Board of Education — November 12, 2024

All right, I'd like to get this meeting started at 604. Thank you for coming out tonight. We have a special treat today. A young man by the name of Archer Anaya. Where are you, Archer? All right, here, I'm gonna, you know what? We're gonna do something a little early. Come up here, buddy. You're just going to stand right here for a little bit and say the pledge of allegiance. Alright so we're gonna we have a special treat today so TK student from Judson and Brown Elementary will be singing the national anthem followed by the Pledge of Allegiance everybody please stand. So look at the flag, Mom wants you to look at the flag while you sing. Go ahead, one, two, three, go.

and the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, And the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

Oh yeah

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Need to do that more often. That was great.

That was awesome, Archer. Great job, buddy.

Great job. Just a quick comment, Mr. President. Before we get started, thank you very much, Archer. And just so the audience knows, Mrs. Anaya is our distinguished five-star choral teacher at Citrus Valley High School. And obviously her little boy got his uh voice from her dad right yeah no okay very good but thanks for doing that tonight yes excellent job all right um next is there a motion to approve the agenda with flexibility bill moved second

Thank you. Discussion? Student preferential vote? Aye. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the October 22nd, 2024 Board of Education regular meeting?

Move to approve.

Second.

Discussion? Okay, student preferential vote. Aye. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Okay, opposed. Chair votes aye and so ordered. Okay, attendance. Jim.

Present.

Howdy, Michelle, Melissa, and I am here. So before we go on to the next part of the agenda, I'd like to make a special presentation to a young man that's not only been a mentor to me, But he's done an outstanding job on the board. We've been serving together for eight years. And I asked the superintendent and Jason to get a proclamation for this. I should have worn a tie. For this person. I'm going to miss you, Jim. So we have a – I didn't think I was going to be this emotional. We have a – thank you.

All right. All right. Right now, Archer is upstaging you right now. I know he is.

Hold on. I just need some water. Water helps me get me less emotional. Okay, so we have a proclamation from Senator Ochoa Bo's office, and William Boyd is going to be here to present the proclamation to Jim. Okay, thank you.

Good evening, my name is Will, I'm with Senator Cho-Cho Boggs' office and on behalf of the Senator, I would like to say thank you for your service to the community. Education is super important, I can stay here all night and talk about how important that is and how important your leadership is to the Redlands Unified School District. So on behalf of the Senator, in recognition of your warm hearted spirit and service to the community, we are inspired by your work ethic. Motivated by your leadership and humbled by your selfless service. Thank you for your expertise as a Redlands Unified School District Board Member. You are deserving of the highest accommodation. Presented on this 12th day of November 2024, signed Rosalicia Chobog, Senator, 23rd District.

We'll take a quick picture as soon as we're done with the second presentation.

I also have recognition from Assemblyman Ramos, who would like to present this certificate of recognition to Mr. James O'Neill. On behalf of the California State Assembly, it is my privilege to present you with this certificate of recognition for serving eight years and numerous roles in the Redlands Unified School District Board of Education. I commend your dedication to education and positive youth development throughout the Redlands Unified School District Board of Education. Thank you for all of your efforts throughout your tenure. from the office. And on behalf of the Board of Education, we have what is timeless is this clock. Every time you look at it, I want you to think about all of the wonderful things you did for our district, not just as a board member, but also when you were a principal for us and everything that you did. We're going to call on you, Jim, because your expertise is something that we're going to need for many more years. Thank you for everything you've done for us.

And one, two, three. And one, two, three.

In closed session this is what I can report out of closed session is that Jim was making us laugh quite a bit during closed session Yeah, no. Alrighty. So moving on to public participation, this section of the agenda is meant for any member of the public to address the board on anything that falls under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education, but before We begin, we need to acknowledge that we have received emails and I'm just going to name the initials from C.L., from R.F.T.A.W.A.S.N.L., Al Junior. So these will be reflected in the published minutes of the meeting. So if there are cards, So here we go, community input. Mr. Cabral, could you go ahead and read community input before we call people up?

This is the time that any member of the public may address the board on anything that falls under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education. Provide the person submits a completed registration card to address the board. The registration card to address the board forum to the clerk of the board or his or her designee prior to the time the chairperson calls the item for the board's consideration. This is not meant to be a debating period. Complaints and problems relating to policy matters will be referred to the superintendent. The person wishing to address the board shall when recognized by the chairperson of the board step up to the podium Microphone and announces or her name the chairperson shall in the interest of facilitating the business of the board Limit the amount of time which a member of the public may use in addressing the board to three minutes Unless the chairperson or a majority of the board determines that a different limit is appropriate Thank you first up Valerie Tabor

Thank you for allowing me time to speak today. I wanted to express disappointment in the district for finding information on Measure D to be worth talking about and providing information on, but not the school board, which is arguably just as vital to our community. The district knew how vital this election was and provided no information. It should be the district's duty every election cycle to share information about school board elections and engage our community. There are a lot of other things that I could say, but as a therapist, I don't find shaming to be a helpful approach. So rather than taking that route, I would rather focus on our students. To our trans youth, our queer youth, I want you to know that you're not alone. And if the next school board does what we fear they will do, I want you to know that you have rights as students. You have a whole community behind you. Queer and trans adults were all once queer and trans children. And this district won't change that by removing pride flags or creating forced outing policies. Lastly, I would like to thank the current board president Alex Barra and my current representative Jim O'Neill. Your hard work and dedication to our students is seen and it's appreciated. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Michael Pazner.

Thank you, Michael Pazner. I just wanted to take this opportunity to provide thanks to the board members. Just wanted to acknowledge Ms. Holohan, Ms. Aya Quintero. I look forward to your continued hard work and efforts on the board. It is noticed, it is appreciated, and look forward to you continuing. Mr. Vara, I know your race hasn't been called. My fingers are crossed and we are hoping against hope that you pull this out because your contributions to the board are too long to list and I really hope that you get the opportunity to continue to serve the community. Mr. O'Neill, you are my representative and I want to thank you for all of your hard work. It is noticed, it is appreciated and I don't have the words to describe how much you will be missed. I am very fearful about your replacement. I fear that these board meetings are going to become more dramatic than an episode of The Real Housewives. And I am not looking forward to that. I really am not. Finally, Ms. Rendler, I haven't forgotten about you. I see you. I appreciate your efforts. I know you have kids' best interests at heart, even if we disagree on various topics. I urge you, just like the last speaker, to keep all the students in your heart. They are all doing the best they can, even if they pray differently than you do, if they love differently than you do. These kids need your support. They need all your support. And I am very fearful about what is to come. I think you may play a pivotal role in the next board. So I really urge you, before all the Real Housewives drama begins, to take some time and reflect on how much those students need you and how important your role is going to be in this next board. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Becca Spear Dubious, did I say it right?

My name is Becca Spence-Dobias and I am an RUSD parent and volunteer and a local Girl Scout leader. You'll hear from them also tonight. I'm also enrolled in a teacher credential program and so I have many reasons to be invested in our local schools and as many to be afraid for them and for public education as a whole in this country. I'm here to thank the current board for their service. You've made the best decisions for our students and been courageous in the face of criticism and very real danger. Thank you. Michelle, as the previous comment said, a lot is in your hands. I do believe that you have the best interests of students in mind, and I really ask that going forward that you be brave as well. It's your obligation. A lot rests on your shoulders to support our community. And I know that this will be scary, but that if you do, the community will support you too. Thank you all for your service and your time.

Thank you. And now we have Girl Scout Troop 636.

Okay. Hi, Redlands School Board. My name is Sofia Chavez and I'm here with Sophie Sundl, Cora Dawson, and Isa, what's your name? Teo. And some other members of Girls Out 636. We're here tonight to encourage more funding and resources for our school libraries and librarians. So, do you want to start?

Do you want me to start?

Can you move the mic a little bit lower

We need multilingual books for many reasons. One of them is that not everybody understands English. Another reason is that some people are learning a new language, so they need to study and be able to put in the effort. As someone who is also bilingual, I know it's very important to understand that if we don't have any different language books, then it's way harder to learn a new language. I'm also not saying we should only have kindergarten multi-language books. We need books at different reading levels because then we can have a book with a reading level that meets our needs.

So I think we should have more money.

I think we should have more money for our school librarians because with that money they can have more school events to encourage kids to read. Some events could include weeks where students explore new genres of books to find new interests, reading competitions where students can earn prizes for reading, and host family events to encourage family literacy. Lastly, we would like to encourage more school library funding so our school librarians can purchase devices that students without devices at home can use. Our libraries currently allow students to rent out devices, but when they run out, students are put on a waiting list and can't do their homework at home. So thank you for your time.

Thank you. And we will work on getting some extra books. You ladies are correct. Alrighty, next we have a student trustee report and we have Ethan and Aubrey from Redlands East Valley High School. We're glad you guys are here today. Would you like to go ahead and give us your report?

Yes, so this week at the Redlands E Academy on Thursday they are hosting their family dodgeball night from 4 to 6 p.m. E Academy's annual performing arts night will be hosted at the Blackstone Theatre on December 12th at 6 p.m.

I work a lot of events and that's always one of the ones that impresses me the most for a variety of reasons.

Over at Citrus, starting last week, their yearbook team has been really focused on taking pictures of clubs and individual black hawks who actively participate.

This this weekend three students from Citrus Valley's choir program Got to perform in the Southern California Regional Honor Choir a huge congratulations to Ryan Moreno Thomas Vasquez and eat and Edwin Val Seavie is also planning an I applied day on Wednesday November 20th to celebrate all seniors who have applied for college so far this year Over at RHS, their speech and debate team has their annual showcase on November 20th at 6 p.m. in the Grace Mullen Auditorium. RHS students enter free and general admission is $5.

The RHS music program is also having their annual Christmas concert on December 4th in the Clock Auditorium.

And now over to our home turf at Redlands East Valley. This weekend, five students from our choir program No shade. Got to perform in the Southern California Regional Honor Choir at the University of Redlands. Congratulations to Christian Armenta, Nina Brown, Aiden Gonzalez, Hayden Reyes, and Jackson Sweeney for their incredible performance.

Also this weekend, our seniors were finally able to paint their senior parking spaces after some struggle with construction.

Just a few delays. The Blackstone Players' fall play is Little Woman and will be December 6th through the 8th, and the instrumental music concerts are on December 9th and 10th. You have a board meeting on the 10th, but you can go to the one on the 9th. Oh, it's been moved. You don't have a board meeting on December 10th, so if you're not there, I will judge you.

This Saturday our Red Lindsey High Marching Band will compete in the Division 2A prelims at Walnut High School at 6.45 p.m finals on November 23rd in Long Beach.

And next weekend our cross country teams will compete in the southern section prelims and varsity wrestling will compete in the shadow hills tournament.

This Saturday our varsity cheer and song teams will compete in the USA southern section regional at Summit High School.

Lastly for all of our high schools. We finally have a date for our biannual Genesis dance February 21st from 7 to 11 p.m. At the UK performing arts center And that's all from us tonight

All right, great job, thank you very much. So no association reports from Redlands Teacher Association, Redlands Education Support Professionals Association, and Redlands Administrative Personnel Association. So we're going to go on to board committee reports. Does anybody have anything to report?

Just have not a report from rep because I missed the meeting.

Sorry Jennifer But I do want to congratulate all the principals and teachers who are receiving their grants tonight Their reports Mr. President, I'm gonna attend the parks and rec meeting Thursday and I'll email in the results of that so that you can discuss it at the next board meeting.

That's an M3.

Just send it to all and whoever needs to see it can read it. Alrighty. Okay Jim.

Board comments. Who would like to go first? No, that's that. Okay, Patty.

Why not? First I would like to say we have these little says for more for the librarians that we can get furniture out there. Have you seen this all of you? Raise your hand. Doug, I think are these back there? No, they're supposed to be back there. That's over there customer. I'll make sure voting for your teacher It's for new furniture and I want to make sure that everyone gets that so You can vote every day, I believe No, you can't well they won't know you can vote once per browser So get on your phone get on your laptop get on your iPad. Let's just give a new furniture in there and And then I want to thank those who attended the State of the District. It was great to see our ROTC students at work. I hope the information that was provided helped. And if not, take the survey to provide us with your input. That would be great. And then went to a few football games. Went to Rev CV, CV victorious. Went to CIF playoff game with CV, not so victorious. But there's always next year. So we're looking forward to next year and appreciate everything we have and Then just on a side note. I'd like to thank Alex and Jim for serving over the past eight years. It's been a pleasure to serve with both of you you both came in together you both departing together and I appreciate everything you guys have done and And I will see you around and please make sure that you continue to support in any way that you can. I know you will because you're a parent, Alex, and Jim, just because you're so close to Moore that you will continue to hang out there and let us know what's going on. But sincerely, thank you for everything that you have done for the district and for the last eight years. I appreciate it. And then just everyone have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. May you be with your families when you spend, may you spend some time together. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Jim.

Thank you. Well, first of all, I didn't expect this recognition tonight. Didn't want this recognition tonight. But I appreciate it, and I'm humbled by it. So I've caught that emotional bug from you, Alex. So anyway, thank you so much. And it's been a lot. I would like to ask permission. Mr. Cabral, if I could read an email that I would like sent out to staff tomorrow on my behalf. But maybe you should listen to it first. It's giving raises. Yeah. So before I launch into that, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated what you brought to our district, a state of the district event. And Jason and Lisa both did fantastic jobs. And you, of course, leading the charge is a wonderful way to talk about our district and bring focus on things that are factual and things that are actually happening and plans that we have and you have in leading our district. So thank you very much for doing that, and I'm glad that people were able to attend. I hope that as you continue that becomes an RUSD tradition that more and more people will participate in that and perhaps Christine can help broadcast that on streaming or something to get it out to more people because everybody who's involved in this district needs to hear from the chief and and know what direction we're heading and be proud of what we're accomplishing. So thank you for doing that. Our student trustees, I think as I reflect back, excuse me, that's not a motion, that's just frog in my throat. As I think back of things that we have done together as a board, Bringing students on board as trustees student trustees has been one of those things that we should be very very proud of and you can see the quality of students that we have that come and represent their campuses, so I Thank you for a great report tonight We're excited about that moving forward, and I know this the next board will also have a based on just what you've been able to accomplish so far, we'll have that vision going forward for student trustees to be regular participants in everything that we do as a board. So thank you for that. So I'm gonna try to get through this. I'll have Patty read it if I can't get through it, but I prepared, I was on a plane, I had a lot of time to think about and reflect about what I was gonna try to say tonight. And this is what I came up with. So serving our communities in this capacity for two terms has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. And it's been a long life, so it's a long time. During these past eight years, I have personally witnessed an amazing and dedicated team of administrators, teachers, classified staff, parents, students, and of course my colleagues here. They're always striving to create an environment where our students have the opportunity to grow, learn, be safe, and thrive. I have also seen firsthand how the dedication of our teachers and support staff shapes the future, instilling values of curiosity, kindness, responsibility, creativity, and perseverance in the hearts of our students. The passion that each one of our employees brings to Redlands Unified continuously impressed me and inspired me. as I was given an opportunity to see what most people don't get to see, the big picture. As I leave this role, I want to express my deepest thanks not only to my fellow trustees for their unwavering commitment, collaboration, integrity, grit, ethics, and mutual respect. It's been a true honor to serve alongside these people who share a deep love for our community and as children. We may not always have agreed. Oh, we didn't always agree on every issue, but we always work towards that same goal and we'd come together where we would focus on outcomes for success and safety of every one of our 19,300 students. to Mr. Cabral, to Superintendent Cabral. I'm one fifth of the reason that you're here. And I am very thankful for you and for that. And thank you for your tireless work, your positivity, and commitment to excellence for our district. I am confident that your dedicated leadership and endeavors will continue to elevate Redlands Unified to a new high as you begin a new chapter in our history. To the teachers and support staff, thank you for all the love, care, patience, and dedication you put into working with our students. With every event, performance, lesson observations, school activities, every one of those things that I was able to attend as a board member. I was always impressed by the remarkable interactions and outcomes of your endeavors. So I'll never forget that. To the parents and families, thank you for your involvement and support as they are invaluable and essential to steering the countless educational opportunities that we offer toward successful outcomes. You are our partners in this educational journey and your commitment to your children's education only serves to strengthen our schools. To the students, you are the future. And it is for you that we strive to build a better, more inclusive and innovative education environment. We stand behind you and believe in your potential. I am confident that Reynolds Unified School District will continue to thrive and I look forward to celebrating all the incredible things that will be accomplished in the next few years. I also look forward to participating in the public comment portion of the agenda during board meetings. Something I've never done before. Okay, I'll work on being more brief then. Well, thank you all for the opportunity to serve in this capacity and for your support and for the trust you have placed in me during the past eight years. I have learned so much. You're never too old to learn something. And I have learned so much about our district and our communities. And everyone should be proud and impressed with the countless actions and decisions that take place every day. to make our schools work for students. It's really amazing when you see it. In this era of disinformation and misinformation, I would like to encourage everyone to read our communication department's award-winning family and community e-news. It's my favorite publication because it is informative, uplifting, and factual. So with that now I get emotional. Thank you very much The plane landed Thank You Jim Michelle

Good evening. At the end of last month, I had the opportunity to stop by Orange Wood High School and visit with Carly Norris. She walked me around the school, why we dreamed of all the great things that can be happening at Orange Wood, as like the gym that Christian wanted. We talked about that. Thank you, Carly, for showing me the great things happening on your campus. I attended the fall festivals at E Academy and Lagonia, had a wonderful time at both schools. Two very different events with lots of families and tons of fun. Thank you to Dr. Sarah Burton and Jeff Im for the invitation. I appreciated it. The state of the district that was well attended had a great time. If you missed it, you missed some great and important information about all the things our district has to offer our students. With this being our second year, I know it will just get even better in the future. I miss the football. I miss going to the football games. I'm sad that none of our teams are further in the playoffs It's not that I'm a football fan because I know nothing about football. You can ask these people that go to the games But I just love that the community is out there rooting for our schools and I love to just see all the kids there It's it's fun looking forward to another wonderful Superintendent's Award night next week at CV on Tuesday and And I want to thank Jim and Alex for their time on the school board. Alex, as a trustee, you've given eight years of service to families in Redlands Unified, all while really having to take care of families in Rialto at the same time. So thank you very much for all of that. And Jim, you've been in education for many, many, many, many years. Being a teacher and principal to a school board trustee, The dedication that EO and I wanted to also say, as you remember, I was not a big fan of doing the student trustee thing at the beginning, but thank you for pushing on that one because it's working. I love it. So thank you. The dedication each of you have to the students has not gone unnoticed. Although we have disagreed many, many times over, I appreciate your insight and your ideas. And thank you both for the time you have put in for the betterment of Redlands Unified. So I hope everybody has, actually I also want to thank Michael for your words. Michael Pazner, thank you very much. I always do everything with kids in mind. And Bella, same thing for you. No, it wasn't Bella, who was it? Who was it Becca? No, I think I missed the name on that one. Yeah, I missed the name Rebecca. So thank you. I do take students to heart. I take this all to heart, everything I do here. I've been doing this for 34 years in different capacities here in the district, so students are always the center of everything for me. I just want everyone to have a blessed Thanksgiving break, and we will see you all in December. Thank you.

Thank you. Ethan?

Not much. I just want to say that for as much as Jim would like to recognize the whole board as Creating our position and giving us this opportunity and it really was but so much of what you do for us is all on you all of those meetings and all of those and making us feel included and sending a billion emails that I think maybe half of us read and We appreciate all of it, and it never goes unnoticed. And this is an opportunity that I am incredibly grateful to have. I know all of us are. And over the last year and a half of me being able to sit across from you at this desk. I'm just really grateful for it and I want to say thank you for everything. Also thank you Alex for welcoming me and welcoming all of us and for being present for as long as I've been on this board. My very first meeting was when you became president and it's been a great opportunity to watch you on this board and learn from you all and I'll carry that with me for the rest of my life. Thank you.

Okay, I'm up. I won't comment on what's been going on in the past because it has been a horrible month. It has just been nonstop, one thing after another, and you know what, I'm going to look forward. And as stressful and as hectic as the last month has been, I'm going to look forward to spending time with family and friends. And this is where I cry.

Okay.

Alex, I want to thank you for all the times I reached out to you for help, for all the advice you've given me over the last four years. We've had our own moments where we didn't always agree, but there was always mutual respect. And at the end of the day, we managed to come together to get the work done. You've been an ally when I needed you, and I know you'll continue to be a supportive friend. to Yadira and your beautiful family. It has been so wonderful spending time with you and witnessing the love you guys have for each other. And I can definitively say, now that I've hung out with you guys so much, that Emma is the best bara. Without a doubt, she is. To Mr. O'Neill. Well, I would love for you to stay on. I really would, believe me. I know Marcy would agree. It's time for you to move on. And I've appreciated your support and company throughout this year. You've been my conference buddy and my lunch companion. Not enough. I've appreciated your support and company throughout the years. You've been a great friend and colleague and I thank you for always being there for me. Please enjoy your real retirement and I will run into you at Disneyland at some point in time. The one thing I will say that the real motivation behind this board is and always will be students and staff. Keeping them safe while consistently working towards a welcome and inclusive environment for everyone. This world is not perfect and neither is our education system, but love really is behind it all and it will continue to be as long as I sit here. Thank you.

Thank you.

I already talked to Aubrey.

Aubrey didn't want to say anything unless you change your mind, Aubrey. Do you want to give anybody a shout out? Your family out there viewing? There you go.

I feel like I'm being put on the spot. No, I'm brand new here. I've never done this before, but I am very grateful to be here. I want to thank you, Jim, and I want to thank you, Alex. I'm very grateful to be here. Thank you.

Thank you. Before I get started, I'm going to embarrass my family. Can you all please stand? Jonathan and Julia as well, can you all please stand? This is my wife, Yadira, my oldest daughter, Brianna, her boyfriend, Jonathan, my son, Julian, and his girlfriend, Julia. Thank you guys for being here tonight. Love you. Oh, and Emma just left. She had to go to work. She works. Oh, no, no. Oh, she went to band. She went to band practice. She plays the snare drums at Citrus Valley High School. Uh, thank you for being here tonight. I'm gonna keep my comments short, uh, very short So I just want to say really quick. I'm honored to have served as a redland school board member and Michael i'm i'm praying that you know last minute something happens But just in case it doesn't I want to say goodbye I've been honored to have served as a Redlands school board member and I'm proud to say that I'm leaving Redlands Unified and Jim can attest to that because he says Alex we're leaving Redlands better than you know when we came in and that's true Jim We are. We've been a team together and there's a lot of things that have happened, that have improved, that have ejected us more into the future when it comes to innovation. when it comes to meeting the needs of our students. So I just feel very comfortable knowing that it is a better place than when we initially started. With that, Mr. Cabral.

Thank you everybody who did come to the State of the District. That is an annual event that I'm really excited about and we had almost 200 participants this year and next year we hope to make it even bigger. This Friday I'll be at the play at Citrus Valley. Looking forward to Lord of the Flies. Anybody wants to join me? We'll see you there. Archer, I think Archer's probably at McDonald's right now. Hopefully, he already went to McDonald's. Maybe he's on his way to, but he did a great job. Thank you so much. We thought we would honor our veterans, and so that was one way to do that. Thank you to Ms. Anaya for helping us with that. We did celebrate and recognize that yesterday, but any veterans out there, thank you so much for your service. And I know that we had a lot of RUSD families and friends and some of our students who are currently serving, so thank you. Last, I want to say thank you to our outgoing board members. Jim, it's really been an honor to work with you, and I am going to miss you. And thank you for hiring me. I love it here. I look forward to doing many, many great things in the years to come. And Alex, also thank you for hiring me. I think it's been a wonderful experience. Thank you for what you've done for our community. As customary with presidents after serving a year, we have a recognition for you. And I'd like to present that to you now. And this is a presentation that will allow you to use the gavel anytime you want to. I should have probably opened this. It's like Christmas. But this is on behalf of the Board of Education to Mr. Alex Varro for your time, not only as a board member, but more specifically, having served here as the president for us this past year. We appreciate your service, sir. Geez Louise. I keep talking if you're going to be taking that long to open that.

Gracias. Actually, you can't use it. Wow, that's nice. It's okay.

It's attached, but you know what? I want you to be able to look at it and know that your leadership really made a significant difference here in the Redlands Unified School District Board.

Thank you.

I invite Picture, if you want your family to come up, we can all take a picture. Yes, yes.

All right. Come on up, family.

That concludes my comments, thank you.

All right, so now we're gonna have, oh my goodness. Jamie, take it away. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, before you take it away, Jamie. No, Jamie, go ahead, you can come up. I just wanted to excuse Ethan and Aubrey if you guys need to go do some work, and that way you can get started on your homework. Thank you for coming out today. Are you staying? Okay. Alright. Bye. Can we have a security walker out please? Thank you. Alrighty. So now, Jamie take it away and talk to us about the CASP scores.

Well, good evening, board members, Superintendent Cabral, cabinet, and all these guests. I guess I must start with saying it's very hard to present data after such meaningful, beautiful, and emotional words. And it's not lost on me, so just thank you. So here goes data. Many of you will recall that the last time that I presented data, it was on college course credits. And the college course credits revolved around AP, dual enrollment, and the CRIROP CTE credits that students can earn college for. Today is revolved around CASP, so this is the test scores. CASP obviously includes the SBAC that most of you are aware of, but CASP also includes the California Science Test and the LPAC, so I'm going to be giving some information on all of that. To illustrate, data is kind of like an onion, as Shrek would say. Today we're only going to be peeling back a few layers, I think mainly because most people wouldn't appreciate the time it would take for me to peel through all the layers of the onion. But rest assured, our staff, our teachers, administration, and educational services dig all the way through all the layers of the data that is presented and given to us from the state of California. So the first piece of data that I'm going to give you is probably the outer layer of the onion, which is basically the proficiency level of the percentage of students proficient on CASP. So this first one is English Language Arts. And you can see that in 2024, 50.38% of our students were proficient at or above standard in English Language Arts. this one breaks it down by the proficiency level. So you can see that there's standard not met, nearly met, met, and advanced or exceeded. I put for context 2023 right next to 2024, and you can see that it's almost identical to the previous year. Not even two-tenths of a point percentage difference. So you're going to see that almost as a theme for language arts. I brought more context forward. I gave you three years. This is 2022. That was the first year back from COVID. And you can see that in English Language Arts, 51.69% of our students were at or above standard. And you can see how it went from 23 to 24. So flat to a slight downward trend over the three years in English Language Arts. I want to remind the audience, though, that this covers 3rd through 8th and 11th, so it basically incorporates every single student in our district. So with that being said, oh, I also wanted to show you more context, Redlands Unified in context with the state of California. You can see that we're over 3% better than the state of California and about 10% better compared to the county of San Bernardino. To give you more context, though, we broke it down by grade level. And you can see how it's sort of a mixed bag how we compared this year to the previous year. The dark blue represents 2024, and the light blue represents 2023. And you can see that in grades 11, 7, and 5, it was actually a significant improvement between this year and the previous year. One of the things that we really like to look at is how do our students leave us. And we're really happy that three years in a row, we didn't show you the previous year, but three years in a row our 11th graders have improved actually quite significantly. More context is breaking this down by student groups. You know that our unduplicated student groups involve English learners, homeless and foster, and students with economic disadvantages. We also included special education there as well. And you can see that it's pretty much flat. Foster went down. But that's a difficult student group to really manage because of the transiency levels and it really changes throughout the course of the school year. So that's our student group in comparison. Moving to math, this was a two-tenth, a little bit more than a two-tenth improvement over 2023, but pretty similar when you break it down by the proficiency levels. Exceeded, met, nearly met, and not met, so it's pretty close. One of the things that we are very happy with, though, is this three-year trend. Although not huge, you do see a three-year clear improvement in mathematics. So I did want to show you that trend as well. Comparing to the state and county, you can see that we're about one and a half percent better than the state in math and, you know, about ten percent, again, better than the county for mathematics. Again, we broke it down by grade levels. As I mentioned a minute ago, one of the things that we really like to look at is how did the students leave us? You can see again that our 11th graders for three years in a row have shown significant improvement, and in some cases are better than pre-COVID levels. So that's a huge celebration for our high school levels. But other than that, again, a mixed bag, fifth grade and seventh grade, again, trending upward in those, and then a mixed bag on the other grade levels. Broke this down by student groups. You can see that homeless and foster is the one that struggled again in terms of comparison to the previous year. But those are the programs that we continue to focus on and use resources and strategies to address. So it's not without a lot of hard work and focus by our staff. This is one of the slides that I included last year that I really love to do. It's pointing out individual grade levels that showed tremendous growth. And it's fun for me to be able to actually publicly celebrate certain grade levels and sites. So for ELA Elementary, Judson and Brown, third grade improved 7.7%. Look at fifth grade though. Judson and Brown improved 27.2% over the previous year. Kimberley 3rd was 9.7% improvement. Kimberley 5th was over 10%. Mentone 3rd grade was 22.6% better than the previous year. Mariposa 5th, 17%. And McKinley 5th, 14% better than the previous year. So that's a huge celebration. For math, you have Judson and Brown at 5th, 17.09%, Kimberley 3rd, 7.3%, Kimberley 5th, 10.96%, Mentone 3rd, 7.1%, and Mariposa 5th, 32.41% increase over the previous year. Elementary math continued, you have Highland Grove at 6.5, Victoria 5th at 6.8, and Arroyo 3rd at 10.8%. So it's really kind of, I would say, a little deceptive to look at the entire Onion and just a 0.19% difference. You really need to start pulling through the layers to really see some really big celebrations from different schools and different programs and different grade levels. Secondary celebrations, E Academy 11th was 11%, Rev 11th was 5.8%, Orange Wood 11th was 6.3%, Clement 7th was 4.4%, and Moore 7th was 3.9%. And just a note on this secondary, it wasn't quite as dramatic, but their improvements have been very steady forward through the last three years since the return from COVID. For secondary math, you have Citrus Valley at 5.8, Redlands High School 7.3, Beatty 5.29, Clement 3.3, and more 8.95%. So those are some really nice celebrations for individual schools and grade levels. CAST stands for the California Science Test. So very similarly to SBAC, I gave you the same graph. It's the proficiency. So you can kind of see the difference between 23 and 24. But in the case of CAST, we actually see a nicer improvement from the previous year at 1.57 percent. To give you a three-year context, you can see that this is the best that we have ever done in CAST. We started at 32.27 in 2022, had a dip in 23, but a nice rebound for our highest CAST ever as a school district. Again, this includes 5th, 8th, and high school as well. Compared to the state and county, you can see that Redlands Unified School District exceeds the state and county for the science test as well. So that's always nice to have that context. The next one that we have is LPAC summative so that you can see there's also a slight increase, but an increase is an increase, and we're always looking for positive trends. You can see that 18.74% of our students were a level three or better for LPAC. I'm sorry, level four. So if you combine level three and level four, we're much better. So this is level four. Level four is significant because that's one of the criteria for redesignations. Here's a four-year comparison. 2021, we still did the CAST, even though it was a stay-at-home during COVID. So you can see a four-year comparison for CAST. We had a rebound over last year. nicely over 2021. There was a nice bump in 2022, but you can kind of see as we're tracking the years for comparison. The last thing that I wanted to show you was a really nice comparison compared to the state and county. And you can see that we're over 4 percent better than the state and the LPAC, and nicely over the county averages as well for LPAC. Before I close, I have to say that this does not come without so much hard work and dedication from my colleagues in that services and especially the site management teachers and staff. My wife is a second grade teacher at Highland Grove and I know she pours in daily, daily her heart and soul to the kids along with her co-workers and I just Want to say that even though some of these percentages are slight or gradual It's such hard work and love and dedication from the staff. So with that I would Like to end and open it up to any questions that you may have Thank you I have a question Can you provide for us our comparisons within the county? Are you talking about the different school districts? Yes, I can definitely do that. That's another layer of the onion, though, Patty.

Probably like Upland or some, you know.

For sure. We have a list that we like to compare to.

That would be great if you could. Thank you.

Anybody else? Jim?

That's OK. I'll yield to you. Go ahead. Ask your question. fast the cast science test Is there a reason we give that in 12th grade instead of 11th? Is that like a state thing or is it just preference?

That's a difficult one. The way the CAST works is you cannot give that test until the student has completed their last year of science. So in Redlands, it's very unique because a lot of our students take four years of science. So we know for sure that when we're giving it to 12th graders, we're giving it to them in their last year of science. We have debated working to move it to 11th grade. But that also poses problems, because you're taking a lot of AP tests. You're also taking the SBAC test. There's SAT. So there's a lot. There's pros and cons that we're really weighing to kind of play with that. But that's a good question.

Thank you. So the district benchmark tests that we give, I'm pretty sure that you've looked at the correlation between those benchmark tests and the results on the state tests. So are we not lined up? I mean, are the kids doing better on the benchmark tests than they are on the state tests, or do we still have that same percentage of pass rates?

These are great questions. These are like DOK 3 and 4 questions.

I only have a little bit of time left. I got to get these questions.

I would tell you that the one that we actually look for for correlation in terms of they did well on this test, which means they'll probably do well on this test, is actually STAR. When we do STAR, the company touts – this is sort of geeky science – a 0.8 correlation between performance in the STAR and performance on the SBAC. And we actually see that when we see the results. The district benchmarks are based on the – basically the blueprint for the actual SBAC. But because they're only given in increments of the standards that are taught at the time, It's really harder to take those as a whole and use that as a predictor. So we're only using benchmark exams as progress on the standards that were taught at the time.

So are there products out there or is there something that would serve as a better predictor of success? Because obviously if kids are not doing well on the benchmarks, They're intervening. Teachers are doing interventions and whatever to help them master those standards.

These are pretty deep questions. When we did the CFTs, there was a way using essential standards that we can create a correlation between those common assessments and the actual CST. It's a little different though with SBAC because remember on the SBAC students are only taking 20 to 25 questions for the entire test. So it's a computer adaptive test that sort of takes you through the different standards, claims, and targets. So we're not able to duplicate what we did back in the days when we were principals for CST. So I would be a little leery if a product was touting great correlation between what they sold and what our students did. So it's a little different on how we navigate that.

All right, so my last question.

Do you OK one or two?

One, hopefully. Do you OK one? They take it all on the computer. Do you find kids not doing as well with that format compared to?

I know Mr. Barrow brought this up last year. It's very difficult. It's hard. It's not easy. Third graders taking these. To combat that, you'd be surprised how proficient kindergartners are on the computer. There's something called an IAB, an interim assessment. block or program where you're actually getting into the CASP SBAC system and you're able to take the actual practice questions and use the supports and kind of navigate yourself through it. So our kids are quite adept to it. From my vantage point, it's routine and so we're not We're not seeing that as a disadvantage. And also remember that the results are standardized based on all students in the state of California. So they really adapt and adjust the scaled scores in a standardized way. So it's sort of apples to apples comparatively to the rest of the kids in California.

All right, you ready for this?

Hi Jamie, I have a question. Yes I don't know if I'm just reading this incorrectly or what but when you look at the graph that you do so in 2023 we have fourth graders and so you have that in 2023 45 They got 45. Okay, so say but then the next year they're fifth graders and they got 36 The next year they're sixth graders.

I mean like I don't okay if I I think I'm understanding what you're saying and You're kind of talking about the concept of a cohort. So these are different groups of kids. So when you see grade 3 here, 42%, that was all of the students in Redlands Unified School District last year that were in grade 3. In grade 4 42% that was all the students in Redlands Unified School to secure in grade 4 so Those are different groups, but what you're saying is for example Grade five, the blue, the light blue, those kids would have been grade four the previous year. So that's one of the things that we actually study. I'm glad you mentioned that. We actually study is sometimes you see a big jump in fifth grade, but that group might have been really high as fourth graders. So they're going to be good as fifth graders as well.

Yeah, so that one shows fourth grade, they did really well last year. And this year and fifth, they went down, but they still did well.

Yes.

You're showing still did better, but even though that group of kids maybe went down a little.

Yeah. You're always going to see a bit of a drop between fourth and fifth, and typically between seventh and eighth. Because in math especially, the concepts get a little more difficult. But definitely we want to see, We want the cohorts to perform similarly, or if not better, throughout the year.

But your data is basically just saying, in fourth grade, always, our kids do about like this, right? And seventh grade, always, they do about like this, right?

Oh, you're talking about the little dip?

Yes.

Yeah. You're always gonna see a dip in fifth grade and eighth grade and you're always gonna see a nice rebound in 11th grade Redlands Unified actually rebounds better than most in 11th grade and it's always fun for us to go to Cohort meetings and counties and so forth and they're always asking us. How do you do that? So, um You know, there's a typical 11th grade rebound, but ours is always a little bit better than most Thank you

Will not pick on you, Jamie.

I just have a few questions.

I've been watching him, right? That's not a few.

It's not a few. I know the answers to all of the questions that I'm going to ask you, but the reason I want to ask you is because I want the audience to understand what our students really have to go through. For example, what is the average expected percentage growth in the state of California for the CASP?

I'm not sure. Five percent.

Oh, per annually? Yes. What is it?

Five percent.

Ah, okay, good. So he knows what he's talking about. Okay, so if a special ed student who is two to five levels below grade level have to take the CASP test, and at what level do they have to take the CASP test?

Well, it starts at grade level, but it's computer adaptive, so it will kind of adjust to the student's performance level.

Right. And if you are a student that is two to five years below grade level and you take this assessment, how is the student feeling? Or you can assume how they're feeling.

It's very difficult, so one of the things that we do, which should be done statewide, is we employ designated supports. And designated supports are, I guess what we would say in the sort of traditional way, accommodations and modifications for students. for example Extra time on the test and large print they can listen to the questions on audio Text-to-speech things like that to provide them some assistance. But yes, it is very difficult for a student with special needs who's Well below their current grade level and what happens if we give them these accommodation?

accommodations or modifications Does is there any change in the way the test is counted? Yes

Designated supports, there are not. There are modifications that are sort of like level three that if you do give them, it does give them an advantage on the test, so that could change the results of their score. But most of the ones that we train do not affect their score. It's actually available for most students.

Okay, if you're an EL student and you're two to three grade levels below do they still have to take the CASP test?

They still do the test. There are actual designated supports for our English learners, such as Spanish translations. There are visual picture dictionaries and things like that. But again, it's still very difficult for English learners.

OK. If a student is new to the country, do they have to take the CASP test?

Yes they do.

If a student is homeless and struggling with meals, do they still have to take the CASH test?

Yes they do.

If a student is a foster student and has been placed in several foster homes and they feel abandoned and they struggle, do they still have to take the CASH test?

Yes they do.

If the CASP assessment was disaggregated by excluding the students who have these difficulties like our ELL students, our SPED students, our homeless students, our foster students, and our social economic disadvantaged students, would our scores look different?

Yes, I showed you the breakdown for student groups. And you can see for math, you can see that the foster was at 6% at or above standard. Homeless was better at 26%. Your special ed student group was at 12%. And your English learners was at 9%. So you can definitely see a difference between those student groups and the general, the overall student groups.

In the state of California, are teachers allowed to inform the parents that they can opt out of testing?

We provide a letter to all families every year. It's sort of like the CASP letter of notification. And in that letter, it does show that there's an option for parents to opt out.

Is this new or has it been in existence for a while?

It's been in existence, but we still do need to test 95% of our students, so it's not broadly advertised in normal ways.

So let me ask you this last question, and this is just on your opinion. Do you think it's fair that we test all of the students on the CASP assessment, even though we know they have all of these disabilities?

I... That's a difficult question. I have a lot of opinions on that, Mr. Barra.

I understand because of your position.

I do want to say that our teachers do a spectacular job of teaching grade level standards. They do a spectacular job of, at the very best of their abilities, providing designated supports to help the students be as successful as possible on these tests. So we do the very best that we can with what we're required to do by the state of California.

I agree with you, and I'll just end with this. I do not think that the CAST test really defines our students' ability, really does not define what they're capable of doing, and I think it's one of the poorest assessments that we have in the state of California, and I wish they would change it so that way we can actually get to the meat and potatoes of what our babies can really do. Thank you for your presentation today. okay um rep grants award jennifer uh let me see thank you do we jennifer more okay thank you mrs i'm sorry from the rep foundation come on down i'm the next lucky dog huh

Okay, I remember from last year that you're supposed to turn it on first. But maybe I don't know which button to push to turn it on. Anybody? What? Yeah, did it not get in?

Okay, we'll do it without.

Superintendent Cabral, cabinet, and members of the school board, on behalf of the Redlands Educational Partnership, I would like to thank you for allowing us to come and make this presentation this evening. My name is Jennifer Moore and I have the privilege of serving as president of the Redlands Educational Partnership. I am joined this evening by board members Mallory Mudge and Linda McLeod and would like to acknowledge the presence of one of our community partners, Jack Barton, from the Mathnasium of Redlands, who partnered with us to provide additional math-focused teacher grants this year. We really, truly appreciate our community partners. I was going to go over a little bit about the history of REP. I'm sure that most of you are already familiar with it. But I did want to review our mission, which is threefold. Making education a priority in the community, enhancing student learning opportunities, and our goal is to better prepare RUSD students to become contributing members of our society. Our objectives are to generate community support to promote, recognize, and stimulate excellence in education, enhance student education through enrichment programs, stimulate an atmosphere of creativity and respect for teachers, and encourage a supportive community and private sector relationship with schools. And we work very diligently as a board to meet these objectives and we value our partnership both with RUSD staff and administrators as well as our community partners including parents and other businesses. We are able to accomplish our support of the district through fundraisers, including Turkey Trot, which we are in the throes of right now. Hopefully you've seen our signs around town. We look forward to that every Thanksgiving morning. We begin in Sylvan Park. We also have a fundraising event in the spring. Our Harlem Wizards basketball event is a fun family activity for all to enjoy. And we thank our business and community partners, as well as rep supporters who give us donations through fall giving and payroll deductions, as well as individual donors who support our mission. Our programs include our AAA Academy, our evening of appreciation, and our focus this year is the primary grades, where we recognize and honor both classified and certificated staff, our Arts Alive student showcase, our Rescue the Instruments grant program, and what we're all here tonight for, our grants for teachers and grants for principals program. I would like to announce that we have donated this year $106,000 to the Redlands Unified School District through our grant program. We would like to recognize the winners of our Grants for Principles program. I would also like to note that we actually did not exhaust our budgeted funds for our Grants for Principles program. We didn't have as many principals apply as we could have given awards to. Our goal with the Grants for Principles program is to allow all of our students to be touched by our efforts, and that's why they're made available. Sadly only one school throughout the district did not receive funding either through our grants for principals or grants for teachers programs So we are proud to be able to touch at least Most of the students in the district and thank you very much for all of your applications. We were astounded at the creativity and the ability of our administrators and educators to recognize how they can provide an enriching, focused educational opportunity for our students, and we thank them for that. I would like their grants for teachers. You will also receive their checks. You'll receive with those some wonderful signs, and we would ask that you please have your teachers put those in their classroom windows or maybe on an office bulletin board to acknowledge that you have received this grant from REP. We really appreciate your partnership in that. From CRAM, we have Michael Laba. If you could come up if you're here and receive your checks and signs. And I think they want us to stick around for a photo at the very end. From Moore Middle School, Jenny Dierley. From Redlands High School, Wes Cullen. I would also like to announce that RHS was our largest teacher grant Recipient School as well. They were quick on the draw. They had some wonderful programs that they are funding. Great. Yes, if you wouldn't mind hanging out with us for just a minute so that we can get a picture at the end, that would be great. From Judson and Brown, Todd Rossi. From E Academy, Jeff Im. Victoria Blanca Patel. Orange Wood High School, Carly Norris. From Arroyo Verde, Michelle Linards. From Mentone, Molly O'Day. McKinley Jennifer Sherman. Beatty Kimberly Leung. I hope I didn't butcher that too badly. And from Kingsbury, Renee Canati. Congratulations to all our recipients. And if you wouldn't mind joining us for a photo, we would really appreciate it. Certainly. Mr. Barton, would you mind joining us for the photo? That would be great.

Christine, you want to go? Yes, please. Can I have some of you guys shift over to your left? Yeah. I have to see your face. OK.

Oh, can I get my other board member, Mallory? Yes. We were in joint speaking. No, no, no, no, no. If I have to shoot, where do you want to?

You took that. You also have Robin. Hold it. Check his little stuff. It's on yours now. There we go. Yay.

Alex, I can't see your face.

You're ready.

Thank you very much, Jennifer. That's amazing. It's a lot of money. So let's move on to business service consent items. Is there a motion to approve items 15A, consent items B through I?

So moved.

Thank you. Discussion? Student preferential vote? Aye. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Business services action items adopt ordinance number one 2024-1 of the Redlands Unified School District, levying special taxes within the Redlands Unified School District. Is there a motion?

Move. Second.

Thank you discussion Student preferential vote aye all those in favor say aye aye Opposed chair votes aye and so ordered adopt resolution number 21 2024-25 resolution of the Board of Education of the Redlands Unified School District declaring its intent to dedicate real property to the state of California through the Department of Transportation for state highway purposes. Call for public hearing on December 17, 2024 at 6 p.m. in the boardroom located at 25 West Lagonia Avenue, Redlands, California. Is there a motion?

So moved. Okay.

Thank you. Discussion? Student preferential vote? Aye. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Adopt resolution number 22 2024-25, resolution of the Board of Education of Redlands Unified School District deeming it necessary for Redlands Unified School District to exceed The 10% amount of an original contract authorized Jason Hill, Deputy Superintendent, Business Services to sign related documents on behalf of the board. Is there a motion?

Move.

Okay.

Thank you. Discussion? student preferential vote aye all those in favor say aye aye opposed chair votes aye and so ordered um approved the 2024 2025 board of education meeting dates um appendix Go ahead. Can I have a motion second michelle? All right discussion uh student uh preferential vote thank you all those in favor say aye aye opposed uh chair votes aye and so ordered designate tuesday december 17th 2024 6 p.m as a redlands unified districts board of education organizational meeting per education code section 5 0 1 7 3 5 1 4 3 and 7 2 0 0 0 c 2 a

Oh, moved. Second.

Discussion? I did have a question about that. Don't come to that one, Jim.

That's the question. That's not the question.

That's a statement. That replaces the originally scheduled meeting, correct? Yes. Yes. OK, right. Because people, that's a confusing point, so I just want to clarify with people.

December 10th.

All righty, can I have a motion?

Move.

Second?

We already did that.

Okay, good. Okay, so student preferential vote? Aye. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. Education consent items, is there a motion to approve items 15A, consent items B through H?

So moved. Second.

discussion Your student preferential vote aye all those in favor say aye aye Opposed chair votes aye and so ordered Is there a motion to approve items 19 a consent items B through AE Thank you discussion All those in favor say aye aye opposed chair votes aye and so ordered Then we have human resources action items, oh Hold on we don't So action items management established position and approve the job description for supervisory child nutrition services culinary and innovation effective November 13th 2024. Is there a motion?

I'll move. Second.

Thank you. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Chair votes aye and so ordered. So we have no discussion items listed. Mr. President, I'm sorry.

Since this is an agenda that has some flexibility, I just have a point of a question about An agenda item that I mean if I can talk to you later about it, but it's a student trustee meeting at the CSBA conference We need to probably be agendize that item for the two that are attending that conference right Well for the two student trustees that signed up to go to that CSBA conference I Approve that as a field trip. Yeah, because it's a school day that they're going to be doing. Oh Okay, that's what We go so, all right, you're in the clear it's the permissions that

Will can I just say one thing before I know that we've done some celebrating and and we are gonna miss her But we also are not gonna have Carrie Ann here anymore after today And Carrie Ann, I know the board would be collective in saying thank you for all of your work with the board and with not just these meetings, but being my assistant since I've been here and so I'm gonna miss you and Even though you're down the hall. And I'm still going to come to you when I need some things. And Consuelo, this is her first meeting, technically, and so welcome aboard. So thank you.

Congratulations again. Thank you.

technically, we need to agendize items that are going to be having kids travel out of state and We if we do overnight that also would require board approval Even if it's in district that that would be a difference But if it's just a day field trip, then they would not it would not need to be on the agenda.

Yeah Alrighty, what time is it? 738 Miri nens.