Members of the public may address the Board on items listed on the closed session agenda. Speakers are limited to three minutes each (Board Bylaw 9323(5)).

The Board will consider approval of the minutes from the August 8, 2018, Regular Board Meeting.

President Klose will administer the Oath of Office to Student Board Member, Alana Macken.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to speak to the board on non-agenda items.  Comments on items that are on the agenda will take place during the discussion on that agenda item.  Members of the public may address the Board on matters within the subject matter of its jurisdiction. Please submit a Speaker Card to the Board Secretary prior to the meeting being called to order. Upon recognition by the Board President, please approach the podium. The Board shall take no action or discussion on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except as authorized by law (BB 9323(2)). Speakers are limited to 3 minutes each (BB 9323(5)). Should a member of the public have comments that pertain to a complaint against an employee of the District, the Board advises that the matter should first be pursued using the appropriate district complaint procedure (BB 9323(6)).

All consent items are enacted by the Board in one motion, unless a Board member requests that an item be removed and discussed separately.  

The Board will consider approval of absent Board Member(s), if necessary, due to illness, jury duty, or a hardship deemed acceptable by the Board in accordance with Education Code Section 35120.

The Board will consider approval of the personnel transactions submitted. 

Staff is presenting Personnel Transaction items for Board approval.

The Board will consider approval of the vendor warrants submitted.  The attached warrant register lists all vendors for the period July 27, 2018, through August 8, 2018, for a total of $2,500,323.38. 

Staff is presenting the Warrant Register List for Board Approval.

Financially significant vendor warrants that highlight the largest check or invoice paid to a particular vendor:

Warrants (Current): July 27, 2018, through August 9, 2018 = $2,500,323.38
Warrants(Total 18/19 Fiscal Year) : July 1, 2018, through August 9, 2018 = $8,567,532.21

Approved by vote on consent agenda.

The Board will consider approval of the donations and gifts submitted.

Parents, students, community members, and businesses make donations and give gifts to the schools on a regular basis. Donations come in the form of money, goods, or services. These donations are appreciated and welcomed by the schools and departments.

Donations received since August 8, 2018 = $35,172.75.
District-wide donations year to date = $44,008.41.

Approved by vote on consent agenda.

 The Board will consider approval of the contracts submitted.

Staff is submitting contracts on behalf of schools and departments for specified services to be performed by individuals, contractors or consulting firms.  For fiscal and learning impacts, see the attached summary sheet.

Total value of contracts = $795,671.27

The Board will consider approval of the proposed 2018-2019 Student Internship Agreement between Santa Rosa City Schools and Simmons College.

This agreement contains all of the requirements requested by the SRCS District.  The SRCS frequently has a need for student teachers and counselors.  This agreement will provide us with access to potential candidates to fill district vacancies. This agreement will also provide access to potential candidates to fill hard to find vacancies in such areas as math and Special Education. This partnership will also help us in the recruitment of culturally and linguistically diverse staff.

Approved by vote on consent agenda.

The Board will consider approval of SRCS continued participation in the Mandated Block Grant program.

Purpose

Prior to the 2012-13 fiscal year, school districts filed claims for mandated cost activities annually. However, the State has suspended and deferred payments on mandates for many years, periodically funding small portions of the total due.

The State established a Mandate Block Grant (MBG) Program in 2012-13 allowing School Districts and Charter Schools to elect to participate in the Block Grant in lieu of filing individual claims. The State’s enacted 2018/19 budget includes funding for the Block Grant and also an amount of funding for prior year claims, regardless of whether Districts filed claims. The MBG funds are unrestricted in use. The estimated funding rates for 2018-19 are $31.16 per ADA for Grades K-8, $59.83 per ADA for Grades 9-12, and $16.33 per ADA for Charter School Grades K-8.

Considerations

The Mandate Block Grant covers 47 mandates. These are required activities that school districts and other agencies must perform. Prior to the implementation of the block grant, districts submitted claims for each individual mandate. As the state had funding, the mandates were paid. A sampling of the mandates includes:

Charter School I - IV

Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting

Collective Bargaining

Graduation Requirements

Immunization Records

Inter-district Attendance Permits

Williams Case Implementation I - III

Previous Board History

September 13, 2017, E.9. Approval of Mandated Block Grant Application

Estimated Block Grant funding for 2018-19 is $113,381 for the Elementary District, $533,442 for the High School District, and $21,835.82 for the Charter Schools.

Approved by vote on consent agenda.

The Board will consider approval of Resolution No. 2018-19/009 recognizing September as Attendance Awareness Month.

Purpose

To bring awareness to the importance of students attending school every day.  Attendance matters for success in school and in life and absences can easily result in a loss of very important teaching and learning time. 

Consideration

Celebrated for the first time in September 2013, Attendance Awareness Month is a nationwide recognition of the connection between school attendance and academic achievement. The goal is to mobilize schools and communities to promote the value of good attendance and to take concrete steps toward reducing chronic absence. More information and resources can be found at http://awareness.attendanceworks.org/

Board Policy

5113.1

Previous Board History

9/27/2017 (Item F-1)

Approve Resolution No. 2018/19-009 recognizing September as Attendance Awareness Month.

The Board will consider approving a resolution requesting the temporary transfer of funds from the County Treasurer.

Purpose

To ensure cash on hand prior to receiving property tax revenues. 

Considerations

Although the Governor's budget does not include state revenue deferrals, the timing of property tax receipts still may require the District to borrow cash during certain months. The District projects funds to be in negative cash status during the first part of the year until our December property tax revenue is received and then again in March until our April property tax revenue is received. 

If approved, the Sonoma County Office of Education will forward this resolution to the County Treasurer. Per the California Constitution, the amount requested does not exceed 85% of projected current year property tax revenue.

Previous Board Activity

August 23, 2017 F.7. (Action) Resolution Requesting Fund Transfer Under Article XVI, Section 6 of the State Constitution to Borrow Funds from the Sonoma County Treasury As Needed During the 2017-18 Fiscal Year

The total funds borrowed would have a 1% interest rate

Approval of Resolution 2018/19-008 to borrow funds from the Sonoma County Treasurer as needed for the 2018-19 school year.

The Board will consider approving the contract for Zendesk helpdesk software.

Purpose

To provide near real time support for the most commonly asked questions for Illuminate users. Over time, SRCS would like to use this software to provide support for general technology help requests as well as other software applications that are currently in use.  

Consideration

Santa Rosa City Schools has a growing list of software applications available to teachers including the new student information system commonly known as Illuminate that require support.

During the initial implementation of Illuminate, SRCS staff created a large number of help documents tailored to the needs of our staff that have allowed various employees to be successful in their jobs. During the summer months, those help documents were updated and plans were made to improve support. One aspect that was repeated in planning was the need to resolve staff questions quickly and efficiently. We have the help documents; we need a tool to get those documents to staff quickly.

Zendesk, a helpdesk software, answers this and many other needs of speed and efficiency. Our staff has set up a trial environment, submitted questions, solved the questions, and sought feedback from trial users. The responses from users has been excellent.

As we finalize our implementation of Illuminate, Zendesk is one tool in ongoing support for staff. Zendesk will not replace needed in person training. Zendesk will aid us in pinpointing areas where additional training is needed based on the built-in reporting features.

Using this system, a staff member can search the knowledge base with a question such as “How do I create a gradebook?”. If the knowledge base does not have the needed solution, the staff member can submit a ticket to ask for help. The ticket will be routed to the correct support staff who will follow-up as necessary.

In phase one of Zendesk, support will be limited to Illuminate questions ranging from the simple “How do I log in?” to the more complicated “How do I make a seating chart?” to the complex “How do I make a gradebook” or "How do I look up daily attendance?

For example, Teaching and Learning (T&L) needs data related to attendance for an upcoming Board report. After searching the Zendesk site for an already existing report and does not find one, the T&L staff member submits a ticket for the report. That request automatically is routed to the District's Report Writer. The T&L staff member receives a confirmation email that aids in tracking the solution. The Report Writer easily provides updates on progress via Zendesk, asking clarifying questions as needed, and ultimately provides the needed information. This process and response then become part of the knowledge-base.

In phase two of Zendesk, we will migrate all technology support requests from the inadequate iHelp system. A staff member is having issues with their desktop computer; they will submit a ticket through Zendesk. Based on the location of the staff member and the type of problem, the appropriate Site Tech will receive an email with the ticket details. 

Year 1 cost of implementation and use: $10,744.

Year 2: $6,618.68 (Lower due to early renewal to get on SRCS financial cycle)

Approve Zendesk software.

The Board will receive information on the status of the West County Transportation Agency (WCTA) who provides busing services to Santa Rosa City Schools. 

Purpose

The Board will be updated on the current status of busing through West County Transportation Agency including associated costs. 

Consideration

In October 2015, the Board approved West County Transportation Agency (WCTA) to provide busing services for all Santa Rosa City Schools. In August 2016, WCTA started service for Santa Rosa City Schools. 

August 2018 marks the start of the third year of service from WCTA. As communicated previously, there have been concerns with service and the ability to adequately provide services for our school sites. 

WCTA is still facing a driver shortage and has issues attracting potential drivers. Currently, WCTA has 8 open routes with only seven (7) current trainees. Due to the shortage, WCTA will contract outside service agencies to provide transportation for approximately 50 special needs students from various districts. 

Currently, WCTA is operating 42 regular education routes for all districts that they serve. SRCS uses 17 routes for regular education students. WCTA is currently transporting approximately 900 SPED Students with 513 coming from SRCS. 

Moving forward SRCS will work closely with WCTA to save costs. Keys areas to address:

• Routes

• Bell Schedules

• Student data between SRCS and WCTA

• Field Trips

Annual Costs

^Total Cost includes General Education, SPED, Facility, Membership and credit for State Reimbursement

*These costs do not include additional costs for other busing services - e.g. field trips

On August 23, 2018, Assistant Superintendent Edson will be attending the WCTA Board Meeting. Mr. Edson will present any new information or updates to the Board.  

Previous Board History

August 23, 2017 (Item F-4): WCTA Update
December 14, 2016  (Item F-2): School Transportation Operations Report 
October 14, 2015 (Item E-11): WCTA 

The Board will receive an update on the Measure I & L Bond Programs. 

Purpose

The Board will receive information on the status of the Summer 2018 bond projects. 

Consideration

As outlined in the FMP, the majority of our schools are 50-60 years old and in need of repairs. Facilities projects, for both Measure I and L, were identified through the FMP and brought forward to Board after completion of the document. With the enormous need outlined through FMP Process, the Facilities Program is focused on providing “Warm, Safe, and Dry” schools. This is related to roofing, mechanical (HVAC), and other needs at the school sites.   

Due to the nature of this work, projects are primarily completed during summer breaks when staff and students are not present on campus.

Completed Projects - Facilities - Summer 2018

• Measure I – Maria Carrillo Synthetic Stadium Athletic Field Track
• Measure I – Piner Stadium Field Lighting
• Measure I – Roofing and HVAC –Elsie Allen HS*
• Measure I – Roofing and HVAC – Maria Carrillo HS*
• Measure I – Roofing and HVAC – Santa Rosa HS Phase I*
• Measure L – Roofing and HVAC – James Monroe ES*
• Measure L – Roofing and HVAC – Hilliard Comstock*
• Measure I and L Marquees:
  • Albert Biella
  • Helen Lehman
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • James Monroe
  • Herbert Slater

Summer project photos can be viewed at www.srcsbond.news

*All of our schools are in need of roofing repairs as evidenced by the wettest winter in 10 years. These sites were selected based on roofing assessments and the review of work orders for every site.  These sites were determined to have the greatest need for roofing repairs.  

In Progress / Future Projects – Facilities

• Measure I – Montgomery High School Classroom Building – Under design
• Measure I and L – Roofing and HVAC – Bid Fall 2018; Selected based on need:
  • Santa Rosa High Phase II
  • Montgomery HS
  • Santa Rosa MS
  • Slater MS
  • Abraham Lincoln
• Measure I and L Campus-wide Locks – Finalizing bid packets for school sites
• Measure I and L Marquees –  Finalizing bid packets for next 5 schools
• Measure L - Proctor Terrace Elementary Restroom
• Measure I Maria Carrillo Press Box - Press box selected and under fabrication, site package under design.

Previously Completed Measure I and L Projects

• Measure L – Santa Rosa Charter for the Arts
• Measure L – Roofing and HVAC – Biella Elementary
• Measure L – Roofing and HVAC – Hidden Valley Elementary
• Measure L – Interior Reconditioning Room 1-6 – Hidden Valley Elementary
• Measure L – Proctor Terrace – Playground Drainage Issues
• Measure L – Proctor Terrace – Slurry and Striping
• Measure I and L – Roofing and flooring repairs – Various Sites
• Measure I and L – HVAC Replacement – Various Sites
• Measure L – Burbank Elementary – Slurry and Striping
• Measure L – Lehman Elementary – Slurry and Striping
• Measure L – Hidden Valley Elementary – Slurry and Striping
• Measure I – Portable Building Classrooms – Rincon Valley MS and Ridgway
• Measure I – Cook Middle School – Slurry and Striping
• Measure I – Carrillo High School – Slurry and Striping
• Measure I – Slater Gymnasium Roofing Project
• Measure I – Piner High School Roofing and HVAC
• Measure I and L - Teacher Laptops – All sites
• Measure I and L - Office computers – All sites - Classified staff
• Measure I and L - Chrome Books for student use – All sites
• Measure I and L - New Phone System - All sites (District Office completion Labor Day Weekend)
• Measure I and L - Dark Fiber for dual Internet Connections
• Measure I and L - Network Equipment - All Sites
• Measure I and L - New Wireless Solution - All sites
• Measure I and L - All-In-One Bell/Clock/Speakers - All Sites
• Measure I and L - Upgraded Data Storage and Enterprise Level Backup Solution
• Measure I and L - Structured Data Cabling - All sites

Previous Board History

August 23, 2017 (F-2): Measure I & L Bond update. 

Measure I - Expenditures through June 30, 2018: $36,121,975*

Measure L - Expenditures through June 30, 2018: $15,117,210*

These balances do not include all Summer 2018 costs; All invoices have not been received or paid at this time.

The Board will receive information regarding legal updates to include new language to Board Policy 3513.3 - Tobacco and Cannabis-Free Schools. 

Purpose 

The Board of Education will be presented with an updated BP 3513.3 Tobacco and Cannabis-Free Schools.

The district received updates from legal council recommending the adoption of California Legislative Law under Health and Safety Code section 11362.3 and 11362.79.

Considerations

These new policy updates clarify that although California voters voted to pass Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, the change in law does not permit any person to possess or use recreational or medical marijuana on a school campus.

Proposition 64 does not change regulations regarding use of marijuana by preschool through grade 12 students.

The California Education Code continues to prohibit use, possession, possession for sale, and being under the influence of a controlled substance.  It remains illegal to smoke or otherwise consume marijuana or cannabis where tobacco smoking is banned.

The law specifically makes it illegal to use medical marijuana within 1,000 feet of school grounds, day care center, recreation center or youth center, unless the medicinal use occurs within a residence.

Additional changes have been made to the policy to bring it up to date.  

Health and Safety Code (HSC)

HSC Section 11362.3
HSC Section 11362.79

Education Code

48900 Grounds for Suspension/Expulsion
48901 Prohibition Against Tobacco Use
48915 Unlawful Possession of Any Controlled Substance

Approve updates to Board Policy 3513.3 as presented.

The Board will receive information regarding the updated Board Bylaw 9005.1 - Code of Ethics.

Purpose

The Board will be presented with an updated Board Bylaw 9005.1 for consideration.  

Consideration

The District's transition to a By-Area Trustee system has warranted a change to this Bylaw to reflect that members of the Board are responsible to ALL members of the Santa Rosa City Schools District and not just to those residing in their trustee area.  

Board Policy

Board Bylaw 9005.1

The Board will receive information regarding the updated Board Bylaw 9100 - Organization.

Purpose

The Board will be presented with an updated Board Bylaw 9100 for consideration.  

Consideration

The District's transition to a By-Area Trustee system has warranted a change to this Bylaw to reflect the following: 

1.  The language regarding the length of time a board member may consecutively serve in the same office has been stricken.  Examples of other districts' bylaws are attached which indicate that these districts also do not have restrictions on the length of time a board member may consecutively serve in the same office. 

2.  Language regarding school site liaison assignments has been added which states that a board member cannot be assigned as a liaison to any school that resides in his/her trustee area. 

Board Policy

These items are presented for informational purposes only.

Attached for reference is a list of educational acronyms and abbreviations.