May 31, 2017

The May 31, 2017 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcements out of Closed Session:

  • Took action on a workers compensation case
  • Took action to place one classified employee on compulsory leave of absence

Next, Laura Espinoza, a parent who has had a positive impact at Holland Elementary, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Board of Education recognized Student Board Representatives for the 2016/17 school year: Richard McCoy, Edison High School, and Keerat Riar, Patiño High School who have done an excellent job participating in Board Meetings this year. 

The Board of Education recognized the Fresno Unified School District Spring Sports Valley Champions for the 2016/17 school year.

The Board of Education approved the minutes from the April 5, 2017 meeting.

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

  • Encouraging parents to keep their kids active this summer.  Parent University in conjunction with Valley PBS is kicking off its English Learner Summer Learning program on Saturday, June 3 with a special event at McLane High School. Families with children in grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade are invited to the free event from 8am to 1pm, providing parents valuable tools to support student learning throughout the summer including reading, critical thinking and STEM exploration.
  • Discussing the Board and district’s commitment to provide more recreational opportunities as part of the Weekend Community Space agreement with the City of Fresno. Tonight the board looked to extend the program by adding “blue space” in the form of low cost community swim opportunities and swimming lessons at our seven comprehensive high schools this summer. In the last month alone, the Central Valley has seen a number of people lose their lives in dangerous waters including our own Neng Thao.  He’s hopeful the district’s partnership with the City of Fresno will give residents a safe, supervised alternative close to home.
  • Graduation season is upon us with 13 more graduation ceremonies taking place between June 1-7.  Preparing students to successfully reach the graduation stage takes support from parents, teachers, mentors and the community.  He said there’s no better example of that collaboration than the “Inspire Tomorrow Mentoring” program at Roosevelt High School. He then played a video of how Roosevelt High School graduates get help transitioning beyond the graduation stage.  He thanked the many mentors who continue to support the district’s youth and gave a big congratulations to the Class of 2017.
  • Recognized the numerous teachers who came to the board meeting.  The Board of Education provided an updated proposal to FTA which provides an ongoing salary increase, reduces out of pocket employee expenses for health care by 50% for 2017-18 with a 90-10 health care plan and withdraws articles 20 and 21.  He expressed hope that there will be a resolution to the negotiations and recalled that 23 years ago as a teacher, he, too, paid FTA dues.  He’s read the passionate posts on social media and wants to reassure teachers that Fresno Unified will continue to work with labor partners to find an agreement on a contract that will not only support student learning and teachers but does not take the district back financially.  Here is the latest Negotiation News.  Here is the FTA Negotiations Statement.

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
  • Adopted waiver requests for Rebecca Bier and Alana Cross to serve as Speech Language Pathologists
  • Adopted Declaration of Need for fully qualified educators
  • Approved grant application to the Spencer Foundation Research-Practice Partnership Program
  • Approved multi-year proposal with Cisco Capital from Dimension Data for annual updates and technical support of district’s Cisco firewall
  • Approved proposal from Development Group, Inc. for HP 3Par annual maintenance
  • Approved proposal from Development Group, Inc. for Cisco Smartnet and technical support of district’s core network infrastructure
  • Approved multi-year proposal with Cisco Capital from Development Group, Inc. and technical support of district telecommunications system
  • Approved extension of joint use agreement with City of Fresno for Weekend Community Open Space Program for elementary and middle schools
  • Approved agreement with City of Fresno to provide summer swim program at district pools
    • Trustee Davis abstained because her daughter works for the City of Fresno
  • Approved award of Bid 17-23 Sections A-H, 2017 Exterior Painting at 16 Campuses
  • Approved award of Bid 17-24; Centennial, Del Mar, and Roeding Elementary Schools Chiller Replacements
  • Approved award of Bid 17-28 A-C, Asphalt Shingle Re-Roof for Locker and Multipurpose Rooms at Three Campuses (Heaton, Roeding and Tenaya)
  • Approved award of Bid 17-29, Center for Professional Development Parking Lot Improvements
  • Approved award of Bid 17-30, Design Science High School Portable Campus Addition
    • President Ashjian abstained pursuant to Board Bylaw 9270
  • Approved rejecting Bid 17-25, Slater Elementary School Infrastructure for Interim Housing
    • President Ashjian abstained pursuant to Board Bylaw 9270
  • Approved revisions to questionnaire and scoring matrix for prequalifying prospective bidders on construction contracts
  • Approved request for qualifications 17-31, Financial Advisory Services
  • Denied Claim #17-0120-0014
  • Denied Claim #17-0120-0134
  • Ratified agreement between Bitwise Industries, Inc. dba Geekwise Academy and Fresno Adult School
  • Ratified exchange agreement between Fresno Unified School District and State Center Community College District for the State Center Adult Education Consortium Staff Reimbursement of Costs
  • Ratified Purchase Orders from March 1, 2017 through March 31, 2017

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

  • Held public hearing, presented and discussed Fresno Unified School District’s 2017/18 Local Control and Accountability Plan
  • Held public hearing, presented and discussed Fresno Unified School District’s 2017/18 Proposed Budget and Education Protection Account
  • Discussed and approved proposed revisions for Board Policies (BP) 0410, 5113, 5141.21, (NEW) 5141.52, 6173, 6174, and (NEW) Exhibit (E) 5113
  • Discussed and approved the appointment of members to the Superintendent Search Committee

      

Next, the Board of Education received:

  • Proposed revisions for Board Policies (BP) 1621, (NEW) 3470, 5121, 6159, 6159.3, 6162.5, 6162.51, and 6185.
  • Constituent Services quarterly reporting

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education is Wednesday, June 14, 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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