Board of Education — May 12, 2026

We'll start with roll call. Board Member Ayala-Quintero. Present. Board Member Olihan.

Present.

Board Member Olson. Here. And Board Member Wilson. Here. And I am here. Mrs. Olson, would you please lead us in the pledge tonight? Okay, shall we stand? 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. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agenda with flexibility?

So moved.

Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Kenny. Thank you, Jeanette. Any discussion?

I'm going to call for the vote. Okay.

Patty, did you get it?

Thank you.

Thank you. Motion carried, 5-0. We have a motion to approve the minutes of the April 28, 2026 board meeting.

So moved. Second.

Thank you, Candy. Thank you, Jeanette. Any discussion?

I did notice that there are no board committee comments. They're just missing. in the published one yeah in the book page 13. um

Okay. Yeah, I did see that. I think they're under the superintendent's comments, if you look. Oh. By mistake, they went to the one below, and Superintendent Cabral did not have any comments. My bad. I can rearrange it to put it under nine. Got it.

Did I call for the vote? I'm sorry.

Motion carried, 5-0.

During closed session, the board unanimously took action to accept the superintendent's recommendation to approve compromise and release agreements regarding student number 2025-2026-0112. Services rendered pursuant to the agreement shall be funded by special education administrative funds. During closed session, the board unanimously took action to accept the superintendent's recommendation to approve compromise and release agreement Regarding student number 2025-2026-1878, services rendered pursuant to the agreement shall be funded by special education administrative funds. During closed session, the board unanimously took action to accept the superintendent's recommendations to approve compromise and release agreements regarding student number 2025-1878. Dash twenty twenty six five six zero six services rendered pursuant to this agreement shall be funded by special education administrative funds. During closed session, the board unanimously took action to accept the superintendent's recommendation to approve compromise and release agreements regarding student number 2025-2026-4982. Services rendered pursuant to the agreement shall be funded by special education administrative funds. Now on to presentations, starting with our retirees. Mr. Cabral, are you ready?

Test? Okay. Good evening, everyone. This is always a special time of year because we get to celebrate folks who have given their lives and careers to all of our students. We not only appreciate you, but this is just a small token to say thank you as you go on into the next chapter in your life, which I know, you know, we could say, is it going to be better? Well, I hope so, because you'll get to do whatever you want. And that's what I really hope for you as a retiree, because I hope if I run into you in six months and I ask you, what are you doing, that your response is, whatever I want. But the amount of students that have been impacted by everybody that you're going to hear about today is tremendous. Not just the students who have graduated, but also any student that has entered any of our classrooms at any of our school sites. The adults that impact their lives has been just an excellent part of what we do here in Redlands Unified School District. And so thank you for coming tonight to allow the board to just share our appreciation for you. I am going to, oh, there was a script I was supposed to read. Well, I think what I said was better. We do want to make sure that we take pictures as much as possible. And we do have not only your families here, but we also have folks that you've worked with and administrators who you have connected with. And so we're going to try to do this so that you can also take a picture with our board. So I'm going to say your name. And then you'll come up. And then we're going to recognize you. And then we do want to take a group picture with everyone. OK? We're going to go that way? OK. So our first one, 32 years of service. Let that sink in a little bit. 32 years of service. Michelle Astley, if you could please come up. I'm going to say everybody's name, even if they're not here tonight, because I think they deserve to be recognized. And this is being cast around the world, and so whoever's watching right now is listening. Okay, 26 years of service. Julie Battler. 37 years of service. Wendy Best. 11 years of service with us, and I don't think he's here tonight, but Mr. Mark Blind, who retired a couple months ago, actually. He's already doing whatever he wants. Out of HR, Gina Curtis. Sir Katini, thank you, Lisa. Sorry, Gina. 26 and a half years of service. 29 years of service, George Chavarria. 29 years of service, Jill Connolly. 38 years of service, Colleen Duncan. Nine years of service, Paula Emick. Paula Emick. 25 years of service, Denise Fee. Denise here tonight. 19 and a half years of service, Danny Garcia. 27 and a half years of service, Joseph Gianni. 31 years of service, Kevin Ha. 29 years of service, Christina Christopherson. 10 years of service, Elizabeth Mejia. Nine years of service, Stephanie Socks. I probably said that wrong. I'm really sorry. I should have practiced more. 31 years of service. She has been doing whatever she wants since December. Jennifer Sherman. 24 years of service. Coach Robert Stengel. 12 years of service, Robert... This is a different Stingle. It's with an E and not an A. Mr. Robert Stingle with 12 years of service. Guadalupe Stowers with 27 years of service. Melanie Tressler with... Yes, sir. Melanie Tressler with 27 years of service. And then Director Joe Williamson, who has been doing whatever he wants for a few months now, 26 years of service. Congratulations to all of our retirees. You look great. You already look more relaxed. Okay, we're going to take pictures. Anybody who would like to come up and take a picture, please help yourself.

All right, you guys can do it again. One, two, three. Thank you.

We have like a... Okay. Okay, we have a couple of other recognitions and then we will take a break so that we can have some refreshments and enjoy a little bit and then we'll resume the meeting shortly after that. Okay. Okay. I'd like to invite our directors of human resources, Dr. Kim Liam, Mary Anderson, and Senior Director of Secondary Education, Jamie Quartz, to recognize our certificated and classified staff honorees.

All right. Should I stay in fashion with... Okay. Good evening to our board and our superintendent and to everyone here tonight. It is my honor, along with Mary Anderson and Jamie Kortz, to be able to recognize some very important people tonight. So we're excited to be able to recognize and celebrate outstanding staff in Redlands Unified School District. Tonight we honor individuals whose dedication, leadership, and commitment continue to make a meaningful impact in our classrooms, schools, and community every single day. We'll begin this evening by honoring our nominee for California Teacher of the Year, one of the highest recognitions an educator can receive in our state. With more than nine years of experience in secondary education, our nominee's journey reflects the power of perseverance, belonging, and a lasting impact on public education. As a former English learner and first generation college graduate, she brings a deeply personal understanding of resilience and student support into her classroom each day. Through innovative instruction that integrates mathematics, coding, and robotics through the UC Davis C-STEM program, she has created engaging learning experiences that inspire students to think creatively and confidently. This year, we nominated Clement Middle School sixth grade math and science teacher, C-STEM teacher Nellie Aboitus.

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We'll now honor our three nominees for the Classified California School Employee of the Year, a prestigious statewide recognition that celebrates classified employees whose dedication, leadership, and service make a meaningful difference in the lives of students, families, and school communities every day. First nominee, serving Redlands Unified for the past 10 years, this systems specialist from our technology services department has become known across the district for his calm leadership, innovative thinking, and unwavering support for staff and schools. Nominated in the technology services category, he is recognized for helping lead major technology initiatives, mentoring colleagues, and consistently bringing professionalism, patience, and kindness to every interaction. Please join me in recognizing Markus Daschhoff. Unfortunately, he's not able to attend tonight. Next. For the past seven years, this instructional paraprofessional II in special education at Kingsbury Elementary School has made a meaningful impact through compassion, adaptability, and dedication to students. Nominated in the paraprofessional services category, he is known for creating positive connections with students and staff, supporting a strong school culture, and stepping up wherever support is needed, both on campus and throughout the community. Please join me in recognizing John J.P. Gutierrez. With 35 years of dedicated service to Redlands Unified, this carpenter in our maintenance and operations department has exemplified professionalism, craftsmanship, and pride in public service throughout his career. Nominated in the skilled trade services category, he's respected for his reliability, leadership, and commitment to maintaining safe and welcoming learning environments for students and staff. Earlier today, he was also recognized at the county level and selected to represent San Bernardino County in the California Classified School Employee of the Year program. Please join me in recognizing Don Stutz. Don Stutz.

Well, good evening, everybody. It's my honor this evening to recognize the UC Davis C-STEM Teacher of the Year. This is distinguished recognition that celebrates educators who demonstrate innovative and excellence in integrating computer science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into the classroom while inspiring and empowering the next generation of learners. With more than 20 years of education experience, this fifth grade teacher at Kimberly Elementary School has transformed the way students engage with math, coding, and robotics through innovative C-STEM instruction. By integrating robotics and computer science every day, he's inspired students to think critically, collaborate, and develop confidence in the STEM-related field. His passion for innovation, student engagement, and hands-on learning earned him the prestigious recognition of CSTEM Teacher of the Year. So please help me in recognizing Mr. Roland Hosch.

If you're a supervisor of any of these employees of the year, if you could make your way up to take a picture with those principals or directors that oversee our employees.

Okay.

Okay, on the good side.

Everybody on the good side, and one, two, three. Anybody else?

I have a lot to read on this script, so here goes. I'll go fast. To all of our certificated and classified honorees and nominees, thank you for your dedication, passion, and steadfast commitment to serving our students, families, and school community. Your impact reaches far beyond the classroom or workplace, and your contributions continue to shape the future of RUSD. Congratulations on a well-deserved recognition. One more round of applause. Okay, at this time, our board president, Ms. Michelle Rendler, will now recognize this year's student trustees.

Thank you, Jamie. It is my pleasure to take a moment to recognize a truly special group of students, our 2025-26 student trustees. These student leaders play an important role in bringing the voice of our schools directly to the board. Their insight, perspective, and advocacy help ensure that decisions made at the district level reflect the real experiences of our students. This year, we were fortunate to have a strong and thoughtful group representing a great mix of both juniors and seniors. They attended meetings, participated in discussions, and brought forward meaningful contributions that truly enrich our work. The three student trustees, Bella Salazar from Redlands High School, Aubrey Shawn from Redlands East Valley High School. Aubrey couldn't be here with us tonight. We wish her the best of luck. And Ella Ford from Redlands E-Academy. Ella could not be here with us tonight as she is attending her final class at San Bernardino Valley College for her dual enrollment college algebra class. We wish her the best of luck on her finals tomorrow. To all our student trustees, Bella, thank you for your leadership, your courage in sharing your perspectives, your commitment to representing your peers with thoughtfulness and maturity. You've left a mark on this district and have inspired us with your dedication. At this time, I would like to invite our school site administrators to come forward for a group photo with our student trustee.

Thank you.

Okay, good evening. My name is Doug McCasey. I'm the coordinator of athletics for the district. I'm very honored to be here showing appreciation to our outstanding athletes from each high school and providing you with a few updates on spring athletics in the district. So first, just to start with, we did have a pretty successful spring season. We had a total of four team championships, and we still have four CBL championships. We still have a few teams competing in postseason play, and we have individuals still competing for CIF State and Masters. So I just want to highlight some of the league champions. Congratulations to the RHS boys golf team. They only had one loss this season in league. So congrats to Coach Hobson and the boys. Applause This is one that I repeat every year, and it's just an outstanding job that Coach Bailey and Coach Comadina do at RHS with boys tennis. Another undefeated season in league for them. So congratulations to them as well. The RHS girls swim team. also went undefeated in the CBL, and they are three-time champions. So congratulations to Coach Nolan Brown, who's here tonight on the team. Nolan's brother, Austin, coaches the Rev team, and they won the boys' championship for the league in swim for the first time in 16 years. So congratulations to Coach Austin and the Wildcats. And now to our outstanding spring athletes. Each high school picks an athlete in their athletic department. They're not handpicked by me. And with hundreds of athletes competing each season, it's quite an accomplishment. And Orangewood has selected Jacqueline Gonzalez, Jr. as their outstanding spring athlete. Come on up, Jacqueline. Jacqueline excelled in various sports at Orangewood, five total. She played flag football, softball, basketball, soccer, and she actually led them in flag football to their second straight. championship in their league she played running back and wide receiver and led the team in touchdowns and she currently is off to a great start with their soccer team with a four and two record so far coach perkins who coaches every sport at orangewood and is also their ad he said she's been an amazing key contributor to their success in athletics so congrats again jackie Okay, Citrus Valley has selected senior Adam Sanchez as their Outstanding Spring Athlete. Come on up, Adam. Adam is a six-time varsity letterman in football and track. He had personal records this year, 20 feet in long jump. He jumped 41.7 in the triple jump and won three CBL dual meets this season. In the triple jump, he also was, just when I spoke to coaches, they praised him tremendously for his physical abilities, mental toughness, leadership, and character. He has developed into one of their best field athletes. And Coach Werner had a quote. He's the main coach that works with Adam, said Adam's been a staple of this program since day one. When it's time to compete, he shows up and delivers. So congrats again, Adam. Thank you. Redlands High School has selected Felicia Na as their outstanding spring athlete. She is a senior. Come on up, Felicia. She is on the swim team I mentioned earlier. Four-year letterman in swim. She has led RHS to three CBL championships, won two individual CBL championships as well, And the League 400 medley relay, she was undefeated in the 100-meter breaststroke in CBL and was a finalist for the CIF prelims. For three years in a row, she's gone to the prelims and finals. which is an outstanding accomplishment. Not many students are able to do that even in one or two years. She was honored by Coach Brown for her leadership, hard work, dedication, selfless attitude, and kindness. And an outstanding student, especially in the classroom. She has a 4.51 GPA, making her 36th in the class. It was quite a challenge to meet with her about this award because she's taking so many AP exams. So, outstanding job. Appreciate it. Redlands East Valley has selected Jada Nordby as their outstanding spring athlete. Come on up, Jada. Jada's received four varsity letters in softball. She's the starting catcher. She helped lead the Wildcats to their first playoff berth in seven years. They have a big game against MiraCosta in the first round on Thursday night. And she has outstanding statistics, batting average of 46. She had 35 RBIs, 11 home runs, career total for hits 102, including 35 this season. And Coach Solomon. Rev stated that Jada's been the backbone of the team this year. She's been a rock behind the plate, catching every inning of every game this season, and next year she'll be taking her talents to Citrus College, playing softball there. So congratulations, Jada. And just one final round of applause for outstanding spring athletes.

Principles, if you could make your way to the picture. Ready, and one, two, three.

And then everyone else.

Wasn't that fun? Congratulations again to all of our retirees, to all of our employees of the year, and to be representing the county. We thank you so much for your work. We have a small token of appreciation. We're going to take about a 10-minute break. Please, everyone who is being celebrated tonight, help make your way to the back. We have some pastries and some refreshments. And plenty of pictures can be taken at this time. We'll try to get the meeting back around 6.50. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. Congratulations again to everyone.

We'll be moving on to association reports, starting with RTA. Mr. Keeperton, are you ready?

All right, good evening board members, Superintendent Cabral, cabinet. I would like to first start off by also thanking all of our retirees and our honorees today. It's really an honor to work with those people. I ran the numbers from RTA's current retiree list, and they come out to over 290 years of service experiences retiring this year. So it's a lot of institutional knowledge and a lot of hard work on these people, so I want to honor them. And as part of that, I wanted to invite the board on June 10th. We are having our annual retirement dinner at the Country Club. I'll be sending out formal invitations to all board members and cabinet members. You know, it's on us. We like to invite you out to dinner, meet the retirees. If you've been before, it's a nice event. So we'll be sending that out. And then just real briefly, I just wanted to, I've been asked by several of our members who have worked with the Garner Holt Labs just to reach out to the board. I know one of the sites has actually raised a petition, but they have a concern that the Garner Holt Labs, when we've moved people, sorry, we've moved staff from the Garner Holt Labs full-time, and I understand the rationale behind that, but They want to make sure that we protect the Garner Holt Labs as the investment that they are and how impactful they've been on the lives of our students. And I'll say this as a teacher who's run just even a simple computer lab, there's a lot of work that goes in just keeping a computer lab operational. You'd be shocked. at how much time it takes you just finding mice for your computers to keep them operational or keep headphones. I can't even imagine if I'm operating CNC machinery or laser cutters and those kind of equipment. Those all require specialized training and it requires personnel that are able to handle and maintain those labs. And so they've asked me just to express to the board that their desire that we make sure that those labs stay functional and useful for our students because they were really proud of the work that happened there. And I would agree and just wanted to share that with the board. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Steve. Moving on to RESPA. Mrs. Brewster, are you ready?

Good evening, board members, Superintendent Cabral, cabinet, and guests. First, I want to congratulate all of our retirees. Thank you for your years of service, dedication, and commitment to the students and families of this district. Enjoy whatever brings you joy because you certainly earned it. This past Saturday, many of our members attended the Inland Empire 66ers games with their friends and families. It was wonderful seeing our education support professionals come together outside of work, building relationships, laughing, and simply enjoying the time together. Everyone who attended had a great time and moments like these remind us that employees are more than workers. They are a community and a family. Next week, May 18th through the 22nd, is Education Support Professionals Week. This week is dedicated to recognizing the hard work classified employees who keep this district running every single day. We have some pretty cool gifts going out to our members next week as a small token of appreciation for everything they do. But appreciation should go beyond a gift bag or a week of appreciation. Last year, during Education Support Professionals Week board meeting, I asked the board if they knew the nine career categories, career families of our ESPs. I think maybe one person might have said a few. Not many of you were able to answer. So tonight I ask you again, do you know who the nine career families are? Hopefully you're paying attention. Do you know the child nutrition service workers who feed students every day? The paraprofessionals who support students academically, behaviorally, and emotionally? the custodians who sanitize and prepare campuses before anyone arrives, the clerical staff who are often the first face families see, the health technicians who care for sick and medically fragile students, the technology staff who keep classrooms connected and functioning, transportation employees who safely get students to and from school, the maintenance and operations crew who repairs and maintains our campuses. safety officers, and campus monitors who help keep our schools secure. These are the people who make public education. Education support professionals are not extra. They are essential. When a student is hungry, scared, struggling, sick, dysregulated, or in crisis, ESPs, Educational Support Professionals, are often the first to respond. When schools open in the morning and close at night, who's there? Educational support professionals. I ask the board tonight to not only recognize educational support professionals, week with words, but with action. Learn who we are. Visit sites. Talk to employees. Understand the work being done every single day behind the scenes. Because when we value education support professionals, we value students. Thank you.

Thank you, Liz. Lastly, we'll hear from Redlands Council of PTAs President Iwana. Are you here? No. Not here. Okay. On to public participation. The Board of Education values the perspectives and participation of our community members. Public comment provides an important opportunity for individuals to share their views on district matters. The Board encourages comments, feedback, and input from all voices in the community, including those who may have differing opinions and perspectives. The California Office of the Attorney General asked us to share that in their view, matters pertaining to specific, identifiable students or any group of students should remain private to the extent possible. If you have a complaint about an employee or student matter, please utilize the appropriate complaint procedure. Contact Dr. Rudy Wilson, Assistant Superintendent of Compliance, who can assist you with the filing of any such complaint. As a reminder, not all speech is free from consequences. And since this is the board's meeting in public, where minors may be present, we encourage all participants to conduct themselves in a civilized, non-threatening manner. Thank you for your cooperation and for contributing to a civil and student-focused discussion. Members of the public may address the board on matters within its jurisdiction by submitting a completed registration card to the clerk or designated staff member prior to the start of public comments on an agenda item. When called, speakers may proceed to the podium, state their name and trustee area, and speak for the allotted time. The amount of time will be announced by the board president before the first speaker begins and and will not exceed three minutes. How many speakers do we have tonight?

We have 10 speakers with a total of 12 items.

For agenda items?

Yes.

Okay. All right, so we'll have three minutes per person.

I'll call the first people. Michael Pacer with two items, Myrna Cardenas with one item, and Erica Grossman with one item. Welcome, Michael.

Thank you. Mike Paisner, Area 5. I didn't come here to talk about the Boys and Girls Club, but after talking to some concerned parents in line, I want to make sure that their questions get addressed. So some of the questions I heard on that topic, Why is the district changing from the YMCA to the Boys and Girls Club? How does this contract compare to the previous contract? Considering your financial challenges and layoffs, is this going to cost you more or less? And most importantly, what is the impact to the parents? Will there be the same number of spots available? Will services be provided onsite or offsite? Will parents be charged for services? And who are the people providing care? Are they screened, qualified, trained? I don't know if you appreciate how critical a service many parents consider after school care, and having this change is making people very upset and very nervous, and they want answers about how this critical service is going to impact their day-to-day life. So hopefully before you vote on this, you'll take the time to answer some of these questions. Thank you. On the 250th anniversary resolution, I think I said everything I needed to say last time, and obviously it went unheard, as usual, because none of my concerns are addressed in the current version. Ms. Olson, considering your past behavior, I know you have no shame about promoting your religion in the school board. Your use of the words faith and values in this resolution is part of your larger agenda to introduce religion into schools, and it continues your troubling pattern. Such is your campaign behavior, where you openly violated the law by having your church endorse you and campaign for you. And at the last meeting where your largest campaign contributor came up here and advocated for teaching from the Bible. I understand. You cannot conceive of others having a perspective or religion different than your own.

Excuse me, that's not an agenda item.

It is in the resolution.

Her campaign and her, that's not an agenda item.

When she introduces words like faith and values and tries to introduce her religion into this resolution, it is irrelevant. I just want to remind Ms. Olson that as a member of the public school board, you are the state. and your attempts to inject religion into public schools are illegal. The other problem with this resolution is its attempt to paint our nation as perfect, deterring people from looking at our history honestly and critically. While our country has much to be proud of, it is not perfect. Only by looking at history and our present circumstances honestly will we as a country have any hope of making improvements. Our 250th anniversary is an important opportunity for us to engage in self-reflection as a country. But this resolution does not encourage that. In fact, it does the exact opposite. It ignores both the shortcomings of our past and the challenges we currently face. I fully expect this resolution will pass because no one wants to be labeled as unpatriotic. But the truth is the words in this resolution only divide us further. And while that isn't surprising coming from you, it is still appalling.

Thank you, Michael. Myrna?

Welcome, Myrna. Good evening, board members. I'm here to pretty much just let you know that I'm here in support of our after-school program and how critical it is to have a program like them be with us. My children have been with the program for many years since elementary, and they have provided the support, the care, the safety that they feel within the program to be part of it. It makes me nervous to think that what's the resolution, like what's going to happen after this program is not available and after like our people that represent the program are not going to be part of it. Our kids already built a relationship with them and they feel safe within the program. So I'm just nervous that... Where is this going? What's going to happen now that it's not going to be available? I know that you're bringing Boys and Girls Club, but how is that going to look? We don't know. We don't have the information. We haven't been disclosed none of that. So I'd really appreciate more answers to the matter. And we consider or reconsider the program like the one we currently have because it has been very supportive and great for our students. And so thank you. Thank you, Myrna.

Welcome, Erica. Thank you.

Regarding celebration of America's 250th anniversary, I want to say that I love this country. I'm deeply grateful that I received my education here in the United States, was able to build my life here, raise my children here, and see them receive a wonderful education as well. However, with the ongoing war and the impact of immigration enforcement, it is incredibly difficult for me to bring myself to celebrate. We have students and staff members who are directly affected by these realities. Just recently, I was speaking with a staff member who has lost contact with her parents and siblings because the phone line has been shut off due to bombing. She's deeply worried about her family, yet she continues to show extraordinary dedication in her work in a special education classroom that is severely understaffed. I also saw a photo of a student protesting downtown, holding a sign that read, Return my father. My heart truly breaks for them. Additionally, I hope our district does not repeat what Chino Valley School District did by allowing political organizations to be involved in such a celebration. In that case, a speaker affiliated with Neo-Nazi was invited, and the district made the event part of the regular school assembly without notifying parents or giving them the option to opt their children out. Parents who chose to keep their children home were then criticized for supposedly skipping school or hating America. This kind of narrative is deeply dishonest and runs counter to the values of transparency and integrity. I sincerely hope our district chooses to uphold those values and maintain its integrity. Thank you. Thank you, Erica.

Next, we have Hannah Almaraz, Gladys Alvarez, and Addison Lohman. Welcome, Hannah.

Hello, good evening. Thank you for having me. I came today in regards to the Clement Middle School ACES program that is no longer okay. So my name is Hannah Almaraz. My student attends Clement Middle School. I am speaking today in hopes for the consideration of reversing the decision to close the ACES program. ACES greatly impacts our families in a positive way. There are many benefits to this type of care being provided by Clement. ACES provides a structured setting for our students to attend while full-time working parents like myself are able to finish our workday with peace of mind, knowing our students are well taken care of, completing their assigned homework, and engaging in a positive setting with their classmates. If ACES is taken away from our school, it will make a drastic impact. I work in San Bernardino for the county Monday through Friday until 5.15. If my student doesn't have on-site after-school care, I am unsure where my student will go daily or who will be able to pick them up. The stress and uncertainty of closing ACES is deeply felt by not only myself but other hardworking families who depend on the on-site after-school program due to our work schedules. Sorry, I'm nervous. The closure of ACES will also make a significant impact on the ACES staff. The staff are dedicated, hardworking individuals who are creating a lasting impact on our students. Removing ACES not only removes jobs from the staff, but also removes the staff from our students' lives. The closure of ACES will greatly... negatively impact not only the hardworking families like myself but also the dedicated and caring staff and most importantly our students please consider us all in your decision to remove such a positive impact aces has provided us thank you thank you Hannah

I know this is not quite the order, but I did want to get permission from the board to address at least the ACES program component because I know we have several speakers. Would that be okay?

I would say it would probably be best just to wait just because I don't want this to become a common practice. But if the majority of the board is fine with it.

I feel like there's passionate parents, and I really want to respond to it because they've been misled, and I really would like to clarify it. But I can wait. I just thought I'd do it right now. Okay, just so that, and I know there are other speakers and we do want to hear from you, but I assure you the ACES program is not going away. Okay, we will have after school programs at our sites where we have after school programs right now. There is no cost to our parents. There was some information sent out by the YMCA staff today that I believe was a little misleading because it included that ACE's program was going to be discontinued, and that is not accurate. What is accurate is the board is considering a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. We currently partner with both YMCA and Boys and Girls Club. If you have YMCA at your site, then you wouldn't be familiar with Boys and Girls Club, but they very much support after school programs at other sites. What we are recommending is that we have some of our YMCA sites shift to Boys and Girls Club. And those sites that have Boys and Girls Club right now are doing extremely well and have participation that is, if you are familiar with anybody that's at the school, for example, Beatty has Boys and Girls Club. Over 100 kids participate there. It is a tremendous program that is free, and you will also have the opportunity next school year. And so I just wanted to clarify that for anybody that's coming up. To our parents, we are going to have after school programs for your kids at your sites next year.

Thank you. Next up is Gladys.

Good evening to everyone.

Welcome, Gladys.

Yeah. So specifically Clement Middle School, are you having YMCA or are you having Boys and Girls Club?

We are proposing that Boys and Girls Club be at Clement Middle School, just like at Beatty.

Okay. Now, is that on-site or are they being removed? Right.

I apologize. Point of order. This is exactly why I didn't want to do this right now, because we're going to get into a question and answer. This is not directed towards you, but unfortunately this part of the public comment is not for going back and forth questions and answers, and I didn't want to set a precedent.

I would love to talk to everybody about the ACES program, YMCA, and we can do that immediately after this, or I can have one of my staff, specifically Assistant Superintendent Buckmiller, meet with all of you that are here tonight to provide clarity so that you know that your kids are going to be taken care of next year.

Okay, thank you. We just wanted to voice out that we really appreciate the YMCA ACES program, and I had a bad experience with Boys and Girls Club in the past, so if I had a vote, I would say YMCA program at our school. And also, my child is moving on to high school, and I want to ask the board, why aren't there any after-school programs at the high schools? Does anyone have an answer for that, or...? Okay. Yeah, that would be appreciated as well as a single working, commuting parent. It's very concerning to me that I think I heard that there's no after-school program at the high schools. So I'm not sure what's going to happen with my child now. So I wanted to just put that out there. Thank you. Thank you, Gladys.

Addison?

Welcome, Addison.

Hello, my name is Addison Lowman, and I'm a sixth grader at Cope Middle School. I will be talking about Section 15D, and I'm in Trustee Area 2. My understanding is that YMCA will not be at all campuses next year. I have been going to the after-school care at my elementary and middle school. YMCA has been the provider at both. I wanted to let the school board know that I have always felt safe and understood by the YMCA staff. They have always put on fun activities for holidays and have been inclusive for all religions. As a student, I've always seen when students who aren't in the after-school program run off and do dangerous things. At my middle school, it is staying the same. But what about the other schools? Will they have an after-school program? And if the YMCA isn't a good fit at some schools, then why is it a good fit at others? Can I talk about my next topic?

I think she only had one topic. I think your other topic is for the regular public comments. That's towards the end of the meeting.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next, it's Kate Appleby with two items, Dale Broom and Rebecca Lohman.

Good evening, board. Welcome. Thank you. Kate Appleby, Area 4, 16B and 18C. So I have to share that when I read the revised resolution for celebrating America's 250th anniversary, I had to pull out the previous one and do a side-by-side comparison. because there are wild changes, both good and some questionable. But I do want to highlight a few things. First, I understand this is a draft, but I'm hoping you can explain why in a draft you have the title being designated September 2026 or August through December 2026, but yet it seems like you made a decision in December Item number two, that it would be the month of September. I'm sure it's just a clerical error. As I said, this is a draft, and you might change it. I do, however, in that number two, take great offense with the line, when student and staff energy is high, are USD students and staff have high energy every single month. And singling out September because it's when their energy is high is just rude to our staff, to our students, and quite frankly, has no bearing on this entire proposal. Number three there talks about patriotic assemblies, lessons, discussions. essay contests, but doesn't talk about any of the essay contest topics like it does for the other elements. And so I'm wondering what those essay topics would be. As a parent, I would like to know that. It also, interestingly enough, removed from projects honoring veterans the additional phrase and civic leaders. And I'm wondering why you made that change. I would like to look at this in the light of Board Policy 6115, particularly Section 5, which states that district and school sponsored events and activities must align with the district's educational goals, promoting civic understanding without emphasizing or endorsing particular political, social, or religious beliefs. As a parent, I want to know how I will be informed about the topics of those assemblies, those lessons, those discussions, those essay topics, those projects, and those events. Following with that the first paragraph of Board Policy 6144 states that instruction concerning controversial issues has to engage with respect for others in understanding and tolerance of diverse points of view. Given the current dissentious political environment in the United States of America, Will teachers and staff be trained in explicit, topic-specific, age-appropriate ways to foster and maintain that respect for others and that understanding and tolerance of diverse views? 18C, your final layoff resolution for classified staff seals the fate of our elementary school libraries with the layoffs of all the elementary library staff. Superintendent Cabral has shared that the first goal of the district is literacy by grade three. This is a solid educational goal, but learning to read requires access to a variety of materials and becoming a lifelong reader requires the support of people who know how to connect readers and books. Is it possible for classroom teachers and classroom libraries to provide both books and support? Sure. But it will be inconsistent. Classroom teachers do not have the depth of book knowledge that library staff do. Classroom libraries vary widely from teacher to teacher, often dependent on the willingness of teachers to spend their own money on books. RUSD has spent money buying books for the elementary libraries. Without library staff, those books will sit unread, collecting dust in closed school libraries, or they will disappear due to loss or damage if classroom teachers are encouraged to use the unstaffed school library. So I'm offering you this challenge. Superintendent Cabral and every single board member, Between now and the end of the year, it's very, very busy. But you know from this room, Candy knows from talking to her constituents out on her walks, that not every parent can show up here. You owe the parents and families of our elementary students an explanation as to what they are going to lose when you cut their school libraries. Because by cutting staff, you've done that. So my challenge to you is to schedule two meetings at every single elementary site. That meeting should be led by Superintendent Cabral and the board member who represents that district. you need to look them in the face. And I have two meetings, one meeting during the school day, one meeting after working hours so that all parents, regardless of their working situation, can be there. During that meeting, you need to state to them how losing access is going to help us meet our goal of literacy by grade three. You need to state explicitly what they are going to lose when their school library closes. I don't want to hear anything about budget. If you want to bring Director Hill with you, that's fine. He can stay after for the Q&A about budget decisions. But I want you to look them in the eyes and be brutally honest with them, because you owe it to them. Here's the challenge. I have my First Amendment right to free speech. You either do this, or my summer project is going to be making sure every elementary parent in RUSD knows exactly what you did. Thank you, Kate.

Hi, my name is Rebecca Lohman. I'm in trustee area two. My daughter goes to Cope Middle School. I just want to clarify the reason we're here tonight is to support YMCA. We weren't provided false information. I have a very clear email that indicates that that the provider is going to change at some of the sites from YMCA. It's not going to affect my daughter, I guess, directly that YMCA will still be the provider at her site. But she felt that it was important to tell the board how much YMCA has been a positive impact, and you guys were able to hear from her. So I don't want there to be any disparaging remarks about what YMCA told people or how people understood that. I wanted to make it very clear that that was the information I was provided. But I will say that she has consistently been at YMCA after school programs on campus. Consistently, those providers have provided her substantial amount of support, not just academically, but emotionally. They've communicated with me when there's been any kind of issues going on that I needed to make sure she was safe. I knew she was. I imagine that another after-school provider can guarantee you guys or say the same thing. But what I will say is what I think is really important for our students is that they have consistency. Middle school students are kind of difficult being a first-time parent of one. Seeing them have connections with those staff members at YMCA is, I think, really important. And I think if we start to change around who's providing that after school care. It is not going to obviously impact those immediate school sites, but also what YMCA has to do as far as laying people off, moving people around, things like that. So it's going to impact all of your students likely, I would assume. But for those just watching outside, it wasn't the YMCA leader for my daughter's campus, but I could see the kids out there communicating with her, talking to her. And again, like I will say, there was not false information presented. It was very clear that there was a shift in provider. But I think what you're losing is is that you're losing those connections that those students have with those staff members that they've already made. And as we all know, middle school is a really rough time for kids. They have a lot of changes going on with them and with their peers. And so if we can provide them some kind of consistency, I would really urge the board to do that. So thank you.

Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you. Welcome, Dale.

Thank you, Board. I'd like to address Agenda Item 16B. And I want to urge the Board to adopt this resolution to recognize and celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation. History warns us that the average duration of a republic, form of government, is 250 years. This is a landmark that our nation has achieved of going 250 years. There's no guarantee that we're going to exist as a republic and as a nation in 50 years from now. There's no guarantee that that's happening. In fact, history would predict that it's not going to last. So it reminds me of a quote that is given by Benjamin Franklin on the 17th of September in 1787 as he was walking out of the Constitutional Convention. A lady asked him, named Elizabeth Powell, what form of government have you given us, Dr. Franklin? And he said, a republic, if you can keep it. And this is a very important statement because it is not guaranteed that we can keep this republic unless we transmit to our future generations a love for this nation and a respect for its foundation and a support. for our constitutional form of government. And Ronald Reagan also made a very important statement. He said, freedom is no more than one generation away from extinction. And that is something that why we need to celebrate this 250th anniversary. This next generation needs to have a love for this country, a patriotic view of this nation, and we need to instill in them a strong sense of that and a commitment to our country. And I want to urge our teachers, our administrators, and our principals to make great opportunity of this event to celebrate this by teaching our kids about the freedoms, the rights that we have as a people that are guaranteed in our Constitution, and also the foundations of our nation, which is in God we trust. That is our national model. I know some people don't like that, but it is our national model. And to say in our resolution here that faith is and conviction were important to our founders in the founding of this nation, it would be an absolute denial of truth. This is absolutely true. And we should keep that statement in our resolution because it was principle in founding this nation. And also, this statement does not promote a state religion. Separation of church and state is not in the Constitution and it's not in the Declaration of Independence. And that statement was only to protect individuals the churches, from invasion and control by the state. So what we need to do is make sure that we promote the concepts of, in God we trust, e pluribus unum. That's what is on all of our coinage. In God we trust and e pluribus unum. Thank you, Dale.

Thank you. Next, it's Gracie Beltran. And that's our last speaker.

Welcome, Gracie. Hello, my name is Graciela Beltran, and today I'm speaking on why we should not change vendors for after-school care. I've been in after-school programs ran by the YMCA since first grade. The after-school programs ran by YMCA have taught me lots of skills. In Section 15D, it said that after-school program sites at some schools would be taken over by the Boys and Girls Club franchise. Out of the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club, which I have both attended, I would choose the Y. Since I have attended both, I can definitely say that since I've joined the Y, I've learned lots of new skills like art skills, teamwork, sports, and how to make new friends. I've always felt and seen at YMCA that staff ensure that all students are treated equally, fairly, respectfully, and kindly. YMCA staff have helped me on countless different things and have always been supportive and caring. When I was enrolled in the Boys and Girls Club, I found there was not a lot of structure. When I went to the Boys and Girls Club, I would mostly sit in a chair and read the whole day. With ACES, I'm constantly encouraged to try new things through fun activities and different schedules. COPE YMCA has shown me how to create healthy recipes, learn how to play drums through bucket drumming lessons, and how to draw better. Overall, YMCA has always supported me in lots of different ways that Boys and Girls Club has not. I feel safer and better enriched when I was enrolled in the after-school YMCA throughout the years. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, moving on to board committee reports. Any board members have a committee report?

We didn't meet.

No meeting, no report.

Just to remind everyone that tomorrow night is evening of excellence for CRYROP at San Bernardino Valley College, 6 p.m. Thank you.

Melissa, do you have anything? Okay, Mr. Cabral, do you have anything to report?

Yes, I wanted to update the board on artificial intelligence. It's been a couple of months since I've heard a request from the board for a presentation, and that has not been forgotten. We're close to getting that presentation in front of you. We have done a lot of work to finalize a recommendation as to the levels of AI we want to provide for our students, which includes parent input, staff input, and then some research from our professionals. We are probably... Maybe the second meeting in June, I think, we'll see a presentation. Jamie Quartz is really helping with that, along with Deputy Hill, who is helping ensure that we listen to as many folks as possible to really make a strong recommendation to We know that there is a concern that the younger the student is, the more dangerous it might be to give them access to artificial intelligence in the form of whatever form you can think of. But we actually have partnered with, geez, it's escaping my mind. Who are we partnering with? Gemini. Gemini, thank you. Jeez, Gemini for students. And we've been using Gemini for staff, and we actually have the contract for students also. We just have not pressed go on that. And so you could be looking forward to a recommendation of, for example, none for elementary school. Middle school, maybe only the upper grades, seventh or eighth grade, and then high school. And then we would give you the reasoning for that and where we got our information so that you feel strong about where that has been obtained. The other concern that I'm hearing from parents is that AI is being used too much by staff internally. and they feel like sometimes it feels like their teacher is AI. I push back on that a little bit because in meeting with teachers, I don't think that it's being used in a way that is that alarming, but we can provide some information on that also. And so I just wanted to make sure the board knew that it wasn't something that we forgot about, that we are just preparing for that in the coming meetings.

Thank you. Moving on to business services consent items. Mr. Hill, any changes or additions?

No changes or additions tonight.

Is there a motion to approve business services consent items as listed under 13A through 13L? So moved. I'll second. Any discussion?

Yes, I'd like to pull D and E separately, please. Vote on separate. D and E. Agreement with Red Rover? D. I'm sorry. I'm in the wrong one. I'm waiting for the next one. I'm sorry. Oh, okay. So nothing in this one? I'm good with this one, and I just want to say congratulations on finally getting the press box at RHS. That's about time. That's about time.

No other discussion? I just wanted to comment that regarding the agreement with Tyler Technologies to provide the drive on board student transportation tablet software, I really love the sound of that program and the fact that it will allow parents to track where their child is, if they got on the bus, where the bus is at. I think that's a great program to have.

We'll call for the vote.

Missing one vote.

Press the show vote. At the top. Press the show vote.

Press that. Motion's carried, 5-0.

Tonight we don't have any business services action items, so we'll move on to educational services consent items. Mrs. Buckmiller, any changes or additions?

No changes or additions tonight. Thank you.

Is there a motion to approve educational services consent items as listed under 15A through 15E? Second.

Second.

Kendi, thank you. Jeanette, did I get that right? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Any discussion?

Yes. Wondering if we can go ahead and vote on D and E separately, please.

Are you able to set that up?

I think so. So on this vote, we're going to be voting for Everybody will vote. A, B, and C. Got it.

And the other ones are all just separate. Everyone will vote separately on D and E. Okay.

Any more discussion? All right. We'll call for the vote.

This motion is carried, 5-0.

Now I need a motion to approve Educational Services Consent Item 15D. Do we have a motion?

So moved.

Okay, do we have a second?

Second.

All right, any discussion on this? All right, we'll call for the vote.

Do you see it? I just named it's 15B. Did it pop up? Okay. Motion carried with the ayes being President Rendler, Board Member Wilson, Clerk Ayala-Quintero, and Board Member Olsen. And Vice President Hollihan abstained from the vote.

Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the Boys and Girls Club? That's item 15E. All moved. A second? A second. Thank you, Candy. Thank you, Jeanette. All right. Any discussion? All right, we'll call for the vote.

Motion carried, with the ayes being President Rendler, Board Member Wilson, Clerk Ayala-Quintero, and Board Member Olsen, and Vice President Hollihan abstain from the vote.

All right, now action items under educational services. Mrs. Buckmiller, any changes or additions?

Not tonight, thank you.

Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the stipulated expulsion regarding student 2025-2026-29 through the remainder of the second semester of the 2025-2026 school year with the first semester of 2026 to 2027 school year suspended? So moved. One second. Any discussion? All right, we'll call for the vote. Motion carried, 5-0. Is there a motion to adopt resolution number 2025-2026-31, Celebrating America's 250th anniversary.

So moved. I'll second.

Thank you, Candy. Thank you, Jeanette. Any discussion?

I just have a couple of questions. I would like to know if we can move this to a committee because I feel like I would like to have actual conversation about this. And I don't know that we're going to be able to get this done in the 20 minute mark that we have. And I would like to this to not drag on all night. So I was hoping we could take this to committee. I wasn't able to get I had something come up and I wasn't able to get my recommendations in. And they've since changed since the original. So I'm hoping that I can work with somebody on this to work on some of the language. I feel like some of it has had a semantic shift, and I would like to make sure that this language is inclusive of everyone, and I would like just to work on this with somebody.

Well, since the school year is almost over, I think it would behoove us to have the conversation here so that we could move forward quicker.

I mean, I can meet with somebody tomorrow. I'm not asking for weeks ahead. I mean, I'm ready with my changes, but I just don't think... You know what you're... I am, but it's kind of complicated, so I don't know that it's going to take the 20 minutes just to explain. And I just have questions about it, so I would hope that we could. I mean, I would like to give a committee another chance so that we can show that we can work effectively together. And I want to just have an actual conversation because I feel like sometimes when we're in this situation, we can't. it right here right now I think that's the best idea let's just get it done so that we can have it more time for preparation but am I going to be withheld to a 20 minute time standard when I'm genuinely saying I need more time than that okay thank you

Do you want to start?

Yeah, no, I can start, absolutely. So I went through it, and I went through the updated one so that I wasn't, you know, wasting time. But in the second paragraph, I do think that there is some question about the guided by faith and conviction, and I would like that changed to driven by profound conviction and the pursuit of liberty. There's a lot of cross-outs. There's a lot of slight changes. What I would like it to read as, whereas the founders, driven by profound conviction in the pursuit of liberty, established a nation dedicated to self-governance and the unalienable rights of all as articulated in our founding documents. And it was missing the word and after that.

Oh, they all are missing and.

A number of them are, not all of them.

Consuelo, do we have any hard copies of this document?

It was in the agenda. It's in the agenda.

It was loose, so I don't... I must have left it at home because it's not in my book.

But I can share.

The way that, just for logistical purposes, this draft... WAS A RESULT OF COMBINING A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS, AND SO IT DOESN'T REALLY, IT'S NOT REALLY OWNED BY ANY ONE PERSON, WHICH I'M POINTING OUT ONLY BECAUSE IN ORDER TO COME UP WITH, LIKE, IT'S NOT LIKE IT WAS DRAFTED BY ONE PERSON AND WE CAN SAY, DO YOU ACCEPT THAT CHANGE? IT WOULD HAVE TO BE SOMETHING THAT WE COLLECTIVELY AGREE, WHICH I CAN ONLY, WE CAN ONLY MOVE FORWARD IF WE JUST STRAIGHT VOTE. Not like action item vote, but just like, okay, we just heard an edit. Would everybody like to accept that? And then we all vote. And then that way we can move forward or not.

Would anybody like me to read it again? Yes, please. Whereas the founders, driven by profound conviction and the pursuit of liberty, established a nation dedicated to self-governance and the unalienable rights of all, as articulated in our founding documents and... It just kind of rearranges a couple of things.

I'm okay with that.

So you're taking out the word faith? Yes, only because they were of different faiths, and I feel like right now, again, there's been some semantic shifts, and I just really think that, you know, I mean, we don't know what they were driven by, but really, if it was their faith or if it was their conviction, but it just felt a lot more inclusive that way. Okay, can you read it one more time? No, absolutely. Whereas the founders, driven by profound conviction and the pursuit of liberty, established a nation dedicated to self-governance and the unalienable rights of all as articulated in our founding documents and... All right, so we can bring it to a vote then?

I just have one question because this was in the original. Where did this whereas come from?

There were three different submitted drafts. One came from Member Olson. Member Wilson also provided. And then President Rendler provided. And so it's a combination of all three.

So I'd have to look at everybody's draft to know exactly where that sentence came from.

But everybody's here who helped, so you could say your opinion on whether you accept that, don't accept that. And then we do need to just ask if there are at least three of you that agree with it or don't agree with it, and then we can move on to the next.

Once again, I can go back to a committee. I'm happy to give everybody a copy of my draft to see.

I think we should vote on the edits one by one and get through it. I'm just visual.

You're learning that.

All right. So are we just going to do it?

I would say we could do a thumbs up because this is not an action. We're working on a draft. Ultimately, we'll have to make a motion. Okay.

Well, did anybody have any changes, suggestions to that?

I like guided by faith because we are one nation founded under God. So it doesn't push a religion or push religion on anybody. The founders were founded one nation under God, indivisible. So I like it. So I would put my thumb down on the recommendation. I prefer to keep it how it is.

And I'm okay to change with the comments from Melissa.

I'd like to keep it the way it's written. I like the way it is written. This is exactly why I...

I guess, I mean, my preference would be to keep it the way it is.

I'm sure I would like to vote on this. I would like this to move forward with everyone's blessing, and I would really appreciate if we had an opportunity to discuss this. And already we are one thing in, and we're already having an issue, which is why I would like to sit down and have a discussion. I don't want to have this discussion on the dais when it's going to take forever.

Well, the problem with that, I see, Melissa, is you can only have the discussion with one other board member, right?

Yeah. I'm happy to give my notes to someone else. I mean, if Patty wants to do it, I'm happy to do that. And I don't think it, I mean, what, did it take us an hour when we did it the last time?

I don't know, but I can guarantee you I'll probably have comments, though, when it comes back. So that was my thinking. Why not just do it now?

I think we had the majority of us agreeing to hammer it out now. So we've gotten through the first two paragraphs. And then what's the next one?

We haven't, though, because we haven't come to an agreement.

We had a majority in agreement to leave it how it is.

So how is it going to be phrased?

How it is. It's going to stay. Add the word and at the end. What about your next suggestion?

Okay. Is there any point to this then?

Yes. We don't know what you have to add. Okay.

What's the next one? So I don't like this pledge their lives. They didn't sacrifice themselves. So why is that staying in?

Where? Which?

In the first paragraph.

The first one?

Pledge their lives to establish.

The second one. Okay.

Well, I don't know.

Maybe there's a different word, but I think the intent is that they pledge to... How about pledge to establish? Do everything they can during their lifetime to establish. I'm fine with that.

If you want to say pledge to establish, that sounds fine. Oh, thank you. Do you want to do that, Melissa? Thank you. Does anyone?

Yeah, I'll take one.

A nation dedicated to self-governance and the unalienable rights of all. And I don't know that enshrined is the right word. Articulated is it's a, there's lots of documents.

What paragraph are you on now? Still the first one. Well, it's the second one, yeah.

It's the second paragraph.

As what in our founding documents? What's the word?

As articulated in our founding documents.

Okay, I like that. Are you guys okay with that?

Yeah, I'm fine with that.

As articulated in our founding documents. And? And. Whereas Americans' history is one of perseverance, sacrifice, and achievement, in which generations of patriots have defended our freedoms, advanced prosperity, and upheld the blessings of liberty.

I did have changes on that. Whereas America's history is a 250-year narrative of perseverance, sacrifice, and either great or significant achievement, during which generations of Americans from all backgrounds have defended our freedoms, worked to broaden the reach of blessings of liberty, and the blessings of liberty is, since it's taken from a document, it should have quotations in it.

I'm sorry, can you read that?

Whereas America's history is a 250-year narrative of perseverance, sacrifice, and great or significant achievement, I didn't have a preference on the word, during which generations of Americans from all backgrounds have defended our freedoms, worked to broaden the reach of blessings of liberty, and...

I like generations of patriots, but all the other changes, I don't mind.

I feel like generations of patriots is a very loaded word right now, and patriots is a very loaded word right now.

In patriotic?

No, patriots.

I like Americans of various backgrounds. That's nice.

I mean, it still conveys the sentiment. I just, it felt like a very loaded word.

What's wrong with a patriot?

I just said there are some words I've had a semantic shift, and I don't think anything's wrong with patriots.

I just say that it was loaded.

Yes, it is.

Loaded with what? It's a trigger word for some people. America's history is...

I had changed it to a 250-year narrative because, I mean... Because it's not just... I'm not married to it. It was a suggestion. I just thought it sounded nice.

Read it one more time, please. I don't think I like that word narrative. Like, it sounds...

It's a story. I mean, it's a story that we didn't... I mean, all of it's a narrative, really.

Yeah, I don't really like the word narrative either. Sounds odd.

America's 250-year history...

America's history.

There he says history in French. There you go. America's 250-year history.

Okay, how about America's history encompasses 250 years of perseverance, sacrifice, and great and significant achievement.

Okay, I like that.

Say it again.

America's history is one of 250 years of perseverance, sacrifice, and achievement.

Sacrifice and either greater significant achievement.

That America's history encompasses 250 years.

Of perseverance, sacrifice, and I felt like adding greater significant in front of achievement.

How about significant achievement? I like that. Which generations of Americans.

During which generations of Americans from all backgrounds.

Have defended our freedoms, advanced prosperity, and upheld the blessings of liberty. And.

I did take out advanced prosperity just because, I mean, it felt a little weird right now.

I don't know, but that's what we did over through the years.

But this is like encompassing the entire, so I just, it just, I had just removed it.

I like it just because I think that's how, what happened. The 250 years, prosperity, everyone was prospering and they were advancing it for people and by working together and I like it.

And then there goes the and, and if blessings of liberty should have quotations in it. Why? Because it's taken from a founding document. I would imagine that's the phrasings. I didn't take that from any document. It's taken from a founding document.

It wasn't intended as a quote, so I wouldn't recommend the quotes.

So that one reads, whereas... America's history encompasses 250 years of perseverance, sacrifice, and significant achievement, during which generations of Americans... Of all backgrounds. Of all backgrounds. Of many backgrounds? All. Of all backgrounds?

I had us all.

Okay. Defend our freedom, advance prosperity, and uphold the blessings of liberty. And? Are we okay with that? Okay.

That works for me.

All right. We're good? Next, whereas instilling respect for our flag, Constitution, and founding principles in each new generation is vital to persevering the republic and its values.

So I have, whereas cultivating a deep understanding of our Constitution, comma, national symbols, which would include the flag, but it would also include things like the eagle, the olive branch, the arrows, just it was kind of all-encompassing. So whereas cultivating a deep understanding of our Constitution, national symbols, and founding principles in each new generation is essential to the health of our republic and the preservation of its democratic values, and...

I really like to keep respect for our flag in there. I don't like removing that.

It's cultivating a deep understanding of our national symbols. I just like it to say our flag.

Do that and then say, and respect for our flag. And respect for our flag?

Well, that's why this flag is a national symbol. But there are multiple, so we're limiting this to the Constitution and the flag.

No, I liked the part that you said without taking out the flag, adding what you said. Symbol.

I can't remember how you say it. Say it again.

Whereas cultivating a deep understanding of our Constitution, national symbols, and founding principles in each new generation is essential to the health of our republic and the preservation of its democratic values and

Yeah, so I think we need to leave respect for the flag in there, either on the back end or the front end.

I mean, then I would think it would need to go after either the Constitution or the National Symbols.

Now, when you said that part about the National Symbols, put it right after that. And respect for the flag.

And I like the word you added about understanding the Constitution.

Cultivating a deep understanding of our Constitution.

I like that.

I mean, it's

important to note that this is just a you know a resolution to celebrate the 250th so like every little um you know the the everywhere did you get that word isn't quite i'm sure she'll go back okay well i was thinking when there were some comments from the public this is

not meant to be a history lesson. It's just meant to recognize that we've come this far, and it's not meant to indicate that everything's perfect in our country, but that we've come this far and made a lot of achievements. that the schools will do something to teach the kids that and acknowledge it.

We should recognize, but we should also recognize today, too, and look at everything. Recognizing the 250 years.

But when you say this isn't a history lesson, I mean this quite literally says that there will be lessons on it.

We're going to celebrate a lot. I couldn't hear you.

When you said that this wasn't a history lesson, there I mean quite literally is description of how this is supposed to be a lesson. Include lessons on. She's talking about this resolution.

This is a document, but each school site can determine how they want to uphold this, whether it's a lesson. Yes.

Whereas cultivating a deep understanding of our Constitution, national symbols, respect for our flag... And founding principles in each new generation is essential to the health of our republic and the preservation of its democratic values and. Okay.

We good? She kept the flag, so that's good. I'm good with that.

All right. Whereas schools play a critical role in teaching students to honor America's founding principles, respect the sacrifices made for our freedoms, and recognize our nation's triumphs and challenges as a force for good worth preserving. And?

Okay. You know what? I have a comment. Jeanette just mentioned that we are a republic, actually. We're not a democratic society.

It says essential to the health of our republic and the preservation of its democratic values.

Democratic values? We're a democracy.

No, we're a republic. And it says the health of our republic, and we are a democracy, so the democratic values. Not a democracy. We're a republic.

Why not just say and its values? Yeah.

It says both because... But we're not both. We're a republic. We are, though.

I think we should just leave it with the... Can we just put values? The republic and its values. Okay, of its values, of America's values.

Its values...

its values I like the republic and its values Jeanette likes it essential to the health of our republic and the preservation of its values yeah

Okay. Whereas public schools, not schools, public schools because we have no governance over other schools. Whereas public schools play a critical role in preparing students to engage in history, honoring its triumphs, learning from its challenges, and recognizing the enduring value of our democratic institutions. And?

I don't really like the democratic institutions part. part, but I don't mind the rest.

Whereas public schools play a critical role in preparing students to engage in history, honoring its triumphs, learning from its challenges, and recognizing the enduring value of our democratic institutions,

Teaching students to honor America's founding principles was removed. Respect for the sacrifices, was that in there?

It was simplifying, honoring its triumphs, learning from its challenges. It was just simplifying it.

I like teaching students to honor America's founding principles. I think that's important because we teach the students.

But I think it goes further than that. We're supposed to prepare them to engage with society.

How about teaching and preparing students to honor America's founding principles?

Honor and engage.

I liked what you had said. I didn't write it all down. Something about engaging in history.

Engage in history, honoring its triumphs, learning from its challenges, and recognizing the enduring value of our democratic institutions and

And I really don't like the democratic institutions part.

What if we add in preparing and teaching students to engage in history and then just keep everything else the same and to honor America's founding, like keep the rest of it the same?

Yeah.

Yeah. I'm okay with that.

How are you going to teach someone to respect sacrifices made for our freedom? I think you can... Sorry. No, I just wanted to say, how are you going to teach somebody to respect the sacrifices made for our freedom? I think you can, you know, speak to them, but in teaching a whole history on it, but I don't know that you're going to be able to teach respect on that.

And you just say... teach about the sacrifices made for our freedoms? You could say that. You could teach about the sacrifices made. Well, we're already saying preparing and teaching, so we could just say...

Educating. The founding principles, comma, the sacrifices made for our freedoms. Yeah, there you go.

Just get rid of respect the. Yeah.

This last part, as a force for good worth preserving. Can we change that somehow?

I had taken it out entirely. That's why I had rewritten it, just to simplify it.

It's worth preserving because we need to keep that. You can't just drop it off and say, okay, that was 250 years, now we're going to start over.

But it just doesn't sound right.

Recognizing the triumphs and challenges. Preserving our history. That would keep it.

I think that's where the sentiment for the recognizing the enduring value of our democratic institutions came in.

After challenges, preserving our history, comma, preserving our history.

I think I kind of lost where it was.

I don't. Okay. Public schools play a critical role in preparing and teaching students. To engage in history and honor America's founding principles, the sacrifices made for our freedoms, and recognize our nation's triumphs and challenges.

Preserving our history.

Wait, what was the last part?

Preserving our history. And?

And.

Preserving our history.

Preserving our, well, we don't.

Recognize our nation's triumphs and challenges. Preserving our history.

No, I think, to me, the intent of it is to show that it's, I think you said something about it, Melissa, that it's worth preserving. I mean, I like that. Like, I can't remember what you said.

But I didn't say that. That was the original.

No, I mean, I thought you said something similar.

I had said my original was honoring its triumphs, learning from its challenges, and recognizing the enduring value of our democratic institutions.

Yeah, that I liked, except enduring values of our republic.

But we live in a... Can you help me understand that? Because we live in a democracy. That's how we all got elected.

No, we live in a constitutional republic.

See, I think this is probably one of those situations where it's going to be a semantic shift, and I would just... We could just put America in that place.

If I could just add, we are both technically. And so I don't know that we want to maybe argue like either one, but we have a representative democracy, which is a republic, okay? Which you can Google it, you can chat GBT it, whatever you want. In the end, we're both, okay? So I don't know what we want to include in here, but I don't I don't know that we want to spend a lot of time Just kind of arguing. No.

Yeah, the one right before it we can say preserving the Republic and our democratic process or something if you want to put them both in there So they're both there in the one before that Maybe just recognizing the enduring value of our institutions I Oh, I thought that was going to say recognizing our nation's triumphs and challenges.

I think that's where Jeanette went back and said that she wanted it.

And preserving the history of America.

I want it to still reflect hope for preserving the good things that we've been able to do in the 250 years that we... Yeah, because it says recognize our nation's triumphs and challenges...

Preserving the history of America. We want to preserve that history.

I can't really preserve history.

You recognize it and you honor it and you preserve it and promote it. But this isn't to promote it. It's recognizing it, that this is what we're celebrating.

Recognizing our nation's triumphs and challenges.

Remember, this is just a resolution. I mean, we're not working on a board policy, so we just want to celebrate. It's just as valuable, though. It's very valuable, but I'm just saying, like, the exact minutia of words isn't really that important. It's the idea of doing a celebration for our schools and for the 250th.

The sentiment is still there.

I think I would just like to recognize our nation's triumphs and challenges and preserving the history of America. It's like, good with that?

I'm good with that.

History is history.

Well, we do have to preserve our history so we don't repeat it.

It's history. Sure.

I'm fine with it.

And in the next one, democratic principles is in that last one.

I had changed it to process. Democratic process? Yeah. Okay. Let's read that one. Okay.

Are we all okay with the other one?

Sure. Yes. Yes.

This one just says, whereas the Redlands Unified School District is committed to excellence in civic education, historical literacy, and fostering active student participation in the democratic process as exemplified by our participation in Civic Learning Week and Civics Day.

Okay, with that,

Whereas the Redlands Unified School District is committed to excellence in, so it takes out strengthening, excellence in civic education, historical literacy, and crossing out student engagement, fostering active student participation in the democratic process, as exemplified by our participation in Civic Learning Week and Civics Day.

Statistically, we're saying a couple of different things. We're at that point now where the couple of ideas that are kind of drafted at the top is to either have a month where sites will choose where in that month they will have a recognition. Then the other recommendation was to have sort of the whole semester from August through December for sites to choose when to do that. And so when we say Civic Learning Week and Civics Day, that is not going to match necessarily. And so it would either

I think that's really showing just that we continue it on.

It's not exemplified through our yearly.

That's what I was going to suggest, that maybe it says something as demonstrated through activities such as Civics Learning Week and Civics Day or as demonstrated through recommended activities or something like that where you don't read it and say we're having a specific week or a day.

So that was my idea, going August through December, because we have some schools that do November always. Some schools want to do it at the beginning of the year.

But is the clarification that they can do it at some point, not that they have to do it August through December?

No, some point through that time period. The time frame.

Okay.

Because it's still 26.

We want to decide that right now, whether we're going to go that time frame or we're going to choose a month.

I thought we were going to give them the flexibility.

Well, that's what we have to decide because that's part of the draft.

I think give them the flexibility to work in their schedule between the first semester.

Yeah, that's fine.

Designate the first semester as. First semester. First semester. First semester as American 250th recognition month.

Doesn't that mean it's the whole month? It's that whole period, though?

We're just recognizing the semester, and the schools can do it whenever they want in the semester. It's open.

It gives more flexibility. If you do four times, it's open. That's right. Everybody good with that?

I'm fine with that. Semester.

Recognizes the first semester of 2026.

And it could say as recognition of America's 250th year or something. I don't know, because we're not going to say month, because we're not doing it.

We'll wordsmith it.

Recognition, just take out month.

So then number two at the bottom.

Number two, the only thing I had was, and I did take out proudly, and I said formally just because this is a formal recognition. Formally commemorates this anniversary by declaring the month, oh, declaring the first semester. First. I was on one. So I messed up. Yeah. It's number two. Formally commemorates this anniversary by declaring the first semester of 2026 as America's semi-quincentennial recognition month. Month needed to be capitalized.

We did first semester. We changed it to first semester.

Oh, yeah. Sorry. My bad.

I did take out the rest of that. I just figured leaving it at month was and.

Yeah, we don't need that other part to that sentence.

Okay, what's the next one? It got cut off.

Expect schools to engage.

And can I just, so you took out everything after recognition? Yeah.

I would just like to say for the...

public comment the only reason I inserted student and staff energy is high is because of the comments we got at the last meeting that we don't want to rush our teachers and students during the end of the year when there's so much going on so it's not meant as anything negative at all it was meant to give them time and but taking it out is fine with me

Okay, so the number three I just have, instead of expects, it's encourages schools to engage staff and students and families in age-appropriate opportunities to explore America's history and milestones, such as assemblies, in-depth study of the Constitution and founding documents. I'm just going to read it, so I'll start over. Encourages schools to engage staff, students, and families in age-appropriate opportunities to explore America's history and milestones, such as assemblies, in-depth study of the Constitution and founding documents, discussions on the history and evolution of self-governance, Essay opportunities, projects honoring American heroes, events highlighting the contributions of diverse Americans, including those of various cultures, ethnicities, and social backgrounds who have shaped our nation. I know that was a lot.

I really don't like taking out honoring veterans. I like to leave the veterans in there.

I just felt like phrasing it as American heroes kind of broadened it.

veterans and heroes, you could say. I think it's important to leave veterans in there. And also, I really don't like the recurrent removal of patriotic. This is the whole point of the 250th. It's patriotism. It's instilling a love for our country. It doesn't mean that you have to love the administration or certain leaders in this day or that day. This is like an America thing. This isn't about politics because you frequently mention about what's happening with...

I never said it was.

Well, I just don't like removing...

I'm just saying that I would like this to be inclusive, and whereas, like, yes, it could be. We've already had a couple people comment on it. There is some language that could be triggering to others. It may not be to you, and that's fine. You've already pointed out language that I've wanted, that I had in there that you found triggering, and I'm respecting that. What I'm saying is that it works both ways, and so I... This was just my suggested edits.

Oh, I would like to suggest that we leave patriotic assemblies in there. And also I would... I would not just say encourage because we want the schools to do something. So maybe not expects, but would maybe require a school to engage staff. The whole idea is to have each school do something, whether it's big or small or modestly priced. I wouldn't remove, you could say.

But that's what encourage is. We're encouraging. Encouraging means you don't have to do it. Why would we want to imply that we're forcing them to do it?

encourages and then it's optional so we don't want it to be optional hopefully they wouldn't think of it that way I think, yeah, then why would it matter if we have expects or require schools? I think that would be good because then they know they're required to do something.

Encourages. I mean, it has positive connotation. Requires.

Encourages means optional. And so then that's my suggestion to leave expects or require. Require, if that sounds nicer. And I also want to leave patriotic assemblies, and I would like to honor the veterans.

If we change it, say schools will engage staff, students, and families.

Yeah, that's nice. Yes, sure. Schools will engage. Yeah.

And I like how someone mentioned civic leaders got taken out.

That was a different one.

Okay, this is what I have. Tell me if I got something not right. Schools will engage staff, students, and families in age-appropriate opportunities to explore American history.

And milestones. Oh, okay. Sorry. I had it in milestones. History and milestones. Oh, okay.

I didn't get that. And milestones. Through activities and achievements celebrating Americans' history, such as patriotic assemblies, lessons on the Constitution, and founding documents, discussions on the significance of liberty and self-governance, essay contests, projects honoring veterans and heroes, events highlighting the contributions of diverse Americans, diverse Americans of...

I have various cultures, ethnicities, and social backgrounds.

Americans of diverse backgrounds who've helped shaped our nation's history.

I did have an issue with the essay contests because I feel like that's a much larger commitment. And if they're providing an essay opportunity, like an assignment, that would be fine. But a contest would require a much larger scale.

It's just an example. It says such as.

Well, not necessarily if we're requiring them to do it. I mean, I know we changed the language, but I mean...

But it says such as.

An essay opportunity would still be...

They don't have to do that.

They can do whatever they want. That's just an example listed.

Or if you want to say for example instead of such as, but that's what such as means is for example.

Achievements that may include. Sure.

Just to give ideas. Optional.

A wide range of ideas so that it doesn't feel so stressful.

Listens on the Constitution and founding documents, discussions on the significance of public honoring veterans and heroes, highlighting the contributions of Americans with diverse backgrounds who've helped shape our nation's history.

I just put who helped shape our nation. I think we throw history in there a lot.

Okay. That sounds good to me. Just leave it at nation.

Nation.

Yeah. Okay.

Are you getting all this? Yes. Yeah, there you go. There you go. Read it again?

I think we got it.

We got it. We got it.

All right. Directs the superintendent to provide principles with flexible guidance. I didn't like optional. Flexible guidance. Sample activities, comma. And I didn't like free resources. I felt free was implying that we would just get them from everywhere. I thought curated resources was better.

And resources.

I just thought curated was nice because it would mean they were tailored to, you know.

I just say, and resources. I don't think it needs to be curated.

Two things changed in that one. To support, oh, instead of implementation, I said to support this commemoration while respecting the time and resources of our educators and staff.

The celebration?

Because it's not an official celebration, we're commemorating this, but I'm good with celebration if that's what you guys want to do.

Okay, so that sounds good.

While respecting the time and resources of our educators and staff.

But I just didn't like the curated part. Can we leave that part out?

We already did.

Okay, cool.

Without adding significant costs or time burdens to school or staff. All right. What did you change that to?

To while respecting the time and resources of our educators and staff.

Maybe it further resolved. Here we go. Did you have any concerns about that one?

I did.

Go ahead.

I was waiting for them to stop writing.

The time and resources of our educators and staff.

Be it further resolved that the Redlands Unified School District commits to using this semi-quincentennial, I crossed out as a platform, commits to using this semi-quincentennial to inspire students to, and crossed out embrace the principles, inspire students to examine the ideals and intentions of the founders, fostering a deep appreciation for for the civic responsibilities required to maintain a free society and encouraging them to carry forward the legacy of innovation, resilience, and progress. It was a lot, but I can... You didn't like civic responsibility? It is, it's just moved over.

What did you say after inspire students to, you took out embrace?

Embrace the principles. I put examine the ideals and intentions of the founders.

the deep appreciation for the sacrifices made for our freedoms, you got rid of that part?

I did. Because we already mentioned it up top. So it was to encourage them to take part in their civic responsibilities that are required to maintain a free society and encouraging them to carry forward the legacy of innovation, resilience, and progress. And then end. Okay.

It sounds good.

Do you want me to read it again?

No. Yes.

Be it further resolved that the Redlands Unified School District commits to using this semi-quincentennial to inspire students to examine the ideals and intentions of the founders, fostering a deep appreciation for the civic responsibilities required to maintain a free society and encouraging them to carry forward the legacy of innovation, resilience, and progress. And...

Just the part that I'm having trouble with is they examine the... Ideals and intentions? Embrace the ideals and intentions.

Yeah, embrace them. Well, I just don't know that... I mean, I think those are discussion items, so again, we don't know what their thought process... We weren't there. So you can study them and come to your own conclusion on what their intentions were. But I don't know that you can just... automatically embrace them. I think the whole point is to learn and to analyze it.

To learn about.

That's what I thought examine was.

Examine just sounds very harsh to me.

Study. Study. There we go. Study is it.

Study the ideals and intentions. fostering a deep appreciation for the civic responsibilities required to maintain a free society and encouraging them to carry forward the legacy of innovation, resilience, and progress.

I would like to keep in there, right after you said that first part, and appreciation for the sacrifices made for our freedoms. Because I think that's very important.

Isn't that, that was already up there on the top.

It's already included above. In the one above?

Yep. In a couple up.

Two above.

Yeah.

One, two, three, four. It's one, two, three, four. The fifth paragraph includes it. Last one. Be it further resolved that the Redlands Unified School District, I removed calls upon, because it felt very harsh. I put invites. All members of the, and I listed everyone. I said Redlands, Loma Linda, Highland, Mentone, and San Bernardino communities to join in this commemoration and to recommit to the principles that continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union.

Or as follows. I think we should just keep it to community. It should say members of our school community. Yeah.

Yeah, I was going to put that, but I just thought sometimes, like, there's a disconnect between some of our communities. They always feel because we're called Redlands Unified that we're your only encompassing, you know, like we focus on Redlands. So I thought it would be nice to name them.

Well, if you want to name them, you've got to include all of them.

Okay, so I forgot Forest Falls.

I think to make it easy, just put district communities. That makes it easier.

Okay. To join, but it was invites all members, and then to join in this commemoration. But I guess it would have to reflect what we did above. I don't remember what we did.

Commemoration.

Yeah.

Celebration.

And then after commemoration, it was...

The title is Celebrating, so that's why I thought it should be Celebration, because the title is Celebrating.

So do we want to change the top to Commemorating, America's 250th anniversary?

We're trying to have them celebrate. We want them to celebrate. Celebrating on this one. Yeah, it's a birthday party.

So wherever commemorative is up there, we need to change it to Celebration, or Celebrate, or whatever we're commemorating.

Okay, so be it further resolved that the Redlands Unified School District invites all members of the district communities to join in this celebration and then I had changed it to cross everything else out and recommit to the principles that continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union.

I liked liberty and justice, but in the advancement of getting this through, I don't mind.

So what did you say, Melissa?

And recommit to the principles that continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union.

Liberty, justice, freedom for all.

Yeah, those are the principles.

Nice. That's okay. I'm willing to go with it just so that we can move forward. Do you like that, Michelle?

Yeah, I miss part of it, so I'm trying to recommit to the principles that continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union.

So you're taking out liberty, justice, and self-government?

I just changed it to the principles.

Liberty and justice for all. I wrote liberty and justice for all. We commit ourselves to the principles of liberty and justice for all.

Yeah, that's nice.

And then still. Whatever to a more perfect union that you said.

That continue. That continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union.

Yeah. Liberty and justice for all. So to recommit ourselves to the principles of liberty and justice for all.

And the principles that continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union, because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

To guide.

Should we read that again? Like how it's really going to say, look.

if somebody has it written I don't have it written but I think it was be it further resolved that the Redlands Unified School District invites all members of the district communities to join in this celebration and recommit to I'm sorry it was liberty and justice for all and the principles that continue to guide our nation to a more perfect union to a more perfect union our nation

How's that sound? Are we good? Sounds good. All right. Any more discussion on this? All right. Consuelo, call for the vote. Did you clock how long that took?

Yes. Just to clarify, though, what you would be voting on is the edited all the agreements, which you don't technically have a draft in front of you, but you would be voting with the expectation that that's what you would see in front of you as an official resolution. Okay. Okay.

How long did it take?

40 minutes. Thank you. I appreciate that.

836.

Yes.

Oh, it's right here.

Motion carried. 5-0.

Yeah, I lost my page. Okay. Do I have a motion to adopt? No. Moving on to human resources consent items. Mrs. Bruick, do you have any changes or additions?

No changes or additions. Thank you.

You guys still awake over there?

Yeah.

Do you have a motion to approve human resources consent items as listed under 17A through 17C?

So moved.

Second. Thank you, Jeanette. Thank you, Candy. Any discussion? All right. I'll call the vote. Motion carried. Five-0. Okay, let's continue with Human Resources Action Items. Mrs. Bruick, any changes or additions?

No, I don't. Thank you.

I have a motion to ratify approved Clinical Training Memorandum of Understanding between the Redlands Unified School District and Alliant University, effective April 29, 2026. So moved. Any discussion?

Motion carried. Five vote.

A motion to approve memorandum of understanding between the Redlands Unified School District and Redlands Educational Support Professionals Association, effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. So moved. Second. Candy, thank you, Jeanette. Any discussion? We'll call the vote.

Motion's carried. 5-0.

I have a motion to adopt resolution number 2025-2026-30 pertaining to layoffs and or reductions of classified positions.

So moved. Second.

Andy, thank you. Jeanette? Any discussion? I'll call for the vote.

Motion is carried. Five-0.

I have a motion to approve new administrative regulation 4161.5, military leave, first read.

So moved. Are we not going to take D through F together? Do we have to take them separately?

No, we're doing them separate.

So moved. Second.

McCandy, thank you. Jeanette, any discussion?

I would like to say I'm happy that we got this going here, and we clarified some issues that had been a concern before regarding the use of leave during a military member's use of their sick time or vacation time. And so now we have it in writing that it's very clear they are able to use their leave if they wish, but it's not required. I also appreciate that we extended the amount of time. Initially it was just 30 days of absence paid, and then now it is an additional 30 of the difference being paid to the employee. So I like to honor our military employees, and I appreciate their service. So I'm happy that we got this done. It's on here.

So my comment was going to be I wanted the board to consider after the first 30 days that we pay them the balance from what they get for their service up to their current salary. Is that how it is?

Yeah, for the next 30 days. It's a difference being paid. Okay. Mm-hmm. Did not find out. Okay, great.

All right, we'll call for the vote.

Motion carried, 5-0.

Is there a motion to approve new administrative regulation 4261.5, military leave, first read? Military leave, first read.

So moved. Second.

Thank you, Jeanette. Any discussion?

No, I'm just very happy we were able to do that. So I'm glad it's already in there. All right. We'll call the vote.

Motion carried, 5-0.

I have a motion to approve new administrative regulation 4361.5, military leave first read.

So moved.

I'll second. Any discussion? Call for the vote. Motion carried. Now it's time for public participation. Public comments are permitted upon submission of a completed registration card prior to the start of public participation. This is not a forum for debate. Policy concerns will be referred to the superintendent. When called, speakers may proceed to the podium, state their name and trustee area, and speak for the allotted time. The amount of time will be announced by the board president before the first speaker begins and will not exceed three minutes.

How many speakers do we have? We have five registered, but I only see four of them present.

All right, you'll get three minutes.

First is Michael Paisner, followed by Erica Grossman and Kate Appleby.

Welcome back, Michael.

Thank you. Mike Paisner, Area 5. I want to thank you for that interesting discussion of that resolution because I think it was really telling. The original version had a lot of words in it that I think say something about people's perspectives. Words that started with instill, require, call upon, those are words of authority, of control, giving orders. And what it was changed to, or at least suggested in many cases, were words like encourage and invite, in which you respect people's autonomy. And I think that's really important to keep using words like that, And I think when people use words like require and instill, and they have a history of posting discriminatory posts, and posting hateful images, and combine that with words like require and instill, it's going to cause people to be scared. It's going to cause people to be angry. Because if you're discriminatory and you're using those types of words, how do you expect people to react? I think there's a lesson to be learned, and I'm not sure everyone here is capable of learning it. Yes, Ms. Olson, I'm looking at you, and Ms. Wilson. You need to consider your language. Words are important. particularly in the education forum, where if you want to inspire a student, you don't command them, you inspire them. I think that's a lesson that's been missing. And I'm hoping you look back at this conversation that you had and consider the language and consider your approach, because there's a lot of room for improvement. Thank you.

Thank you, Michael.

I don't think Eric was here, Kate.

Welcome back, Kate. Thanks. Superintendent Cabral, the interruption of public participation to clarify the shift in provider for after school care at some sites was actually incredibly rude. It seems like you were actually the one who was misinformed about what parents were told, and you managed to disparage the YMCA in the process. I don't know how that was capable, but you did it. You and President Rendler, who allowed that interruption, should have listened to board member Ayala Quintero when she voiced concern for allowing it. her recommendation was wise. Your allowance of it was not. I am hoping that at the second meeting in June, when you talk about AI, I would like to have the cost for Gemini for students, considering that our district is in dire financial straits right now. I also want to know how you plan to enforce AI usage limits at the different levels with respect to the time and expertise of our staff. Board members Olson and Wilson, what do you have against the word democracy and democratic? If you're going to press board member Ayala Quintero about the word patriot, then you owe us the same explanation for your own loathing of certain words. As a reminder, we are a federal republic, but whether we are a democracy or not, depends upon us. For most of our 250-year history, we have been a representative democracy, and your insistence that we never mention democracy or democratic ignores a key aspect of our history. And while I think I got most of the edits for resolution number 2025-2026-31, I would like to know when it will be available for the public view and where we can expect to find it.

Thank you. Thank you, Kate. Next is Addison Lohman, but I don't see her. And last is Dale Broom.

Welcome back, Dale.

Thank you, President Rendler. Dale Broom, Area 1. I do want to bring up one more time this issue that parental notification policy was brought and requested to be placed on the agenda and has been blocked again. I understand there's reasons, but I think that it would be very wise for this board to explain to the public why it's being blocked, okay? And I'm not going to be pointing fingers or anything like this, but this is no small issue. I mean, I've been out canvassing over large segments of South Loma Linda and South Redlands, and this is an issue that is coming up. We need to have good communication with parents, particularly regarding any of these issues that affect their student records and specifically in regard to gender transitioning that may take place. We cannot have any secrecy policies in this district. Parents need to be notified. And this is an important issue to voters. I mean, we've covered over 6,500 homes in South Redlands and Loma Linda, and this is not a small issue. The other thing I wanted to bring up for the board to consider, it's kind of a new subject, but it's actually a revisitation of an important program that we've had in our nation for many years, and that is the Presidential Fitness Award. President Trump has put forward an order, I don't know if it's an order or a recommendation, that schools start to reimplement the presidential fitness test. And this is not a one party or political issue. Actually, the presidential fitness test was developed initially under John F. Kennedy Jr. and then developed even further under Lyndon Bain Johnson. So this is a bipartisan issue to help get American children better fit and better fitness and get out of this epidemic of obesity that we have here. So in any event, I want to encourage our district to consider incorporating this into the physical education training and programs that we have And there are three components. There's a portion that's focusing on core strength. You have the options of doing what are sit-ups or planks. Cardiovascular, one-mile run versus a 20-meter beep test. Upper body strength, either push-ups or pull-ups. These are the areas that are focused on this presidential fitness test. And it's estimated that only about the 85th percentile of students in terms of these categories would be able to earn this award. But they have a lesser award called the National Fitness Award, which is about 50 percentile in terms of the achievement level. And it's supposed to be available for ages 6 through 18. And I think it would be wise if we incorporated twice-a-year testing to give students an option to be able to earn it at least once during that year. And, of course, you can only earn the award once a year. But the recognition of this award would be very important for students and also put into their records as an achievement that they could bring to their prospective employer.

Thank you, Dale. All right, moving on to board comments. Anybody have something they'd like to say? We'll start with you, Jeanette.

Start over there this time. I'm always first. Oh, but that's what they always say, too. Let's see. I had some great experiences since our last meeting. The film fest that the district puts on was very amazing. The students that create their own films, and it's held at the Harkins Theater. So that was a great event. I participated in the mock interviews for RCAP, which the Compact Club, the steering committee, provides those mock interviews also for the RCAP Club, the Rochford Foundation. And then went to the Mentone Elementary Multicultural Fair, which... They did an absolutely amazing job with their multicultural fair. It was just entertainment, food. They did a really great job. It was packed with families, just packed. And... I wanted to recognize the Day of the Teacher, which is tomorrow, and I do appreciate and thank our teachers for all of their hard work and their efforts to provide a great education for our kids. And then the Educational Support Professionals Day next week. I agree that they are the backbone of any organization. And I end up meeting and talking to many of them when we go on our site visits. We have some just really great staff. And let's see. Oh, I would like to request from the superintendent a report on the drug and alcohol program efforts. I can't remember the name of the program right now. Pardon?

Through North.

Yes, how that went and what they got, what information they gleaned from doing that. And I think that's it.

Okay. Do you have anything, Kenzie?

Okay. I would like to comment as to what one of the speakers had said, that if we're not going to be putting parent notification on the agenda, I think that we should at least put it on for discussion. So if you don't want to move forward with it, at least the public is understanding what's going on with that. I have requested a no-deception policy several times. I think this is the third time publicly now. And also, I wanted to edit our no-bullying policy, our bullying policy, because there were some revisions that I thought that would be good for that. So I have not heard back regarding that. Our bylaw, 9322... It says that the request shall be made in writing and be submitted to the superintendent designee with supporting documents and information if at least one, if any, at least one week before the scheduled meeting date period. Now, the next sentence says items submitted less than a week before the scheduled meeting date, they may be postponed to a later meeting in order to allow for sufficient time for consideration before So the ones that have been submitted with at least one week in advance is supposed to go on that next agenda. That's how I read that. Items submitted less than a week before the scheduled meeting date may be postponed. So I would, you know, I understand if you don't want to move forward with it, but I think that the public deserves it to be expanded. If you don't want to move forward with parent notification, at least we have something in writing like a no deception policy. I think that the parents demand a no deception policy so that they can feel comfortable. Even though I understand we're not lying to parents, so that makes me feel really great. But, you know, it would be nice to solidify something for the confidence of our parents. And onto a better note, I was super impressed with the AVID student scores. That was really amazing. They have done fantastic. So that was really exciting to see. And I'm very excited to see our state testing results and see how our board goals, something we can all agree on and celebrate together if we've seen improvements in our reading, our first board goals, reading literacy by third grade. and also the math interventions that we've been doing for the middle school for all of the kids who have fallen behind. So I'm very anxious and can't wait to see and encourage all the kids to keep up with the testing. I know it's hard, but hopefully we see some improvements for the things that we've tried really hard to benefit the students, something we can all celebrate. Thank you. Thank you.

Just a couple things. I attended the Boy Scouts of America where they honored Tim Rochford. He was honored as the Citizen of the Year, which was really nice, and it was great for someone who's so deserving and who has done so much for Boy Scouts and for the community as well. And then congrats to all our retirees tonight. Thank them for their dedication and their devotion to RUSD, to our students. Wishing them a happy retirement, and what you said, you know, go ahead and have fun and do whatever you want to do. There's no schedule, which is true. and just sending them off with many blessings for a healthy and a fabulous retirement for all of them. And then to our teachers in RESPA, Day of the Teacher for Tomorrow, as Jeanette said, thank you for everything they do, and to our RESPA members for next week for all their hard work and dedication. Thank you.

I just had a couple of little things. I didn't really want to speak much tonight. I do want to speak to the retirees. And thank you for your service to our district, to our students. It's no small thing. Do me a favor, don't change your phone numbers so that we can call you back to sub. But I also wish you all the best. And I hope you have a wonderful retirement because you very much earned it. The other thing I want to speak to is the unfortunate layoff resolution. I want to apologize to the staff that we've had to lay off. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. We have failed you. The education system as a whole has. We shouldn't have to make budgetary decisions when it comes at the expense of our children's well-being. Your separation from the districts is nothing about you as an educator or a person. It says that we still aren't taking our children's well-being serious enough. So I am sorry for that. It's never easy. And it's a very dark day. So thank you.

I attended the film festival. Jeanette and Candy were there and Mr. Cabral. It was very inspiring to see the creativity of all of our students from elementary through middle and high school. These students show their many talents on the big screen. It's always a great event. And along with the administration from the district office, I got to watch the opening of Leadership Day at Bryn Mawr on May 1st. All the children were there in their costumes, and they shared their heritage through song and poems and dance. And I love that the alumni of Bryn Mawr come back every year, and they perform their dances for the students. Congratulations to the fifth grade essay winners tonight that are being recognized at the Burge Mansion. I wish I could have been there, but I look forward to hearing all your essays. A special congratulations to Alonzo from Clement. He won the Golden Pikachu Trophy. I'm proud of you and all the other students in the eSports tournament. I think some of my children and grandchildren would have loved to receive that award back in their middle school days. The next four weeks are packed with events across our district from scholarship awards to career fairs, music concerts, awards programs, possibility proms, lunches, ribbon cutting ceremonies, and not to leave out the elementary senior walks and our graduations. Enjoy all the wonderful things our students are doing these days. These days will go by quickly and the memories will last a lifetime. I also want to congratulate all the retirees and all our student athletes who won the spring awards. Almost 300 years of service combined from our classified staff is amazing. And just want to tell you all to have a great next few weeks and a great end of the school year. And that's it for me, Superintendent.

Yes, thank you. First of all, just to clarify, yes, I apologize for trying to help parents feel better about the situation. I did seek permission to do that, and it did not go the way that I had hoped. YMCA is a great partner of ours. What I was referring to is a flyer that alarmed some parents that specifically states that the YMCA ACEs program is not going to continue. That communication is what I was referring to as being misleading because we had parents reaching out saying that ACEs is no longer going to be here. And that's not true. ACEs is going to be there. The other communication that was sent out was via an email. And that was different. That was accurate. And I think that maybe is what one of our parents may have been referring to. And so there were two different communications that were sent out. I wanted parents to know that the after school program is not going away. That's all I really wanted to make clear. In retrospect, I probably should have just said Ms. Buckmiller will meet with you after this meeting to clarify so that I just didn't want parents leaving the meeting thinking that we weren't going to have after school programs. That was my intent. And so I apologize for interrupting public comments and that won't happen again. Day of the Teacher and Day of our Classified or Classified Employee Week, what we try to do because there's really, you know, nothing is more important than our staff, and there is no way to really say thank you to everybody in a way that I think can be fully appreciated. But we do have a tradition of delivering cakes to all of our sites and all of our departments. And I am happy to see that happening again next Wednesday, which technically is the week of the classified employee. And so on May 20th, all sites and divisions will have cake delivered on behalf of all. my office, cabinet, the board, just to show a token of appreciation. Why on May 20th? It is, you know, sometimes we do it on the Wednesday of Teacher Appreciation Week, which was actually last week, technically. And so Teacher Appreciation Day would have been, I think it was May 10th, or it was the Wednesday of last week. May 20th is, we've chosen classified week to have those cakes delivered, and so hopefully everybody can at least grab a piece of cake on that day as a thank you from us. I also did a video that, you know, hopefully is no longer, well, it's no longer than 30 seconds, so hopefully everybody will watch, just watch it once. and it's just my way of also sharing my appreciation for all our staff. The expectations we have for everybody is unlike anywhere else, and we understand that, and we commend you for the work that you do with our students on a daily basis. I also want to commend the board because I do believe that this may be, and I'm going to go back to check, but this may have been the first time that we actually had a discussion and then it resulted in a 5-0 vote moving forward on something that everybody worked on together. And so I believe that that is commendable and is something to note. We also have had a couple of items come forward to the board, one today on the military leave that was through committee work. That again was work done by the board and that also moved forward with 5-0. We had our mental health policy that was worked on by committee, then came to the board and also passed. And so I just thought I would point out some of our positives that we have been able to accomplish as a board, and I believe that was commendable. Graduation is my favorite time of the year. It brings out the reason why we do what we do. We're going to have over 1,500 students, actually closer to 2,000, cross the stage the first week of June. And every single night is going to be a celebration. And it ends with... some of my favorite moments, which is our adults who've decided to return to school and get their diplomas, and they get to walk across the stage on Friday afternoon. It's a very public location, the Redlands Bowl. If you have not ever participated or come out to see our graduations, if you just want to Spend three hours smiling. Come out to our graduations, and you will see the celebration of not just the students, but also their families. It is quite a moment, and it really is a reminder that this is why we're here. We're here to see our kids not only graduate, but they are smiling because they're graduating with a plan. They know what they're going to do when they wake up the next day, and we're very proud of that. Well, actually, you have to have tickets to get in, but it's just a chain link fence. So you can actually look through and watch just as well. But we have a limited spacing. I think everybody gets five tickets, and it's very difficult to have more than that because the Redlands Bowl only seats so many. But, yes, kids, make sure you pick up your tickets. Okay, that's all my comments. Thank you very much.

On to discussion items. The first item on the agenda is Inland Personnel Council. I'll let Mr. Cabral take that.

Well, I requested this agenda item, so I'll just talk about it. We have had a letter that it's going to be discontinued. So we will see how that reforms later. But I think it was really important that we should have had this discussion earlier. But maybe when it comes and presents back to the board, I would really appreciate that the language that was concerning to the public and myself, the language specifically was talking about specific employee-employer advice to seek and share advice regarding confidential HR matters. And while I understand, I spoke to HR director, that we were not sharing confidential HR employee situations through this council. That doesn't mean that other districts weren't. And the language is very concerning because we shouldn't be doing that with other districts. We shouldn't be speaking about one of our employees with a group of a council. So hopefully that language is different when it reappears. And it was also problematic because it was auto-renewing. And this began back in 2012. And none of us knew that we didn't know here that this was auto-renewing. We had a contract with IPC, and we became aware of it through the public. And so then it took Jason quite a bit of time to find the contract. For many years back that it was put into place and the auto debiting that's mentioned that last time too Is that we were not seeing this come across our payroll on our invoices? So I would hope that when it does come back. I hope that those three things would be Different obviously we need to see it in our agendas to vote on a contract and we need to see the payments come through and So that's all I have to say about that. I look forward to, I know they provide a lot of good staff training for us, and I really appreciate Tony DeMarco and Bill Dietrich and Rajik, John Rajik. I like all of them very much, so I hope we can continue a good relationship with them.

Can I ask, because this is news to me, so I'm not aware of what you're talking about. Because I know we got the letter today, but I'm not understanding where you saw that they were sharing employee information. Because my understanding was IPC, I didn't know one of the organizations, but it was San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools and AALR, one of our attorneys. So I'm not understanding the issue. Okay.

So if you could just explain to me. Like I said, Lisa said we weren't doing that. And so, you know, that was great.

But I would like to know what we're talking about. I just.

Well, I bring you the, I have the contract here. I thought you may have seen it. Didn't it go to all the board? Yeah. Did you see the language in it?

I did not. I don't know what we're talking about. Because you said that somebody was.

Our IPC contract was, I, that was a quote. was specific employee dash employer advice to seek and share advice regarding confidential.

If it's our attorney, why wouldn't we be sharing?

No, between the council. So the language was concerning because a lot of people from the public felt that we were sharing matters, confidential HR matters. So, you know, I didn't know, so I asked Lisa. Well, I also asked Juan and Jason, and they said that we don't do that. So we shouldn't have the language, shouldn't say that we couldn't. would be doing that. It should match.

Well, I think this is kind of a moot point because we got the letter and we don't know what it's going to look like.

No, I just want to be informed. I just want to understand where...

It's in here. It's right here. I'll read it. The purpose of the council, this is the purpose of it, shall be to seek and share expert legal services and advice on matters relating to personnel and employee-employee relations. to communicate among the member districts, which is 60 of us, in seeking solutions to such problems and to study and review the problems unique to employer-employee relations. It says that, again, later on, the advisory committee shall provide advice and counsel on personnel and employer-employee relations. So... It is a mute point, but that's the answer to your question, that that's concerning to people, that their information may be spoken about with this council.

I just, I mean, I can't imagine that, again, I don't know, but I can't imagine that specific employee information was being shared, maybe more situation, like we have this, you know. Yeah. Situation. Very generic.

There are whistleblowers out there, not from our district, but from other districts that report being a victim of this situation.

Well, I didn't know that. That's what I'm actually trying to understand.

I can't validate the claims because I don't know. I'm not a part of any of that. I've heard of cases where employees have been a victim of this council. And I don't know if that's true or not. That's out there.

The other concern that a lot of the public has had, which I can see why, is they list themselves as a JPA, but they don't follow the Brown Act. So they're not holding their meetings in public.

But in the same token, they said they're not a JPA. Well, I went to their website.

Does our contract list them as a JPA?

There's conflicting stuff.

Okay. Well, I'm just trying to understand where the root of this initial problem was because I'm not privy to it. So I'm just trying to have a better understanding.

There was an article in the Sentinel about it, and there was a lot of public. Jeanette mentioned an article in another paper last time. So there's been a lot of public scrutiny.

I would have just appreciated that being shared with us so I could understand, too, like where you guys are coming from. It seems like you guys had information that I haven't been privy to, so I was just wondering.

I just looked it up on the Internet.

No, yeah, I just, I mean, if it was a concern, yeah, I would have hoped that next time we could share that information.

Go ahead. Initially, I think it came as a request to talk about it here, and this was prior to getting the letter. And so I think that's where a lot of it was going to come out, is why there was a concern. I think there was some preparation to share with the board. But it happens that the IPC sent us a letter last Thursday saying that it's going to be discontinued. which means that our contract with them will expire June 30th of this year?

No, I absolutely get all of that. But like I'm saying, if there was an article, I would have appreciated that being shared with us because technically we didn't know about this letter until today. Okay.

That's what I'm trying to explain. There was no article. I've never seen an article.

No, no, no. But they just said that there was an article.

I thought they were ready to bring it.

No, no, no. Yeah. And now it's moved because we have the letter. But what I'm saying is I would have still appreciated that.

Jeanette brought it up last meeting.

Yeah, brought it up. But I didn't see an article.

After she brought it up, I went home and looked on the internet. Inland Personnel Council. Yeah, no.

I just thought we were going to talk about it is all. I mean, it's not even a big deal. I just thought we were going to talk about it. And so I thought we would get more of an explanation is all.

Okay. The second thing is setting special board meeting dates. Can you explain?

Yes, I'd like to clarify.

We have an employee group, certificated employee group, who we do have a resolution that we want to bring forward to the board for layoffs. The administrative law judge who heard that case asked for an extension and did not have the results of that hearing ready for us. So per Ed Code, we have to wait for that extension hearing which the deadline is May 22nd and then we have our understanding is five business days to have a special board meeting in order to take action on the final resolution. And so I wanted to make sure that our public understood why certificated layoffs was not a resolution on tonight's agenda and the process that we will follow to carry that out. What I am asking the board is to set a date so that the public understands that the next time that we should be talking about this is within five days of May 22nd. The only other. or the only other thing that may happen is that the ALJ may come sooner than the 22nd. So, for example, if the decision comes to us tomorrow, then we have five days from tomorrow to set a board meeting. And so right now I'd like to set a date per the 22nd deadline, assuming that they're going to take until the 22nd. We can establish that date tonight, and then if we get the decision sooner, then I would be reaching out to you as board members, setting a date, and then making sure that that gets agendized for the public to know when that date is. And so the date that I'd like to throw out there to set tonight is May 27th, which is a Wednesday, May 27th at 4 p.m.

Okay. I'm good with that.

Yes.

That works.

Okay. With the understanding that if the decision comes in sooner, then I would be reaching out to everyone to set a date that would meet the timeline from the date that we got that judgment.

Okay. Thank you.

Anybody have anything else? All right. This meeting is adjourned at 9.17.