Ten Strands, an organization that promotes environmental literacy, visited Ms. DiBenedetto’s classroom and was impressed by her passion and commitment to environmental stewardship. To honor the memory of Debra DiBenedetto, Ten Strands sponsored six Miller Creek School District teachers to attend the National Science Teacher Association conference this past October. Miller Creek School District wishes to thank the Ten Strands organization and remember Ms. DiBenedetto.

Information below cited from Education Code § 5091, describing a provisional appointment.

Appointment

Whenever a vacancy occurs, or whenever a resignation has been filed with the county superintendent of schools containing a deferred effective date, the school district or community college district governing board shall, within 60 days of the vacancy or the filing of the deferred resignation, either order an election or make a provisional appointment to fill the vacancy.

A provisional appointment made pursuant to subdivision (a) confers all powers and duties of a governing board member upon the appointee immediately following his or her appointment.

A person appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office only until the next regularly scheduled election for district governing board members, whereupon an election shall be held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.

In the event that a governing board fails to make a provisional appointment or order an election within the prescribed 60-day period as required by this section, the county superintendent of schools shall order an election to fill the vacancy.

Appeal

If a provisional appointment is made within the 60-day period, the registered voters of the district may, within 30 days from the date of the appointment, petition for the conduct of a special election to fill the vacancy. A petition shall be deemed to bear a sufficient number of signatures if signed by at least the number of registered voters of the district equal to 11/2 percent of the number of registered voters of the district at the time of the last regular election for governing board members, or 25 registered voters, whichever is greater.

The petition shall be submitted to the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction who shall have 30 days to verify the signatures. If the petition is determined to be legally sufficient by the county superintendent of schools, the provisional appointment is terminated, and the county superintendent of schools shall order a special election to be conducted no later than the 130th day after the determination. However, if an established election date, as defined in Section 1000 of the Elections Code, occurs between the 130th day and the 150th day following the order of the election, the county superintendent of schools may order the special election to be conducted on the regular election date.

 Whenever a petition calling for a special election is circulated, the petition shall meet all of the following requirements:

(A) The petition shall contain the estimate of the elections official of the cost of conducting the special election.

(B) The name and residence address of at least one, but not more than five, of the proponents of the petition shall appear on the petition, each of which proponents shall be a registered voter of the school district or community college district, as applicable.

(C) None of the text or other language of the petition shall appear in less than six-point type.

(D) The petition shall be prepared and circulated in conformity with Sections 100 and 104 of the Elections Code.

If any of the requirements of this subdivision are not met as to any petition calling for a special election, the county superintendent of schools shall not verify the signatures, nor shall any further action be taken with respect to the petition.

No person shall permit the list of names on petitions prescribed by this section to be used for any purpose other than qualification of the petition for the purpose of holding an election pursuant to this section.

The petition filed with the county superintendent of schools shall be subject to the restrictions in Section 6253.5 of the Government Code.

Elections held pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) shall be conducted in as nearly the same manner as practicable as other governing board member elections.

This item presents for Board consideration and approval and agreement for services with Ms. Paula Mierzejewski for counseling services for elementary schools not to exceed three days per week through June 30, 2020.

The district has received a generous donation of 14 Lenovo Laptops for district use.  They were received on September 10th and October 17th, 2019.  Their approximate value is $3360.00.  They were donated by Mr. Brandon Friesen.  

Educational Services department partnered with the TK-5 Curriculum Council and the administrative team to plan personalized learning connected to the Instructional Priorities of the district. Attached is a report for your discussion.

Miller Creek School District uses local and state assessments to reflect on student achievement, set goals, and guide instruction. The attached presentation includes data from the Early Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) and California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).

The Miller Creek School District is committed to addressing the academic and opportunity gaps that exist in our district to ensure that all students can achieve academic success. We are committed to closing the gaps in student achievement by examining our current policies and practices. We will do this by using academic research to identify ways we can support the academic success of all students. . 

This work will be transparent and inclusive. As one example of our commitment to equity, transparency and inclusivity the Superintendent has created an Equity Learning and Action Working Group which is described in the attached document. 

Marin County Superintendent of Schools to provide the District with 1.0 FTE Interim Superintendent Services per attached agreement through June 30, 2021.

The School Facility Inspection System was put in place in order to comply with SB 550, which resulted from the Williams Lawsuit. This inspection is performed annually and the results reported back to the board.  

California School Inspections (CSI) performs the Facility Inspections at all four schools. CSI has conducted these inspections since 2014-15. Prior to CSI the inspections were performed by our maintenance staff.  The inspections at Mary Silveira, Lucas Valley and Vallecito were conducted through September 10, 2019 – September 11, 2019. 

The following areas were inspected and reported on:

Results of the inspection:

The overall ratings for the sites are as follows:

                        Lucas Valley Elementary                    94.43%            Good

                        Mary Silveira Elementary                   93.97%            Good

                        Vallecito Elementary                          94.57%            Good

The report indicates many areas on each campus that have issues that can be easily resolved. Each site has many areas of extension cords creating trip hazards, stacking of items too high, plug in air fresheners need to be removed, daisy chained extension cords, electrical panels blocked by stacked items, evacuation maps not posted, the wheelchair lift being used for storage, improperly stored flammable materials and improperly stored cleaning supplies. These are all items that have been provided to the site administrators for implementation. 

The report indicates several areas on each campus that need attention and are identified by the location of the room/area being evaluated. The Maintenance Department has completed repairs and or replacement of many of the items. The remaining items have been logged into the Maintenance Department work order system and are on track to be repaired or replaced in the near future.

Attached are copies of the full inspection for each of the elementary school campuses.

Informational item. No action required.

In 2018, AB 2449 changed the Education Code related to the date trustees shall take office. This change now impacts December meeting calendars for many districts.  

 AB 2449 did change the date a trustee takes office to the second Friday in December:

• “… the date on which members of school district governing boards are elected shall take office on the second Friday in December subsequent to their election.”

 AB 2449 did not make changes to EC 35143, which provides the window for Organizational Meetings. 

• “In a year in which a regular election for governing board members is conducted, the meeting shall be held on a day within a 15-day period that commences with the date upon which a governing board member elected at that election takes office.  Organizational meetings in years in which no such regular election for governing board members is conducted shall be held during the same 15-day period on the calendar.”

 AB 2449 also did not consider or change the code that prescribes the date in which the First Interim is due:

• ‘The superintendent of each school district shall, in addition to any other powers and duties granted to or imposed upon him or her, submit two reports to the governing board of the district during each fiscal year. The first report shall cover the financial and budgetary status of the district for the period ending October 31. The second report shall cover the period ending January 31. Both reports shall be approved by the district governing board no later than 45 days after the close of the period being reported. (Note: 45 days from October 31 is December 15)

AB 2449 impacts the regular Board meeting in December 2019, currently scheduled for December 10^th.

The Board will discuss moving the December meeting to Monday, December 16^th in order to comply with timeline requirements. Moving the meeting to the following Monday would still be considered compliant for submission of the interim financial report because the 15th falls on a Sunday.

Staff has developed a draft meeting calendar for 2020, following the practice of meeting on the second Tuesday of the month for Board consideration and approval at the December 2019 meeting. Calendar considerations such as holidays and the new AB have been taken in to account where ever possible.

 All regular meetings of the Board of Trustees would begin at 6:00 p.m. for closed session, with open session following at either 6:30pm or 7:00pm, depending on closed session items. These meetings will be conducted at the District Office primarily. The Board may consider scheduling  some of the meetings at school sites.