Board of Education — January 10, 2023

All right, I'd like to call this meeting to order. Thank you for coming tonight. Before we do the pledge of allegiance, we would like to have a moment of silence for several of our formal employees. Immediately following the pledge of allegiance, please remain standing. Each of our board members will be reading one of the, recognizing the moments of silence. So each of our board members will be reading those. Student Trustee Haley, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? and with Virginia justice for all.

Remain standing. Virginia Butler. Virginia passed away on November 30, 2022. Virginia was a kindergarten teacher at Crafton Elementary School, from where she eventually retired after 20 years. Virginia enjoyed teaching, gardening, and spending time with her family. She had a lovely sense of humor and created happiness all around her.

Carol Steele. Carol passed away on December 11th, 2022. Carol moved to Redlands in 1960, where she started as an elementary teacher at Kingsbury Elementary. Carol was very involved with Redlands Footlighters Community Theater and served in various positions on the board of directors and committees.

deborah weaver passed away on december 1st 2022 she first started working for redlands unified school district as a substitute campus monitor but was then hired as a school clerk in 1999 she worked at lagonia elementary school with me for many many years eventually transferring to kingsbury elementary until her retirement in 2014.

Rosemary Whitmer. Rosemary passed away on December 19th, 2022. Rosemary was a Redlands resident since 1939 and a secretary at Crafton Elementary and Kingsbury Elementary. Rosemary attended McKinley Elementary, Redlands Junior High, and graduated from Redlands High School in 1949. She was also a member of the Assistance League, and that's why I would remember her. She was loved by everyone and will be surely missed.

Thank you. Our thoughts are with Virginia, Carol, Deborah, Rosemary, and their family. I'm sure their loss will be felt all through RUSD. Please note for the minutes that all board members are present. Our next item is the approval of the minutes. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the December 13, 2022 regular meeting? So moved.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Moving on to public participation. This section of the agenda is meant for any member of the public to address the board on any agenda item listed tonight. Seeing that we have none, we can move on to the next section. We do have one presentation tonight, Mr. Quartz. The Innovation, Technology, and Accountability Director is here to give us an innovation update. Mr. Quartz.

All right. Good evening, board members, Superintendent Arellano, cabinet, and guests tonight. This is going to be our third innovation update, a reminder that we're giving updates on the innovative practices and programs in our school district focused on RUSD 2025. I'm really excited tonight to talk about digital storytelling, so I'll waste no time introducing a friend of mine and really the heart and soul of digital storytelling in Redlands Unified School District, Dwayne Coles, to talk about the Rapid MOOC program.

okay thank you didn't know there's gonna be a big crowd I would have rehearsed so I'll try to muddle through this yeah I'm Dwayne Coles I'm a teacher on assignment for digital storytelling and I basically visit all the schools in all Redlands and kind of help them with telling good stories and who doesn't like a good story I know I do it's the on button If you haven't heard, we have purchased a RapidMOOC digital storytelling studio. We purchased these early fall and received them in November. I'm here to tell you about how it's become a game changer. We have 16 schools with 20-plus teachers that are volunteered to be innovators in this brand-new technology. And when I say brand-new, and I mean new, we are the only school district on this planet that has integrated RapidMOOC technology. I cannot speak to other planets, but for this one, we are it. And I'm very excited about bringing a technology that's been used out in industry and harness its use for students. We have 2,000 students that will be exposed to this over the next six months using it, and even more, if you count all the kids who will be watching the products. If you think about watching the stories, you're talking about all the students in the entire district pretty much. I also want to tell you that you're going to see some amazing things, I promise. But the real amazing thing is we gave this tool to the teachers 25 instructional days ago. That's not very long. And to see what they've done with it and how they've implemented it to enhance the educational experience in Redlands, to me, is remarkable. They have far out exceeded my expectations, so I need to either raise my expectations or have them just chill out a little bit so I can catch up. And the feedback that we're getting is the principals love it. They were able to have their staff use it. A STEAM lab tech, which is one of our MVPs, has been able to use this product and this device to open up new avenues for teachers who might be reluctant to use digital storytelling tools that we currently have because it's a high learning curve and this is much easier. My biggest... appreciation is the kids and what they're saying about it talk to a couple kids I'm reading better than ever I can't wait to go read on the rapid MOOC and that's that's music to reading teachers ears and teachers saying it's a game-changer for the kids who are having trouble reading. And a parent, after seeing this in action, said, you know, if we would have something like this in my school, I might have had a whole different career. And I thought, oh, that's kind of sad, but really interesting technology. So what better way to tell a digital story or talk about a digital story as opposed to just letting you hear from the kids and the teachers themselves? Our first teacher training with rapid milk occurred on November 9th with studio deliveries to the school sites the following day. And to say this technology took off is an understatement. Within the first two weeks, Victoria Elementary had already produced a best in class student broadcast thanks to their teacher, Albert Holman. Let's take a quick look at a snippet of what they produced.

This is Tiger News, where you get the latest news from the Tiger Studio straight to you. It's getting really cold out there, Amy. Got any updates?

Get ready to wear layers, Tigers. The t-shirts and shorts might have to go on vacation. Best not to freeze. Itzhak, let's talk weather details. Absolutely, Amy. Temperatures this week will be dipping down below 50 degrees, which is quite cold.

Hey Arlene, what are you doing?

Well, Milo, tis the season that we're thinking of a real good Christmas classic to share with our friends. My cookies, she explained as she bent down to snatch the little cookie man. He dodged and giggled and the little man ran.

Other schools were not far behind, with Franklin Elementary producing a staff holiday greeting along with a student broadcast. Resident power user Roland Hosch immediately began student projects where they responded to the curriculum in a brand new fashion and produced digital stories in record time. Let's see Emily talk about her Sun and Stars project.

Life on Earth would have never existed without the sun. The sun might seem like a big star, which people think that I said was a super giant, but it's really just a really small star. The sun's heat is 9914 degrees. One million Earths can fit in the sun.

So what do people think about this new technology? Take a listen.

We love our rapid look. It helps us see what we are filming. It is quick and easy to learn. It helps us spread good news across Kingsbury.

Bye!

As Kingsbury's STEAM Lab coordinator, I encourage all of our teachers to do digital storytelling in their classrooms. Some teachers have been reluctant to do so just because of the obstacle of having to learn a new video software in order to do digital storytelling. Now with RapidMOOC, they don't have that burden, so they're excited to utilize it. My most reluctant teachers are now enthusiastically embracing it and they've already booked time in the lab to work with the RapidMOOC and have their students work on projects in here. So it's been a game changer for us.

grades and with using the rapid mooc i see their imagination come to life and they're becoming these imaginative and these great storytellers digital storytellers and they're also seeing all the jobs that go into a production and all the jobs that you can do with just a green screen which i think we're getting them prepared for a world that we don't even know what jobs they're going to get so that just prepares them for that we love it at kingsbury

Future projects will take this technology to new worlds six elementary schools are currently working on a collaborative film called mission to Mars flight of the expendables. you'll want to circle your calendar for April 14 2023 for our first our usd film festival, where we showcase this and other qualifying digital stories from the best and brightest kids on this planet. and soon, Mars. So as you can see, students are using cutting-edge technology. They're able to do a thing that Elon Musk has failed to do. They're going to Mars. I don't know what's taking him so long because we got it handled. And then responding to the curriculum in multimedia tools, I think it's pretty cool. So I do want to say thanks to the principals and staff and students, especially the teachers, because they took a big risk with me, and I said, here's something no one has ever used, no one knows how to use, teach us how to use it and get the best out of it. And so they did what every smart teacher does, and they handed it over to the kids, and the kids started showing us what they could do. So all those schools that you see up there have a rapid MOOC currently operating in their schools producing amazing things. People you don't always hear about are our district office support folks and I cannot say enough good things about Amy and her team for helping us get these machines. It's really hard to convince the state of California that you're going to use a piece of technology that they don't even know what it is. And so with their help and their knowledge and their expertise, we're able to call the right people, ask the right questions, and get this into our school in a very short period of time. I was amazed at how well that group works in purchasing and everybody down the line that made that happen. So I appreciate that. And I appreciate our superintendent, Dr. Wagner. for providing the vision and support. Someday they're going to say no to me, I suppose, but I hope this instills a little bit of faith, not in me, but certainly our students and our teachers of this district. So I'm going to give it over to Jamie to finish up.

Dwayne asked me if there'd be a microphone tonight so he could drop it on his way out. I said no, so I'm sorry about that, Dwayne. Before we press play on, before I have Preston press play on this next surprise for you, I've been promising to the board hologram technology for many, many months, and we have not been able to crack the code until now. So I do want to say thank you publicly to Chris McClung, he's an assistant principal at Mission Elementary, Alex O'Brien, an ROP teacher at Rev High School, and Preston Baines back here. Those people cracked the code on, again, something that's not done in any K-12 institution, which is to bring hologram technology where students can create content using this technology. Preston, go ahead and hit play, and I'm going to ask Sabine and Jason to, sorry audience, you won't be able to see the whole thing, but I'll just tell you it's pretty cool.

Greetings, board members. I'm the happy, healthy, safe, and kind Mission Mustang. We're curious to know what you think about this new hologram and video technology. Imagine all the great things we can learn and

Okay, I admit that was just a teaser.

You know, can you turn it around at the audience here?

Yeah, actually, Jim, would you mind? And Preston, in a second, if you can repeat that. Board members in closing I feel compelled to write a quick statement On behalf of Duane, Chris McClung, Alex O'Brien, Preston Baines, and all of our other talented staff, I want to remind all of you that innovative programs that we are implementing in RUSD do not come in a neat, ready-to-go package. In many cases, such as what you've seen tonight, we are literally inventing technologies, procedures, and programs. This takes a lot of trial and error, learning by failure, determination, and courage. So again, I want to commend all of these trailblazing employees in our district for the amazing work they are doing, and especially the experiences they are providing for our students. So with that, we'll open it up to questions.

Wow, thank you. That was, to say it was impressive is just, there's no words. So thank you to Mr. Quartz, and was it Coles or Cowles? Coles. Coles, thank you. I guess I'll just, I'll start, but that was incredible. That was amazing, and it was so exciting to see those things in action. I mean, we get updates on, you know, we see them, but you don't know what they do, and now that we see what they do, they're fantastic. I'm really jealous of the students that got to be on the green screen and do the weather. I think at some point or another we've all kind of wondered what's that like and that's one for me. Anybody else? Michelle?

I just want to say thank you again for another innovative stuff you're bringing i'm just in awe of you mr coles i've seen you working with my my now 18 year old granddaughter when she was in middle school what you did in the classroom with them was amazing and you're doing more things um i'd love to go see that rapid move in while kids are using it while they're doing something so i'll call a school up and maybe see if i can get to one of those um and that hologram that was adorable that was adorable so thank you

Do you know technology is the way that we're going, and every time we push a button to spend money to go that direction, we get questioned and wondered. This is a result right here and testimony of all the work that you are doing and teaching for our kids because you saw the smiles of our kids. They're learning more and more, and these are the jobs that are going to be out there in the future. So thank you so much for all your work.

Duane, you had mentioned Amy Drummond. I'm assuming she's from Purchasing Department?

Yes, she's our Director of Purchasing.

Is she here? Can you explain why it took some work that Amy had to do to get the rapid MOOCs?

Well, routinely she buys everything the district needs. But being a government agency, there's things you can buy and you can't buy. And when you ask – I assume Amy probably can speak to this better than I can. But when you ask, hey, we want to buy a RapidMOOC for X – People are going to go, first of all, what is a rapid MOOC? And, you know, we have to start explaining that first. So it just takes a lot of, it takes a process you have to go through. And it's due diligence. It's the right thing to do to find out, okay, we see this as a very large beneficial asset for these students. So we go to bat for them. But if I had to do it, it would have sunk. There's no way I could have done that. You have to have an Amy Drummond that understands, okay, this is how this can be purchased the correct way.

I was hoping you'd share exactly where the RapidMove came from and how far it's traveled.

Oh, okay, so these are built in Paris, France. That is one thing Dr. Wagner did say no to me when I asked if I could go to the factory to see how they're built. So he showed some restraint, and I did actually ask that. So they're built in Paris, France. We saw them at a ISTE conference this summer in New Orleans. immediately because I do this on a regular basis, immediately I saw the purpose. The best part for me was I'm spending hours producing videos like this and teachers are doing this for hours versus now I can do this in minutes. That's significant because as a reading teacher, one thing I knew, it wasn't, Always necessarily the quality of a book, it was the number of books a kid reads to really start to get fluent. And so I knew that through the digital storytelling process, the more you do it, the better you get at it. And like I said, 25 days, and this is what they've been able to do. I'm impressed.

Definitely, definitely. And can you also share with everyone here the purpose of digital stories and why they're so important and how much the process that students take to develop a story and what they learn through that process?

Well, for me, digital stories, first of all, starts with the art of storytelling. What is your story? What do you have to say? Does student voice matter? And we all say, yes, it matters. So developing a story that communicates well and lets the audience understand what you're trying to say. Digital storytelling for our district, what it's really done remarkably is everybody knows not too many people want to get up here and talk to a group of people. My wife said, are you nervous? And I said, no. She goes, I don't know. She said, I'd be throwing up right now if I knew I had to talk in front of a group. That's 90% of the people in the world hate to do public speaking. And so these kids are now doing public speaking using digital storytelling tools, but they don't necessarily have to be in front of an audience. They don't have to get the nerves up. And they can perfect their story so that when they deliver it, it's exactly how they intended it to be conveyed. So I think that's the biggest advantage of digital stories is it gives them a chance to perfect their message. And they do. I can say as a school teacher, I can't tell you how many essays I've seen where kids just handed it in as quickly as they could as soon as it was done. When you see these kids work on these messages, they want everybody to look at my project. What's wrong with it? Help me get it better. So that self-critique, improving from one project to the next, is I think one of the biggest benefits of digital storytelling, besides the story itself.

true so true it's just so exciting because the students do rewrite their scripts over and over and over again before they act it out and it's just amazing that they don't know that they're actually going through the writing process and they're rewriting it over and over until they perfect it many times I tell my own kids when they're writing something don't fall in love with your first draft because nobody wants to rewrite anything but through these digital storytelling our students are able to surpass and not have to worry about just having it perfect the first time. They're updating it, rewriting it, and I just think that's an amazing strategy for our teachers and it's an amazing tool for our students. And I just appreciate what you all have done in regards to innovation and technology. And one of my dreams and hopes is that Redlands continues to be number one, not only in the Inland Empire, but the state, then number one in the nation when it comes to teaching our students. So thank you, we're on our way to meeting that goal. You guys have done an exceptional job, and thank you to Mauricio for allowing the staff to be innovative and creative. You've done an amazing job. Thank you.

Well said, Mr. Vara. I totally agree with that, and thanks. Great presentation. Dwayne, Jamie, it's good to see this stuff. I want to do a shout out to all your staff members that are embracing this technology as well, because they didn't grow up with this stuff. They have to learn it as adults, and it's always harder to learn things as adults. The kids are growing up with it. For them, no. It's nothing to it. You know, if I want to get something fixed on my son, I find the 7-year-old across the street, and they fix the phone for me right away. So it's awesome that kids are being able to take what they're learning. and apply it in a real-life situation where some of them will be inspired to move into this as a career possibly down the line because of the exposure they've had with some of this great technology. And, you know, congratulations on all of it. And I'm very proud that we are a district that's being innovative and finding ways to bring this into the classroom and direct contact with our students and that our teachers are so receptive to it and are embracing it and using it. So thank you very much.

Can I say a few words? Absolutely. Well, first of all, to the Board of Education, thank you guys for the very kind words and recognition of our outstanding staff. 2017, when we arrived here in Redlands, one of the major requests from our community, if you remember from our very first thought exchange, was increase in innovation in 21st century learning opportunities for our students. So I want to thank you guys for allowing us the flexibility to budget these types of items and to be open to new technologies and not wait for someone else to do it, but for us to be the leading force. So thank you for all that support, and you've heard that from the two gentlemen. Jamie, Dwayne, they have just done outstanding work. And we as cabinet, we believe in the theory of pockets of awesomeness. And so we never wanted to do top-down initiatives. It was always, hey, I have this idea. Someone in the district somewhere is excited to do something new. And so these two gentlemen have found those people, and that's how we found Dwayne, as a matter of fact. He was teaching at Cope Middle School, and he showed up one day and said, hey, that digital story thing you're talking about, can I do it? Absolutely. And here we are. But also, big commendation to our teachers, to our support personnel, to our administrators who every day put in effort and energy into our innovation. Without them, we wouldn't be here today with the rapid MOOCs and with the hologram technology. I've been a big proponent now for over a decade of moving away from just having pen and paper assessments as the only way to judge whether kids have learned or can show mastery of curriculum. We hear often from our workforce colleagues that what they're looking for in their workforce in the future is people who have creativity and the ability to collaborate and work as a team. And there's no better way to do that than bringing kids together on a project using technology together and planning and going through the trials and the errors. So as a board member, state board member for AXA, one of the topics that I am attempting to lobby is to get away from just doing pen and paper assessments. And I want Redlands to be one of the examples where kids can use 21st century tools to show mastery of curriculum, not only doing pen and paper, because that's important, we have to have that, not only doing written essays, but also using these creative tools to show mastery of what they've learned, either in the standards of math, science, social studies, art, music, et cetera. So I'm very proud of what you guys have done, what our team has done. But the objective is to give kids the opportunity to show mastery other than pen and paper. And so as you see some of this hologram technology being built, as we see some of this digital storytelling, hopefully we'll be at a place where we can give a test, have students write an essay, because that's important, but also show mastery of knowledge using a creative format of 21st century technology. So I just want to commend everybody for the work that you've done. This is amazing. Duane, I'm super excited about the presentation of this second movie now. It's the second motion picture of our kids now being done at the Redlands Bowl. I think I shared the story a couple years ago. Jamie sent me a text, and it's a picture of this great big inflatable 90-foot screen. And I said, what is that, and whose is that? And he says, it's yours. We just bought it. And we've been waiting to use it. We've used it at some schools, right, to show some mini movies at school sites, especially during the pandemic. But now that will be the screen that we will have up at the Redlands Bowl so that we can now, as a community, see all the creativity of our kids putting together their knowledge into a movie. How cool is that? So we started with movies that... The theater here, what was it called before it changed?

Studio Movie Grill.

Yeah, Studio Movie Grill. We had a showing there a couple years ago. Then just recently we were at Mountain Gate where we used two theaters, four showings of the latest movie, School Alone. And now Mission to Mars will be at the Redlands Bowl. So this is exciting stuff. So congratulations, guys. Appreciate it.

all our employees who are behind that this project and our kids most importantly great job moving forward thank you quick question to jamie uh is the inflatable screen does it double as a bounce house or is it just a screen he did it and it works okay thank you forgive me for not asking but haley do you have any comments

I think this is an amazing idea, and I love that you're doing this for the future generations of students. There's a lot of kids out there who have more of a creative way of thinking as opposed to practical, for lack of a better term. I was one of those kids, and the fact that you're showing them that there's other ways to learn and there's other ways to showcase your talent is amazing, so thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Quartz and Mr. Coles. Dr. Wagner, I think we all need to go see how these, I mean, Mr. Coles can be our asker, but I think we all need to go to Paris to see how these things are built.

He'll say no.

I'll test run the trip first just to make sure it's good for everybody.

All right. Thank you again. Next, we are moving on to our student trustee report. So, Haley, if you have anything to report for Citrus Valley or any other schools.

This week, CV welcomed back its Blackhawks back to school after winter break, but the past few months before break have been jammed packed. In December, ASB hosted a holiday spirit week accompanied by a winter festival and holiday canned food drive. The winter festival included watching a movie, decorating cookies, and eating some delicious food. CV's annual holiday canned food drive entailed a class competition with all donations going to family services. The junior class took the win this year. Additionally, Citrus, with ASB leading, participated in a Mug of War hot chocolate challenge, competing with RHS and REV. Students brought mugs to school, and ASB filled them with hot chocolate for free. The greatest number of mugs filled won, and CV took second place with 424 mugs filled, with RHS coming in first with 469 mugs filled. Our performing arts department has also been very hard at work. Some members of our Citrus Valley Choir were accepted into the SCVA Honor Choir and performed with members from all over Southern California in November. The Black and Gold Brigade, our band, had the honor of marching in the Redlands Christmas Parade and the intermediate bands and orchestra performed in their very own winter concert later that week. The Blackhawk Theatre Company hosted its winter showcase, spotlighting the beginning and intermediate theatre classes, and additionally, the advanced theatre class competed in the Inland Invitational one-act competition, which they took home third place overall. Lastly, the Performing Arts Department hosted its annual winter extravaganza, spotlighting the advanced band and orchestra, choirs, piano classes, and theatre class. Fall and winter sports have really turned up the heat this year. Boys baseball participated in the Austin Gorrell Tournament and hosted their alumni game, home run derby, and a successful bowling fundraiser. Football ended their season in the Division II Round 2 game against Chaminade. It was a close game, but Chaminade took the win. Additionally, cross-country ended their season strong. JV girls took home a league title, varsity girls won their first ever CBL title and qualified for the California State Championship, and varsity boys became back-to-back CBL title winners. Our boys water polo team moved up to Division III with a record of 13-12, while our girls team has started their season off strong with varsity winning against Wahinta High School and all teams winning against San Jacinto. Girls soccer started off their season with a win against Riverside Poly, while the boys team started theirs with a win against Beaumont High School. Boys basketball finished their non-league season with a 10-5 record. And lastly, our wrestling program has had a jam-packed few weeks. The boys team competed in their first tournament and the Tom Bravo Classic and took home second overall at the San Clemente tournament. And our girls team has competed in the Lady Saints tournament and competed in their first mini-meet of the season. Our campus has also hosted additional fun activities. like French Club Spirit Week, which they completed with a French movie night and crepe-making day, FNL's Red Ribbon Week, and the CV Counselor's I Applied Day, which celebrated students who applied to colleges. Now for some news from CV's neighboring schools. At Rev, JV and Varsity Girls Soccer have games this week, and their Performing Arts Department have collectively been preparing for the musical Guys and Dolls. At Redlands E Academy, they started off their 2023 with a big schedule change. This semester, Tuesday and Thursday are all classes, while Wednesdays and Fridays are only Spanish classes, tutoring, office hours, and check-ins, leaving Monday for all grades 6 through 12 on campus for mixed electives. And at RHS, their web store is up for ordering merchandise, and yearbooks and senior ads are still available for order. Thank you.

Thank you, Haley. Any board comments on Haley's report?

I want to do a shout-out to your performance at the Winter Extravaganza. You didn't mention that, but you played a great Santa and had some lamprey pie. It was a great performance. Well done.

thank you next we are moving on to the board committee reports first stop is cry Rob I'm just gonna report that we did meet it's December yes I'm sorry I'm losing track of my time right now and we had our swearing-in and our next meeting is in February so we should have a full report then next up we have compact mrs. Renner

Yes, each school is having their meetings continually each month, and they welcome more members. They're lining up career speakers for the year. If you're interested and anybody watching is interested in being a career speaker for one of the schools or having a student job shadow you, which they're also looking to do, you can email me at michelle-redler at redlands.k12.ca.us, and I can forward your name to the steering committee and to the club presidents. A reminder that the next mixer is on February 16th at the U of R Orton Center. The steering committee is looking for adults interested in enjoying a good meal while allowing students to interview them. Please contact me at that above email. The steering committee will meet this Thursday, the 12th, and mock interviews will be January 17th and 18th for CV, the 24th for RHS, and the 25th for REV. The compact students can receive community service hours by being a peer tutor at their school. They also have an opportunity to do some trail work for the Redlands Conservancy at the Burge Mansion. And that is all.

I want to continue for rep.

The meeting is this coming Thursday, so I'll report back.

This day.

Oh, I'm doing parks first. I forgot. I have them out of order. The meeting's tomorrow, so I'll have a report next time.

Okay. Cultural Arts Commission, Mr. O'Neill?

I was unable to attend the meeting yesterday, so I'll get the minutes and email them all to you.

All righty. Back to Mrs. Rendler for Redlands Park.

And the meeting is this coming Thursday, so I'll report it next meeting.

Sandabs. Ms. Hollihan.

Our meeting is tomorrow, and our last December meeting was basically going over all the new electeds for legislature, and the last bills that were coming in for the end of the year. So I'll have a better report on next month.

Thank you. CSBA Region 16, Delegate Assembly, Mr. O'Neill.

I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon.

And the Coalition to Support RUSD.

They have not met since before the break, but Mr. Hill told me that the Rev Stadium field should be completed by the end of the month. and that obviously they've had some postponement with all the rain and everything. I asked him how the field drained, and he said the drains worked. So that's always good. It didn't turn it into a pool, so that's good. And... It's possible that with the completion of the field, close to the end of the month, that the senior soccer players will be able to have a game at the field. So that would be awesome if that would happen. So we need some cooperation from the weather, though.

That's fantastic that the rain didn't do any damage. All right. Up next, we have the superintendent's report. Mr. Arellano.

Thank you. Well, first of all, Happy New Year to everyone. Hope everybody had a nice holiday season and got some rest, got some time with some family and friends, and able to come back with a lot of energy. So 2023 is going to be a great year. Of course, every year is a great year. Well, I just want to let the board know that I had the great honor to serve as the emcee for County Superintendent Ted Alejandro's swearing in event on December 21st. I was really honored that he had asked me to emcee his event. This is his third term as county superintendent and he's done an outstanding job. And I think my 32 superintendent colleagues would concur that he's been a great resource and a great support to the 33 districts in the county. um many people don't know is but ted and i go way back so he and i started as elementary teachers in 1990 in the samaritan city unified school district so he still has hair i don't so something happened there along the way but um We served as elementary teachers together. We were elementary assistant principals together. We were principals together and then district office directors. And then in 2003, we left to become assistant superintendents in different districts and then reunited here in 2017. So it was great to see a great colleague, a good friend being sworn in by Assemblyman James Ramos. is the highlight, the good way to end the year is to be asked to do that. So congratulations to Ted, and we're looking forward to working with him. I also want to let the board know that this past week I was able to present to the retirement chapter of ADK over at the Redlands Country Club. They wanted an update on all of what's going on in Redlands Unified School District, so they got to hear a lot of the technology and innovation information as well, and the group is made up of retired Redlands teachers and Yucaipa teachers. So it was nice to see some old friends that I had known for years and some folks that had just retired recently. Of course, Sabine had me ask for anybody to substitute teach, so I handed those things out. But they're a lovely group, very supportive of the district, and very proud of what we've accomplished so far and how we were able to come out of the pandemic in a good position, knowing that there's still a lot of work to do to catch up, as every district does, but very proud of our progress. So I want to thank Jan Rodas for giving me the opportunity and the invitation to be there. I want to give a special thanks to the men and women of our San Miguel County Sheriff's Department and our Redlands Police Department, who in the winter – hosted either Shop with a Cop or Heroes and Helpers, where they were able to provide needy families in our school district with an opportunity to have a nice Christmas. They were there in force, walking families and kids through stores so that they could buy gifts, clothes. And it was just an amazing moment. So I just want to take a moment to say thank you for your kindness and for your support of our community who are in need. On January 5th, I had the opportunity to be part of a vigil, a yearly commemorative walk. On January 5th, 2011, four teenagers died. were shot over at the Cinnamon Creek apartment complex, just right down the street here. Senseless violence. Two of our students were killed that night, and two or three kids survived. So I was asked by the survivor of one of the children, Gail Howard, if I would participate in the walk. And so I participated. And what a touching moment for every year to just remember the tragedy of that moment, but to see the strength of Gail Howard be there every year to commemorate that moment and try to make sure that things like that, senseless violence, doesn't happen. So Rod Torres, Sabine, Mark Blind, myself, were able to join folks like Chief Chris Catron, Assistant Chief Travis Martinez, Council Member Baric, Council Member Salcedo, just to name a few, to do that walk. And remember that moment and a reminder to us to continue to work together as a community and find positive things and events for our kids to be involved in. So I just want to thank Gail for allowing me to be a part of that. Today I had the opportunity to go to Crafton Elementary School to visit the campus. Wonderful campus, wonderful staff, everybody's just doing a great job at Crafton Elementary. We were very focused, though, on looking at our inclusion program. If you recall, I'd mentioned that we had worked together with our special ed department in putting together a three-year plan of implementation for inclusion, special education, mainstream inclusion, our classes. So the first elementary pilot program is being done at Crafton this year. So we had an opportunity to go into the classrooms and watch how the inclusion model works. And our teachers and support personnel in those classes, just amazing work that's happening. And so I got a chance to talk to a couple of parent volunteers who were there as well. who love the program, support the program. And so this first year, this pilot was an opportunity to look at the pros and the positives of the program, but also to identify what are some of the obstacles or some of the roadblocks that we have to jump over and mitigate. And so that's been a great action research moment to be able to watch that program unfold. And hopefully at the end of the year, I know Patty Buckmiller will be putting together a presentation for the board. So it gives us progress in how we're going to be implementing it in the coming years. I want to remind everybody that we're going slow because there's a lot of work to do. We have to talk about staffing. We have to talk about training. We have to have cause and effect, trial and error. So by year three, we should be able to do full implementation across the district. The last note I want to make about the inclusion model is this came from our teachers from last year. From my school visits last year, going from school to school, our special education teachers were asking, could we calibrate our inclusion program across the entire district? And I said, sure. Anything's possible as long as we work together and we work methodically. So we worked with RTA for the teaching aspect to put together this three-year plan so that we can move slowly, identify our needs, and have full implementation by year three. So what we saw today was simply amazing, and I just want to commend everybody at Crafton for the work that they're doing because their model is going to serve as the model for everybody else. And speaking of our teachers' unions and our support personnel, RTA and RESPO, I want to once again thank you for all your collaboration and hard work, especially your bargaining teams over the last two, three months. They've put in lots of hours, lots of time. to come together to a very positive tentative agreement that the Board of Education tonight will be formally ratifying and supporting the ratification of both RTA and RESPA unit members. So thank you all for your hard work and endless time in that process. Most people, when you say bargaining, people go, that's an arduous process. But really, we've been working really hard the last couple years to be in a collaborative spirit, to work in a positive manner and professional manner, and it's paying off. So I commend not only RTA and RESPIS teams, but also Sabine and your teams for the good work that you guys have done. So great job, everybody. Appreciate that. And I just want to end tonight by giving good thoughts to our Citrus Valley High School mock trial team. If you recall, they are one of four semifinalists for the mock trial competition, and I believe the semifinals are tomorrow. Is that correct, Dr. Wagner? Tomorrow and Thursday? So good thoughts to our mock trial semifinalist team over at Citrus Valley High School. And that's all I have tonight. Thank you, guys.

Thank you. We'll now move on to superintendent's recommendations. First up is consent items under business services. Mr. Hill, do you have any changes or additions?

Thank you, there is no changes or additions this evening.

Okay, can I get a motion to approve item A, consent items B through P?

So moved.

Okay, discussion?

I wanted to make sure that everybody saw all the donations that were received. We had some great support for our fifth grade science camps. Karina Hernandez donated $3,000, which was an amazing donation. And we also had some other donations, rep foundations in there for $2,500. So appreciate the support. I was going to ask a question too. Multiple gift donations for Giving Tree. Can I get a little more information on Giving Tree? That was obviously a project or a Christmas project.

Do you know something about that, Michelle? That was their holiday tree for the needy families in the school.

Did you see all the participation there? Yeah, it was amazing. Yeah, multiple gifts given by people. So much appreciated for the generosity of people. Thank you. No, that's okay. I got it.

All right, any other discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. On to business services action items. to go into that are we are we issuing thank-you notes to people who make donations we got okay good I'm sorry item a adopt resolution number 21 2022 23 resolution continuing authority to hold virtual meetings pursuit and pursuant to a he be 361 so moved second Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Moving on to consent items under educational services. Dr. Wagner, do you have any additions or corrections?

Thank you, President Ayala-Kintera. No additions or changes.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve item A, consent items B through K?

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

It's great to see everyone going on their...

wrestling matches and their track teams and cheer competition it's good to see all the kids back all those in favor say aye opposed chair votes aye and so ordered moving on to consent items under educational services dr. Wagner do you have any changes or additions sorry I already did that Educational services action items, let's take them A through J together.

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Moving on to consent items under human resources, Dr. Robertson-Phillips, do you have any changes or corrections?

I have no changes or questions this evening. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve item A, consent items B through AE?

Moved.

Second.

Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye, and so ordered. In regard to public employee appointment part of the agenda, I would like to report the following. In closed session, the board took action to appoint Rosa Bullock to the position of Assistant Principal, Moore Middle School, effective January 23, 2023, at step four of the management team's salary schedule with the following vote. Ayala Quintero, Hollahan, O'Neal, Renler, and Vara voting aye. Rosa, are you here tonight? Congratulations.

Hi there.

Welcome.

I'm really glad to be here. I have my husband and my two daughters that I pulled out of dance, so they can be here with me. And I'm super excited to work for you guys.

Thank you so much. And I'll start soon, as soon as my other district releases me.

So soon.

Thank you. We appreciate your daughter's sacrifice as well for missing dance. So thank you for being here and welcome to the district. Thank you.

In case everybody forgot, I am Vincent Gutierrez, the principal at Moore. I know we were at the last meeting. One of the things that stood out about Rosa when we did the interviews for her, especially for me, was just her motivation to get started, to really collaborate with staff and her experience. And that's what I was really looking for, so I was so blessed when I found her. So I thank you all for the support.

Okay, under human resources action items, we have four items to approve. Item A. Oh, are you doing separate? Yes, we're doing them. Certificated ratify approved collective bargaining agreement addendum between the Redlands Unified School District and the Redlands Teachers Association CTA NEA effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025 and public disclosure of proposed collective bargaining agreement in accordance with AB 1200. A copy of the agreement addendum is available for review at the district office business service division. Is there a motion?

Move to approve.

So moved gladly.

Second.

Any discussion? All those in favor? Discussion, yes.

Yeah, I just wanted to make a comment that I'm glad the negotiations went smooth and we're also, on behalf of my colleagues, I think we all did an exceptional job of making sure that our teachers get paid what they deserve. So you guys did an excellent job and congratulations to the teachers.

Any other discussion?

Just want to thank our staff, negotiations leader, Dr. Sabine Robertson-Phillips, CTA, RTA, and also when we get to RESPA, it's the same thing, for working so hard and working diligently to get these negotiations done. Thank you.

Any other discussion? All right. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Item B, classified, ratify and approve collective bargaining agreement addendum between the Redlands Unified School District and the Redlands Educational Support Professionals Association, CTA-NEA, effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025, and public disclosure of proposed collective bargaining agreement in accordance with AB 1200. Copy of the agreement addendum is available for review at the District Office, Business Services Division. Can I get a motion?

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

Once again, I want to say congratulations. You guys, it's a well-deserved raise. Congratulations.

All righty, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye, and so ordered. Item C, management. Ratify and approve revised management team salary schedule for 2022-2023 school year. Can I get a motion?

Moved. Second.

Any discussion?

Congratulations, management team. Here we go. On a well-deserved raise.

Congratulations all around.

Yes.

All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Item D, increase for board member compensation. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second?

Second.

Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Opposed. Chair votes aye and so ordered. We do not have any agenda discussion items, so we will be moving on to the community input portion of the agenda. Okay, thank you. First up, we have Heather Holly, forgive me, Bemuel? Bemuel? Sorry. You can correct me when you get up.

Good evening. My name is Heather Holly Bimal. I am a 60-year resident of the city of Redlands. We have five generations of family members who have lived in this city. As a Christian and a co-pastor with my husband, a business owner, I am required and obligated to speak up for the children, parents, and family members of the good citizens in my community. The scripture says that the righteous are as bold as lions. And I'm here to roar for righteousness in our school district. I wish I could stand here tonight and look at a group of true heroes on this board. I wish I could stand up here and hail you all as courageous men and women who stand up for what is right and true and honorable, no matter what it costs you. However, I cannot do that, and it grieves my heart. Because the deeper we dig into the financial, political, and moral ground in this board, the worse it gets. For the record, the school district of Redlands, California got 60 plus million dollars for masking children two years ago. And yet there's no budget published that says where that money went. You all should know that, and you should be asking questions of these people here. I'm here to say it's time to come clean with all the willful ignorance and the willful evil you've participated in to allow our school system to become filled with corruption from the bottom all the way up to the top. I'm not a person that's going to deal with niceties or technology. You can ask me all the questions you want about the pornography and the grooming of children's books in the library and the two different databases that you have, one for children and one for parents, because I'm not going to do small talk. I'm here to cut through the fat and get to the chase and get this school board cleaned up. You may have think that you've gotten away with your deeds and we the people are ignorant sheeple who can be controlled by your agendas, your mandates, your curriculum that promotes pornography, pedophilia, and transgenderism for innocent children, but you've greatly underestimated us. The clock is ticking for you and those who participated or turned a blind eye, but it's time for you to resign. It's time for you all to come clean because what you've done in back rooms, bribes, handshakes, it's all going to be exposed. In two years, there's going to be three seats up for this school board. And there's going to be godly people who want to do what is right. See, God sees what you've done. The Bible says cowards die a thousand deaths. A hero dies but one. I would suggest all of you become heroes so you can show your faces in town. Because if not, you're going to have to be run out on a rail. Because we're not going to stand for it. There's too many parents in this city who are going to stand up and they're going to demand accountability from you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Up next we have Philip Fivegus.

I don't know how to follow that, but I will.

Vanity of vanities. says the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all of his labor in which he toils under the sun? We know this is a new year, right? There's nothing new under the sun. This lady just described to us the corruption that has infiltrated this system. No longer teach children how to read, write, do math. But you teach them other things that you're not supposed to be teaching them. I had three children go through the school district. And there was corruption then. I'm wearing the medal that my deceased daughter got from this school district. It's called the Hope of America. The most outstanding student in the district. I think you guys really do need to listen to what that lady just said. And some of you ought to clear out of here for some of the corruption you've been involved with. Yeah. How can you break the law and sit on this school board? I just pray that the Lord work on your heart. There's nothing new under the sun.

Up next we have Aaron Mason. Aaron Mason.

Good evening. I'm a Redlands resident, parent of two current RUSD students. And I felt compelled to speak to you tonight because we lately continue to see the same group of people, many not parents of current students, many not even local to Redlands, coming to these meetings with personal or political or religious agendas that, in my opinion, work against the best interests of our school district. The focus the past so many months seems to be centered around limiting LGBTQ presence on campus. but usually under the guise of promoting core educational topics, continue to imply that they simply want to keep schools focused on math, science, and English. And what I've noticed and what I want to note publicly tonight is that I've been coming to these meetings for a couple of years now, and the same people that claim we need to focus only on core curriculum never actually speak to those core topics themselves. Again and again, they're responsible for bringing the focus to library books, classroom environments, flags, pins, topic of individual student identities, preferences of how people are addressed. We've seen these convoluted and incorrect connections made between local events with drag performers to our schools. We've seen conspiracy theories abounding. Commentary on math curriculum? Nothing. Science? Nope. English? Only when discussing their aversion to pronouns. My point being that no matter how much they say this is about the children or about education, the record shows it's clearly not. I've yet to hear a single argument for how library books or rainbow flags affect a child's ability to learn algebra. I'm still trying to understand how an off-site drag performance in any way translates to lower test scores. Instead, it brings us from a place of focusing on the curriculum to instead having to use our energy to reinforce our commitments to equity over and over again. My kids are in elementary here. I am heavily vested in our local schools and I will be for at least another decade. I want to hear about our innovator technologies and how we're partnering with Esri to integrate GS in our curriculum. I want to see you continue to work in creating more inclusive campuses for our students so each child feels seen and represented in the place they spend five days a week at. I want to hear about our councils and committees. I care about facilities and infrastructure improvements. One day the people using these meetings for clicks and views, They're going to move on. They're going to move on to the next city. And I hope that until they do, we can continue to move forward without falling prey to these distraction tactics because your work directly impacts my children, and we want our schools to move forward and not fall prey to this. Thank you.

Thank you. Just want to remind everybody that the only people that should be speaking during public comment is the person up at the podium. Thank you. Up next we have Frank Rodriguez.

Before I start my speech, thank you so much for leading the innovation on this technology. I was a student that didn't do well with reading books, didn't do well with looking at a whiteboard or a chalkboard. If I would have had something like this when I was a student, I probably would have looked at school just way differently. So thank you for that. Good evening. My name is Frank Rodriguez. I'm here to support the Redlands community and many of the messages that are going to be shared this evening. The last time my voice echoed these halls, I was blindly unaware of how impactful my voice was at the time. I stand here before you as someone who has honed in on his mission, built connections with the community, and has begun to rescue Redlands. Board member Patty, you have openly violated your oath of office. I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will bear true faith of allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will and faithfully discharge the duties of the office in which I'm about to enter, so help me God. Board member Patty has become a criminal deriving from education or election tampering, ultimately exposing Patty to be the fraud that she is. Board member Patty has violated the most sacred process in this world. That's an American election. Board member Patty is the exact thing that rescuing Redlands is all about, exposing people like you, but most importantly, replacing them. I vow to assist anyone in this great city in the efforts of exposing any of the information with this board. I have connections with Project Veritas, who's also been investigating a lot of the things that happen here in California. If we don't rescue Redlands now, then when will we?

Thank you. Up next we have Megan Martinez. Megan Martinez.

Excuse me.

What is integrity? By definition, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. A member of the board doesn't quite fit that definition in more ways than one. Advocating to keep sexually explicit books in school libraries, as well as pushing gender ideology on children is one thing, while interfering with elections by paying someone to steal yard signs is another. As a school board, your focus should be on protecting children and giving an education that will advance them in life, bearing academics. Yet it seems as though you keep turning a blind eye to the elephant in the room. What is it going to take for you to take accountability for the actions of your board members? It seems as though you have all lost your integrity. To not address the ones giving the school board a bad name is showing that you are all lacking leadership in multiple ways. In my opinion, I only see two options. One is to hold a higher standard and immediately take action against those who are trying to sexualize and medicalize children, as well as purposefully hinder the integrity of an election by holding those accountable by resigning their seat. Or two, the whole board resigning and having a replacement reelection for every seat on the board. To lead a community-run board, you need to listen to the people coming to you, who pay you to be here and to take action on their issues. I urge every single one of you to reflect on the speakers tonight. Their words should be your words for the betterment of your district. You should already know I'm Meg Martinez, Gays Against Groomers Long Beach co-chapter lead. Our mission is protect children. That starts with getting a school board who has the same morals and values on children, innocence, as well as we do. Are you going to step up, be the ones, and fight? Or will you sit down in the shadows of the woke mob trying to indoctrinate them? If your board thinks it's okay to pay for yard signs to be removed, I'm scared to think about what else your board is going to turn their eye to.

Thank you. Up next, we have Tracy Lowenthal. Excuse me? This is your warning. If I have to warn you again, you will be removed. Up next, we have Tracy Lowenthal.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Tracy Lowenthal, and I really just wanted to come tonight and thank all of you for the hard work that you put forth sitting on this board, and to remind everyone here that the election is over, Patty won, and it is time to move forward. I appreciate all of the effort that you each engage in in your role as board members. And I want you to know that even though there's a bunch of BS that's going to be spewed at you tonight, that large numbers of your community see through it and know it's ridiculous. So thank you.

Thank you. Up next we have Tricia Keeling. Tricia Keeling?

good evening board my name is Trisha Keeling and trustee area 4 I have two kids in the district I'm a member of safe Redlands schools I'm here tonight to respond to something I heard spoken here last time you met back in December A parent stated, quote, all talk of diversity and inclusion should be banned from the classroom. This offended me. Diversity and inclusion are absolutely important to our children's educational experience. It gives them a richer perspective on the world around them, helps to drive excellence, and creates a feeling of belonging. Giving safe spaces to kids within the LGBTQ community provides support, which is extremely important for their emotional well-being. Teaching our children about accurate American history helps to prevent history from repeating itself. Learning about current events helps promote critical thinking and teaches us important skills on how to discuss sensitive matters with one another. Those of us who have children with special needs, are very much aware of the importance of inclusion in the classroom. Personally, I want every child within Redlands to thrive. And when I hear statements like that, I'm encouraged to remind the board that the majority of parents within this community support the teaching of equity and inclusion in the classroom. that again, the minority of people in this room tend to be the loudest. Their viewpoints do not reflect that of the majority of parents, educators, and educational staff in this community. Thank you for your continued effort to promote diversity and inclusion in Redland schools. Lastly, when my kids were young, one of the key things that I taught them was how to accept defeat, shake someone's hand, and say good game when they lost. Some of the people in this room need to learn the same lesson. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next, we have John Berry. John Berry?

Hello. I'm John Berry. Once a reporter, always a reporter, I spent 20 years in journalism. I'm well experienced at defending the public's right to know as well as the public's right to access public records and public meetings. On October 27th, you made three key violations of the Brown Act. One, you arbitrarily decided to prohibit the public from taking videos and pictures at a public meeting. This is an explicit violation of the Brown Act as well as the US Constitution. Two, you restricted public access by inserting artificial barriers of access and limiting attendance. Access to public meetings is central to the Brown Act. The Brown Act does not have a specific provision enabling you to restrict public access. And three, you decided to prevent people from discussing Patty's sign theft. This violates the Brown Act as well as the U.S. Constitution. I'm going to read you a portion of California Government Code 5400. Moreover, the Brown Act specifically provides that, quote, a legislative body of local agency shall not prohibit public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs, or services of the agency or of the acts or missions of that legislative body. And here's from the judge's decision. This is a federal case of Boca vs. Marina Valley Unified School District. A public meeting of a school board is considered to be of limited public forum for First Amendment purposes. And as such, a school district faces a substantial burden in justifying any content based restrictions on speech of members of the public during the public comment portion of the meeting. Any limitations on content must be shown to be necessary to serve a compelling state interest and must be narrowly tailored to achieve that goal. And finally from the judge, district court judge, held that the policy prohibiting members of the public from criticizing school district employees was unconstitutional. So we are a constitutional republic. We cannot survive as a republic if elected officials forget who they're accountable to. Unfortunately, California is not as forthright as other states as enforcing their public records and open meeting laws. Regardless, I'm filing a complaint about your wanton disregard of the Brown Act with the public integrity unit of the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.

Up next thank you. Up next we have Dale Broom. Dale Broom.

Yes, my name is Dale Broom. I'm a resident here in Redlands. I've had two daughters that went through Redlands Unified Schools, and I'm here to address an issue that I'm very concerned about, and that has to do with the criminal activity of a school board trustee. This is not about elections. It's about criminal activity. Patty Houlihan committed in this November election campaign. We have access, and many of you will get a chance to look at this, Redlands Police Department report, indicating that she instructed a campaign worker, Mary Bell, to steal campaign signs of her opponent, Aaron Stepien. She was paid $1,000 by Patty for her campaign services. There were found one evening four signs that she had stolen. We know that there were far more signs stolen than just those four signs, including large four by eight signs. And in addition, multiple large four by eight foot Stepien signs were vandalized by her supporters, including one in my yard. They were spray painted red with very hateful speech on them, including one putting a mustache, a Hitler mustache on Erin's face. Other ones saying that she hates queers, drawing a phallic sign over her face and saying gay pride on these signs, including the one in my yard. And what I'm concerned about is if Patty's willing to pay people to steal signs, could she also be paying people to vandalize her opponent's signs? What sort of example is this setting for our students and faculty? This unethical behavior shows really a lack of moral integrity, and it's a huge embarrassment to our school board and our school district and our city. And I respectfully request that Patty Houlihan resign from the school board. Thank you.

Thank you. Clapping is fine, but can you please refrain from yelling? Thank you. Up next we have Candy Olsen.

I have one question before you start my time.

Time starts as soon as you push dice.

I haven't started speaking. Can you please reset that clock? I am so very disappointed in the integrity of this board, and quite frankly, the integrity of this city. Despite knowing about Patty directing the theft of multiple Aaron Stepien signs, our city's mayor, Mr. Barich, continued to endorse her, and even used the Optimist Club email roster to recruit support for someone he knew had cheated and gotten caught. We can all recount the valiant illegal efforts taken by Jim O'Neill to silence me from providing this information to the parents and voters prior to November 8th, which unquestionably interfered with a fair and transparent election. Because this community felt with reasonable conviction that Officer Travis Martinez had communicated with Patty on the night Mary was arrested, we FOIAed his text messages, but were only provided irrelevant texts regarding prior meetings. Herein lies another problem. Information requested by the public from our city regarding the integrity of our city's leaders was intentionally withheld. We now know from the police report that yes, in fact, Patty and Officer Martinez were in contact the night of the crime and subsequent morning. Those text messages were not released as is required by law pursuant to the FOIA that was made. Let's recount what happened together. On Monday, October 17, while driving, Patty noticed there was an Aaron Stepien campaign sign blocking her sign at a personal property where both candidates had permission to place their signs. Houlihan stated that she became upset, called Mary Bell, and told her, quote, Mary, there's another sign to be taken, end quote. The PD explained to Patty the laws pertaining to the removal and theft of other person's property. The officer further explained that even though she didn't take the signs herself, she could be culpable for directing Bell. Mary Bell was employed by her campaign and worked for Patty. When an employer instructs an employee to commit a crime, they are both held legally responsible. Why does it matter? Why does any of this matter? Character matters. It does. Integrity and good standing are traits most reasonable people want and desire of their board members. And to set a good example, you know, for the kids. If little Johnny cheats to get that A on a test, he can now say, but our board member did the same with no consequence. Touché. As such, tonight, this community feels because she is unfit and should be disqualified from holding public office, I am calling on the resignation of Mrs. Patty Houlihan.

I've already given you one warning. I'm gonna ask you to step out. I'm gonna ask you to step out. Thank you. All right, up next we have Greg Britton.

Yeah, Ms. Hollihan won the election and Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France race. They both cheated to do that. They were able to strip Lance Armstrong of his title. Unfortunately, there's no legal mechanism to strip Ms. Hollihan of her board membership before the next election in four years. Now, if she had integrity, she'd resign. Of course, if she had integrity, she wouldn't have stolen the signs in the first place. So I wouldn't count on her resigning.

Can we please, the audience, can we just please leave only the public, the person addressing the board? Thank you.

Children need good education to prosper. The republic needs informed citizens. and a nation needs to be able to pass on its culture, its tradition, its history in order to survive. And in every one of those elements, the government-run schools are failing. I was watching outside before I could get in here, and you were all patting each other on the back, giving each other pay raises for the wonderful job that you're doing. And you look at the latest set of test results, By California's own dumbed-down standards, you've got 51% who are proficient in reading, 35% proficient in math, 65% aren't, and only 29% are proficient in science. And that deserves raises? Really? It doesn't. But because you have government money, you have taxpayer money, you can keep giving each other raises without having to perform, without having to improve the quality of the services that you provide because you're a government agency. In the private sector, we have to get out and convince customers to buy our goods and services. You guys just get more money from the taxpayers every year producing lousy results like that. When I was here previously, you were all, Big Don LaPony Show, basically saying, well, Redlands doesn't suck as bad as everyone else. And that's probably true. But these kind of results are unacceptable. Aside from the moral disqualification of Ms. Holohan up there, You're all failing your duties by producing these type of results year after year after year without improvement. The California government-run schools from 69 to 2018 increased real after inflation per student spending by 244%, and that's what we get. Thank you.

Up next, we have Paula. Paula, ready?

Good evening. My name is Paula Reddy. I'm a resident of Redlands Unified School District. I have two children who graduated from Rev in 2004 and 2014. And I currently have grandchildren that attend Mentone Elementary and Clement Middle School. I'm here tonight to speak in support of the Board of Education member Patty Hollihan. My children and now my grandchildren have attended Redlands School since 2000. I stay concerned and involved in Redlands Unified School District. my son is now 26 he's high functioning autistic and several times over the years i came and addressed the board to express my concerns regarding the need for some lacking supports for children with special needs When I spoke, Ms. Hollihan stayed engaged and intently listened as I spoke. She did the same for the other parents expressing similar concerns. After the meetings, I was contacted by district employees to try and resolve our issues. Patty is now serving her well-deserved fourth term on the board. She's involved and cares about the students and the district employees. She has my full support and the support of my family. In addition, I would like to remind you that the LGBTQ community, communities of minorities, should be respected and protected from the hateful rhetoric being aired in our community. Please recognize these people for what they are, malcontents whose only purpose is to cause trouble. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next, we have Olga Romero.

Good evening, board members. My name is Olga Romero. I am the parent of a student who attends Redland Unified, currently enrolled in special education. First, I would like to take the time to thank Mr. Arellano for taking the time back in October to call me and hear my concerns and suggestions. Thank you, Mr. Arellano, for also implementing some of my suggestions. It's nice to hear the board acknowledge students in special education and also hear what they are working on as well as their accomplishments. The reason I am here today is to ask the board to please approve a budget for all Redlands Unified Special Education classrooms. Our students are in need of updated materials, supplies, books, and equipment. At every board meeting, there's a lot of talk in regards to inclusivity. The word gets thrown around a lot, even today. Some of you board members have taken pride and boasted of how inclusive you are. However, when it comes to inclusivity, you shouldn't pick and choose who are you going to be inclusive with. Did you know that special education kids at Clements School are not allowed to have breakfast with other students? Did you know they are allowed to eat once all the other students have already ate? Board members, does that sound like inclusivity to you? Because it doesn't to me. I have asked in the past that board members visit our classrooms. Please consider my request to visit our special education classrooms and speak to the teachers to get a better understanding of what materials and supplies are needed. Some classrooms really do need renovations. Board members. Please take into consideration what I have said today. Put together a nice budget and do it as soon as possible. I know you're working on special education, but three years is too long. Our kiddos are in need now. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next, Nicole Prasad.

Hello board. My name is Nicole Prasad and I've been coming here for 10 months and I appreciate your time. The reason why I'm here is for our mission statement. Our students will be empowered with knowledge and commitment necessary to confront the challenges of a changing world as they become leaders of the 21st century. Change is here. The virus is here. Unhealthy people are dying and there's still no health and wellness committee. There's still no boxes removed from our kitchen. We'd rather store paper than let our our CNS cook from scratch. So when I sit here today, it's because I'm a loving parent. I want to be a responsible parent, and that means getting involved. need to be aware of my surroundings but i've come here for 10 months and it wasn't until the 10th month that you even acknowledge me now i don't know about everybody here but i've given you apple opportunity i've come to meeting after meeting sat quietly and spoken when spoken to I want you to care about health and wellness. You can't perform technology and innovation without being healthy. What is the point of teaching such advanced technology if kids aren't able to use it further in their life? I do want to take Mrs. Renler, though. I appreciate you taking the time to call me. I appreciate that I was able to meet your family last month and I could feel the warmth that you have as a parent and a grandmother and your grandson is so adorable. I'm here for love and less division. I'm here to communicate and make change. It doesn't make sense to argue when we can communicate. If we all came together, this ugliness that is happening wouldn't be happening. We don't live in a fair world. But I ask you to just think about what everybody's saying tonight, because even though I don't agree with what everybody says, I can see some truth and some lies. And connecting with these folks is going to make your job easier. No one's forcing you to be up there. But I would like to see change. I don't think I've been dishonest. I don't think I've caused commotion here, but I still haven't gotten the respect of everybody reaching out to me. And that's important to me as a parent.

Thank you. Up next, Braxton Foley. I'm sorry, unless you have a card, only Braxton would be able to address the board.

All right, I didn't plan a speech because I have things to do, because I am a student in this school system. But I was really taken aback because it's not just the books you guys put in the library that I've already brought up, which luckily at least two members have reached out to me about. I've tried taking them out. I've gave letters to the principal and the librarian, like suggested. Nothing has been done yet. I thank you, Ms. Rendler and Jim, for that, at least reaching out to me. But a member on the school board, I'm not going to address anyone specifically, has been funding a group that post things about me. I don't know if you could see this. Calling me baby Hitler and a future wife beater. That's what... This person that cares about our children and cares what is happening to us is doing. And you guys are all worried over here with the masks on about the minority group, the LGBTQ children. Those children are so discriminated against that every single teacher has a rainbow flag in their classroom and has a pride pin on their suit. I'm kind of confused because the only people that are being discriminated against in this school system are the people that are fighting against this and showing this. And for me personally, I'm fine. I could take the heat from Ms. Houlihan or whatever. I'm not offended by it because I've been targeted a lot for my beliefs and stuff that I've tried to put in the schools. That is perfectly fine, but I am tired of the narrative that this minority group is being discriminated against and they are the ones in real danger and we are threatening their children when, again, the only people being targeted are people that speak out when all the teachers talk about CRT, critical race theory, the LGBTQ agenda, and they're not being discriminated against, but every other person that holds a little bit different belief and doesn't fall exactly in line with what some of the people on this board believe are discriminated against. I thank you for your time, and I ask Ms. Wuhan to resign for attacking children and committing crimes by stealing signs and paying people to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Braxton. At this time, I'd like to acknowledge receipt of emails from the following individuals. Candy Olsen, Chad Olsen, Jared Gustafson, and Laurie Ann Dahl. All board members have received copies of these emails. Up next, it's time for board member comments. Michelle, you want to go ahead and go first?

I want to welcome everybody back to school and I hope you have a great semester. Hope your holidays were wonderful and filled with family and friends and lots of love. Also want to thank Jamie and Mr. Coles again. Great presentation and I will definitely be going to a few schools to check out what they're doing. I don't know. I think that's all I have. That's all I have. Thanks. Oh, actually, I'm sorry. So I voted no on the raise for the board, because I'll end. Last year, I donated. Excuse me, I'm talking. I'm talking. Thank you. Last year, I donated my portion of the raise to benefit all students. I donated to REP. This year, I'll be looking for another thing to donate to in the district with the raise portion. So just wanted to go on record. Thanks. Thank you.

Mr. Vara?

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., since his birthday's coming up in a couple of weeks, I want to repeat a quote that I mentioned at the last board meeting. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Dr. Martin Luther King, thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Neill?

Thank you. I wanted to share with my board colleagues and the staff that tomorrow, I went to a workshop today and discovered that tomorrow is Human Trafficking Awareness Day, globally. And human trafficking, of course, is considered a modern form of slavery, if you will. It's a serious issue, not only in the world, but certainly in San Bernardino County. I downloaded some of the information that we learned at the workshop today. It's an illegal act that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain labor or sex. I found it interesting that the speaker said that a lot of people that are selling flowers on the corners are victims of trafficking. They're earning money to give back to the cartel or someone who's forced them into labor. Trafficking victims usually experience physical or psychological abuse, of course. And the worst part about it is that trafficking can involve young kids. And there's even evidence that some parents traffic their own kids, which I think is deplorable. I can't imagine it. So tomorrow... Interestingly enough is where blue day. It's a global event and if you wear blue, it's that you are sending the message of trafficking awareness and I know our district is looking into things that we can do and in getting the news out and Helping our students become more aware of the impact possibilities of human trafficking so but on a higher note I wanted to do a shout out to Christine for another great issue of the e-news. Thank you so much for that, Christine. This is awesome. I wish everybody would have the opportunity. Well, they have the opportunity, but I wish they would take the time to read that newsletter. So good job on that. That monthly publication is an awesome publication that you're putting out. So thank you for that. Highlights a lot of the things that are happening in our district. Haley, it was an outstanding report, as always. Thank you so much. It shows that our schools are engaging students and offering a lot of opportunities for a lot of different things. So well done and well reported. Thank you for that. And I certainly hope that everybody enjoyed the holiday season, and I hope we together can feel a sense of optimism and enthusiasm for all that is to come in 2023. That's all I have tonight.

Thank you. I want to wish everyone a happy and a healthy and a safe new year. I'm committed to continuing my work here the next four years on the Redland School Board alongside with my fellow board members. Continue to work with parents and students, teachers, RTA, RESPA, and our amazing staff for the next four years. Thank you and good luck to CV on their mock trial.

All right, thank you. I'd just like to welcome everybody back to the new year and hope everybody got a good start to school. I know the weather's been rather miserable and probably may pick up very hard today, but I can't wait to see what the new year brings us all. So at this time, I will adjourn this meeting at 8.46 p.m. Thank you.