Mental Health, ELOP, CACF and So Much More...

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The Monday, January 23, 2023, LASD Board meeting will start its open session at 7:00pm and contemporaneous public comments may only be made in person in the LASD Board Room. If you plan to participate in person, wearing a mask is recommended in accordance with CDPH guidelines. We will continue to use the Zoom webinar platform for community members to follow our meetings at home, but public comment will not be allowed on it. If you cannot attend in person, and have a comment that you would like the LASD Board to consider in its decision making, please email all of us at [email protected] by 5pm on Saturday, 1/21/23.  To register to watch the board meeting from the comfort of your home, click here.  The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this week's meeting can be found here.

Before we get started with regular business, Oak Avenue School will give the Board a presentation on their 3rd grade house building project.  It is wonderful to have these presentations back in our Board Room after a COVID hiatus.  These always remind why I am a Board member and how exceptional LASD is and its individuals schools are.  

We start regular business with a Mental Health Services Partnerships Update. This is a discussion item and Dr. Carrie Bosco's team's presentation be found under agenda I.1 using the link provided above.  With COVID, not only came a physical disease, but also mental health challenges for all.  LASD invested heavily in increased mental health supports for our students and staff to combat the latter.  We have partnered with CHAC and El Camino Healthcare District in supporting our students mental health.  There are currently 27 adults employed to provide direct mental health services to LASD.  Beyond CHAC and El Camino, Dr. Bosco and team have looked into other organizations with which to partner, but such providers are either too expensive or do not provide services on site.  

Next, Laura Wiley will give the Board an update on 2023-24 Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) Planning, This is a discussion item and her presentation can be found under agenda item I.2.  The State of California has mandated that all schools offer and provide access to all unduplicated TK-6th grade pupils (english learner, eligible for free or reduced lunch, or a foster youth) to a nine hour school day (including before school and after school opportunities).  In this school year, schools were only required to provide such to TK students.  Next year, it must be available to all unduplicated TK-6th grade students.  A district cannot charge homeless youth, foster youth, or students eligible for free or reduced lunch for such services.  LASD partnered with onsite childcare providers to fulfill this requirement this school year, and plans to do the same for the next school year.  

Then, Erik Walukiewicz and the District's auditors will present LASD Audited Financial Report for the 2021/22 school year.  This is an action item and Erik's memo in support of approval of the report can be found under agenda item I.3.  The actual audited report will be made available in the agenda shortly.  The memo states the District received an "unmodified opinion on its Financial Statements, Compliance for Federal programs and Compliance for State programs" and asks that we approve the report. 

The Citizen's Advisory Committee for Finance (CACF) will next present their Mid Year Report.  This is a discussion item and their presentation/report can be found under agenda item I.4.  CACF is a committee officially charged with overseeing LASD's use of its voter approved parcel tax revenues.  However, CACF has grown to be so much more and has become an expert advisory body for the District in all things related to its fiscal health.  CACF states that the District's current financial position is strong, but advises that high inflation and interest rates, an expiring parcel tax, underfunded retirement funds, and SEL learning costs will strain that position.  There has been a decline in house sales caused by the spike in mortgage rates (thus slowing revenue growth in LASD that almost solely relies on property taxes for funding).  CACF advises that LASD should consider renewing its parcel tax and possibly increasing it to adjust for inflation.  They point out that personnel costs will likely rise as our teachers and staff (essential workers) worked through a pandemic and now a period of high inflation and the District will need to adjust for that. Furthermore, LASD's contribution into their retirement funds will need to increase because of other economic factors.  

Sandra McGonagle will then present a 10th Site CEQA Update.  This is a discussion item and her presentation and a draft project description can be found under agenda item I.5.  A California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process is required to get environmental approval of any large construction project in the state.  The project description is used to inform a draft (and then final later in the process) Environmental Impact Report to assess potential environmental impacts of the project.  The project description drafted (with components approved by the Board in prior meetings) includes the most extreme use of the property by the District including placing 900 students, 2 story buildings, 2 gyms, and including artificial turf fields and lights.  While the District has not decided what type of school will go there, it wants to keep its options open. In some nerdy/dorky way, I enjoyed reading the project description.  Perhaps you will too? 

Next, Sandra will bring a TBWBH Props & Measures Consulting Agreement before the Board.  This is an action item and the agreement can be found under agenda item I.6.  LASD has contracted with this firm before to explore and run Measure E, Measure N, and Measure GG.  The Board is asked to approve this agreement to accurately gauge community support for a potential parcel tax renewal. As LASD is a community funded basic aid district, it is almost solely funded by property taxes and supplemental parcel taxes.  LASD gets only some categorical funding from the state and it is usually not even enough for the types of programs the state is mandating.  Therefore, parcel taxes have been instrumental in ensuring LASD remains one of the top districts in the state (with 6 schools being named CA Distinguished Schools again this year!).  

Last, but not least, the Board is asked to approve the 2023-24 District Calendar.  This is an action item and the calendar (and the MVLA High School District calendar of which it follows) can be found under agenda item I.7. 

Please note, this is just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 1/23/23 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.