BOARD MEETING
Santa Rosa City Schools
October 11, 2023
4:00 p.m. – Closed Session
6:00 p.m. – Open Session
Hybrid: Zoom/Santa Rosa City Hall Council Chambers (100 Santa Rosa Ave.)
*** streamed ***
A live link will be posted on the SRCS website (link).
Please take time to review the following abbreviated version of the agenda. Click here to see the entire agenda. It has live links on many items with more information. If you want to comment to the board about any upcoming items, email agendacomments@srcs.k12.ca.us. Please CC wearesrta@gmail.com on your comments.
Closed Session Items:
A.1. Public Comment On Closed Session Agenda Items To comment, email Melanie Martin at mmartinsrcs.k12.ca.us.
B.1. Public Employee Performance Evaluation (Title of employee being reviewed: Superintendent, Associate Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Principals, Vice Principals, Assistant Principals, Directors, Coordinators)
B.2. Conference With Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation (Number of potential cases: 2)
B.4. Student Expulsions (Case Nos: 2023/24-02, 2023/24-04, 2023/24-06)
C. RECONVENE TO REGULAR OPEN SESSION (6:00 p.m.)
C.7. Special Presentations for FACS Student of the Month and Certificated/Classified Employees of the Month
- Pepper Budlong, Student of the Month
- Benat Habtom, Classified Employee of the Month
- Berengere Demailly, Certificated Employee of the Month
SRTA members at FACS are extended a special invitation to attend this board meeting to celebrate their own.
D. REPORTS
D.6. Indian Education Report
SRTA celebrates our members who offer supportive services to our native students, particularly Elizabeth Billy, Donna Fernandez, and MaDonna FeatherCruz.
D.7. Safety Report
From the prior report from Superintendent Trunnell, it is expected that the report will touch on:
- A Safety Advisory Round Table (SART) update
- Mental Health and Counseling
- Safety and Security – including updates on hiring
- Facilities
- Communication & Transparency
To anyone reading the Santa Rosa Police Department facebook page, it is obvious that MHS and HSMS are being hard hit with publicized incidents of students with weapons and gang affiliations. It is clear that there are not that many students needing to be corralled- but the failure to do that is threatening our system. Members are glad that students are using StopIt! to share information, and that SRCS and SRPD are working together to identify students and search for weapons. But there is a concern that the lack of discipline for lower level incidents feels like it is creating a breeding ground for more serious behaviors.
D.8. Schools Plus Report
SRTA welcomes the dependable support Schools Plus offers our students.
E. Public Comment on Non Agenda Items
SRTA members are invited to complete ‘blue cards’ in person. Online comments have been suspended. Please be prepared to observe the recent practice of a two minute limit. Only items not on the agenda are addressed at this time.
Comments are requested at the board meeting to bring a member’s perspective and share real experiences of the impact of district policies and practices. There is an invitation for comments on specific items during each item, so they need to be held until then.
Please commit to watching or attending at least one board meeting this year, and speaking to an agenda item that impacts you or your students. Speakers are most impactful when they are well spoken, composed and reasonable.
F. DISCUSSION / ACTION ITEMS
F.1. (Action) Approval of Resolution Recognizing the Week of the School Administrator October 8 through 14, 2023
SRTA appreciated the work of our school administrators. We acknowledge how often that job requires more than is doable by a single person or team. SRTA members can only imagine how it feels to have no job protection like the contract and due process our union supports.
Our observations suggest that these positions require heroic actions on their part for our system to function. That concerns us. A sign seen in a Google restroom recently suggests that heroics can actually harm organizations. (SRTA members think this particularly applies to schools.) The problems with heroics are summarized as:
- Individuals solving problems with heroics suffer from burnout.
- Systems remain broken if heroes are providing temporary fixes.
- Organizations develop a pattern that requires heroics in order to function. This causes high attrition.
SRTA supports the Superintendent’s Friday email request for members to acknowledge their site administration this week.
F.2. (Action) Approval of Resolution Proclaiming October as LGBTQIA+ History Month
SRTA celebrates our LGBTQIA+ staff and students, and the impact they have on our campuses and society.
LGBT History Month has a “31 Days. 31 Icons” campaign.
Gay Pioneers chronicles the start of the LGBT civil rights movement.
SRTA particularly appreciates our members who host safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ students to gather and form clubs on campuses.
F.3. (Action) Approval of Resolution Proclaiming October as Filipino American History Month
This is in recognition of the contribution, culture and heritage that Filipino Americans brought to the United States from the Philippines since they first arrived in October of 1587. California is home to over half of the Filipino population in the USA. As of the 2022-23 school year, SRCS had 149 students identified as Filipino.
SRTA encourages members to celebrate Filipino American History Month. Filipino American National Historical Society has a wealth of resources, including a section on education that members may find helpful.
F.4. (Action) Approval of First Read, and Potential Waive of Second Read for Board Policy 6174 – Education for English Learners
Summary
The Board of Education will be presented with recommendations for revising and updating Board Policy 6174: Education for English Learners.
BP 6174 (Current) (Red Lined) (Clean Updated)
AR 6174 (Current) (Red Lined) (Clean Updated)
The creation of the Multi-Lingual Services department and the Update of the EL Master Plan are celebrated accomplishments. Having district wide Language Acquisition and Re-designation Committee (LARC) meetings, and site based LARC committees has started to address some long standing difficulties.
The ARs require a student assessment which demonstrates that the student is sufficiently proficient in English, in order to participate effectively in an English class, with a curriculum designed for students of the same age, whose native language is English. Students are put into other A-G core courses from day one, even if they have not yet acquired the academic language to be successful. There is not yet a systemic support system for these students in place. Teachers depend on the kindness of other students in our classes to help translate into native languages.
The district shall respond to parents representing thirty students at a school, or twenty students in a single grade level requesting the same or a substantially similar type of language acquisition program. Does this mean we can offer dual immersion (sheltered) courses with data that supports the offering and when there are certificated teachers to teach?
Where do the Re-Designation requirements reside?
When will the new EL Master Plan be posted on the SRCS website?
F.5. (Discussion) Facilities Master Plan Updates
Summary
- Site FMP meetings, Threat Assessments and Capacity Analysis of sites are completed,
- Community Input meetings are being planned Oct 30th to Nov 9th with the Board presentation of the draft FMP on Nov. 8
- Site priorities include fencing, building modernization, expansion of space for support staff, new TK and K classrooms, portable replacement, as well as expansion of spaces for CTE and other specialized programs.
- Indicators of Quality are being updated and projects are being assessed.
SRTA members have appreciated the care of the team leading the site meetings.
SRTA members remain confused about the process that will be utilized to choose which projects will be completed when.
F.6. (Discussion) West County Transportation Agency Update
Summary
August 2023 marks the start of the eighth year of service with WCTA. WCTA will provide an update on current ridership, as well as progress related to driver shortages, route changes, driver training, and planning for more environmentally conscious practices.
Historical costs provided in prior updates to the board:
| Year | Cost |
| 2016-17 | $6,703,229 |
| 2017-18 | $6,060,604 |
| 2018-19 | $6,396,081 |
| 2019-20 | $6,777,799 |
| 2020-21 | $3,912,714 |
| 2021-22 | $8,001,056 |
What is the current cost for WCTA? How does that breakdown per student?
What is the on time rate for the 33 general education buses?
Have systems been put into place to alert families of riders to inform them when a route is delayed?
A SRCS position was rearranged to include the title Transportation Manager. What is the update on the impact of this position?
Extending the experience of our students outside the classroom has been recognized as incredibly important. What is the current WCTA capacity for supporting field trips?
How is funding handled for charter school transportation?
How is the Home to School Transportation Plan reimbursement working out?
Are there legal issues when student transportation needs are not met? What happens to the students riding the 19 uncovered routes? Are students on uncovered routes left to wait hours until drivers can pick up a second route after completing a covered route? If so, is it the same students/routes every day?
How much time is required between site start times to be able to obtain multiple tiered runs? How early would students be required to catch their bus, and how early would they arrive on campus to facilitate this? How long after release would students need to wait for transportation?
G. CONSENT ITEMS
G.2. Approval of Personnel Transactions
EdJoin shows a total of 149 current postings for 256 job vacancies for SRCS. Most jobs have been posted since the prior meeting. There are 36 certificated openings (three less than the last meeting), and 2 certificated management openings (one less than the last meeting.) There are 218 current classified openings (three less than the last meeting), and no classified management positions (the same as last month.) There are 96 open positions listed under “Teacher Assistant / Aide / Paraprof.” with pay rates starting at $18.79 per hour. There is still no mention of the $500 sign on and $500 longevity bonuses on the screen where people view open positions on EdJoin. How are we ensuring prospective employees know the bonuses exist?
SRTA welcomes three new certificated hires: Anna Keller (HVES), Fan Wang (RVMS) and Michael Hughes (PHS). We hope you have a long and fruitful career with SRCS. This brings this year’s certificated hires to 114. That is more than 11% of our workforce.
Welcome to Coordinator of Wellness and Engagement Gustavo Mendoza.
Three more teachers have agreed to teach on their preps, bringing this number to twenty-seven. These folks have agreed to work for their straight per-diem amount, not the time and a half that most professions pay for overtime. How do we build a more sustainable system that does not rely on the heroics of staff to function?
This month’s changes to classified staff include two promotions, five new hires and one resignation. They take one year of wisdom and service with them. There is a net gain of four classified folks, while advertising for an additional two hundred eighteen classified positions.
G.5. Approval of Contracts
Summary
| # | Provider | Cost | Description |
| District | |||
| 1 | Matrix Building Solutions | $6,922 | Preventive maintenance for 18 AC units in network closets |
| 3 | Schultz Brothers Van and Storage | $2,420 | Move furniture from Ridgway to other sites |
| 6 | Trope Group | $5,407 | Cubicle installation overtime due to malfunctioning elevator. |
| 7 | TLCD Architecture | $58,890 | Addition of One Workplace vendor for sample furniture |
| 8 | Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership | $0 | Replacing SRCS team member from SAFE Coordinator to Coordinator of Wellness and Engagement. |
| Secondary | |||
| 2 | Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (KQA) | $2,347 | reimburse DSA fees to KQA for theSanta Rosa High School (SRHS) SoftballScoreboard project. |
| Charter | |||
| 4 | Brain Pop | $6,370 | Subscriptions for PTES and CCLA |
| Elementary | |||
| 5 | Community Matters | $100,800 | Expanding 2 day Safe School Ambassador training to 30-40 4-6th graders at 14 sites @ $7,200 per site. 1 staff member for each 7 students is required. |
Total value of contracts = $183,158.23
Safe School Ambassadors has a strong program. Implementation requires 1 adult to at least every seven students. How is SRCS going to support the weekly meetings this requires? Where does this timefit in? How are adults compensated for their time?
Is a credit to the rent of Stony Point being explored to cover the $5,400 in additional costs due to the malfunctioning elevator?
Recent amendments to district contracts show a practice of the district covering all related costs to changing conditions. SRTA members would appreciate feeling that level of financial support at the site and classroom level.
Are we paying One Work Place $48,000 to be their client for the future purchase of furniture? Does committing to purchasing their furniture not include their consulting services?
G.6 . Approval of the 2023-24 Consolidated Application for Funding
Federal Program Descriptions for Title I, II, III and IV
Santa Rosa Elementary Consolidated Application Title III English Learner Student Program Support $196,486, Title III Immigrant Student Program $35,535
Santa Rosa High Consolidated Application Title III English Learner Student Program Support $184,596 Title III Immigrant Student Program $25,691
G.7 . Adjustments to the already approved 2022-23 Unaudited Actuals Fiscal Report
Summary
The Board will consider approving revisions to the approved 2022-23 report of unaudited revenues, expenditures, and ending balances, known as the Unaudited Actuals per direction from SCOE. Six funds are being adjusted. These revisions do not result in any material changes to the district or charter fiscal conditions.
G.8, 9 and 10 Approval of Lease/LeaseBack (LLB) Contracts for Preconstruction Services for Rincon Valley Middle School Roofing/HVAC, Luther Burbank Elementary School Roofing/HVAC and Helen Lehman Elementary School Roofing/HVAC
Summary
Approving Lease-Leaseback Contracts with FRC, Inc. for theses site Roofing & HVAC Replacement Project and Making Related Findings
RVMS
Site Lease Arntz Builders, Inc
LBES
Site Lease FRC, Inc.
HLES
Site Lease FRC, Inc.
A prior board agenda item to explain the benefits of a Lease-LeaseBack was never actualized. It would be helpful to understand why the district is utilizing the LLB process.
G.11 . Approval of Trope Group Cubicle Extenders
Summary
To approve a proposal to furnish and install cubicle extenders for the open spaces in suite 210 at the Stony Point Road Campus. Cost $16,335.26
This brings the current contractual cost for the district office relocation to at least $1,822,927. What is the total budgeted cost for this temporary relocation?
G.12. Proposal from TLCD for Pilot Classroom Furniture Budget
Summary
The Board will consider the approval of the proposal from TLCD to establish the budget amount to procure five pilot classroom furniture for Santa Rosa City Schools. Cost $140,536.
Pilot Budget and possible schematics
How will input be collected from staff?
When will the plan for replacing furniture be shared? Is the intention to replace the entire district in phases over a short period? What will happen with the furniture that is not yet to the end of its lifespan?
If replacing the entire district in a short period is the plan, how will future furniture replacement be financed? The current system seems to deflect this need back to site budgets which are often unable to handle this.
G.13 . Proposal from T&R to move the Fiber Cables at 211 Ridgway
Summary
To approve the proposal under a CMAS contract from T&R Communications to relocate data pathways and maintain network connectivity due to pending demolition of the vacated portables at 211 Ridgway Avenue.
This brings the current contractual cost for the district office relocation to at least $1,874,061. What is the total budgeted cost for this temporary relocation?
G.14. Proposal for Architectural Services for Removal of the Portable Buildings at 211 Ridgway Ave.
Summary
To approve the proposal from Strata AP to perform architectural and engineering services for the demolition of the vacated portables at the District Office.
This brings the current contractual cost for the district office relocation to at least $1,889,561. What is the total budgeted cost for this temporary relocation?
H.1. Approval of Minutes
J1. Future Board Discussion Items
SRTA Members are encouraged to prepare for the upcoming agenda items.
- Week of the School Psychologist (10/25)
- Restorative Practices (10/25)
- Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day (11/8/23)
- Deferred Maintenance Plan (11/8/23)
- Draft Facilities Master Plan (11/8/23)
SRTA looks to the future scheduling of the following items:
- Alternative Education options for students
- Officially closing Learning House
- MAP Testing (Board request 8/23/23)
At one meeting, the fact that a certain percentage of math and English teachers had given this test last year was presented as evidence that the test is good, and teachers supported giving it. This is not logical nor accurate. The legitimate concerns teachers have shared about this assessment have been dismissed. The meeting teachers had with a district representative last year about alternative assessment possibilities appears to have been to no effect.
The longitudinal CAASPP data has clearly identified concerns about student performance. Current efforts could be better spent addressing those academic concerns, instead of collecting more data. This is especially frustrating when the MAP assessment isn’t seen as helpful for students or teachers.
Thank you to Directors Medina and De La Cruz for requesting more information on this assessment. SRTA members look forward to this agenda item.
- Parcel Tax
- COVID Updates (
6/14/23 8/9/23)
Many students and staff are currently out with COVID. This round has been very unpleasant, in multiple ways. Many staff feel certain they were infected at school. However RESIG is has denied some staff workman’s comp to cover their days off of school. Staff is being forced to use personal days to cover the minimum 5 day quarantine, after getting infected at work. There has been a lack of clear communication about who is requiring the need for staff to take a PCR test.
Students and staff deserve to continue to have masks, hand sanitizer, and facial tissue available, as well as having serviced HEPA fans in classrooms to filter air. There has not been a clear and consistent message that the district will provide these necessities.
- A-G Program Review (board request 8/10/22, and again on 6/14/23)
What does the data look like about A-G Completion since this policy was adopted? Where is data on students that are not on track to graduate? How helpful were prior IGPs in allowing students to earn diplomas? How many current students are not on track to graduate? How many of these students are meeting the state requirements for a diploma but not the extra requirements of our district?
What systemic measures are in place to offer academic support K-12 to increase A-G success? What metrics are being used to evaluate these efforts?
- Results of Developer Fee exploration
- SRACS Accelerated Charter Material Revision Request (delayed)
- Deferred Maintenance Update and Future Planning (
7/27/22 8/24/22) - Review of Math grades and progress including demographic data (board request)
- SCOE Unification/Redistricting Report (on option #1)
- Plan for Staff Housing support program from the proceeds of Fir Ridge
Until the district makes a decision, the proceeds from the sale are just sitting. Getting a program started could help SRCS attract and retaining staff.
- Open Enrollment Policy Update
- Student Voice Policy
- BEST Plus Update
J.4. School Site Report FACS
J.5. Fund 25 Capital Facilities Fund
The attached document provides an explanation of the material differences in Fund 25 between the 2022/23 Unaudited Actuals and 2022/23 Estimated Actuals.
The lease for WCTA was $143,000 more than anticipated.
J.6. Fund 73 Scholarships
Santa Rosa City Schools holds four scholarships in trust that it administers in accordance with formal trust agreements and as required by Procedure 305 for Fund Classification within the California School Accounting Manual (CSAM). The value of the scholarships awarded is based on the accrued interest.
J.7. 2018/19 Unaudited Actuals vs Estimated Actuals
Attached for reference is an explanation of the material difference in Fund 01 between the 2018/19 Unaudited Actuals and 2018/19 Estimated Actuals.
J. 8. SCOE Call for Nomination for Representatives to the Sonoma County Committee on School District Organization