Summary of the Board of Education Meeting on November 4, 2020 Virtual Meeting
The November 4, 2020 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcement out of Closed Session
- The Board took action on a workers’ compensation settlement
- The Board hired Stanley Munro as Principal II at Ayer Elementary School
Next, Robert Martin, SAB representative from Patiño Entrepreneurship High School, shared that at the school, students are taking advantage of the digital learning platforms to partner with public speakers, mentors and other persons of significance who can share valuable information with our student entrepreneurs. Robert also shared that on October 30, Patiño held a virtual rally, which provided students with a unique opportunity to take a break and socialize, while participating in fun games and other activities which transitioned into a final virtual presentation of the campus popular video game, Minecraft, utilizing its school-oriented Education Edition release.
The School Student Ambassadors from Baird Middle School also shared what they love about Baird Middle School.
Next, Superintendent Nelson provided a brief report to the Board of Education including:
- Superintendent started by recognizing that next week, November 9-13, is National School Psychology week. Since August, our school psychologists have been conducting in-person assessments with PPE to support our special education students with disabilities. They have continued to serve as crisis response leaders as they support the social-emotional and mental health needs of our students and our district staff. Many of our school psychologists have also volunteered to be a part of our after-hours on-call mental health team that provides 24-hour crisis response to students as flagged by our Gaggle monitoring system. I’d like to publicly celebrate, recognize, and honor our Fresno Unified school psychologists and their contribution to students and to our entire Fresno Unified family.
- Next, the Superintendent announced that Fresno Unified is proud to celebrate November as National Native American Heritage Month. Our curriculum and instruction team will be sending out potential lessons and celebrations for teachers to utilize in their classroom this month and I encourage all of us to take some time to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of our Native American community as the first inhabitants of this land.
- Superintendent Nelson shared that as we continue our ongoing journey with cultural proficiency, our Fresno High leadership, Equity and Access department, and Communications department have been working collaboratively to gather voice around two petitions that arose over the summer regarding the Fresno High School Warrior Mascot. The team has conducted two small listening sessions hearing directly from Fresno High students, alumni, parents and several Native American community leaders. Our next steps are to hold a student virtual town hall for Fresno High students, and next a virtual town hall on Thursday, November 12 at 5:30 pm open to our community. Attendees of the community town hall will get to hear directly from the petition authors, alumni, and a parent, while also having the opportunity to submit live feedback and comments through the Q&A feature on Microsoft Teams Live. All comments will be collected along with feedback from the student town hall, the two small listening sessions, the petitions, conversations and comments from social media regarding the Warrior mascot, and research on Native American mascot discussions around the country. All feedback will be provided back to the board to discuss in December. Links to join the virtual town hall on November 12 will be available on our website and social media.
- Superintendent Nelson then reminded everyone that nominations are officially open for the district’s Excellence in Education awards. Please take the time to nominate colleagues who go above and beyond for students and the district and who exemplify the highest standards. Nominations are open in classified, certificated and administrator categories. We love this event every year and love the opportunity to highlight the amazing work of our Fresno Unified Family members, so get involved. The deadline to nominate is Friday, November 20.
- Superintendent reached out to parents and students, if you haven’t jumped in to our Virtual Choose your Future Week, now is the time! This week our team has taken our School Choice Expo, CTE Ticket to the Future, and Student Showcase and turned them virtual for all of our students and parents to enjoy. Head to fresnounified.org to join this virtual event anytime between now and Friday. You can explore all options and special programs available to your student from PreK through 12th grade and you can receive assistance in completing your transfers application, which are due December 1.
- Superintendent Nelson shared that we are so honored that Councilmember Luis Chavez will be officially changing the Lane Avenue signs to Tim Liles Way this Friday at 10:00 a.m. in front of Sunnyside High School. This honor and recognition of Principal Tim Liles is incredibly deserved and special to all of us that knew and loved Tim. Thank you to the City of Fresno and Councilmember Chavez for making this honor a reality.
- Next, the superintendent had two quick reminders for Fresno Unified Staff. First, it is officially open enrollment time. Make sure to take a look at your benefits package and make any changes necessary before November 30. Second, our JHMB partners continue to provide more opportunities for the free flu shot clinics serving employees and their dependents covered by the District’s health care plans. To learn more, check your email through Employee Zone, WellPATH, or head to the JHMB website at JHMBhealthconnect.com.
- Superintendent also shared that Fresno Unified will be surveying students in grades 4-12 on a handful of school climate and culture indicators later this month. This survey is an opportunity for your student to tell us about their experiences with their school and how we can better support their learning during this time. Students will complete their surveys during class by Friday, November 20. We look forward to receiving important input from our students about climate and culture of their schools and gathering their perceptions about their sense of belonging.
- Last, Superintendent Nelson shared his pride and appreciation for our Food Services Team, they have truly stepped up as huge leaders in our district and community during this pandemic. Let’s take a couple of minutes to check out this video highlighting their great work.
Next, the Board of Education took the following action on the below consent agenda items:
- Approved Personnel List
- Approved Minutes from Prior Meeting
- Adopted Resolution Ordering the Date of the Annual Organizational Meeting of the Governing Board
- Adopted Variable Term Waiver
- Adopted Variable Term Waiver for Bilingual, Cross-cultural, Language and Development Authorization
- Adopted Variable Term Waiver for Career Technical Education Credential Holders
- Approved Provisional Internship Permits
- Approved FRESH After School Partnership Program Services Agreement through the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools
- Approved Contract Renewal with Delta Fund Administrators
- Approved Amendment 01 to Contract CSPP-0078 for California State Preschool Program and APPROVED Amendment 01 to Contract CCTR-0036 for General Child Care and Development Programs from the California Department of Education
- Approved Amendment to Independent Services Contract Agreement with Corwin Press
- Approved Amendment to Halcyon Behavioral, LLC Agreement
- Approved Purchase of Additional Coverage of Gaggle
- Approved Award of Bid 21-09 Sections A, B and C, Gymnasium Bleacher Installation at Various Middle Schools
- Approved Award of Bid 21-06, USDA Commodity Prepared Food Products
- Ratified Grant Application to Albertsons Companies Foundation for the Nourishing Neighbors Program
- Ratified Purchase Orders from August 1, 2020 through August 31, 2020
Next, the Board of Education discussed the below conference/discussion agenda items:
- Public Hearing in the Matter of the Aspen Ridge Public School Charter Petition
- Presented and Discussed District Efforts to Address Chronic Absenteeism
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education will be a teleconference meeting on Wednesday, November 18, 2020. Complete minutes and agendas are available online at board.fresnounified.org