Feb. 7, 2023, Board Meeting Highlights
The Santee School District Board of Education met at 6 p.m. February 7, 2023. Meeting highlights included:
Consent Items
- In an effort to assist in protecting students and staff during health or safety emergency, the Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for access to security camera footage. The MOU grants direct access to live feeds of the District’s security cameras, during a health or safety emergency, to staff from the San Diego County Sheriff’s - Santee Station during a health or safety emergency. As part of the MOU, San Diego County Sheriff staff will maintain and protect all credentials used to access real-time footage in a secure location and will share these credentials and camera access only with authorized, essential Sheriff staff. Security camera real-time footage will not be used for law enforcement purposes, except during the pendency of an actual health or safety emergency.
- The Board adopted a resolution authorizing the District to apply for a grant to replace two current school buses with electric ones. This application is in addition to one already approved by the Board of Education on September 3, 2019, for purchase of two electric school busses.
The Volkswagen (VW) Environmental Mitigation Trust (Trust) provides about $423 million for California to mitigate the excess nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions caused by VW's use of illegal emissions testing defeat devices in certain VW diesel vehicles. The Trust provides funding opportunities for specified eligible actions that are focused mostly on "scrap and replace" projects for the heavy-duty sector, including on-road freight trucks, transit and shuttle buses, school buses, forklifts and port cargo handling equipment, commercial marine vessels, and freight switcher locomotives.
- The Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with San Diego Youth Services (SDYS) to provide support to at-risk Santee students through their Community Assessment Team (CAT). CAT provides case management services and specific supports to families. These services may include psycho/social history and assessment, understanding and acknowledging family strengths, information on child and adolescent development, activities that reinforce family resilience and strength, and weekly psycho-social educational groups to students as requested. The program targets students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Discussion and Action Items
- Annually the Board has the opportunity to cast its unit vote for CSBA Delegate Assembly Region 17 representatives. Candidate applications, biographical sketches, and letters of endorsement that have been received, were sent to Board members under separate cover. There are seven (7) vacancies in Region 17 and delegates will serve two-year terms beginning April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2025. The Board submitted its nominations.
- At the request of the Board President, Board Bylaw (BB) 9250 – Renumeration, Reimbursement and Other Benefits was reviewed and discussed. The BB can be viewed in the Board Packet.
- The Board approved the Monthly Financial Report for December 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022, as presented by staff. The report can be found in the Board Packet.
- Santee School District and the Santee Teacher’s Association (STA) have reached an agreement for the 2022-23 school year concerning the following Articles:
- Article XII, Leave Provisions
- Article XV, Salary Provisions
STA membership ratified the tentative agreement on January 27, 2023. The negotiated language for each article is attached and represents the agreed upon language changes. Article XV, Salary Provisions included a 6.75% % increase to the 2022-2023 salary schedule effective July 1, 2022.
Board Policies and Bylaws
- Three Board policies were presented for the Board of Education’s review in a second reading: Board Policy 7150 – Site Selection and Development and Board Policy 7210 – Facilities Financing, have been updated to conform with California School Board Association’s (CSBA) language; Board Policy 7160 – Charter School Facilities, is a new policy from CSBA.
- BP 7150 – Site Selection and Development: Revised to conform with CSBA policy language which includes environmental impact investigation and agricultural land acquisition updates to be used during the site selection and development process.
- BP 7160 – Charter School Facilities: This policy from CSBA focuses on the importance of adequate charter school facilities that are safe and support student learning in compliance with the California Building Standards Code pursuant to 24 CCR 101 et seq. or the Field Act pursuant to Education Code 17280-17317 and 17365-17374.
- BP 7210 – Facilities Financing: Revised to conform with CSBA policy language which includes updates to alternative funding sources to ensure the most cost-efficient and effective method of financing when purchasing or modifying District facilities.
- Three Board policies were presented for the Board of Education’s review in a first reading: Board Policy 7211 – Developer Fees, and Board Policy 7214 have been updated to conform with California School Board Association’s (CSBA) language; Board Policy 7212 – Mello-Roos Districts is a new policy from CSBA.
- BP 7211 – Developer Fees Revised to conform with CSBA policy language which includes detailed information on Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Use of Fees.
- BP 7212 – Mello-Roos Districts: This policy from CSBA focuses on the importance of adequate facilities in order to enhance student learning and to help the District achieve its vision for educating District students. BP 7212 provides the process in the formation of a community facilities district for the acquisition or improvement of school facilities through the issuance of debt in accordance with law and District debt management policy.
- BP 7214 – General Obligation Bonds: Revised to conform with CSBA policy language which includes updates to include the Board’s decision to order a bond election, as well as its determinations regarding the appropriate amount, timing, and structure of the bond issuance, in accordance with law and the District’s debt management policy.
The next meeting of the Santee School District Board of Education will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 21, 2023, in the Educational Resource Center, 9619 Cuyamaca, Santee.
Note: These are not official meeting minutes of the Board of Education but rather a brief recap of the Board’s actions. For official meeting minutes and a complete list of actions taken, visit bit.ly/3gejSgf.