NOTICE OF REGULAR BOARD MEETING VIA TELECONFERENCE

As authorized by Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-29-20, dated March 17, 2020, the Alvord Unified School District will conduct all meetings of the Governing Board via teleconference until further notice. The meetings will be conducted via Zoom: Click Here. Spanish simultaneous interpretation is available via the Zoom platform. All meetings may also be viewed live on our district YouTube channel on the day of the meeting and are recorded to be viewed subsequently after the meeting: Click Here

Pursuant to Executive Order N-29-20, the Governing Board will take public comment. All public comments must be submitted in writing in advance of the meeting. Please submit your written public comments to: 2Superintendent@alvordschools.org no later than 9:00 a.m. on March 18, 2021.

During the Governing Board meeting, written public comments received in a timely manner will be read for the Governing Board.  Pursuant to Board Bylaw 9323, public comment period will be limited to twenty (20) minutes.  Duplicative public comments will not be read during the meeting.  However, all written public comments will be provided to the Governing Board in advance of the meeting.

Elementary Counselor of the Year
Erika Marquez, Twinhill Elementary School

Middle School Counselor of the Year
Maureen Snyder, Arizona Middle School

High School Counselor of the Year
Teresa Bierbaum, Hillcrest High School

Certificated Administrator of the Year
Ian Fish, Assistant Director, Student Services

Principal of the Year
Kristen Moorhouse, Villegas Middle School

Classified Administrator of the Year
Michael Willingham, Director II, Integrated Technology

Confidential Employee of the Year
Mayra Figueroa, Executive Assistant to the Board of Education

Counselor of the Year
Teresa Bierbaum, Hillcrest High School

Site Support of the Year
Megan Fields-Pia, Arlanza Elementary School

Classified Employee of the Year
Aven Callahan, McAuliffe Elementary School

Board ratification is requested for Purchase Order List Number 13 for the period of 02/13/2021 to 02/26/2021

Number of District Purchase Orders submitted is: 97

RATIONALE:
#B1006585 - #B1006585
#P2057410 - #P2057506

FISCAL IMPACT:  $158,401.20 (various funds)

This amendment is for an increase in the agreement for $90,000 to cover additional legal services.  On June 11, 2020 the Board approved an agreement for Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost, LLP (Item 9.c.22.) to provide specialized services and legal advice to the district for administrative, discipline, personnel matters, litigations and settlement agreements.  This amendment to increase the contract shall provide additional funds through June 30, 2021.

Board approval of this item will allow Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost, LLP to proceed with providing legal services.

FISCAL IMPACT:  Increase of $90,000 (General Fund/Unrestricted)

The Report of Receipts reflects monies received, which includes deposits for reimbursements, health and welfare contributions, donations and grant funds received. 

These funds when received, are applied to the appropriate financial accounts. They are then deposited into the district’s Cash Clearing Bank Account and a check is written to the Riverside County Office of Education for deposit to the Galaxy Financial System.  A sequential number is assigned to each receipt and once the checks have cleared through the bank account, the items are posted to the financial accounts.

The enclosed financial report is the monthly update of the district’s Report of Receipts for February 2021.

FISCAL IMPACT: As reported in body of memo

The maximum hours worked under the agreement is not to exceed 5 hours during the 2020-2021 school year.

ROP teachers cannot be paid off a personnel action form and must have a contract for the additional hours.

This agreement was received from Riverside County Superintendent of Schools on February 26, 2021.

Fiscal Impact: $351.89 (Site Discretionary Funds)

FISCAL IMPACT:  
Not to exceed $2,436.60 (General Fund/Site Discretionary)

Board approval is requested for the agreement between Tiburon Telecommunications Inc. and Alvord Unified School District for low voltage service, inspection and repairs at designated school sites throughout the District effective March 19, 2021 through June 30, 2021.

Throughout the school year, there is a need for repairs or projects that require work with low voltage outlets and cabling. Often times these repairs involve the connections for audio/video and computer equipment used in the classroom. It is necessary to have a vendor agreement setup to perform these repairs in a timely manner in order to maintain a productive learning environment. Request for repairs will be based on initial evaluation by Information Technology Computer Technicians.

FISCAL IMPACT: Not to Exceed $50,000.00 (IT Department Discretionary Fund)

Board approval is requested for the service agreement between Ellevation Education and Alvord Unified School District to provide teachers at Valley View, Terrace, Alvord Continuation High School, and Alvord Alternative Continuation High School, a bank of best-practice instructional activities for English Learners (EL) and Dual Language Immersion (DLI) students to increase language proficiency. The term of this agreement would be April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022.

Ellevation Strategies includes research-based instructional strategies for classroom teachers to help them meet the needs of our current and former English Learners, as well as DLI students. Strategies is an easy-to-use tool that allows teachers of any grade or subject area to easily integrate language activities into existing lesson plans and curriculum. Embedded within each activity are data-driven differentiation ideas and student groupings. The DLI component will also provide activities to develop student cultural competency and biliteracy. By providing purposeful opportunities throughout a lesson for students to read, write, listen, and speak, Ellevation Strategies ensures students build language proficiency and access rigorous grade-level content at the same time.

The term of this agreement will begin on April 1, 2021 and extend through March 31, 2022. Implementation and training costs within the proposal are only for the first year. Future renewal will just be the subscription.

Board approval of this agreement will allow the Alvord Unified School District to onboard Ellevation Education: Strategies.

FISCAL IMPACT:  Not to exceed $14,502.20   (GENERAL FUND/Unrestricted - LCFF-English Learners)

AMENDED 3/17/21 - FISCAL IMPACT:  Not to exceed $14,502.20 (GENERAL FUND/ Restricted – Title II-A)

Board approval is requested for the agreement between Ellevation Education and Alvord Unified School District to centralize English Learner (EL) program management into one digital platform. The term of this agreement would be April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2024.

Ellevation Education provides district administration, school leaders, and classroom teachers with targeted data analytics for English Learners as well as digital workflow tools for our EL program. With a platform focused solely on English Learners, our administrators and teachers will be able to monitor, intervene, collaborate, and report on the academic and language success of our ELs. Ellevation will enable all of our Long Term English Learners and Reclassified Fluent English Proficient students to be qualitatively and quantitatively monitored at both the site and district level. It will also streamline our reclassification and parent letter process to be more user-friendly and inclusive to our EL teams and families.

Under this agreement, Ellevation Education will provide to the District, software license to the Ellevation Platform: multi-point, actionable data portal for target groupings; intervention planning for ELs, LTELs, and RFEPs; streamlined, comprehensive monitoring and reclassification; parent notification letters; progress reports; district alignment and collaboration; initial setup and configuration; virtual implementation training for District staff; and ongoing dedicated support.

The term of this agreement will begin on April 1, 2021, with set up and implementation that would extend through March 31, 2024. Implementation and training fees within the proposal are only for the first year. Renewal costs will just be the subscription.

This item is brought forth for approval due to the need to streamline time-consuming processes for the EL and Assessment teams, as well as the need to better monitor and support English Learners systematically across the Alvord Unified School District.

Board approval of this agreement will allow the Alvord Unified School District to onboard Ellevation Education.

FISCAL IMPACT:  Not to exceed $151,617.32 (General Fund/Restricted - CARES ACT) ($57,257.12 - 2020/2021, $94,360.20 - 2021/2022)

Trustee, Mrs. Julie A. Moreno, Board Clerk, will report on any actions taken by the Board following consideration in Closed Session.

In 2020, state/federal testing was waived after schools closed in March 2020. On March 16, the State Board of Education debated a waiver for 2021. Alvord previously joined the Riverside County Office of Education and many Riverside County school districts and other districts, organizations, and prominent leaders around the state, including United States Congressman and La Sierra High School graduate Mark Takano, representing the 41st Congressional District of California, in formally opposing the state/federal testing requirement. The primary reasons we opposed this form of testing are the lack of validity of the test data, the difficulties of testing students learning from home, the harmful effects of high-stakes testing on students' well-being, and the significant amount of time testing would take away from in-person instruction once we reopen on March 22. Resolution 41, opposing state/federal testing, memorializes the District’s position.

FISCAL IMPACT: None

Adoption of a resolution to encumber funds is an annual occurrence required by the Riverside County Office of Education in order to provide protection from legal issues for both governing board members and school district officials who authorize the encumbrance of funds for the next school year prior to the adoption of the districts budget.

RCOE will only allow districts to encumber funds in the next fiscal year if the governing board adopts a resolution.  Resolution No. 43 follows the format required and allows staff the ability to issue purchase orders and contracts in numeric sequence prior to July 1, 2021 for the following school year. 

FISCAL IMPACT: None

2021 Board Meeting Dates ~ Open Session 6:00 p.m.

April 15, 2021

May 6 and 20, 2021

June 3 and 17, 2021

July 15, 2021

August 19, 2021

September 2 and 16, 2021

October 7 and 21, 2021

November 4 and 18, 2021

December 16, 2021