We can go ahead and get started. Evelyn,
you want to kick us off with the roll
call?
>> Trusty Lee
>> here.
>> Trusty King.
>> Trusty Marcus
>> here.
>> Vice President Weekly
>> present.
>> President Welsh
>> here. Good evening and welcome to the
December 17, 2025 meeting of the Redwood
City School Board. Uh it's our last
meeting of the calendar year.
categor.
We're so glad that you all joined us
here tonight. Um you're all our partners
in education. and the board appreciates
your participation. If you wish to
provide comments on issues of concern,
please complete a speaker card uh here
in person. They're at the entrance to
the room and then you can hand it to
Evelyn or uh you can fill out the link
online if you're attending on Zoom or um
if you're in Zoom, you can just raise
your hand when the item comes up. Uh if
you're addressing a subject that's
listed on the agenda, you'll be called
at the time that the item is being
considered. And if it's not on the
agenda, we'll call you shortly during
the oral communication agenda item. And
to be fair to all speakers, we do limit
public comments to three minutes per
person per topic unless otherwise noted.
Moving on, it's our officer's rotation.
Um, we do this annually. We rotate left.
Shall the rotation commence
be go ahead Dr. V. Before we begin the
rotation, um, just to make the public
aware of why we have to why we're doing
this and the manner in which we do this
each year. It says each year the
governing board shall hold an annual
organization meeting in any year in
which the regular election of the
district board members is conducted. The
organization meeting shall be held
within 15 days
following the second Friday in December
after the regular election. During all
other years, the meeting may be held on
any date in December, but no later than
December 20th. During any year in which
a regular election is conducted, the
board at the regular meeting held
immediately prior to the second Friday
in December shall select the day and
time of the organizational meeting. For
any other year, the the day and the time
of the organizational meeting shall be
selected at the last regular meeting
held immediately before the annual
meeting.
On behalf of the board, the
superintendent shall notify the county
of the county of superintendent of
schools of the day and time scheduled
within 15 days prior to the date of the
annual meeting. The superintendent shall
not notify in writing board members and
members elect of the date and time
schedule for the meeting. At this
meeting,
we shall assign the following officers
to rotation. And before we do that,
um those of us on cabinet would like to
present you with a small little gift.
And we want to um thank you for your
leadership, your hard work. You're
keeping us on track and making sure we
move in a fashion that is going not is
going to make us feel that we are here
for one purpose and that's for the
students of Redwood City School
District. And you've done that, Mike.
So, I want to thank you for all you've
done this year, working with me, helping
me with the agenda, moving it forward,
and this is for you.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Let me Yeah, I'll
open it. Um, here we go.
>> Oh, it's so pretty.
>> Yeah, beautiful plaque. Thank you. This
is ve This is very kind. I appreciate it
very much. Um, you know, I'm proud to be
on the board, but what I'm really proud
of is everyone here. Um, I'm really
proud of the district, uh, the care and
the passion I see across all the staff,
um, our teachers, our classified
professionals, um, principles,
counselors, um, specialists, you know,
the district office team. You show up
every day for kids. Um, and I think
that's what really makes a difference.
Um, you're the ones that are out there
that are the change agents. Um, and
you're really you're really making a
difference. So, thank you for carrying
your students and their families with
such commitment and love. I really
appreciate it.
>> Before you get out of that seat, just
quick remark for me as well. Thank you
so much for your leadership in the
president position. Uh the trustees and
I chipped in together. Uh we know that
you and your wife really enjoy Love
Joyy's Tea House in San Francisco, so we
got you a gift card there. Thank you for
your leadership.
>> Thank you. Thank you. And side note, I
hadn't actually opened the email yet. I
don't know why they said viewed, but I
did open it. So, thank you. I got it. I
appreciate it.
>> All right.
>> All right. Rotation.
>> So, we have the rotation. Uh, David
Weekekley becomes the president. Cecilia
Marquez, vice president. Jennifer King
becomes the clerk.
and the representative to Sonteo County
Committee on School District
Organization, David Lee.
And then the um
leazison to the California School Boards
Association and the Sanonteo County
School Boards Association, Mike Wells,
and then of course the secretary of the
board is a superintendent.
All right.
>> Everybody says
Mr.
Everybody I is everybody settled?
Yeah.
Okay. And with our rotation complete, we
are now going to move to changes to the
agenda. Do my fellow trustees have any
proposed changes to today's agenda?
No. Seeing none, um I would like for
somebody to please move to approve the
agenda.
>> I'll move to approve the agenda as
submitted.
>> Thank you. Second.
>> All those in favor?
>> All right. Agenda passes unanimously.
Um now we're going to open to public
comment. Um do we have any people
online? I have three speaker cards here
for in person, but we'll start with uh
in person here. And in no particular
order, I would like to call Patricia.
Yeah.
Speakers are limited to three minutes.
You'll see the clock counting down in
the front. Thank you, Evelyn, for taking
care of the microphone.
He's
winning.
Extra
support.
Look at your
>> Do we have our translator on there?
>> Yeah. Can you guys hear me?
>> Yes. Thank you.
>> Okay, perfect. I will interpret the
comment that mom uh that parent just
said. She said, "Uh, hello everyone. Uh,
everyone from the board uh of directors.
This is my second time here, so I'm a
little nervous, but um I I just wanted
to talk about the teachers, the teachers
in our schools. Uh and I just wanted to
ask you guys for support for this new
year that's coming. So, and for the
children, for the students, for the
children. So, also please try not to
make a lot of cuts. uh because honestly
to lose a teacher if they leave and when
we have a new one is just kind of like
starting again and the sequence with uh
the education uh gets lost. So I'm just
asking please uh that instead of
teachers leaving then maybe you guys
just give them extra support and uh
extra programs or something so they can
uh have some enrichment and also
students can achieve enrichment and
that's what I think and that would be
it. Thank you.
>> Gracias, Patricia.
And next up, uh, Augustina.
>> Good evening. Excuse me. Good evening,
dear board members. My name is Augustine
Espino, and today is a special for a few
things. my daughter show to come over
and see who I talk to when I come to
those meetings and he she want to know
who you are and the ones who make those
decision. So that's is one the other one
thank you uh Mike for uh caring uh good
job being as a president is very uh
appreciative thank you and continue also
we want to be here to congratulate uh
trustee weekly now he he's going to be
the um president of the board so we are
looking forward to work together and see
what uh as a community we can do
together.
I also want to mention to uh to
apologize if if he in my frustration uh
at wanting to see a change in our
children's education, I have
unintentionally disrespect any of you.
Please note that this was my was not my
intention. I genuinely care about the
education of our childrens and I hope we
can work together constructively.
I understand firsthand how vital
education is. Begin denied a good job
for for not being educated has awakened
me to advocate for education for our
kids. I want every child to have a fair
chance of life and success and I hope we
can all collectively make a change in
those kids' future. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Augustine.
Next up, Maria.
Good evening, board members.
Congratulations on all your moving over
and everything. It's feels like good
energy is coming in and moving around.
So, thank you. I didn't plan on talking
today, but I went uh we had a chapter
meeting the other night and I had
numerous members ask me to bring
something to the board just to mention
and I I believe you've heard it before,
but this the situation still sits and
it's bothering our people and that's on
these surveys that go out to our
members. It asks you what site do you
work at, how many years have you worked
at, what position do you work? Now, if
that can't be honed down to a person or
two, our people are not completing
surveys because they are concerned that
they can be identified at what they
honestly want to tell the board. And so
if there's any way that you can somehow
change your surveys to really make them
you anonymous so they can freely give
you their input. They do understand that
you're open to receive emails or
whatever. But many of them feel that
you're closed off and you get it and you
put it aside. So whatever we can do to
build build a better rapport with the
board members to actually thinking and
feeling that the board members care
enough to look into the things that we
bring to your attention. We're always
here for you to ask us questions. If
you're you get information and it
doesn't sound quite right, please ask us
because we will give you the
documentation or whatever to support
what we're trying to tell you. The other
thing is when we talk about reductions
and everything, it's very hard for
classified because we work in positions
that continuously get work on and we're
a person. There is no formula that says
this many
students at a school gets this many
office hours. And now every day almost
more and more work comes in just like
attendance. When attendance comes in, a
robocall is sent to a parent. Shortly
after that, we call the parent again to
find out what their child is child isn't
there and not cleared. Again later, we
have to call again. Now we're informed.
We have to call the next day and the
next day until we get an answer and we
even for late. You're two minutes late.
you're that parent bear to call in or
else we have to continuously call you,
take our time to do it, and then
document every single one of those into
the computer as of the reason the child
wasn't there, the time and our initials.
I can understand if they're tardy, 30
minutes late, you want to know why, but
for 3 minutes late
and the parent forgets to call, that
that's really not fair to us. So, we're
getting more and more work that doesn't
seem fair to us, but we're not getting
more and more help. So, we would
appreciate if you understand that we
would like to have maybe formulas looked
at in this district to help the
classified staff equal the workload that
we're giving to the district. Thank you.
And happy holidays. Stay safe.
>> Happy holidays too as well. Thank you
for your comment.
>> Okay. And with that, I think that's all
the in-person comment cards I have. Do
Evelyn, do we have any online?
>> None online.
>> None online. Okay, great. Thank you so
much. So, that then is going to be the
end of public comment period. We're on
to our discussion items. So, we have
7.1, the first reading in discussion of
board policy and administrative
regulation 5125 decimal 1, release of
directory information. So Mike got us
into a wonderful groove with with Wendy
and with policy committee. Um so Wendy,
I don't know if you want to read any of
the disclosures covering what we're
going to be doing in first reading or
we're good.
>> I'm happy to uh proceed how you would
like me to for the board policies,
especially when there's quite a few. Um
I'm flexible either way.
>> Sure. I I think Mike had a great
initiative to kind of batch similar uh
policies. But um yeah, so for the first
one uh were there any comments that
people had on 7.1 5125?
No.
Okay. All right. Can I take a pregnant
pause? Learn to that one for Mike. We're
sure no more comments.
Okay. Uh 72 first reading in discussion
of board policy 6162 decimal 51 state
academic achievement tests.
Do people have any comments on this?
I'll just point out that this is like
just putting practice into policy. It's
something that we're already doing here.
So it looks like the policy is just
there. So it seemed fun to me.
>> Cool.
Okay, just again trying to emulate Mike
here and give people a moment. Right.
7.3 First reading and discussion of
board policy and administrative
regulation 0430 comprehensive local plan
for special education.
>> I did believe that there were a couple
comments I can share. So, one was a um a
reminder that um this would be an
updated report like we would have with
the special ed director uh similar to
other board policies that we're
gathering to ensure that there are
reports and typically the president and
the superintendent will get together to
set that calendar. So, those would be
included and we have our board policy
committee has a special list put
together to track the dates. So, that
was one point. Um, but then also there
was another comment.
Let me just pull that up really quickly.
Um, one suggestion by Trustee Marquez
about a small item uh not using a um
abbreviation but rather a full name. But
that was all for this particular one.
>> Makes sense. Sounds like that'll come
back to us with that language in second
reading. Great. Are there other comments
that my fellow trustees have on 7.3?
Okay, moving on. 7.4, first reading and
discussion of board policy and
administrative regulation
6159, the individualized education
program.
>> I do have one comment about this one as
well. This board policy when uh one
reads it might seem a little strange
because the law does allow for students
to be served from ages 3 to 21, but it's
unprecedented to have students of that
age in our district. uh at some times we
may receive a student or continue to see
a student that is around 15 before they
might go to the high school setting, but
I think we thought it was best to leave
it in per head code, but also add those
grade levels preschool through 8th grade
to add more clarity for it. So, just
wanted to make that point. Thank you.
Any other comments?
No. Okay.
Moving on. 7.5 first reading in
discussion of board policy and
administrative regulation 6159 decimal 2
non-public non sectarian school and
agency services for special education.
Okay. Moving on to 7.6. First reading
and discussion of board policy and
administrative regulation 6159 decimal
3, appointment of surrogate parent for
special education students.
Okay, moving on to 7 decimal 7 first
reading and discussion of board policy
5145 decimal 11 questioning and
apprehension by law enforcement.
There was an additional comment that was
made which is a great time for a
discussion. Uh the board policy
committee uh chose to add a section in
there that's highlighted in the marked
version regarding when law enforcement
would be called upon in the timeliness
of a a situation that might occur. So I
wanted to open up uh conversation uh
whether it was clear or unclear that the
committee was except for some
extenduating circumstance as appropriate
and practical the the parents would be
called.
>> I had read that paragraph a little bit
different. Um but maybe this is what you
meant to say. I thought it was about
when the parents would be notified if
law enforcement had come to talk to the
student. It's not when law enforcement
is going to be called. It
>> when parents were going to be called.
Did I misspe? I'm sorry.
>> I don't know. I thought I heard you say
that.
>> In a situation where the police may
arrive to question a student, when would
the parents be called?
>> Yeah. Yeah. I I saw this change and um
in fact, I was just going to comment on
it too to make sure that we were all
kind of in agreement. It it looked fine.
I think it's moving up in a little bit
in advance from waiting until the
student had already been not, you know,
had the discussion with law enforcement
to as soon as we know that it's going to
happen or has happened, um going in and
notifying. That's sort of the major part
of the change or was there another part?
>> Yes, I think that was the wishes of the
committee except for certain
extenduating circumstances
in certain cases. Yeah. Law enforcement
says you can't or it's a case where we
think it might
>> right where the principal might have
privy information that might be
disruptive in that chain of events.
>> Yeah, makes sense. Um, did it get legal
review? Is it does it legally comp?
Yeah. Okay, perfect. Then uh it works
for me.
Okay.
All right. I think we're done with that.
We're going to move on to consent items.
Uh just for members of the public, these
are things that we approve all in one
block. Um so I would like to ask for a
motion to approve our consent agenda
here.
>> I'll move to approve our consent items
agenda.
>> A second.
>> All those in favor?
Passes unanimously? I myself.
All right, we are on to nine decimal one
which is the approval of the 2025 2026
first interim budget report for RCSD.
And this is I believe where our chief
business officer will take the floor.
evening members of the board, the
public. Uh, tonight we are presenting
the 2526 first interim report. I do want
to note that we made some modifications
to the slide deck tonight. It has all
the same information, but we tried to
update some of the formats. uh it will
be uploaded to the
uh
agenda on the website uh tomorrow after
this meeting. Uh I will share although
some of the slides look different all
the information remains the same uh in
the presentation. Uh perhaps at second
in some of the information will change
or the format of it. Uh but we did make
some uh stylistic changes for this
meeting. Starting with the uh cover
slide. Uh going into the first interim
report. Uh
this is illustration of our annual
budget cycle. Tonight we're at the first
interim report which covers financials
from July 1st through October 31st of
the current fiscal year. Uh this will
move us into uh January with the
governor's budget proposal for the 2627
school year closely followed by the
second interim in March of 26. Uh and
then we start the normal process of
budget development and LCAP development
uh for public hearing and adoption in
June of 26.
So going forward uh as part of the
reason why we're doing this under ED
code 42130
uh we are required to not only produce a
budget u before July 1st of every fiscal
year uh but also report at first and
second interim the uh financial
condition of our district. Uh and with
each uh interimm reporting period, we
self assign a certification that's
either uh upheld or approved by the
county uh which includes positive uh
meaning we'll meet our financial
obligations for the current and two uh
outy years. Qualify which means we may
not and negative means we will not. Uh
tonight circled in green uh is positive
certification which we will certify when
we submit to the county tomorrow.
So on this slide, budget assumptions.
These are the assumptions we used uh
that have been updated slightly since
budget adoption in June. Uh important to
note that when we talk tonight, we're
generally referring to our position, our
financial position as compared to budget
adoption in June. Uh and these are the
assumptions that uh some of them remain
the same. uh others were slightly
modified uh such as enrollment and some
of the other figures based on uh I'll
say actuals for this year that have
already occurred uh as we are nearing
the midway point of the year. Uh the
biggest one on this slide that sticks
out is the 60.67 our unduplicated pupil
count. Uh this number is very important
as it drives supplemental and
concentration funding uh as well as
other federal grants and awards uh to
help uh our students in Redwood City.
>> And we're holding that projection
constant.
>> We're holding it as constant at yeah for
this year uh and for the two out years
at this point until enrollment and uh
students are updated on an annual basis.
So on this, this is the same slide that
we're used to seeing just in a little
bit of a different format. Uh our
revenue comparison
uh between our adopted budget uh and our
first interim report. And then the
difference on that you can see uh that
all of our revenue sources increased
since budget adoption uh including our
LCFS sources which were primarily
property taxes. our federal revenues
which although a small part of our uh
overall budget make a big impact in our
classrooms. Uh and we were able to
update those numbers uh where we feel
that we uh
will receive this money during the
course of this fiscal year uh and
continue to provide the services that
that money pays for. uh other state
revenue and local revenues were updated
accordingly and you can see the total
revenues increased by about $13 million
since budget adoption in June.
On this slide uh is just a breakdown of
the revenue uh and the percent uh total
for that uh at the top is our LCFF base
uh 87 million plus uh that primarily
comes from our local property taxes. uh
the LCFF uh education protection account
supplemental concentration. That's the
state aid part of uh basic aid. Uh and
then followed by uh other uh federal,
local, and state revenues totaling the
$157 million uh at this point. Here's a
graphical representation of that same
slide uh showing the breakdown uh and
being able to easily see the LCF base is
our largest funding source for the
district.
Going into expenditures, uh this slide
it's the same information that's in the
packet as well as the presentation that
was included uh showing adopted budget
uh our first interim and then the
revision uh with expenditures. If it's
negative, that means we have a higher
expenditure than we anticipated at
budget adoption. Uh all of these numbers
though uh are in line with unodudited
actuals and the closing of the books
that impacted especially books and
supplies and services and other
operating expenditures
uh between uh unforeseen carryover uh as
well as some new money coming in that
has already been budgeted are showing up
in those line items. Now,
here is a breakdown by percentage uh of
our expenditures uh coming straight from
our STAX report certificated classified
employee benefits. Uh you'll see on the
next slide make up about 77.5%
uh of our total expenditures uh followed
by books supplies and services and
operating expenditures. Of note on here
the capital outlay. question was uh
raised about this uh and this is a
capital outlay from fund 01 for the
kitchen upgrades that were completed
this past summer using kit or kitchen
and infrastructure and training funds
that are a fully restricted fund
although they land in 01 they are only
to be used by uh for child nutrition
services so uh it's a little odd in
recent years to see a large capital
expenditure or capital outlay coming out
of funds their one.
So on here is a new slide with a tree
showing that same slide with the uh what
makes up those areas. The slide we're
still developing. Uh but we wanted to
try and show something different
tonight. Uh so we do have perhaps a
redwood tree uh with the uh expenditures
in there. uh noting that it is 77 12% uh
of our budget is dedicated to
certificated uh classified personnel and
their associated benefits. Uh on the
right hand side under that gives
examples of what falls into those bigger
buckets
and we can talk about hallucinations
later present weekly.
Uh on here is our uh normal SAN key
diagram uh which could not be easily
augmented into this form. Uh and this is
uh revenue and expenditures coming
straight from our SAX report uh showing
the the income and then uh the
associated expenditure on the right hand
side uh as defined by uh our sax code
structure. So on this uh for board
members uh this was a slide that had six
or seven uh buckets or six buckets on
there. They're broken out into tabs a
little easier to read I believe uh that
show what makes up those uh areas
classroom salaries which include both
classified and certificated personnel.
Uh these are the people that are in our
rooms every day. uh administration and
supervisors. That's once again
classified and certificated that fall
into that group. Books and supplies is
self-explanatory.
Uh classified support are uh all of our
classified employees who support our
schools in various ways but aren't
necessarily in the classroom on a daily
basis. Doesn't mean they don't visit the
classroom or don't help with student
achievement. Uh but their primary focus
uh or their primary office, I should
say, is not in the classroom. uh
retirement and benefits and then
services and other operating expenses
make up this SAN key diagram uh that is
almost uh colorcoded uh in the same way
the last one was. There's some slight
variances with some of the color
palettes that we were trying to use on
this u but this shows from an expensure
standpoint with those groupings, right?
And it's important to note these are
grouped for discussion purposes uh and
the totals equal what's in sacks, right?
So this will not be represented in the
official report. Uh but for the purposes
of this, these numbers do align with
what we have expenditures as reported.
On here is simply the re-imagined ending
fund balance sheet uh that shows our uh
excess or deficiency of revenues of our
expenditures. Uh we were actually better
off uh coming into first income than we
anticipated at budget adoption. uh we
still see the transfer in uh the net
increase uh was also positive uh in fund
balance our beginning balance uh
17108862
and then our ending fund balance
although not a big jump it's still
better than going down so uh we are
showing uh the work that's gone on over
the last couple of years uh is starting
to pay off is uh not that it's over that
we continue it but we're on the right
track uh as we're getting back to
healthy ending fund balances that cover
um the needs of our district.
Uh multi-year projections. We'll go over
this quickly. A couple of highlights on
here as we discussed with budget
assumptions. Uh everything's been
updated to current with the best
information we have at this point. Uh a
particular note on this slide is
unidentified fiscal stabilization
measures that are highlighted in light
red uh and in red font of negative 5.25
25 million uh and 3.5 million
respectively in the two out years. Uh if
you recall at budget adoption, both of
these numbers were seven and a half
million that we needed to reduce by in
these two years. Uh we were able to show
an updated uh un audited actuals that
brought that number down to 5.5 and 3.5.
Uh and as we report now uh at first in
uh we have 5.25 25 of reductions needed
in the 2627 school year to maintain
fiscal solveny. And if those are ongoing
reductions, that will eliminate the need
for further reductions under this budget
model in the 2728 fiscal year, barring
any major significant changes that would
be unforeseen at this point. Uh
uh so the work that uh started uh in
late August or early September, Dr.
Baker, I'm not quite sure on that date.
uh with the I'll call it the budget
committee
um you know looking at our budget
closely looking uh at where we're
spending what we're spending on uh and
who we're spending it on uh has had
preliminary discussions of how this
number can be met uh that we'll talk
about in detail on January 13 of the
board study session that will address
this 5.25 25 going forward for inclusion
in our second interim report where I
expect this line to be totally removed
uh from our multi-year projection.
Going to the uh components of the ending
balance for our multi- uh year
projection. Uh you can see that uh in
each of our three years our current plus
our two outy years uh in light green at
the bottom showing that we are good and
meeting our minimum reserve from
economic uncertainty
u which uh is the reason why we're able
to self-certify as positive uh as we
submit the report to the county office
of education.
On this slide, this is the old other
fund summary that shows uh our projected
ending fund balances of all of our other
funds from fund 13 to fund 40. Uh
included now on the slide is a small
description of what these funds do. Uh
rather than just a name and numbers. Uh
so you can see the adopted budget and
the ending balance. All of our other
fund balances are projected to be
positive at the end of the school year.
Um, of note on here you can see uh fun
21, our building fund for major TNS. Uh,
as other projects are bid uh and start
this year, this number will go down
significantly with the phase two of the
HVAC projects. Uh, and some of the other
small projects that are going on with
that. Uh, but we are reporting positive
in all fund balances at this point for
the end of the school year.
So as we get near the end of this uh we
always have a slide on areas of concern
or areas we need to monitor. So this has
been reinvisioned a little bit as well.
Um stating are showing six areas. These
are the same that were in the other
presentation. Um you know local revenue
still have to keep an eye on our
property taxes. Uh rising costs uh stirs
pers increases. One nice thing that we
got in the last three to four weeks is
PERS's uh official announcement that
they are projecting downward for next
year and the year out slightly down I
think by 3/10en of a percent this year.
Uh so that helps us uh as that is a
major cost factor for our classified
employee group. um impact of enrollment,
right? We are closely monitoring our
enrollment for next year with uh
applications for TEK and K right now uh
as well as looking at uh potential
movement in other grade levels uh as we
look to staff correctly and efficiently
uh for uh the students that we have. And
that's not to eliminate services, that's
to provide the necessary services for
the students we have uh not for the
students that we used to have. uh
facilities. A question came up about
this whereas measure TMAS in this uh but
really we have aging facilities and
major TMAS can't pay for everything and
can pay for some things that we'll use
where appropriate uh but we have other
things that happen that wouldn't fall
under capital facilities projects. We
have aging infrastructure and other
items that need to be addressed uh at
times in emergency or very timely manner
uh that we just need to be aware of.
Right? We're not anticipating anything
coming up right now, but we never know
when it will. Uh staffing uh kind of
goes along with enrollment and other
programs and services. Uh and then any
new policies that may come down uh that
deliver new unfunded mandates or uh
spending expirations that we have to be
concerned about as we go forward. So
those are all things that we'll continue
to closely monitor uh as a district. So,
moving on to next steps, uh, January
through March, uh, I've already
mentioned the governor's budget,
proposed budget, uh, including, uh, the
work on budget decisions starting at the
study session on the 13th, uh, going
through February 4th, uh, when we'll
bring that back to the board for
approval for inclusion in the second
interim, uh, which happens, uh, in early
March, which also starts, uh, our
favorite time of the year, LCAP and
budget development time, uh, for uh to
meet the public hearing deadline in
early June uh with uh adoption uh at the
second or last meeting in June of this
fiscal year. So with that, I'm happy to
answer any questions. That slide's not
supposed to be there um uh about the
first interim report. Thank you.
>> That Redwood's very sneaky
questions, fellow trustees.
>> Thanks, Rick. uh to you and your staff
and I guess all the department heads
probably contributing to the budget. Um
you know for putting it together um
first of all it's predictable. Uh we saw
it in on audit actuals. In fact when we
were talking about earlier this week I
was like I feel like I've seen this
budget before. So thanks for all the
work. I know that's been a lot of work
over the last several years of bringing
that kind of predictability where we
we're building a budget that has this
predictable outcome. So that's great.
Um, I also appreciate the work you've
been doing to make this stuff digestible
um, in the presentation because it can
be complicated, particularly when you're
looking at a 100 200page uh, budget
book. Um, so that's really good.
>> Um, you know, I'm supportive of
approving the first intern with the
positive um, you know, certification.
You know, at the same time, I'm going to
say out loud when I know we already all
know positive certifications not the
same as being a structurally balanced
budget. Um so our outyards do rely still
on this unidentified stabilization uh
measures and we're sitting essentially
right at the minimum reserve threshold
you know the state mandated one and
that's about it. Um, again, you know, I
think we all know this too, but as we
bring forward our stabilization
recommendations in January to the study
session, um, you know, let's just be
sure to keep them centered around
student outcomes and equity. Um, we
really want to protect the investments
that are most connected to MTSS,
attendance improvements, um, EL
progress. You know, I know the district
staff is already thinking that way. Um,
and and trying to make sure that's come
in that, but I just wanted to reiterate
it since they're they're just so
foundational to our mission and our
LCAP. um you know in our priorities. So
uh yeah, thanks for the budget
presentation.
>> Micah,
>> I was wondering if we wanted to I think
we discussed it a a slightly different
process for action items of
>> questions.
>> Question motion second and then
deliberation.
>> Yeah,
>> sure. Um, so, so perhaps do people have
any questions they would like to ask
Rick? Thank you, David.
>> Do people,
>> but I will I will I just want to say
similar to Mike, thank you, Rick, for
going over all of this with us and
making it as understandable as it
possibly can be.
>> Same comment. Thank you and your team.
>> All right. Well, I was I was going to
save that for discussion, but
basically say I mean all the things that
everyone said plus I I'll just put this
out here because I ask Rick takes the
time to speak with us beforehand um just
to give us a preview walk us through I
am still very much learning how to read
the budget even though I'm seeing it so
many different times over and over um
and I appreciate the patience that um
that Rick shows as an example one of the
questions that I'm sure I'm going to ask
again is like when you see the deltas
between some of the expenses my initial
reaction is whoa like we must
having some unanticipated expendure and
then it's like no no that's not
necessarily right. In fact in this case
it's actually a a better thing or just
that we have rollover funds and like we
can spend these because we had them not
like there was an emergency. So um I'm
sure I will ask you again but I
appreciate your continued patience.
>> And a comment for Rick before we move to
deliberation uh is that I I really
appreciate that we're still iterating on
this. you know, you've been presenting
budgets for a long time, but like the
the fact that you did not just sit back
on your your laurels of presenting the
same way you've you've always been
presenting, are willing to try out new
technologies even if they turn out some
very funny looking trees. Um to try and
make it more accessible and legible is
is great. Like this feels like great
forward progress. So, thank you for
being willing to iterate on a product
that's been around forever because I I
think that making our finances legible.
It it's it's on the one hand it feels
like a very nerdy bit of accounting, but
on the other hand, it's so important for
building transparency and trust for
people to see where is this money going?
What are we spending on it on? And and
it's overwhelmingly people who help
students, right? and the and the
required infrastructure around that and
just as our budget gets more and more
clear I I feel like we'll be able to
communicate that message more clearly to
the public. So it's really important
work. Thank you. Cool. And with that I
would like to ask somebody to move the
item to the floor for discussion.
>> Uh I move for the approval of the 2526
first inter room budget as presented.
>> Do I have a second?
Becca.
>> All right. All right. And with that,
we're not going to vote. We're going to
deliberate. Now, this is a conversation
among the board. We're trying this out
for, you know, Robert's rules of orders
and so forth. Um, what what do people
think? What what do people want to see
in this? Like, one of the reactions that
I had, and I would love my fellow board
members input, is what we didn't see
here was the board mandated 3% reserve,
right? because like there there's been a
history of like the state legally
requires 3% and the board had uh quote
required quote an additional 3% on top
of that but like that's actually not
held for many many many years. And so
like at some point I feel like we should
either say hey look we're not actually
mandating it cuz just like deacto we
haven't been or we got to take that
seriously and say no really we we need
to have that in there and that'll
obviously mean cuts because it'll mean
keeping that actually in reserve. My
brothers are probably the former, but I
want to hear what people think.
>> Sorry, just uh maybe Rick or David
remembers. I feel like we were just
reviewing a policy and there was some
call out about the board reserve in it.
Does that ring a bell? I I'll go look
for it. But
>> or Kathy,
>> no, I think you're right. And I this is
on me, but all of us too. Um I to the
extent that there is a policy I think to
your to just uh president weekly's point
yeah we should we should look at it and
make sure that we're either abiding by
or we're amending so that um we're doing
it. The I think the original question
was about what we think about the
budget. I I think with Mike and all our
discussions I'm generally in favor of
approving it. Um to the secondary
question of the the 3% piece, I I don't
think that's something this that we're
deciding today. But in general, I'm I'm
of the same view of like we don't have I
don't feel like we have that extra
cushion. Um like every every dollar
really matters and we're putting it to
use. And so I'd love a reserve. I don't
think we're there yet.
>> Others
I think having an extra reserve for
particularly basic a district is really
important. Um it's something where you
know if you're going to end up having
there there can be fluctuation in tax
properties. You know there can be
unexpected spending. I mean there's a
lot of reasons why that can come in and
it because the the the revenue can be
variable. However, a reserve is put in
there to be able to be spent at a time
when there's need. And when a district
has a budget that has fiscal
stabilization measures that have to be
taken in place, that is absolutely the
time to be spending from your reserve to
make sure that you're able to continue
to offer the services that all the
students need. So, I think that yeah, I
mean, I get that like on the pro side,
uh, having the line item in the budget
shows that we intend to replenish it at
some time. I don't know if we have a
policy that talks about when we would
start replenishing, but in my mind, that
replenishment discussion would happen
after the budget has been stabilized.
And at some point when we start seeing
maybe surplus and revenue or we have a
one-time fund that we decide could go
into replenishing the the um board
reserve or we look at it and we say,
"Yeah, we think we're able to fund
everything that we need to do and we can
start squirreing away a small bit and
start building it up um over time." um
we're not there right now. So I don't
think that this is the time where we put
it in, but this could be a time of
saying like, hey, if we have a policy
that already exists, let's bring that
back and make sure that we agree with
what the uh replenishment thing should
be. Maybe if we don't have a policy,
it's the time to discuss like what would
our policy be, etc., etc. But to be
clear, I don't think we should have an
extra reserve on our budget right now
because of the situation that our budget
is in.
>> Thank you, Mike.
I mean, I just want to um again
appreciate all the work that the
business um office has done and for
quite a few years we've had that same
reserved and I mean again just moving
forward with the um
what's the committee the strategic yes
um you know we'll see what what happens
and hopefully
we'll be
in in good hands still. I mean,
obviously definitely there will be some
cuts, but um as far as the reserve goes,
I mean, I I can't really speak cuz I
don't know 100%. But hopefully we'll be
still good.
>> Okay. So, I'm sort of getting a sense of
like pushing back on Rick like get the
extra 3% in there like next year
probably a terrible idea. Don't do it.
Um but maybe there's there is an action
item to remand to perhaps policy
committee to go and consider what would
appropriate language be about what do we
mean by you know board mandated 3%
reserve and just a little bit more
clarity on that because I I don't want
it to be something that we agreed we do
and then we're consistently not doing
it. That part doesn't quite feel right.
Does that make sense?
>> Yeah. But I think also you had um made a
comment to Rick about removing the line
or leaving it there if if we I mean
hopefully our policy will kind of keep
us in line and make our decisions in the
future. But do we want to keep it there
just as and have a zero just to just
note that it's
>> I mean I I'll say that there are pros
and cons. Um the the pro of leaving the
line item there is to remind us that we
keeps us from that slippery slope of
looking at it and saying, "Hey, we've
got our 3% reserve. That's all we need
to do, you know, and we're positively
certified and like 5 years from now
everything is great and then, you know,
running into economic uncertainty and
being in trouble." So, it is a strong
reminder that it's there. However, the
downside is of course that if it does
remain just totally unfunded for years,
it it you know there's like a what are
you doing? why are you having you know
why are you there's a credibility gap
that comes there. So I think that those
are the things to toy with. I don't
think we should recommend any kind of
change on it tonight to put that in. Um
I think that you know this would be
something that should go back and
>> I would imagine that what we'd want to
do is um figure out like what do we like
what policy do we have in place already?
Um and do we want to if any I don't
actually know. Um okay great.
>> Do you want to speak to you know? Yeah's
got context. Yeah. So on November 19th,
the board approved board policy 3100
budget and in there there's a paragraph
on reserve balance which notes ED code
42127.01
um in regards to the 3%
and then should the board take action on
top of that.
>> Yeah. So that's the statemandated one
that has to be in there. Right.
>> Well, and it also alludes though to in
excess of the 3%. Right. So that's in
that board policy 3100 if you want to
reference it another time.
>> Yeah, perfect. But anyways, I don't
think that we should have an excess
reserve right now. Yeah, personally.
>> Okay,
so I think it's great that we made
motion also from 5.5 to 5.25 in terms of
you know the hole that we have to fill.
Obviously, any further uh backfilling
that we can do to go and scrape some
pennies together to make the required
cuts smaller is going to make it much
easier for our strategic budget
committee. So, let's keep our fingers
crossed. Any other further commentary
before we go and look to pass the
budget? Any other comments?
>> Trusty Lee. So I I just wanted to
clarify from what I'm trying to read the
3100 quickly based on this are would we
be out of compliance? I think I what I
read is basically we can discuss it but
there's no there's no hard commitment
through the policy to have an additional
reserve right now. Is that right?
>> Yes. The minimum and then anything extra
bonus.
>> Got it. Okay. That's okay. Thank you.
All right. And with that, um, voting yay
or nay to go and approve the first
interim budget.
>> Yay.
>> We have a call. Is that like an all you
asking to see who's all in
>> because we already moved and seconded to
bring it to the floor. This is the
president's call for votes on the issue
>> and that to to approve the first interim
budget.
Do
>> do we want to do like an all in favor?
All all in favor?
>> I
>> There we go. Thank you. I'm still
learning this, Mike. Thank you.
>> I'm still figuring out how to do this
job. Thank you. Um, okay. So, with that,
uh, we are now done with 9.1 and we move
on to board and superintendent reports.
Who would like to go first?
>> I can start. Um, on Monday, uh, we
actually had backto-backs. Um, you
didn't have the backto-back. We had
backtobacks. Um there was the 2x2 x2
committee with Redwood City School
District with Redwood City Council and
the Sequoia Union High School District.
Um although there was no two from the
high school district this time, so I
guess it was just 2 by two. Um so during
our our sharing time, we shared the
budget update. John talked a lot about
the community engagement that he's
leading and everything that's coming
through there. Um we shared with them a
little bit of an update on the parcel
tax, basically the same information that
the board received um a few weeks ago.
Um they they had seen John's newsletter
about the um Golden Bell Award. So we
got to talk about that for just a little
bit more which was kind of exciting. Um
the city shared with us about the
Jefferson Avenue project. Um they're
taking the opportunity for reser when
resurfacing between El Camino and Farm
Hill to also do some reconfiguration.
There's a public hearing on December
22nd. Um and you know anyone who's
interested should definitely attend
particularly if you think you're going
to be impacted. Obviously the schools
and around there um we have you know the
schools where kids are crossing over
Jefferson to get to school and also
Orion is
>> yeah the Orion campus is right there on
Jefferson and and obviously it's a major
thoroughare to get up to Roosevelt and
you know any of the other schools that
you're going up that way. Um they
touched a little bit on the Milax
contract but other not much more than
they're going back to revisit it. Um the
backto-back was then we was followed
with uh RCTA climate committee meeting
um with Wendy was there and John was
there, Patrina um a few other yeah Anna
was there. So uh and a lot of the
discussion was just centered around how
to handle students when you know
standard PBIS tier one classroom
strategies fail to refocus the student.
Um yeah, that was it.
>> Lovely. Thank you so much, Mike. Yeah,
that uh December 22nd public hearing
about Jefferson Avenue be good for
people to attend that because a lot of
Orion and the like students do cross
that street every day, including both of
my sons. So,
>> uh I was also at the 2x2. I have nothing
to add. Great job, Mike, on recapping
that. Uh also had a policy committee
meeting um which you guys continued to
see the fruits of that labor. uh
attended the holiday breakfast uh that
the district hosted for um suffered for
the the school site administrators which
was great. Got to hang out with the
Hoover team and meet one of the new APs.
Um so that was fun. Uh and uh this
morning I was able to visit uh Martinet
the facilities operations transportation
office which was great. Um really
recommend others to go and take a look
for a bunch of reasons. I mean I'll be
honest like I had to I had to go back to
the master facility plan to find the
address. Uh even though Dr. Baker gave
me the the general idea of where it was.
So that's that's where I'm just like,
"Oh, school, school, school." It's like,
"Oh, there's actually a whole bunch of
other people who are doing things like
all in service of this." Um, so that
that was great just to obviously talk to
Martin, but to meet folks there. Um, I
think the one it's just funny like
whenever we go to all the things RCSD
it's like there's this consistent
mindset of grit and like we we're just
going to keep on doing things with what
we have which is um both inspiring but
also like man I really wish we could you
know not just wish there were there were
more than basically enough to do all the
things. Um I think is one of the re
reasons it was really helpful for me and
why I encourage others to go visit is I
think we we obviously have the mantra of
like we're like we're in this the budget
cuts cycle really um closely monitoring
this stuff and the mantra of like cut
away from the classroom because like
students versus like it's always that
sounds good honestly like I I I like the
idea but I think it's really important
also to understand what the trade-offs
are right like when we say that there
are people who are making sacrifices and
you can see that when you go uh to the
facilities and talk to the folks. Um and
like that doesn't mean that that's not
the right answer. Like it's it could
still be the right answer and that's for
me personally that's probably still the
right answer, but um it is helpful to
see in person what that actually means
because I think we need to be eyes wide
open whenever we make these decisions.
Um but again, it was it was great. I
think I enjoyed team. Hopefully he
enjoyed uh my visit there. Uh and it's
pretty quick and just a lot of
interesting history back there as well.
Thank you so much. Um, question on the 2
by two. It sounds like the two x2 x2 was
actually a 2 x two because nobody from
the high school showed up or what?
>> They weren't they weren't able to attend
conflict? I'm not sure.
>> Okay. Is it is it typical that we don't
get people there or is it unusual that
nobody was able to make it there?
>> This was the first time uh in previous
instances it's been a two by two by one
I think because I think one of their
trustees has showed up but this is the
first time. Yeah.
>> I just want to make sure we've got good
surface area contact there. So
>> no this has been great actually. This
has been I would say a really engaged
2x2 by two. I don't know what I don't
remember it meeting I this is my first
time on it but I don't remember it
having met as frequently as it is now.
Um we're basically meeting almost every
quarter at this point.
>> There was a there was a more of an
effort to do it this year. In the past
there was always a group that didn't
show up.
>> Um and so we kind of said do we continue
to do this or not? If we're going to
continue then everybody needs to have an
obligation. We're all very very busy.
>> Um,
>> and even if one person from the group
can show up, we agreed to that. But
>> yeah,
>> we'll move forward. Next one's March.
We'll see.
>> Okay. Because yeah, I would I would love
some findings for like what could we be
doing differently to better prepare our
students for high school if that was to
come out of the 2x2 x2s. That would be
delightful finding. Cool. Jennifer,
>> I don't have much of an update was at
the policy committee meeting.
Thank you for your policy work.
>> And I don't have anything to report.
>> All right. Very well. Um,
holiday breakfast was fun. I I brought
my ugly sweater, got some remarks. It
was delightful.
All right. So, I think that's Oh, and
superintendent is part of the
superintendent reports.
>> Everything with the exception of we are
now by we, it's Michelle Ramon and Jorge
Kintana. We're finishing up on the bay
side doing the strategic planning for
the budget reduction and tomorrow's
school is Garfield, the last one.
Garfield.
So, you're seeing pretty good engagement
on those meetings. Cool.
>> Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much.
All right. And with that, we'd like to
move to 11.1 information on Sanonteo
County Investment Fund November 2025.
Rick, you have the floor.
>> Any questions?
It's a very short floor really. Okay.
Um, with that, we'll move to section 12,
correspondence. Have folks received any
written correspondence they'd like to
share for the record?
Nobody. Okay. I've received a bunch of
correspondence from uh parents and
taxpayers alike about a prospective
parcel tax and discussing that. I've had
conversations with both of the union
reps. I love that they're here online
and here in person. And so like that's
been really great just to have that
surface area contact and also uh
discussions with a number of the
different uh Hispanic leaders that are
in the community, some of whom are also
here uh in person and online. So it's
been great to have those additional
surface area contact about what's on
people's minds. Um yeah, great. Other
correspondents?
Nope. Okay, moving on to agenda item 13,
other business or suggested items for a
future agenda.
So, at some point, I may look to uh work
with this and some of the things we've
talked about in terms of a parking lot
um and sort of make this a maybe at the
next meeting a little bit more media of
a discussion to try and hash through
like when do we want to calendar what
topics. Um but for tonight's meeting not
any other things that people want to
make sure that in finite time that we we
discussed that are in the hopper of
stuff to talk about in future meetings.
Okay. If anything occurs to you, please
do drop me an email and I will make a
best effort to agendaize it. really do
care about what you all of you think
about and what you care about and want
to make sure that we get to talking
about those things and having meaty
conversations about those things as a
board. So, thank you. All right, so with
that, we're going to move to section 14,
meeting reflection. How did today's
meeting go? What did I screw up?
Um, Sicilia, you want to start?
>> Sure. I mean, definitely a short
meeting. Um, I appreciated the um,
presentation from Rick. Um, obviously
bringing us to a positive certification
and again I look forward to the future
of Rabbit City. Um, as far as tonight's
meeting, I mean, I think you did a good
job. Um, things went smoothly and so
that's it.
>> Um, thank you again to ex-president
Wells. Um, but yeah, President Weekly, I
think you did well today. I I think I
just uh probably need another refresher
on your whole Robert's rule formatting,
but I think it makes sense to just open
up discussion and then figure out how we
can talk about things a little bit more
deeply during the meeting.
>> Sure. Um just to share the the hope is
to kind of separate the receiving of
information and getting clarifications
about what are we talking about from
okay you know kind of turn chair like
discussing as a board what do we think
about this you know what what's our kind
of collective take the actual cogitating
about it instead of just having like
back and forth with the speaker and so
Robert's rules of orders would say that
um the deliberation begins after the
motion the second because the the point
is to bring the item for discussion to
the floor and it mo by being moved and
seconded it's actually now can be
deliberated and then after deliberation
is complete there's a call for a vote
which I totally botched today but I will
eventually figure out um but that that's
the intent not everything needs
deliberation you know sometimes there's
just like presentation like yep sounds
good u but but I think sometimes uh we
do need to have like meaty dialogue as a
board of trustees to collectively
deliberate like what do we think about
this thing and to of back and forth and
disagreement and changing of minds and
like that's really the the magic I think
of the board meeting is that this is our
one you know lawful place to really hash
it out in public what do we think about
this thing so just where it where it's
required that we have it if it's not
required there there's no need to make a
short item long that's the hope
>> change is uncomfortable but I'm I'm open
to trying this because we've we've
switched positions. I I already missed
my my ex- neighbor, but I've gained a
new neighbor, so I'm very excited about
that. Um, no, overall I'm I'm I think
it's good to try the new things. Um,
we'll see. Yeah, I'm excited to see how
it goes.
>> Awesome. Thank you, Mike.
>> Yeah, I mean, we definitely bumbled our
way through the action items, so I think
having some guidelines on how how you're
expecting it to work, I think, might
help. And making sure that the board
knows that it's going to happen there.
And I apologize. I jumped right into our
old format right off the bat, having no
idea that it was changing today. So, um,
but thank you for steering us back to
the new thing. Sure. Yeah, let's try it.
Let's see. Um, my one ask though is that
we're cognizant of time. I think that,
you know, we do want to make sure that
we're not taking it and turning it into
something that's going to draw out the
length of time that we're spending on.
It sounds like you only want to do it
for action items where there's actually
a vote and has to happen there. So, when
things are on discussion, of course, we
would not have a motion at all. Um but
uh yeah, just just be cognizant of time.
Um I Evelyn did a great job this year of
putting in the pacing guides that are in
there. Um and so let's just make sure
that we're sort of able to, you know,
stick within there so that these folks
can get home and get their they start so
early in the morning and uh yeah, and
let them get back to um the work that
they do every day.
>> Amen to that. You know, I I would say
like um I'll be happy with how these
things are are working overall if we if
I feel like the majority of our time is
spent discussing and deliberating
student achievement, right? Because
boards that spend the majority of their
time focused on the student and focused
on student achievement have are have
districts in which the students perform
disproportionately well. And so like
that really should be our focus is on
the students and on student achievement
and not on procedural overhead. So, I'll
try to keep the procedural overhead low
and quality of discussion high. That's
the goal. Great. Um, I said before, I'll
set it again. Rick, I love that you're
playing with these formats. You know, we
we'll work on the uh hallucinated trees,
but like it just as a as a as an overall
like meta to to to staff like using
these modern tools that are available
and exploring and trying things out to
find new ways to communicate more
effectively and more efficiently. Not
everything's going to be perfect, but
that's understood and that's part of the
process and and and I love the the
eagerness to lean in and and try it out.
So, thank you.
>> Cool. And your frustration of three
hours trying to
backtory here
had I had to bring it up.
>> Okay. Oh, no. Okay.
Well, hopefully uh there were some
findings and it'll be faster and easier
next time.
>> I'll grab you after the meeting, Ray.
Okay. Um and with that, uh 15 board of
trustees meeting calendar. Um looks like
our future board meetings on the 13th we
have a study session at 6 p.m. On the
14th, we've got a regular meeting. On
the 21st, we've got a 5:45 p.m. special
meeting that's closed. and then that's
followed by a 7 p.m. regular meeting.
Um, any other changes? Everybody's got
those things calendared
>> pretty much when Evelyn sends Yes. Maybe
I missed.
>> You're on there. The reason why you
might have not seen it, it's because
someone else sent it. Um, so then I sent
it to Cecilia, so I won't reflect on
yours, but it is on the calendar. Yeah.
>> Yeah, I I see her on the invite list.
And any any other changes to the
calendar, stuff that's upcoming, Evelyn,
are we good?
>> Uh, no more changes than the ones you
already listed.
>> Sweet. Thank you so much. Thanks for
keeping us organized.
Okay. And with that, I think that brings
us to item 16, which is adjournment,
which has a required action.
>> I move to adjurnn.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor? I I See, we didn't
need to deliberate that one.