March 6, 2019

The March 6 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcement out of Closed Session:

  • The board took action to notice four employees of dismissal/ release

Next, Carson Wood, principal and Jodie Garabedian, Campus Culture director at JE Young, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Next, Martha Cerna Marquez, Iris Cisneros, Bryonna Rowe, and  Kaylee  Rowe, ASB representatives from JE Young High School shared the changes that have taken place at the Academic Center at JE Young. They are now a 100% online educational program, where students attend classes at least three days per week. On Mondays, all student participate in Project – Based Learning (PBL) and personalized learning with teachers. The first PBL resulted in a field trip to Fresno State’s Gibson Market, and the Campus Cupboard. Martha also shared that by the end of the second quarter the number of credits earned was more than any other quarter in JE Young history at 13,769 credits. Regarding Campus Culture, students shared that this year they had their first Club Rush, resulting in forming 10 clubs. They had their first Harvest Festival on November. Tuesday’s SAB meeting was held for the first time at JE Young and this year will be the first in which the school will have a senior field trip, to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

  1. Students from Computech Middle School were present and spoke about what they love about being a student at their school.

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

  • Highlighting that this past weekend we had middle school and high school teams competing in the Fresno County Science Olympiad.  Two of our middle schools finished in the top three among 24 teams. Computech, finished second, and Baird, finished third. Baird also had a second team that placed fifth. While this was not a district event, it is a great warm up for academic competitions coming ahead:  Tournament of Technology on April 6, Innovation Day on May 21 and our middle school Math-O-Rama competition May 28, 29 and 30.
  • Nelson also shared that Edison Tigers girls’ soccer team, recently won the Central Section Division II title against Liberty-Madera Ranchos.  The team had an amazing season, showing great character and athletic ability, giving them back-to-back championships. We also had three district wrestlers place at the state championships. Female wrestler Xanaysis Real from McLane placed seventh and Stanford-bound Dawson Siravong, who attends Patino and wrestles for Bullard, took third overall with Kwabena Watson from Edison taking eighth. Athletes will be attending an upcoming Board meeting so we can officially celebrate their successful seasons.
  • Superintendent shared that the annual conference of California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, recognized Gaston Middle School. P.E teachers received the Physical Education Program of the Year Award for their outstanding professional contributions and achievements. Teachers Scott Brown, Minith “Adam” Real, Keith Travis, Tiffani Moore, Angelica Lopez, and Jeanne Sawali were present to be recognized. In addition, Nicole Evangelinos, a regional instructional manager — or RIM — with Special Education Department, was recently selected as a Central Valley Champion Awards recipient by the Central Valley Regional Center.  She has been serving as a RIM for almost 20 years working with school site administration and teaching staff to provide valuable educational special education supports, and behavior strategies that can assist them with effectively addressing students with challenging needs. 
  • Nelson shared that instructional superintendent Misty Her, was honored at the state capital by Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula with the Woman of the Year award for the 31st Assembly District. Arambula spoke of Misty’s personal and professional journey from leaving Laos at the age of 5 and coming to the U.S. to discovering her love of education and teaching. Misty was the first vice principal of Hmong descent in Fresno Unified and the first Hmong female principal in the United States before she became an instructional superintendent.
  • Last, Superintendent acknowledged that this week marks national “School Social Worker Week,” recognizing the incredible work social workers do across the nation. This is a special group of people, who are especially skilled in providing services to students who face serious challenges.  Our school social workers play a vital role in the lives of Fresno Unified students and their families and I am forever grateful for the challenging space they choose to live in each day in order to support and lift up the youth and families in our district.  Please take time this week to show some much deserved love and appreciation for all of our school social workers. 

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

  • Approved Personnel List
  • Adopted Findings of Fact and Recommendations of the District Administrative Board
  • Approved Agreement for Cultural Proficiency Training, two Day (Phase I)
  • Approved Amendment to Agreement with Fresno County Superintendent of Schools
  • Approved Grant Applications for the  2019/20 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Programs
  • Approved Purchase of Fitness/Weight Equipment and Related Facility Improvements for Hoover and McLane High Schools
  • Approved Proposed Revisions for Board Policies 5141.52,5144,6142.3 (New),6152.1 (New), and 6178
    • BP 5141.52 Suicide Prevention
    • BP 5144 Discipline
    •  (NEW) BP 6152.1 Placement in Mathematics Courses
    • BP 6178 Career Technical Education

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

  • Presented and Discussed the 2018/19 African American Academic Acceleration Task Force Presentation and Accept the Recommendations
  • Presented and Discussed the 2019/20 Strategic Budget Development- (Operations,  Facilities, Safety, Transportation, Food Services, Adult School)
  • Presented and Approved the 2019/20 Second Interim Financial Report  with a Positive Certification

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education is Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at the Fresno Unified Education Center, located at 2309 Tulare Street in Fresno. Complete minutes and agendas are available online at https://go.fresnou.org/board.

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