The Board will convene at 6:00 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room to receive comments from anyone wishing to address the Board regarding closed session items.  The Board will then adjourn to closed session and reconvene in open session to address the regular agenda at 6:30 PM.

Six cases

WCCUSD Negotiators: Superintendent Matthew Duffy and Assistant Superintendent Ken Whittemore for the following groups:
  a.    Employee Organizations
         -UTR
         -Local One
         -School Supervisors Association
         -WCCAA
 b.     Unrepresented Employees
         -Confidential and Management

Two students from the Youth Commission have served as Student Representatives to the Board of Education for the first semester of 2016-2017.  The Board would like to recognize and commend Angel Jones from Kennedy High School and Dominick Ojeda from Pinole Valley High School for their participation.  They have contributed the student perspective on behalf of the Youth Commission and their peers in an articulate and engaging manner.  The Board will express appreciation.

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Erik Radkiewicz, the band and orchestra teacher at Pinole Valley High School, was recognized as one the nation’s top band directors making a difference in their students’ lives.

School Band and Orchestra Magazine selected Mr. Radkiewicz to represent California in its 19th Annual “50 Directors Who Make a Difference.” The publication selected one music educator from each state based on nominations it received from current and former students, colleagues, peers, parents and other community members.

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Academic Subcommittee                              Public Employees Local 1
Bayside Council PTAs                                    Safety and School Climate Committee
Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee            School Supervisors Association Local 21
Facilities Subcommittee                                Technology Subcommittee
Governance Subcommittee                          United Teachers of Richmond
Ivy League Connection                                 West Contra Costa Administrators Association
                                                                      Youth Commission

Mr. Alexander will address the Board regarding Black History programs.

Members of the public are invited to speak to the Board about any matter that is not otherwise on the agenda and is related to issues affecting public education in the WCCUSD.  Approximately 30 minutes will be allocated for this item.  If there are more requests to speak than can be heard within this time limit, “WCCUSD Public Comment” will continue after Item G.  Individuals wishing to speak must submit a “WCCUSD Public Comment” form prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda.  

Depending on the number of persons who wish to speak, from one to three minutes will be allocated to each speaker at the discretion of the President of the Board in order to accommodate as many speakers as possible.  The Board cannot dialogue on any issues brought before it by the public that have not been previously agendized, but may refer these to staff for response and/or placement on future agendas.

The District would like to take time to recognize the contributions of members of our school community who have passed away.  The District requests the community to submit names to be reported as a regular part of each agenda.

Former school board member, Ms. Diana Easton, passed away in December.  Ms. Easton was a parent of students in the District, an active member of the PTA, and worked devotedly to support students and public schools.  She served two terms on the school board from 1991 – 1999 during the tenure of Superintendent Herbert M. Cole, Jr.  She held the seat of President in 1994 and 1999.  Ms. Easton was greatly beloved and respected for her courtesy, kindness and devotion to the students and the district.  When people remember her, they appreciate that she was able to listen to opinions, even those with which she disagreed, with patience and respect, and always conducted herself on the board in a dignified manner.  

Our thoughts go out to the family and friends in the loss of their loved one.

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Staff will give update on LCAP Goals 2, 3, and 4.

LCAP Goal 2: Improve instructional practice through professional development and professional learning communities at schools and recruiting and retaining high quality teachers and principals.

LCAP Goal 3: Increase parent and community engagement, involvement, and satisfaction.

LCAP Goal 4: Improve student engagement and climate outcomes, and allocate services to English Learner (EL) and Low Income (LI) students.

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 On June 15, 2016, the Board approved the Facilities Master Plan and the associated implementation plan.  The implementation plan included the direction to update the District’s Educational Specifications which were last approved in 2011.  The Educational Specifications guide the District’s architects to design and align school facilities to the educational program.  The architect uses the specifications to translate curriculum and instructional program into an aesthetic, economical, functional educational environment.  The update of the educational specifications also includes a comprehensive review of the materials and products that are incorporated into the school facilities.  This entire process was needed to provide consistency, alignment with current and future program needs and objectives, along with an emphasis on cost efficiency and effectiveness. 

On August 10, 2016, the Board approved an agreement with Educational Planning and Programming (Iep2) to update the Educational Specifications.  Since that time, the planning team has conducted over 20 focus group discussions regarding program spaces and comparing traditional and flexible designs.  At the same time, several discussions were held regarding the materials and products used in our schools and ways in which to refine, define, and create cost efficiencies.  From these discussions, the desire for a new flexible design for classrooms was explored.

The planning team, along with staff, will lead a discussion with the Board to seek direction regarding their desire to include flexible design options in future schools, whether or not to include the new options into the design of Wilson Elementary and any upcoming elementary school projects in the future.  After direction from the Board, the planning team will move forward with drafting the educational specifications and material/product standards and bring back a full draft report to the Board.

It should also be noted that the agreement with Iep2 was to have final review and approval of the Educational Specifications by the Board in January, 2017.  Due to the extensive focus group discussions on the new design concept, it will be necessary to extend the Iep2 agreement to concur with an updated timeline based upon the discussion held with the Board.

Staff will present information on the timeline for 2017-18 budget development and 2016-17 financial reports.

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On September 12, 2016 Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1029 (Hertzberg). This bill requires state and local government debt issuers to report to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) specified information about proposed and outstanding debt. Additionally, SB 1029 requires CDIAC to consult with appropriate state and local debt issuers and organizations representing debt issuers prior to approving any annual method of reporting.

The State Treasurer’s recent efforts to review how debt issuers manage and spend debt proceeds suggests that current debt reporting requirements provide insufficient transparency and accountability for how some governments handle their debt proceeds.  SB 1029 imposes some additional reporting requirements on debt issuers that will benefit taxpayers, investors, and public agencies.

Effective January 1, 2017, state and local issuers will be required to submit an annual debt report for any issue of debt for which they have submitted a Report of Final Sale during the reporting period. The annual debt report is due to CDIAC within seven (7) months of the close of the reporting period, defined as July 1st to June 30th. Because of the effective date of SB 1029, issuers who submit a Report of Final Sale after January 21, 2017 will be required to submit an annual debt report no later than seven (7) months after June 30, 2017 or on or before January 31, 2018.

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At the last Board meeting, the Board approved the expansion of Dual Immersion programs in the District including a new mandarin immersion program.  Tonight we will hear more details about the proposed Mandarin Immersion program.  Details will include location, cost and program. The Board will be asked to take action on the item.

• Staffing costs would be the same regardless of location unless an “existing school” was converted to Mandarin  (approximately $600,000)
• Startup costs for supplies, instructional materials, etc. would come out of one-time fund balance as approved in December (approximately $200,000)
• Playground and outdoor community space improvements would be paid through MRAD (approximately $200,000)
• Facilities costs at Portola are minimal.  The projected cost to modify/improve existing portables would be covered by developer fees (approximately $200,000)
• Bond funds would NOT be used for this project with the exception of funds ultimately needed to co-locate Wilson ES, i.e. PGE service upgrades; replacing portables that were removed for other district purposes

California School Boards Association (CSBA) provides periodic updates to School Districts concerning Board Policies.  Also, due to the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB) revisions were needed to be aligned with state and federal laws.

BP 5116.1 (Intradistrict Open Enrollment) needed to be revised due to the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”), which replaced No Child Left Behind (“NCLB”).  One significant change was the elimination of the requirement that school districts allow students at schools receiving Title 1 funds identified for program improvement to transfer to another district school or charter school.  In addition, revisions were made to more closely align BP 5116.1 with District practice and procedures.  

None

California School Boards Association (CSBA) provides periodic updates to School Districts concerning Board Policies.  Also, due to the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB) revisions were needed to be aligned with state and federal laws. 

BP 5117  (Interdistrict Attendance) was revised to reflect changes in the law related to criteria for interdistrict attendance and to more closely align with district practice and procedures.

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Consent Calendar Items are considered routine and will be enacted, approved and adopted by one motion, unless a request for removal, discussion or explanation is received from any Board member or member of the public in attendance. Items the Board pulls for discussion or explanation will be addressed following disposition of the remaining Consent Items under Section G Consent Items.

Formal action is requested from the Board of Education to accept the grants/awards/agreements, as detailed on the attached sheet dated January 18, 2017. 

As noted per grants summary.

As noted per donations summary.

The planned fund-raising events for the 2016-17 school year is summarized on the attached sheet dated January 18, 2017.

Permission is requested of the Board of Education to approve the following contracts as detailed on the attached sheets dated January 18, 2017.

As noted per contracts summary

Attached are the summaries of Payroll and Vendor Warrants issued during the months of November and December 2016.

               Total of payroll warrants (November 2016):           $ 11,324,242
               Total of vendor warrants (November 2016):           $ 26,309,935                 Total of payroll warrants (December 2016):           $ 11,507,371
               Total of vendor warrants (December 2016):           $ 24,962,987 

As noted above

California Education Code §44015 expressly authorizes the Board of Education to budget funds for the recognition of District employees. By passing this resolution, the Board of Education, in keeping with Education Code, would authorize the Superintendent to expend funds to recognize employees for their work on behalf of students and the District.

To be determined

The District would like to adopt a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sunny Ivy Education, a California corporation, to establish a short term cultural exchange program. This program involves the hosting by the District of a group of 11 visiting students from China at Korematsu Middle School from February 8 -10, 2017. The MOU is limited in duration, and will end February 17, 2017.

The primary purpose of this MOU is to afford students of West Contra Costa Unified School District and Sunny Ivy Education the opportunity to build cross cultural understanding between the United States and China.

Sunny Ivy will pay negotiated fees to the District for the investment of staff time and resources. 

None

Routine personnel changes include actions to hire, promote, or terminate classified employees in accordance with appropriate laws, established policies and procedures.

None

The District desires to go to bid for ERATE priority one data circuits and managed Voice over IP services.  The award will comply with the Public Contract Code 20118.2 which allows the District to select the most qualified bidder(s) whose bid meets the evaluation standards determined by the District and will be the most advantageous to the District with price and all other factors considered or to reject all responses to the Request for Bids, whichever is in the best interest of the District.  The District further reserves the right to award specific items or services on an individual per line item basis to one or more of the bidders, whichever is in the best interest of the District.  The successful bidder will be notified in the event of an award.  All bidders shall be assessed based on the specific needs of the District and the District will follow the competitive negotiation process described in Public Contract Code section 20118.2. 

Public Contract Code section 20018.2 was created due to the highly specialized and unique nature of technology, telecommunications, related equipment, software, and services.  Because products and materials of that nature are undergoing rapid technological changes, and in order to allow for the introduction of new technological changes into the operations of the school district, it is in the public’s best interest to allow a school district to consider, in addition to price, factors such as performance reliability, standardization, life-cycle costs, delivery timetables, support logistics, the broadest possible range of competing products and materials available, fitness of purchase, manufacture’s warranties, and similar factors in the award of contracts for technology, telecommunications, related equipment, software, and services.

Staff is seeking ratification of Change Orders on the following current District construction projects:  Infrastructure Upgrades @ Kennedy HS, Richmond HS, Crespi MS and Pinole Valley HS New Campus. Change Orders are fully executed by the District upon signature by the Superintendent’s designee.  Board ratification is the final step required under state law in order to complete payment and contract adjustment.

In accordance with Public Contract Code 20118.4, the Board, by ratifying these Change Orders, finds that it would have been futile to publicly bid the work in question because of the tight time frames to complete this work without affecting the operations of the District, and that the public is best served by having this work completed by the contractor on the project.

Total ratification by this action:  $37,476.56. Funded from Bond Fund

The West Contra Costa Unified School District’s Facilities Subcommittee has forwarded a recommendation that Davis Todhunter be appointed to fill the category of the City of El Cerrito resident on the West Contra Costa Unified School District Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee for a two-year term effective January 18, 2017.

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The West Contra Costa Unified School District’s Facilities Subcommittee has forwarded a recommendation that Sallie DeWitt be appointed to fill the category of the Business Organization member on the West Contra Costa Unified School District Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee for a two-year term effective January 18, 2017.

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The Williams Lawsuit requires that a quarterly report be brought before the Board of Education reflecting the number of complaints filed with any school in the district during a particular quarter.   This report reflects the time period from October 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.  Additional information can be viewed in the Superintendent’s office.

None

At their recent retreats in December and January, the Board determined assignments for 2017 including Board Subcommittees and Liaisons, as well as High School Families. 

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Board Bylaw 9250 stipulates members of the board shall be reimbursed for allowable expenses incurred in attending any meetings or in making any trips on official business of the school district when so authorized in advance by the Board of Education.  (Education Code 35044).  Board members have expressed interest in attend the following:

• CSBA Presidents Workshop, Sacramento, January 28, 2017
• CSBA Brown Act Workshop, Sacramento, January 27, 2016
• Institute for New & First Term Board Members, Sacramento, January 27-28, 2017

Cost estimates for In-State Travel include registration and hotel are $1,229.80.

Estimated costs of $1220.80 from General Fund In-State Travel budget leaving  $14,935.00 in the budget.  

The State Board of Education has proclaimed February 2017 as African American History Month. The West Contra Costa Unified School District recognizes the contributions of African Americans and encourages schools to develop special instructional activities and celebrations.

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The State of California has proclaimed January 30, 2017, as  Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. The West Contra Costa Unified School District recognizes the contributions of Mr. Korematsu and encourages schools to develop special instructional activities and celebrations.

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Lovonya DeJean Middle School - February 1, 2017

At 10:00 PM, any items remaining on the agenda that require immediate attention will be moved to this time.  All other items will be tabled to another or the following Board meeting in order to make fair and attentive decisions.  The meeting will adjourn at 10:30 PM.  The meeting may be extended by a majority vote of the Board of Education.