April 5, 2017

The April 5, 2017 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcements out of Closed Session:

  • The Board of Education promoted:
    • Kim Collins, principal of Norseman Elementary School to Human Resources, District office.
  • The Board of Education took action regarding a workers compensation claim.

Next, Gabby Martinez, a parent that has had a positive impact at Starr Elementary, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Board of Education approved the minutes from the February 15, 2017 special meeting.

The Board of Education recognized the 10th Annual Middle School Tournament of Technology which was held Saturday, April 1st at Gaston Middle School. A video was then played showing highlights of the event.

Students Lizet Carillo and Irene Garcia from Duncan Polytechnical High School provided a report to the Board of Education, sharing details of yesterday’s SAB meeting and thanked Board Member De la Cerda for attending and answering students’ questions.  They also thanked the entire Fresno Unified School Board for allowing students to be a part of the California Association of Student Leaders Convention where they were inspired to lead and advocate for more student participation on campuses.  The students shared some of the ongoing events and accomplishments happening at Duncan including the Academic Decathlon team winning first in its division, the new Workwear Wednesdays where students come to school once a week in professional attire and expanded CTE programs coming as part of Measure X.  In addition, students from Tioga Middle School shared their academic and career goals, as well as what they love about attending Tioga.

Next, Interim Superintendent Nelson provided a brief report to the Board of Education including:

  • Providing a reminder that spring break starts Monday, April 11 with classes resuming on Tuesday, April 18.  While district offices will be open with the exception of Friday the 14th, schools will be closed all week.  Nelson encouraged district families and staff to relax, reenergize and spend time with family and friends as the weeks following break would be busy.
  • Interim superintendent spoke of last weekend’s 10thAnnual Tournament of Technology and thanked Kurt Madden, the IT Team and district staff who spent months preparing. It was student learning at its best as teams competed in a number of categories including creating websites, building robots, video games, videos and 3D cars among others. 
  • Last night Parent University held its spring parent recognition ceremony celebrating 520 parents. These parents, committed to supporting their student’s academic achievement, have been engaged in adult learning opportunities including modules around Local Control Funding Formula, transition to middle school and high school, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics as well as a residents academy with the Fresno Police Department, among other modules. With last night’s celebration, nearly 30,000 parents have been served through Parent University.  Nelson thanked Zuleika Murillo and the entire Parent University team for their tremendous outreach in providing district parents the necessary tools to best support their children. Interim superintendent then shared a video from last night’s event. 
     
  • Nelson previewed some of tonight’s strategic budget preparation from the Department of Prevention and Intervention (DPI) noting that the department oversees, implements and supports Restorative Practices (RP). RP is practiced at four of our comprehensive high school regions- McLane, Sunnyside, Edison and Fresno High.  While the success around Restorative Practice is growing, many in our community still struggle at times to understand its primary focus and goals.  In preparation of tonight’s budget presentation, Nelson shared a videothat spoke to the core principles of Restorative Practices.

Following Interim Superintendent Nelson’s remarks, the Board of Education took the following actions on the below consent agenda items:

  • Approved personnel list.
  • Adopted findings of fact and recommendations of the District Administrative Board
  • Approved Budget Revision No. 3 for fiscal year 2016/17 with the modification to add eight Campus Safety Assistants as opposed to seven.
  • Approved agreement to pilot the Central California Baseball Academy (GLOVE Mentoring Program)
  • Denied Claim #16-0912-0422
  • Denied Claim #17-0228-0034
  • Ratified grant application to the City of Fresno for the 2017/18 Community Development Block Grant.  President Ashjian abstained pursuant to Board Bylaw 9270.

After the consent agenda, staff made a presentation to the Board in the conference/discussion section of the agenda as follows:

  • Discussed and approved charter renewal petition for Aspen Public School.
  • Continued budget development discussions for State 2017/18 budget
  • Discussed and approved the new California School Dashboard and determination of local indicators.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education is Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. at the Fresno Unified Education Center, located at 2309 Tulare St. in Fresno. Complete minutes and agendas are available online at https://go.fresnou.org/board.

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