECIAL REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
A. REPORTS - Student Board Members
Del Mar High School, Jessie Lopez
Del Mar: Podcast class would like to thank everyone on the Board for the support. Students and staff were fired up for your presence. Go SGUSD!

McK: partnered with Big Brother and Big Sisters with the high school. Provided students with someone to do homework and play games with. Lunar New Year celebration with lion dance shows. Random acts of kindness were recognized.

Wilson: Read Across America week was celebrated. Wacky Wednesday and celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday by bringing in a favorite book to school. Students were celebrated for their academic performance at the spirit assembly.
Gabrielino High School, Joseph Aguilar 
GAB-Jefferson 8 graders will be visiting. Sadies dance was held and it went great, thank you to all the chaperones. Thank you to the teachers who were in the dunk tank. Thank you custodians who take care of our amazing campus. 
Cool: finished up some fun Read Across America. Thank you for student leadership and staff for fun activities. Thank you to the district team for all their support
Wash: Getting ready for a virtual family STEM night. 
Roos: We are kicking off our Reading Across America. Students had a school wide read in and had guest readers.  
B. REPORT - Governing Board President, Cheryl Shellhart 
2 scholarships this year. Thank you for the wonderful presentation of the podcasting at Del Mar. It is great to see these podcasts and perhaps see a possible CTE pathways. I am dedicating this meeting to Mr. David Walker for his passing as well as to Terry. Their passings have really impacted our district and we are thinking of their families.
C. REPORT - Superintendent, Jim Symonds
Our visit to Del Mar was fantastic and watching them put their podcast together. I really enjoyed that. Thank you for acknowledging Mr. David Walker. He was an amazing guy, I had a conversation before he passed and we had planned to play our guitars together. We all loved him and all the teachers knew him and he was always there when we needed him. He was a team player. Also, the passing of Terry at the same time and Joan’s leadership in this difficult time. Thank you Dr. Perez for your leadership. Congratulations to our debate team who won another championship. Congrats to the JMS debate team as well. Our case rate continues to drop, the majority of our schools are reporting zero cases. It's been a rough ride, and I appreciate everyone’s patience. We will be following the guidelines on indoor masking in schools. On Monday, March 14, masking indoors will be ‘strongly recommended’ We will still be offering testing and have rapid tests available. We are working on a district wide plan on respecting students' choices when it comes to masks. We want to have a safe and healthy environment for students and staff. I wanted to take time to address the war in Ukraine and how we can talk about this crisis. We want our students to become global citizens and be aware of global events. We want a world that is free from war and make their world a more peaceful one in the future.
D. REPORT - Superintendent Student Advisory Council

Sophia Lalin: (Washington) I am part of the student advisory council. I want to do a summary regarding the meeting we recently had last week. One of the topics was how to increase enrollment in the district. One of the ideas was to showcase and highlight what we are doing at our district to entice students to enroll. We discussed UTK and masking. We also talked about the campaign to be respectful regarding student choices for masking. We created a flier for the campaign to encourage kindness and respectfulness when it comes to student choices for masking. The meeting was really important because students feel validated when they have a student voice. I am grateful for all you do.

E. PRESENTATION - Second Interim Report and Fiscal Stabilization Plan, Lawrence Ferchaw

We are recommending a positive certification (The District will meet its obligations in the current and subsequent two fiscal years).

Revenue may decline because of declining enrollment. Over time we have declined by over 500 students. We have fewer students, and fewer positions. 
In some years our expenses have exceeded our revenue and we are looking to fix that in the upcoming years. 

Fiscal Stabilization Plan 
Certificated positions eliminated through layoff/attrition in response to declining enrollment beginning in fiscal year 2022-2023. 
Allocation of costs of Music Immersion Experience from Unrestricted General Fund to Expanded Learning Opportunities Program. 
Reduction of contracted services, site and department allocations 
Reduction and consolidation of administration and programs
Additional reductions in positions as necessary starting in fiscal year 2023- 2024 in response to declining enrollment 
Reduction in support staff as necessary starting in fiscal year 2023-2024 in response to declining enrollment

Considerations/Next Steps 
• Based on Reductions Identified and Governor’s Budget Proposal, Recommend Positive Certification 
• Approval of Fiscal Stabilization Plan 
• Additional Positive News for State Budget Since January 
• Governor’s Budget Proposal in May 
• Adopted Budget Report to Reflect Updated Assumptions

Haas: Thank you Larry for making your report so easy to understand. I am taking from this presentation that we are waiting for the governor’s budget plan to see what we can do. We really hope that the state will invest in K-12 education.

Larry: This changes daily and weekly. We are watching those alerts as they come out. The state is seeing historic revenues. Most of this needs to be reinvested into education. It's just how it is allocated. 

Scott: We were over 7 million and now we are over 2 million in reduction. So as terrible as it is, it is not as terrible as it was. We have to continue to be thrifty. 90% of our budget is allocated for people like staff, benefits, and students. The money for Covid has given us a false sense. The positive certification is great news for our district.

8. ACTION ITEMS
A. BUSINESS SERVICES
1. Approve 2021-2022 Second Interim Report. Based on the assumptions available for the District at the time of the Second Interim reporting period, it is appropriate for the District to certify a positive status with a stabilization plan for fiscal years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. Due to declining enrollment, increased expenses and economic uncertainties, the District worked with a Budget Advisory Committee to develop a fiscal stabilization plan. Based on the recommendations from the Budget Advisory Committee as well as information provided by the Governor's Budget Proposal in January, the District has developed plans for the required expenditure reductions that will enable the District to meet its financial obligations and maintain the State mandated reserves.

Discussion: None
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.
2. Approve The Fiscal Stabilization Plan as Required by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). The Fiscal Stabilization Plan identifies various areas of proposed expenditure reductions in an effort to eliminate the ongoing deficit spending at the District.
Financial Impact: The Fiscal Stabilization plan has been updated to include $2.75 million in savings in fiscal year 2022-2023 and an additional $3 million in fiscal year 2023-2024.
Discussion: None
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.
3. Approve J-13A Waiver - COVID-19 Staffing Shortage. Administration recommends that the Governing Board approve the J-13A waiver that will waive attendance for the one day of missed instruction due to the COVID-19 Staffing Shortage. The California Department of Education allows districts to request an allowance for attendance due to emergency conditions which result in school closure. Jefferson Middle School and Gabrielino High School were closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak that occurred after the winter break recess. 

Discussion: none
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.

B. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

1. Approve Rental Contract Between Gabrielino High School and Los Angeles Turf Club, Incorporated, Santa Anita Land Holdings LLC, TSG Development Investments, Inc. and TSG Developments Land Holdings, Inc. Since 2012 the Gabrielino High School graduation ceremony has been held at Santa Anita Park. The graduates and their families benefit from the ample seating, the free parking, and the close proximity of Santa Anita Park to the school campus.
Total: $18,500 (Funding Source: GHS Site Allocation)
Other: Additional fees include the cost for four uniformed security guards for the time of the event at $33.50 per hour.
Discussion: none
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.

C. GOVERNING BOARD OF EDUCATION


D. HUMAN RESOURCES 

1. (ROLL CALL) Adopt Resolution No. 20/2021-22, Resolution to Eliminate and/or Reduce the Number of Certificated Employees Due to a Reduction or Elimination of Particular Kind of Services. Administration has indicated that the reduction in particular kinds of services is related to the loss or potential loss of revenue limit funding, certain categorical funding, and/or special programs.

Roll Call Vote: 
Cheryl Shellhart-aye
Rochelle Haas-aye
Ken Tcheng-aye
Gary Scott-aye
Cristina Alvarado-not present 
Financial Impact: 
Discussion: none
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.


2. (ROLL CALL) Adopt Resolution No.21/2021-22, Criteria For Determining Order of Seniority For Those Employees with the Same Date of First Paid Service. It is necessary that the board establish criteria to determine the order for termination of certificated employees with the same seniority date due to a reduction of particular kinds of services. These criteria are listed in priority order and each criterion shall be used only if the preceding criteria do not determine the order of termination. 1. CTC issued teaching and/or special service credentials, authorizations and certificates held, with first priority placed on clear credentials. 2. Bilingual Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development (BCLAD) certification. 3. Other types of authorization for instruction of English Language Learners besides BCLAD, including Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development (CLAD) certification. 4. Employees with the greater number of continuing education units completed will have priority. 5. Employees with the greater number years of prior teaching experience outside of the District will have priority. 6. Any ties that may occur after the application of the above criteria shall be resolved by lottery
Roll Call Vote: 
Cheryl Shellhart-aye
Rochelle Haas-aye
Ken Tcheng-aye
Gary Scott-aye
Cristina Alvarado-not present
Discussion: none
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.

3. (ROLL CALL) Adopt Resolution No.22/2021-22, Determination of Order of Employment For Certificated Employees for Reduction or Elimination of Particular Kind of Services. It is recommended that the board adopt the attached certificated seniority list to determine order of employment for certificated employees for reduction or elimination of particular kinds of services.
Roll Call Vote: 
Cheryl Shellhart-aye
Rochelle Haas-aye
Ken Tcheng-aye
Gary Scott-aye
Cristina Alvarado-not present
Discussion: none
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.


4. Approve Student Teaching Agreement Between the San Gabriel Unified School District and Pasadena City College. An agreement with Pasadena City College enables student teachers to engage in their practice teaching in the District. The term of this agreement is from August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2027. The District will provide Master Teachers for their student teachers.
Discussion: Scott-this is a great move for us. Happy to work with PCC. 
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.

E. SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE 

1. Approve the Re-Authorization of Electronic Meetings of the Governing Board During a State of Emergency Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(E). Approval of the re-authorization would allow the Governing Board to continue to conduct meetings electronically beyond March 31, 2022.
Discussion: None
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.

2. Approve California School Boards Association (CSBA) Policy Revision Recommendations. The Governing Board is asked to approve amended policies as per California School Boards Association (CSBA) suggested revisions based on new mandates, laws, or regulations.
Discussion: None
Action Taken: Moved and seconded for approval. All in favor.


9. BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS/COMMUNICATIONS
Scott: It’s been said already, but it was such a joy to be at Del Mar for their program. To see the technology and facilities and creativity being used and students doing audio/video it was so brilliant to see. Students are writing, editing, and doing the technology. To give all our students this chance, it was such a pleasure to be there. This is a tough time for everyone in education - I’ve heard this from all of California. A lot of reductions are being made all over. I hope the budget is better and that reductions won’t be made after all; however, we need to do what we need to operate.



Ken Tcheng: I have no comment tonight. I think the power in my office went out. Thanks for all the presentations tonight, appreciate it.

Haas: There aren’t too many things that keep me in the state, but when I think about leaving I think that if I leave the state, I’d have to leave San Gabriel Unified and that would make me sad. I think of the accomplishments of our schools and there is a lot of love in this district. We’re going to get through these challenges, because we are San Gabriel Unified. One comments about masking, and we are able to have the option to be unmasked. We don’t know the reasons why people are masked or unmasked. Let’s let everyone make their decisions and respect them. 

10. CONSENT AGENDA Consent Agenda Moved and Approved in Total 

A. BUSINESS SERVICES

1. Approve Warrants Issued for Payments, Goods, And Services Received For February 2022 - Report No. 9

2. Approve Purchase Orders Issued in Excess of $5,000 Report No. 13 (21-22)

3. Approve Conference Report No. 13 (21-22)

B. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES


C. HUMAN RESOURCES 

1. Approve Certificated Personnel Status Report No. 13

2. Approve Classified Personnel Status Report No. 13


D. SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE  

11. NEXT MEETING REMINDER(S) 
Tuesday, March 22, 2022 (intention for the Board to be in-person at the DEC)
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
12. ADJOURNMENT at 8:09 P.M.
Click here for Link to Full Agenda and Complete Attachments
Join us at the next Board Meeting
February 22
March 8 & 22
April 19
May 10 & 24
June 14 & 28
6:00 Open Session, Closed Session, 7:00 Open Session Reconvenes