Apr 20, 2023 School Board Meeting
Apr 20, 2023 School Board Meeting Notes
I. CMS Choir was recognized and performed two songs
II. CUSD Staff recognition awards
III. Agendized Public Comment (3.0): One community member spoke and displayed poster boards of ACSA annual conference agenda
IV. Non-Agendized Public Comment (8.0): Community members spoke on the following issues:
a) $15000 allocated on consent agenda for SDCOE LGBTQ and others CUSD Staff training
b) concerns over pursuing lawsuits instead of focusing on local agenda of improving academic achievement
c) 4×4 Committee considerations:
- What is the minimum requirement for instructional student face time?
- Request data analysis; my understanding is the committee is not looking at test scores, grades, or any numerical data; instead relying on a “series of testimonials.”
- Request a comparison of similar-sized high school that has implemented 4×4. 4×4 has been around a longtime why reinvent the wheel? Learn what right can look like.
- Get the survey out quickly. I am concerned there is not enough time for parents to give a thoughtful response and less time for committee to incorporate / analyze survey input.
d) balancing national social politics and what is right for the students; and is the administration spending money consistent with improving academics? and made following recommendations:
- Recommend the Board present to the community how much money is allocated to academics, professional training, and social emotional / engineering issues;
- Provide justification for all out of state conferences. It is not always transparent. What is purpose of the Pre-School Director attending the Independence Week? Arts Networking Retreat at a lake in Michigan.
- Recommend an update quarterly as the last Board recommended in October 2022. It would be instructive to identify weak academic areas that need targeted and how they are being targeted.
e) a community member requested Academics be added to the agenda and shared a picture of key note speaker for upcoming ACSA conference
f) asked the School Board to consider the Trevor project to reduce suicides among Homosexuals while calling members that spoke homophobic
g) (NOT a topic) while another speaker called community members attempts to push a national far right agenda homophobic and full of hate and vitriol READ HERE. (One of those inclusive, free speech, full of love community members later were reported to express out loud while exiting the building “I want to tear up those posters so badly!”)
V. Agenda for future Board Meetings (9.1)
-Trustee Cavanaugh makes motion to add permanent Agenda topic for Monthly Board Meetings: “Student Learning Update”. Trustee Youngblood shoots it down. TRANSCRIPT LINK
-Key points: a) Cavanaugh recognized Board should be doing more to provide transparency to public and accountability of teachers and staff to student achievement by more frequently looking at progress
b) Antrim questioned is changing Board Agenda within “purview of the Board” and the Board’s ability to make educational decisions “we do not want to meddle
c) Mueller summed up his tasks as determining a way to present more deliberate, digestable, frequent updates to show how progress is connected with goals / long range plans”
d) Youngblood acknowledged “there are extremely controversial things that parents that send kids to our school district do not expect us to be addressing”
-Ironically but sadly seriously, Superintendent ponders aloud why is California Public School System suffering declining enrollment? It is cost of living? Is it how expensive it is? It is it underpaid teachers? Is it subpar academics? Is it pushing a progressive ideology?
-Trustee Sandie is concerned that 4×4 Committee Report is presented on the same day as Dr. Battle’s report in order to ensure one does not feed the other…reminder CUSD’s academics should be part of the Commitee’s information and if they have two different purposes as Youngblood suggested then it should not be a concern.
Hits: 47
