A Whole Lotta Everything

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The Monday, April 26, 2021 LASD Board meeting will start its open session at 7:00pm and it will be held using the Zoom webinar platform.  To register in advance for the meeting, click here.  The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this week's meeting can be found here.

First up on the agenda, Jeff Baier will give his regular review of School Reopening in the District.  This is a discussion item and Jeff's presentation can be found under agenda item H.1 using the link provided above.  This week, LASD commenced five day a week learning for all students who chose to attend at all 7 of our elementary schools (TK-8).  Next week, our Junior Highs will have 2 full days of learning (instead of 2 half days of learning) in person.  There are several reasons why we couldn't get our Junior High's back 5 days a week but the big one was that we couldn't staff both a virtual school and in person school.  The good news is that we will go back to school in the Fall 5 days a week for all grade levels TK-8 for the 2021-22 school year. There will be also be a virtual school for those families that still require such. Furthermore, we have plans for a robust summer school at Santa Rita for 4 weeks, 8:30-2:00 daily, with reading, phonics, writing, and math instruction.  While we have had an average of 75 students in prior years, we are expected to to have 160-180 participants this summer with our first round of student invitations going out in the next week. 

Next up, Jeff and staff will present the results of the Parent Survey.  This is a discussion item and the presentation can be found under agenda item H.2. There is a lot of the data in the presentation and I suggest you cull through it yourself. There were 1,376 respondents with 1,098 complete responses.  I look forward to the presentation. 

Then, Sandra McGonagle will give the Board her Assessment and Accountability Update.  This is a discussion item and her presentation can be found under agenda item H.3.  It is important to note that the State of California asked the Federal Government for a waiver from statewide standardized testing in order to receive federal funds. The US Department of Education approved that waiver and now the state is allowing local school districts to determine how will they will be assessing their students.  LASD will be using iReady for English Language Arts (ELA) and Math for our 3rd and 4th graders.  For our students in Grades 5-8, LASD will use iReady for ELA and MDTP for Math.  

Randy Kenyon will next present the Audited Financial Report.  This is an action item and Randy's presentation and the Audited Financial Report can be found under agenda item H.4.  The Board is asked to approve the Audited Financial Report.  According to the District's auditor, Chavan and Associates, LASD's financial statements "present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the District, as of June 30, 2020, and the respective changes in financial position and, where applicable, cash flows thereof for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America."

Then, Randy will present a Resolution Authorizing Procurement of HVAC Controls System through Competitive Negotiation (thrilling, I know).  This is an action item and his presentation and the resolution can be found under agenda item H.5.  The Board is asked to approve this resolution to go out for a Request for Proposal (RFP) for new HVAC Controls for our newer HVAC systems at Almond, Springer and Egan.  The controls at these schools are outdated and failing and we need to replace them.  

Next, the the Board will discuss Resuming In-Person Board Meetings.  This is a discussion item for the Board and there is no presentation associated.  As the Board gets fully vaccinated, and the rest of our community does, I think some normalcy of in-person board meetings could be refreshing.  Technical logistics for continuing Zoom at the same time for at home participants, and safety protocols for in person attendees will need to be hammered out.  

Lastly, the Board will need to cast a vote in a CSBA Delegate Assembly Runoff Election.  This is an action item and the candidates names and applications are found under agenda item H.7.  

Please note, these are just the highlights of what to expect at our 4/26/2021 meeting.  You can inform yourself about the rest of the agenda at the link provided above.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions. ​