The Presiding Officer will call the special meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION
Meeting Location:  1231 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94702
SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
Wednesday, February 15, 2017

The Berkeley Unified School District intends to provide reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If a special accommodation is desired, please call the Superintendent’s Office 48 hours prior to the meeting at 510-644-6206
El Distrito Escolar Unificado de Berkeley tiene la intención de proporcionar adaptaciones especiales en conformidad con el Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Ley de Americanos con Discapacidades de 1990). Si usted desea una adaptación especial, por favor comuníquese con el personal de la Oficina del Superintendente 48 horas antes de la reunión al 510-644-6206.

Notice of Non-Discrimination 
The Berkeley Unified School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, religious creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, marital or parental status, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, disability, medical condition, homelessness or foster status, in its programs and activities, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Discrimination based on protected class includes sexual harassment, sexual violence, and bullying. All inquiries or concerns regarding BUSD’s nondiscrimination policy 5145.3 or the filling of discrimination complaints should contact:

Dr. Susan Craig 
Interim District Compliance Officer & Title IX Coordinator
Office of the Superintendent
2020 Bonar Stree, Ste.113 
Berkeley, CA 94702
Phone: 510.883.5224
Fax: 510.644.7712
Email: susancraig@berkeley.net

Inquiries may also be referred to the:
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
50 Beale Street, Suite 7200
San Francisco, CA 94105-1813
Telephone: 415-486-5555
FAX: 415-486-5570; TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: ocr.sanfrancisco@ed.gov

Pursuant to California Government Code Section 54953, Director Judy Appel will be participating via teleconference at the following location: Washington Plaza at 10 Thomas Cir NW Washington, DC 2005. This agenda will be posted at the foregoing location at least 24 hours before the February 15 special meeting is scheduled to commence. Public participation will be permitted at the teleconferencing location. Government Code Section 54953 requires that all votes taken during the teleconferencing meeting shall be by roll call. 

1. Call to Order
The Presiding Officer will call the special meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 

2. Approve Special Meeting Agenda for February 15, 2017

3. Public Testimony
Persons wishing to address the Board should fill out a green speaker card. Cards turned in by 5:45 p.m. will be given priority.  Public Testimony is strictly limited to 30 minutes with a 3-minute limit per speaker per topic, although the time allotted per speaker may be reduced to 2 minutes at the discretion of the President. 

4. Union Comments
Representatives from each union are given the opportunity to address the Board on any issue for five minutes per union. 

Unions
Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT)
Berkeley Council of Classified Employees (BCCE)
Union of Berkeley Administrators (UBA)
Local 21

5. Committee Comments
Representatives from District committees that include members of the public are given the opportunity to address the Board for five minutes, so long as the representative speaking has specifically delegated by the committee to speak on behalf of the committee.

6. Action Item 
6.1 Redesign of Berkeley High School

7. Open Session Public Testimony (2nd Opportunity)
Persons wishing to address the Board should fill out a green speaker card. Cards turned in for the earlier open session public testimony will be given priority. Speakers will be randomly selected based on topic and position, with BUSD students generally given priority. Public testimony is limited to 15 minutes with a 3-minute limit per speaker per topic although the time allotted per speaker may be reduced to 2 minutes at the discretion of the President. 

8. Adjournment

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 

TO:        Board of Education
FROM:        Donald Evans Ed. D., Superintendent
Pasquale Scuderi, Assistant Superintendent, Educational  Services
DATE:        February 15, 2017
SUBECT:     Special Meeting to Discuss Proposed Redesign of Berkeley High School Program       

The Design Team at Berkeley High has developed a proposed redesign of the 9th grade at Berkeley High. The outline of this proposal was presented to the Board at its January 25, 2017 meeting.  The proposal is to implement the new 9th grade structure in the Fall of 2018.  In order to meet that goal, the Board must approve the redesign by June of this year.  In order to approve the design by June of this year, District staff, the Design Team, and staff and students at Berkeley High must spend several months working through the complicated logistics involved in a major redesign, as well as developing a precise budget for the plan.   

This timeline requires that the Board provide direction to staff by February 15 in answer to this question: “Should District staff and the Design Team continue to develop their current proposal over the next few months so that they are prepared to bring the final proposal to the Board for a first reading at the May 17 meeting, with a goal of final approval at the June 14 meeting?”  Our goal is to have the answer to this question by the end of the February 15, 2017 special meeting.

In order to provide the Board with sufficient information to provide this direction on the 15th, we asked the Board at the January 25, 2017 meeting to state questions Board members had, the answers to which were necessary to receive in order for the Board to feel comfortable giving direction on the 15th.  District staff and the Design Team recorded these questions and developed responses and made both the questions and the answers available to the Board and to the public on February 9, 2017.  The document has been shared with the Board and is available on the Berkeley High Redesign website (http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/bhs-school-redesign-process/). 

Our request is that the Board come to the Feb. 15 special meeting prepared to discuss its views on whether to direct staff to proceed with this plan.  Following public comment, staff and the Design Team will briefly summarize the plan, and they will also be available to answer clarifying questions about the plan.  We hope and expect, however, that the majority of the time spent at the Feb. 15 meeting will be spent discussing and ultimately expressing the Board’s views on the question articulated in bold above.

FISCAL IMPACT:
The precise budget for the redesign is still being developed but the estimate is $500,000-$600,000 per year annually.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Direct staff to continue to develop their current proposal over the next few months so that they are prepared to bring the final proposal to the Board for a first reading at the May 17 meeting, with a goal of final approval at the June 14 meeting.

Persons wishing to address the Board should fill out a green speaker card. Cards turned in for the earlier open session public testimony will be given priority.  Speakers will be randomly selected based on topic and position, with BUSD students generally given priority.  Public Testimony is limited to 15 minutes with a 3-minute limit per speaker per topic although the time allotted per speaker may be reduced to 2 minutes at the discretion of the President.