Public comment regarding closed session items will be received before the Board goes into closed session.

Information concerning the consent items listed below has been forwarded to each Board member prior to this meeting for study and is on file at the Modesto-Stanislaus Library Reference Room, 1500 I Street; Modesto City Schools Superintendent’s Office and Receptionist’s Desk, 426 Locust Street, Modesto.

The complete agenda is available at www.mcs4kids.com. Unless some member of the audience or Board member has a question concerning an item and asks that it be withdrawn from the consent list, the items are approved at one time by the Board.  The action taken by the Board in approving consent items is set forth in the explanation of the individual items.

Board Bylaw 9322 (b):

Members of the public may address the Board of Education on matters not on the agenda.

Complaints against specific District employees should be resolved through the District’s Personnel Complaint Procedure. The right to address the Board does not exempt the speaker from any potential liability for defamation. The proceedings of the Board are recorded and are a part of the public record.

The Period for Public Presentation is limited to 30 minutes. Time will be allotted equally to individuals based on the number of request cards submitted.  The maximum for any one speaker is three minutes.

The law limits the response of Board members and prohibits the Board from taking any formal action.

In response to the recent school closures and ongoing pandemic, the Governor signed into law SB 98 which codifies expectations for instruction and attendance tracking during distance learning. 

Goal Three:  Provide a safe, welcoming, and respectful learning environment for every member of the school community while ensuring effective district-wide communication for students, staff, families, and community partners.

Goal One: Ensure an Instructional Model is developed and monitored to support continued academic learning for all our students in a Distance Learning Environment, Hybrid, Online, and/or Traditional model. 

Recognizing the need for school sites to monitor student participation in online instruction, Modesto City Schools developed a Distance Learning Data Dashboard report for school administrators as a part of its ongoing Modesto Data Dashboard development.

The Distance Learning Data Dashboard is populated with data sourced from Schoology usage analytics.  Schoology is the learning management system or online classroom utilized by MCS students and is similar to other notable systems such as Google Classroom, Blackboard, or Canvas.

The Distance Learning Dashboard reports the count and rate of students who are actively using Schoology each day.  The data is disaggregated and displayed by day, school, and demographic groups.  Users can use filters to further disaggregate data by term or special program membership.  

This dashboard is instrumental in school sites’ daily work to account for student absences and credit students for participating in Schoology coursework even when they have difficulty joining the video meeting that day.  Schools also channel resources and support to those students and families with the most inactivity.  

Though this dashboard was developed out of necessity during school closures, there is potential for future use of this dashboard during brick-and-mortar instruction.  

For the 2020-21 school year, Modesto City Schools has about 24% English Learners (EL) and 21% Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) students. There are many different types of English Learners: Newcomers, At-Risk, Long-Term English Learners, English Learners who are also Special Education students, etc. Each subgroup mentioned above has a different general area of need and progresses in a unique way. The presentation will focus on data for Long-Term English Learners and Special Education Long-Term English Learners for Modesto City Schools, Stanislaus County and the state of California.

1.3: Increase English Learner growth toward English proficiency

Education Code Section 42130 et seq requires that districts prepare two interim financial reports and projections during the fiscal year.  The Board of Education is required to file one of three certifications with the County Office of Education for each interim report.

1. Positive: The District will be able to meet its financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years.
2. Qualified: The District may not meet its financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years.
3. Negative: The District will not be able to meet its financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years.

Goal Four: Ensure the District is fiscally and operationally sound.

The first interim report, based on October 31 financial data, is due to the Stanislaus County Office of Education by December 15, 2020.  The report requires Board approval to be finalized.

The Board of Education can make a positive certification that the District will be able to meet its financial commitments for the current and two subsequent fiscal years based upon the following reports (copies of the complete report are available in the Business Services Office).  All current year assumptions are based on known factors at the time of this report.

The first interim report and multi-year projection show that the District will be able to meet all of its financial obligations for the current and subsequent years.  A positive certification can be filed.

It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the First Interim Financial Report for 2020/21 and Positive Financial Certification.

Goal Three: Provide a safe, welcoming, and respectful learning environment for every member of the school community while ensuring effective district-wide communication for students, staff, families, and community partners.

The District will provide a report to the Board of Trustees to update them on the preparations, scheduled to occur regarding Senate Bill 328.

The school-day for middle schools, including middle schools operated as charter schools, shall begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m.

This section shall be implemented by middle schools and high schools no later than July 1, 2022, or the date on which a school district’s respective collective bargaining agreement that is operative on January 1, 2020, expires, whichever is later.

1. Approval of Minutes of Meeting of January 21, 2020
2. Annual Election of Modesto City Schools Joint Powers Authority 2021 Officers
3. Authorization of the Annual Audit of the Accounts and Records of the Authority for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2020 and Direction to Staff to Transmit the Report Accordingly
4. Period for Public Presentations
5. Adjournment as Modesto City Schools Joint Powers Authority

It is recommended the Board of Directors take action on certain annual administrative matters.

The Board adopted the 2020/21 budget on June 22, 2020.  Adjustments to the budget are made regularly based on known changes to revenue or the level/category of expenditures.

4.1 Implement sustainable plan for the budget under the Local Control Funding Formula.

The Education Code requires that the Board approve major changes to the adopted budget.

Budget adjustments which have been processed for the period between October 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020 are presented in the following reports.  Explanations are provided for adjustments over $25,000 for revenue and expenditure groups by fund.  This report reflects adjustments to the budget only, not a complete financial statement.  Copies of the full report are available for review in the Budget Department.

It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the April revisions to the adopted 2020/21 budget.

Modesto City Schools adopts a final budget by July 1^st each year.  Countless hours of administrative and support staff time go into the preparation of the budget.  The budgeting process must begin at least a full six months prior to the date of adoption and involves both central administration and site staff.

With the requirements of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), it is necessary to begin the budget development process in January to meet deadlines set by the State Board of Education.  The 2021-22 Budget Calendar incorporates known dates for those LCAP and LCFF requirements.

To coordinate and communicate the events of the process, a budget calendar is established to list the specific activities or actions, the person, department or agency responsible, and the target due dates.  The attached budget calendar includes critical events such as initial enrollment and staff projections; statutory deadlines for staff reductions; revenue projections; detail steps for budget development; and budget adoption by the Board of Education.

None.

It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the 2021-22 Budget Calendar.

Purchase orders and VISA payments are tracked each month.

Goal Four: Ensure the District is fiscally and operationally sound.

Board Policy 3300 requires Board review of all individual purchase orders issued in excess of $1,000 and all purchase orders less than $1,000 by fund total.  All purchases are done in accordance with Board Policy, Education Code, Public Contract Code, and/or other applicable regulatory requirements.

Board of Education approval will allow the District to meet Board Policy 3300 requirements.  A copy of the report is available for review in the Purchasing Department.

                                                           Previously Paid      Current Payment       Balance Due

Don Fowler Construction

Downey Ag Storage Building

Contract Price: $201,025                      $53,675                    $81,533.75                  $65,816.25

Certificate No: 2

Harris Builders, Inc.

Beyer High JROTC

Contract Price: $605,511.93                 $575,236.63             $30,275.60                    ----------

Certificate No: 5

Sinclair General Engineering

Construction, Inc.

Repaving & Slurry 2020

Contract Price: $1,148,303                    $1,090,887.85           $57,415.15                  ----------

Certificate No: 5

The Special Education Department contracts with outside providers to serve our Special Education population. Services agreements for these providers are submitted throughout the year.

1.4: Develop a Multi-Tiered System of Support for all students.

1.6: increase access to general education for students with disabilities.

Due to ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and vacancies in numerous provider categories, (including school psychologists, speech therapists, physical therapists and occupational therapists), Modesto City Schools SELPA will need to increase contract amounts previously Board approved for the 2020-2021 school year to continue to provide services/therapy to students. The Services Agreements that are being increased are: EBS Healthcare, Inc.; Ed Theory, LLC; TTF Solutions, LLC dba PRoCare Therapy; Therapy Staff, LLC; and Therapy Travelers, LLC. Additional positions may be required in other provider categories throughout the year.

Copies of the services agreements are available in the Modesto City Schools District Special Education Department for review.

SB 98 decoupled the Budget Overview for Parents from the LCAP for 2020–21 and tied it to the First Interim report. SB 820 requires the Budget Overview for Parents template to be aligned to the Learning Continuity Plan. As such, the revenue and budgeted expenditures referenced in the 2020–21 Budget Overview for Parents are tied to the LEA’s First Interim report, its Learning Continuity Plan, and its 2019–2020 LCAP. Local governing boards or governing bodies are required to adopt and submit the Budget Overview for Parents on or before December 15, 2020, in conjunction with the LEA’s first interim budget report.

The following courses have been revised per Federal Program Monitoring (FPM) requirements to include student rubrics for Physical Education content areas.

Course outlines are developed for each junior high and high school class by a committee of representative teachers and administrators.  The outlines include instructional texts and materials, expectations for student learning, units of study, unit credit, grading, and other course elements.  The course outlines and texts are then submitted to Associate Principals, Principals, and the Senior Director(s), Curriculum & Instruction, Professional Development, for review and recommendation.

1.1 Ensure Great Instruction First Time.

1.2 Increase students being identified as “prepared” in the college/career indicators.

The following revised course outlines, including texts, have been approved by representative teachers, the High School Associate Principals, Principals, and the Senior Director(s), Curriculum & Instruction, Professional Development.

Revised Courses:

Introduction to Kinesiology Course 1

Introduction to Kinesiology Course 2

Modesto City Schools strives to close the literacy achievement gap among elementary English Learner (EL) students.  Springboard Collaborative has a program focused on struggling EL readers.  They will coach teachers, train family members and cultivate reading habits to close the literacy gap among grade K-4 EL students during summer school.

A Services Agreement with Springboard Collaborative was approved by the Board on December 9, 2019 for EL Summer School 2020.  However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, Summer School was cancelled and the services did not occur.

1.3:  Increase English Learner growth toward English proficiency.

It is expected that the enrollment in this specific program will be 240 students.  The total cost of the Springboard Collaborative agreement is $136,000; MCS will cover the additional cost of $117,000 for MCS summer school staff.  The funding sources are Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and categorical funds.