Summary of the Board of Education Meeting on March 10, 2021
Virtual Meeting
The March 10, 2021 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcements out of Closed Session.
- The Board took action on one workers’ compensation claim.
- The Board took action to reassign a certificated administrator to a classroom teaching assignment for the 2021/22 school year.
- The Board took action to reassign a manager II to a classroom teaching assignment for the 2021/22 school year.
- The Board took action to place a certificated teacher on a compulsory unpaid leave of absence.
- The Board took action to tentatively lateral Valerie Rivas Martinez to principal III on special assignment in College and Career Readiness.
- The Board promoted Misty Her, Instructional Superintendent, to Deputy Superintendent.
Next, Elyette Pulido Morales, Anthony Miranda, Tou Lee Vue, and Manbir Kaberwal, SAB representatives from Design Science Middle College High School, shared that the school has successfully had 100% of seniors apply for the FAFSA or Dream Act. All underclassmen are registering for the college classes this week. All their seniors have been accepted into two or more colleges so far. The best news for their dual enrollment program is that 92% of seniors are graduating with their associate degree from Fresno City College.
The School Student Ambassadors from Bullard TALENT K-8 School also shared what they love about Bullard TALENT K-8 School.
Next, Superintendent Nelson provided a brief report to the Board of Education, including:
- Superintendent Nelson started by sharing that we are thrilled to be reopening our campuses to in-person instruction when we reach the red tier, with a projected start date on Tuesday, April 6, when we return from our scheduled spring break recess. With our county’s COVID numbers continuing in a downward trend, targeted vaccination efforts, and our county’s continued engagement in doing their part to control the spread of COVID-19, we are confident we will reach the red tier shortly and be able to return after spring break.
- Next, the Superintendent also shared that parents need to fill out the Parent Selection Form for each of their Fresno Unified students before the deadline of Tuesday, March 16, by 11:59 p.m. If you have any trouble filling out the quick form online and need assistance, please call us during regular business hours at 457-3912. On our webpage Fresnounified.org you’ll find more information about what school will look like in-person, you will find all of the student schedules based on grade and school, and you’ll find an updated FAQ document answering many of the questions you may have. Based on the parent’s selections for their students, our teams will be separating our students into Group A or Group B to ensure that we can accommodate appropriate physical distancing in our classrooms and facilities. All students will continue distance learning on Mondays, Group A students will learn in their classroom on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and Group B students will learn in their classroom on Thursdays and Fridays. Our teams will do everything they can to keep siblings in the same group. Whether students are in the classroom or learning from home, they will be learning live with their teacher and their classmates through simultaneous teaching and learning.
- Superintendent Nelson shared that we are phasing in the return to campus over two weeks, with child care centers, TK, pre-k through 2nd grade, 7th grade, 9th grade, and 12th grade returning on Tuesday, April 6, and all other grades returning to campus on Tuesday, April 13. You will find all of the school schedules on our website, but generally speaking, students will be live with their teachers from about 9 a.m. to at least 2 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursday, whether in-person or learning at home.
- Superintendent shared with everyone that all students and staff will be required to wear masks and practice physical distancing. There will continue to be increased times for handwashing and disinfecting in the classroom. All students, staff, and visitors must complete our self-health screening every day BEFORE coming to a Fresno Unified site. This self-health screening is also available on the website and ensures that the person screened is not coming to a site if they are experiencing any symptoms or if they’ve been exposed to someone with COVID. We will also offer voluntary COVID-19 surveillance testing to staff and students, and we will share more information directly with families on that matter as it rolls out at our schools. Also, if your student has a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask, we will need a doctor’s note provided to the school so we can work to accommodate.
- Superintendent Nelson thanked our staff who have started their process of getting vaccinated and those that participated in our COVID-19 surveillance testing last Friday! Both of these opportunities are voluntary. We need to support volunteers such as yourself to ensure we get our community vaccinated and ensure we can reach our county health requirements of surveillance testing at least 10% of our in-person staff twice per month. I hope you can hear from your colleagues who have been vaccinated and/or were tested on Friday at Hoover that the process has been smooth, quick, and pain-free! We encourage everyone to head to the Fresno County Department of Public Health website, where they have tons of great medical information available at your fingertips if you have questions or concerns about the vaccines’ safety or effectiveness.
- Last, Superintendent Nelson took a couple of minutes to highlight our students’ fantastic work in the arts for creating our REAL Gallery! The arts are critical to our students’ learning journeys, and distance learning has not made that engagement easy. That never stops our teams – so let’s take a minute to check out our online REAL Gallery through this video.
Next, the Board of Education took the following action on the below consent agenda items:
- Approved Personnel List
- Adopted Resolution Proclaiming March 2021 Women’s History Month
- Adopted Resolution Proclaiming Support for the Proposed Development of the Southeast Fresno Regional Soccer Park and Complex and Afterschool Programs by the Southeast Fresno Community Economic Development Association, Inc.
- Approved Minutes from Prior Meeting
- Approved Renewal Agreement with Marsh & McLennan Agency
- Approved Award of Bid 21-17, Sub-Rings for Wide Area Network Services
- Approved Award of Bid 21-18, Internet Service Provider
- Approved Award of Request for Proposals 21-19, Network Equipment for Internal Connections
- Approved Award of Bid 21-31, Irrigation Supplies
- Ratified Grant Application to the California Department of Education for the Homeless Children and Youth Grant Program
- Ratified Grant Application to the United States Department of Agriculture – Farm to School Grant Program
- Ratified Grant Applications to the California Department of Food and Agriculture
- Ratified Master Contract with Youth Care of Utah, Inc.
- Ratified Change Orders for the Projects Listed Below
Bid 20-11, Ericson Elementary School Early Learning Building Construction and Interim Housing Infrastructure
Bid 20-20, McLane High School Library Modernization
Bid 20-49, Juan Felipe Herrera New Elementary School
Bid 21-07, McLane High School Fire Alarm Upgrade
- Ratified the Filing of a Notice of Completion
Bid 20-48, Computech Middle School Parking Lot Improvements and Modular Classroom Infrastructure
- Ratified Purchase Orders from December 01, 2020, through December 31, 2020
Next, the Board of Education discussed the below conference/discussion agenda items:
- Discussed and Approved the 2020/21 Second Interim Financial Report
- Presented and Discussed the 2021/22 Local Control and Accountability Plan Feedback
- Presented and Discussed the 2021/22 Strategic Budget Development
Next, the Board of Education received the following Information and Reports:
- Received Proposed Revisions for Board Policies
- BP 1340 Access to District Records
- BP 5131 Conduct
- BP 6145 Extracurricular and Cocurricular Activities
- BP 6146.1 High School Graduation Requirements/Standards of Proficiency
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education will be a teleconference meeting on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Complete minutes and agendas are available online at board.fresnounified.org