The Presiding Officer will call the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. before the Board Recesses to Closed Session.  The Regular Meeting will convene by 7:00 p.m. 

The Board may recess into Closed Session before or after the public meeting under the authority of the Brown Act (including but not limited to Government Code section 54954.5, 54956.8, 54956.9, 54957, 54957.6, as well as Education Code section 35146).  Under Government Code section 54954.3, members of the public may address the board on an item on the Closed Session agenda, before Closed Session.

Board members and the Superintendent are given the opportunity to address any issue.  

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO:         Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent
FROM:           Samantha Tobias-Espinosa, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
DATE:              January 6, 2021
SUBJECT:      Approval of Human Resources Reports

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On a regular basis, staff presents Human Resources Reports listing employment actions for the Board to approve officially. Please refer to attached reports for details.

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO:                 Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent
FROM:           Pauline Follansbee, Interim Assistant Superintendent 
DATE:            January 6, 2021
SUBJECT:  Approval of Budget Development Calendar for 2021-22 Budget Adoption

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
It is customary to approve a budget development calendar, which calls out the significant milestones during the development of the budget. Staff has prepared the attached budget development calendar and is submitting it for Board approval. Staff will update the Budget Calendar for the Board if there are significant changes made to the proposed timelines.

The dates included in the budget calendar can always be moved earlier if the various committees are ready for staff to present their recommendations. The dates cannot be moved back due to the statutory deadlines for LCAP and approval of the adopted budget. The only committee meeting dates listed are critical dates for actions required to ascertain key information and data for the adopted budget.  In addition, all committee meeting dates for P & O (BSEP), parent advisory committee (PAC) and education advisory committee (EAC) are included in the budget calendar.

POLICY/CODE:
FCMAT Financial Management Standard 6.2

FISCAL IMPACT:
None

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the 2021-22 Budget development calendar 

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO:             Brent Stephens, Ed. D., Superintendent
FROM:        Pauline Follansbee, Asst. Superintendent of Business Services
DATE:         January 6, 2021
SUBJECT:  Approval of Contracts/Purchase Orders for Services Contracts

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The District contracts with consultants or independent contractors who can provide valuable and necessary specialized services not normally required on a continuing basis. The following contract services are requested. Expenditures are within budget.

1. Ratification of contract with Cheryl Hazell-Small, to provide consultant services to the Special Education Department for the 2020-21SY. The cost will not exceed $50,000. To be paid from the General Funds.  Requested by Shawn Mansager.
2. Crown Moving to provide moving services from the District Storage to West Campus Move Project. The cost will not exceed $17,068.12.To be paid from Measure I.Requested by John Calise.
3. Haz Mat Doc to provide hazardous materials abatement and monitoring for the West Campus Increment 2 project. The cost will not exceed $41,446. To be paid from Measure I. Requested by John Calise.
4. Increase in contract,PO#210728 to Crown Moving to provide additional moving services for the Oxford Relocation Project. The Board originally approved $12,320 on 5/20/20. The Board approved an additional $22,254.92 on 10/21/20. The additional amount needed is $14,460.60, for a total of $49,035.52. To be paid from Measure I.Requested by John Calise.

POLICY/CODE:
Public Contract Code: 20111
Board Policy 3310 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: 
Approve the contracts with Consultants or Independent Contractors as submitted.

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 

TO:              Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent
FROM:         Shawn Mansager, Executive Director of Special Education
DATE:          January 6, 2021
SUBJECT:      Approval of Contract Amendment for Nonpublic Agency Services for the 20120-2021 School Year

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The District contracts with nonpublic agencies, when necessary, to provide related services to students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP). The following nonpublic agencies provide related services as defined in Section 1401 of Title 20 of the U.S. Code and section 300.34 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and California Ed. Code 56363 to enable students with IEPs to benefit from their special education. An individual service agreement (ISA) is developed for each student to whom the service provider is to provide special education or related services.

Board approved $346,209 for two SPED teachers and one Speech Language Pathologist services on 8/19/2020, item #11.11. We are adding $60,945 for one ECE SPED teacher to cover one district employee’s maternity leave (1/4/2021-6/4/2021), which will bring the contract total to $407,154.

POLICY/CODE:
Education Code 56363         

FISCAL IMPACT:
Not to exceed $60,955.00 funded from the Special Education Budget which may require an additional contribution from the General Fund.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the Contract Amendment or the Nonpublic Agency listed above.

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO: Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent

FROM: John Calise, Executive Director of Facilities

DATE:    January 6, 2021        

SUBJECT: Approval of Contract Modification #5 with HY Architects for architectural services for the Cafeteria Kitchen Projects at Cragmont and John Muir

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The kitchens at Cragmont and John Muir are currently under construction.  

Contract modification #5: Design assistance to repair or replace the columns in the cafeteria which were discovered to have dry rot damage. 

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO: Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent

FROM: John Calise, Executive Director of Facilities

DATE:    January 6, 2021        

SUBJECT: Approval of a Contract with Gould Evans for Programming & Community Engagement for the Longfellow Modernization Project

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Board approved a project budget for Longfellow on July 1, 2020 in the amount of $9,845,000.  

Gould Evans is one of the thirty-seven (37) architectural firms who responded to the Request for Qualifications Proposal issued August 17, 2020 and was selected to be part of the pool of twelve (12) architects which was approved by the Board of Education on November 4, 2020.

The intent is to have an analysis of the school’s current needs with a robust community engagement process to determine a scope of work that will meet the needs of the students at Longfellow.  The community engagement will include all stakeholders including staff, students and neighbors.  The engagement process will take several months, and we will come back to the Board in Spring 2021 with a preliminary program and list of project priorities based on complete outreach.

POLICY/CODE

Public Contract Code 10510.4 – 10510.9

FISCAL IMPACT

Contract award by this action: $119,900 to be paid from Measure G Bond Funds.

RECOMMENDATION

Approve a Contract with Gould Evans for Programming & Community Engagement for the Longfellow Modernization Project.

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 

TO: Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent

FROM: John Calise, Executive Director of Facilities 

DATE: January 6, 2021

SUBJECT: Accept the Completion of the Longfellow Gates Project and Approve Resolution Number 21-022

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

On May 6, 2020 the Board awarded a contract with Mar Con Builders, Inc. to provide  safe student crossing from the main Longfellow Campus to the cafeteria building. The project is now complete. Staff requests Board acceptance of the project which will allow filing a Notice of Completion with the County and permit the release of retention. 

POLICY/CODE

California Public Contract Code 20110-20118.  

FISCAL IMPACT

The project was funded with Measure I bond funds.  The project had change orders in the amount of 17%.  A Futility Resolution has already been processed and approved by the Governing Board.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Accept the project as complete and approve resolution number 21-022

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO:             Brent Stephens, Ed.D., Superintendent
FROM:       John Calise, Executive Director of Facilities    
DATE:         January 6, 2021
SUBJECT:  Approval of Contract with School Facility Consultants for State Funding Eligibility Updates and Funding Application Assistance.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On December 7, 2016, the Board approved $75,000 to assist the District with determining OPSC Eligibility.  The new contract will renew services with School Facility Consultants to include support for eligibility updates, funding applications, and assistance with special funding program opportunities. 

POLICY/CODE
Board Policy 3310

FISCAL IMPACT
Cost to be paid from Measure I.    

To:    BUSD School Board

From: Brent Stephens, Superintendent

Date:       January 6, 2021

Re:          Discussion of BUSD's Phased Plan for School Reopening

Starting on Sunday, December 6, 2020, all six counties in the Bay Area are subject to the requirements of a new Stay at Home Order designed to halt the spread of COVID-19. These orders do not affect schools, which continue to operate under the rules for reopening established by the state.

In this presentation and discussion, the Superintendent will update the Board of Education on efforts to reopen school in BUSD, and offer a perspective on the impact of ongoing rise in COVID-19 transmission in Alameda County and the City of Berkeley on the timing for this reopening.

This evening's presentation also includes updates on the Governor’s December 30 announcement related to school reopening, called Safe Schools for All; and collective bargaining.

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 

TO: Brent Stephens, Ed. D, Superintendent

FROM: John Calise, Executive Director of Facilities

DATE: January 6, 2021

SUBJECT: Approve Resolution No. 20-021 to enter into an Energy Service Contract with Schneider Electric for the HVAC modification plan in response to the District’s COVID mitigation plan

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

The District has developed a COVID mitigation plan which includes the modifications to HVAC systems District-wide.  As part of this plan, the District intends to install “Bipolar Ionization (also known as Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization).  Bipolar Ionization has been proven to neutralize 99.4% of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in a recent independent study commissioned by the US Department of Defense”.  The scope of work included in this plan is as follows:

1. Provide and install Bipolar Ionization Units, (aka Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization) in the units which serve the existing 853 classrooms and administrative spaces.

2. Replace all Filters (where applicable) with new Merv-13 filters.  While this has been done once already by maintenance, these filters will be ready to be replaced again when this work is completed.  It is a cost-savings method to have them replaced during construction as opposed to using in-house labor.

3. Clean and service all HVAC units.  Cleaning the units at the time of the installation will ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the Bipolar Ionization.

4. Install an Indoor Air Quality Monitoring System and Command Center.  This portion of the project will involve installing sensors in every classroom and administrative space in the District.  These sensors will constantly monitor temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and airborne Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).  Not only will this system help to ensure that the Bipolar Ionization units are working properly, but it will also allow us to monitor for harmful VOCs particularly on smoke and bad air quality days.  These sensors will all show on a real-time dashboard where the Facilities team can monitor high-level campus-wide data and also look at the air quality and conditions in individual classrooms.

Additionally, the California Senate recently approved AB-841 which allows school districts to apply for state funding for this type of work to improve HVAC systems and combat against COVID and other infectious diseases and VOCs.  While the Senate has not yet defined the parameters for applying for these funds, Schneider Electric has a proven track record with Districts including BUSD at capturing all available funding.  Included in their NTE contract is all administrative work, verification, and validation that is typically required to apply for these funds.  This project will be funded out of Measure G and if any state money is captured later from AB841, those funds will be redeposited to fund 21.

In accordance with Government Code 4217, BUSD may enter into an

energy service contract to construct energy efficiency projects when the cost of the work is less than the anticipated marginal cost to the District of the energy that would have been consumed without the project. The procedures under

Government Code 4217 allows the District to utilize a Request for

Proposal and price/qualifications selection process for a design-build Contractor.

POLICY/CODE

Government Code Section 4217

FISCAL IMPACT

All costs are contained within the Measure G Project budget. The total cost is not to exceed $3,000,000.  

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Approve Resolution No. 20-021

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

TO:             Board of Education
FROM:        Natasha Beery, Director of BSEP and Community Relations
Danielle Perez, BSEP Program Specialist
DATE:         January 6, 2020
SUBJECT:    Election, Diversity and Activity Report for School Site Councils for the 2020-21 School Year

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Each year the Board receives a report on the elections and membership of the School Site Councils (SSCs) for all BUSD schools, including the Pre-K Program, the TK-8 schools, Berkeley Technology Academy (BTA), the Independent Study (BIS) Program, and Berkeley High School. This report was reviewed by the BSEP Planning and Oversight Committee on December 15, 2020.

Principals and committee members were surveyed online to obtain a picture of the conduct of elections for each site, including candidate outreach, nominations, election mechanisms, and members’ racial/ethnic identities. Last year’s survey garnered responses from 55.5% of the district’s SSC members, but in 2020 the response rate was only 46.2%. General fatigue with online meetings, programs, and surveys seemed to hurt participation, with one person writing “I’m tired of taking surveys” in response to a question about how committee members might be better supported.

Candidate outreach and recruitment: Schools solicited parent candidates using only remote methods, due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

      Digital flyers with committee information;

•       Messages encouraging participation, with online nomination forms, via email, e-tree, and other educational communications apps;
•       Direct individual recruitment and outreach by the Principal, current, and/or former committee members via emails or phone calls.
  

Teacher and staff candidates were solicited by Principals using the following remote methods:

•       Providing a description of the committee and requests for nominations at staff meetings;
•       Sending requests for nominations through email messages to staff lists; and
•       Through one-on-one conversations via email or telephone with potential candidates.

Several principals reported that recruiting new members to their SSC was more challenging than ever this year, which, given the vast disruption from the pandemic is not at all surprising. However, despite the many challenges in the Fall of 2020, every school and program has constituted its SSC.

As has been true in the past, targeted and personal outreach continues to be most effective in recruiting new committee members. Turnover in BUSD principals, which c continues, with 7 out of 18 schools or programs being led by a first- or second-year principal. For the five principals who are only in their first or second year at a school, it is difficult to directly recruit committee members while they are still forging connections with the school community. For the two principals who are not new to their school but new to the principal role, this year marks their first experience running an SSC and its associated elections.

Staff continue to be the most difficult group from which to recruit representatives. School staff cannot be compensated for participating in an SSC, so principals rely on the willingness of teachers and staff to stay after their work day to serve these groups. It is often difficult for committees to balance the needs of staff, who generally want to have meetings as soon after school as possible, with the needs of parents, who often have later working hours.

In an effort to give Principals useful tools in recruitment and election processes, the BSEP Office provided standardized materials in 2020-21, including:

•       English/Spanish flyers describing common BUSD committees, including SSC;
•       Templates for digital nomination and voting forms; and
•       Template vote tally and results record document.

Sites continue to utilize creative committee and election structures to encourage increased participation in their committees. Overall 8 schools held slate elections, up from only two last year, in part because several of these sites had exactly enough nominees to fill their open seats. Further, as of this writing at least 4 school committees plan to make decisions by consensus in 2020, which allows members regardless of alternate status to participate in discussions until consensus is reached.

Parent/Guardian Voting:  All parent/guardian elections were held using digital ballots this year, which were distributed via direct email messages, as links from e-tree communications, and through notifications using educational apps like Remind. The BSEP Program Specialist was available to assist with counting and recording ballots at sites that requested extra help. Most sites handled all aspects of vote counting independently and reported results back to the BSEP Office using the provided voting record form.

Elementary sites had voting responses ranging from only 5 returned ballots to a high of 69 (many of the sites using slate voting experienced low turnouts). The middle schools ranged between 28 and 64 responses, and Berkeley High received 120 returned ballots. The small programs also received responses proportionate to the size of their student population. All voting totals were lower than in previous years, more than likely due to digital fatigue as the pandemic drags on and pushes all school business online.

Staff: Selection of staff SSC members was fairly evenly split between principals accepting all volunteers (5 schools), online voting (6 schools), and voting during staff meetings (7 schools). The majority of principals engaged in one-on-one recruitment, and many solicited nominations during staff meetings in combination with reminders in staff newsletters.

Roster: Attached as Appendix A is a roster of the parents/guardians, students, teachers, principals, and other staff members who have made the commitment to serve on their school’s SSC in 2020-21.

Diversity: Attached as Appendix B is a chart showing the available ethnic/racial composition of SSC members, as well as a comparison with the district student body. The member data was obtained through self-report, and the ethnic/racial categories offered to respondents match the federal and state categories which are used for the student CALPADS data. The results are summarized by grade levels: PreK-5, middle school, and high school (including BTA and BIS).

Anecdotally, several Principals expressed excitement at having SSCs that are more diverse in 2020 than in previous years. And, despite the lower response rate to the member survey, when given the opportunity to provide information about their identities beyond the narrow federally-mandated categories, respondents made it clear that they represent a wide array of perspectives.

Overall, 27.4 % of responding committee members identify as white (down from 36.4% last year), and 18.8 % identify as non-white (a slight decrease from 19.1% last year). Of the latter group, 3.6% identify as Asian, 4.6% as Black or African-American, 6.1% as Hispanic/Latino, and 4.6% as more than one race/ethnicity. Three of the respondents who indicated multiple ethnicities selected American Indian or Alaskan Native as one of their identities, up from zero last year. 53.8% of committee members did not respond to the member survey, or chose not to indicate any race/ethnicity in their responses.

The use of the ethnic/racial categories used to identify students in CALPADS continues to be problematic for many SSC members, who did not feel their ethnicities fit into the options provided. Not only do these categories not fully capture the diverse backgrounds of the members, it does not show the many other identities that members bring to the committees. However, when the survey asked SSC members to describe other identities and perspectives that they or their family hold, the answers were quite varied. Many respondents indicated representing LGBTQ+ families, multi-racial families, single-parent families, families with special education needs, and low-income households.

It should always be kept in mind that principals face an ongoing challenge in recruiting diverse SSC members, because they also must recruit parents for other vital committees that require specific representation. Principals are responsible for recruiting parents of unduplicated students to represent their schools on the LCAP Parent Advisory Committee, while recruiting parents of English learners for their site English Learner Advisory Committees as well as representatives to the District English Learner Advisory Committee. This makes SSC coordination with the PAC, DELA, and ELAC committees hugely important as a way to include diverse perspectives in the site decision-making process.

Committee Member Education: The pandemic drastically altered the annual Committee Orientation event. Live programming was held online via Zoom, and leading up to the event district staff pre-recorded and posted training videos on topics that would usually be covered by in-person workshops. A committee training page was created on the BUSD website, where members of any committee in the district could find and view these training videos, the digital 2020-21 Committee Handbook, and the agenda and instructions for accessing the Zoom event on October 14, 2020. Additionally, this training page contains links to specific information for each school and program, including complete 2020-21 School Plans and Budget Summaries, a multi-year funding summary containing student enrollment data and site budgets from the past six years, and exercises to help committee members practice analyzing site historical data and evaluating site-funded budget items.

The Committee Handbook includes:

•       Updated "Best Practices,” suggested annual calendars, meeting documentation examples, and a dictionary of key BUSD acronyms and terms;
•       Full K-8 and BHS SSC bylaws;
•       Guides summarizing school committees and the various funds they oversee, including descriptions of BSEP, LCAP, and Title I resources;
•       In response to requests from SSC members, guidance about decision-making and deadlines related to site funding of staff salaries; and
•       Examples from within BUSD of methods for sharing committee, school plan and budget information with the broader school community.

For the third year in a row, principals were asked to hold their October SSC meeting “at” the training event. This year, this was achieved by each principal hosting their own Zoom SSC meeting immediately following the district-wide presentation. Recognizing the challenges of the all-virtual event, principals were asked in advance whether they would want brief visits from BSEP Office staff during these meetings. The BSEP Director and Program Specialist visited five meetings that evening based on principal preference, providing support and answering questions when needed, or simply introducing themselves and observing the processes of the groups.

Members of non-SSC committees, such as the PAC, DELAC, ELACs, Affinity Groups, and PTAs were encouraged to attend their school’s SSC meetings. The hope was to begin the year’s work with these various community members meeting one another and setting a trend toward inclusion in the site decision-making processes for which SSCs are responsible.

The online Orientation event had 141 attendees, almost identical to the attendance of 145 at last year’s in-person Orientation. Feedback from committee members about the training event and materials was positive, with some even suggesting that the digital formatting be kept in the future, even when in-person gathering is again permitted.

Ongoing Support: Plans by BSEP staff to visit each school’s SSC in 2019-20 were derailed by the abrupt school closures in March. The BSEP Director and Program Specialist had visited half of the schools in the district before the shutdown, and continued to support principals in shifting their meetings online through the end of the last academic year. Thankfully, through an immense combined effort from principals and staff from BSEP, Ed Services, and Fiscal Services, SSCs were able to convene to approve 2020-21 School Plans and budgets. Additionally, despite the closures, the BSEP Office completed the long-held goal of revising the BHS SSC Bylaws, giving Berkeley High the opportunity to decide whether to field a single SSC or bifurcated SSC and BSEP Committees based on the needs of each individual year.

In 2020-21, with the ever-evolving demands of operating remotely, BSEP staff have provided ongoing support for online SSC business, including creating a training video about conducting public meetings via Zoom, and a significant increase in one-on-one support to principals. Moving into the second half of this school year, other district departments will be called on to shift how they support SSCs as well, including how student performance data is gathered and shared for each school, and accelerated budgeting support due to the early end of the 2020-21 school year on June 4.