Summary of the Board of Education Meeting on January 20, 2021 Virtual Meeting

The January 20, 2021 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcement out of Closed Session

  • The Board voted to give the Superintendent a positive evaluation with vote of 7-0

Next, Ishan Singh, SAB representative, and Junior Class President, and Gwendolyne Aguilar SAB representative from Sunnyside High School, shared that their school will be hosting its second club rush to virtually attend and join new programs. Students shared that Sunnyside is having its football turf repainted, is developing a CTE building, and is building canopies for our construction and welding classes. Regarding academic achievements, students highlighted that Sunnyside came out as the number one high school to send the most seniors to Fresno State, which was 410 seniors. The high school received recognition and was thanked by the President of Fresno State. 

The School Student Ambassadors from Kings Canyon Middle School also shared what they love about Kings Canyon Middle School.

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

  • Superintendent Nelson started by reflecting on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day. Especially at this time in our country with the violence at our Capitol earlier this month and with today’s historic inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris, Dr. King’s work and words are as poignant as ever. I find it incredibly important to remember that Dr. King’s work was not celebrated in his time as we celebrate it today and that there is still much more work to be done. When we pus in our continued journeys toward Cultural Proficiency, meeting push back along the way, we can think of Dr. King’s resolve to work on behalf of what we know to be right and just even when it’s hard, uncomfortable, and met with resistance. Today, we can rejoice in the significance and progress of inaugurating our country’s first female, first black, and first south Asian Vice President and also know that tomorrow, the hard work must continue.
  • Next, the Superintendent congratulated our 2020 Hour of Code winners – Manchester GATE elementary school and Wawona Middle School. We want to thank all our sites, teachers, and students for making this event possible. We appreciate your love for technology. Let’s take a quick look at a Celebration of Hour of Code 2020 video that our students worked on during Computer Science Education Week Hour of Code.
  • Superintendent Nelson celebrated our Licensed Vocational Nursing cohort who will be graduating this Friday. The persistence and dedication of this LVN cohort from Fresno Adult School will finally pay off this week when the students graduate. The students started their academic journey is August 2019, with an original graduation date in September 2020, but were delayed by COVID-19 restrictions on clinical patient care. Congratulations to our LVN graduates and thank you for your continued dedication to serving our community.
  • Superintendent then reminded everyone that our Excellence in Education Awards is coming up. Next Wednesday, January 27th at 6pm we will be streaming our Excellence in Education Awards on our website and our social media channels for all to join the celebration. We are so proud of all of our nominees and can’t wait to celebrate our winners virtually next week.
  • Superintendent Nelson reminded everyone that our LCAP meetings continue tomorrow night at 6pm with our Fresno High Region. We have already completed our Hoover region, McLane/Duncan region, and first Spanish Town Halls with a great response and great engagement from those in attendance. Please join us for one of our eight upcoming meetings to ensure your voice in heard in our budgeting process. You can find all dates, times and links to the virtual LCAP meeting on our website at www.fresnounified.org
  • Superintendent quickly remind everyone that we will be kicking off Black History Month on Monday, February 1st with our virtual 7th Annual Edison Region Black History Month Program. You will be able to watch the program live at 6pm on our website, social media and CMAC. This program is always incredible, and even with COVID restrictions we know that this year will be incredible as well. Thank you to Lisa Nichols, our BSU teams, and all of our staff and students who are involved and making this event happened.
  • Next, Superintendent mentioned that next week, Thursday, January 28th from 4pm – 5:30pm we will be holding a virtual information meeting on our next Leadership Cohort for credentialed staff interested in an administrative credential. If you are interested, please join us to have your questions answered and be prepared to apply before the deadline in February.
  • Last, Superintendent Nelson remind our students to join in our Cultural Cooking Challenge before the deadline next Friday, January 29th. We are so excited about this challenge and creating our first ever Fresno Unified Family Cookbook, all from your families amazing recipes. Head to our website to learn more on how to submit your recipe.

Next, the Board of Education took the following action on the below consent agenda items:

  • Approved Personnel List
  • Adopted Resolution Proclaiming the Month of February 2021 as African American History Month
  • Approved Minutes from Prior Meeting
  • Approved Budget Revision No. 3 for Fiscal Year 2020/21
  • Approved the 2020/21 Fresno Unified Career Technical Education Advisory Committee
  • Approved Award of Request for Proposal 21-13, Student Internet Service Beyond Campus: Wireless Broadband Solution
  • Approved Award of Bid 21-23, Public Address Intercom Equipment
  • Approved Proposed Revisions for Board Policies

• (DELETE) BP 5112.2 Exclusions from Attendance

• BP 5113.1 Chronic Absence and Truancy

• BP 5126 Awards for Achievement

• (NEW) BP 5141.5 Emotional Well-Being and Mental Health

• BP 5145.7 Sexual Harassment

• BP 6020 Parental Involvement

• BP 6179 Supplemental Instruction

  • Approved the 2021 List of Board Member Committee and Organization Assignments
  • Denied Claim GL20-0928-5183
  • Ratified Change Orders for the Projects Listed Below
  • Bid 19-42 Sections B, C and D, Lighting Improvements at Various Schools Phase 3
  • Bid 19-51 Sections B and C, Mechanical Improvements for Malloch Elementary School and Tehipite Middle School Change Order 3
  • Bid 20-11, Ericson Elementary School Early Learning Building Construction and Interim Housing Infrastructure Change Orders 4 and 5
  • Bid 20-30, Roosevelt High School Cafeteria Modernization Change Order 1 and 2 presented for ratification
  • Bid 20-34 Section A, Gibson, Holland, Manchester Elementary Schools Multipurpose Building HVAC Upgrades Change Order 1 presented for ratification
  • Bid 20-34 Section B, Powers-Ginsburg Elementary School, and Baird Middle School, Multipurpose Building HVAC Upgrades
  • Bid 20-48, Computech Middle School Parking Lot Improvements and Modular Classroom Infrastructure (Board member Jonasson- Rosas abstain pursuant Board Bylaw 9270)
  • Ratified the Filing of Notices of Completion
  • Bid 20-37, Edison High School Athletic Track Replacement

Next, the Board of Education discussed the below conference/discussion agenda items:

  • Presented and Discussed Update on the Proposed Program and Facility for the New Ventura & Tenth School
  • Presented and discussed Overview of Governor’s 2021/22 Proposed State Budget

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education will be a teleconference meeting on Wednesday, February 03, 2021. Complete minutes and agendas are available online at board.fresnounified.org

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