The Santee School District Board of Education met at 6 p.m. September 19, 2023. Meeting highlights included:
Reports and Presentations
- The Board of Education and Administration recognized the efforts of Pathways Church, Sonrise Church, and the many volunteers during School Beautification Day. For twelve years now, Pathways Community Church has coordinated this annual volunteer effort to provide valuable service to Santee schools. The event for this year occurred on Saturday, August 5, 2023, completing numerous projects at all nine of the District’s schools. The volunteers were highly organized in completing numerous projects to make schools ready for opening.
- The Board expressed appreciation to the members and volunteers of Santee Mobilehome Owners Action Committee for coordinating the Buddy's Backpacks event. During this event held at Rio Seco, over 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies were distributed for free to students of all ages. Over the span of this program, over 10,000 backpacks have been distributed.
Public Hearings
Public Hearings were held for the following items:
- Compliance with Education Code Section 60119 (Williams Settlement): K-12 Textbook and Instructional Materials Funding Realignment Program
- Recycling of Obsolete Instructional Materials
Discussion and Action Items
- The Board granted tenure for 28 eligible certificated employees. Each of these individuals has worked two (2) years as required by Education Code and have demonstrated quality instructional service as assessed by each principal responsible.
- Janessa Nedney was appointed as Director of Community Collaborative effective October 2, 2023. Janessa Nedney has been the SAY Senior Program Director since January 2019. Prior to that Ms. Nedney served as Healthy Start Coordinator, Safeguard San Diego Program Manager, Family Support Services Coordinator, SAY San Diego Program Supervisor, providing a variety of community resources for students and families. Mrs. Nedney holds a Master of Arts in Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood and Family Studies with a minor in Education, Learning and Society and Diversity.
- The Board appointed the Superintendent’s committee assignments to fill vacancies on the various Board Advisory Committees. The applicants represent a variance of schools throughout the District. Membership is for a one-year term. The Superintendent assigned the applicants based on their priority choices listed on their applications. Administration will continue to recruit membership in Board Advisory Committees to assure parent and community input is received.
Board Policies and Bylaws
- The Board adopted Revised BP 6163.1 – Library Media Centers: Policy updated to reflect Title 5 regulations which revise the authorized duties of credentialed teacher librarians and add a new special class authorization for departmentalized instruction in information literacy, digital literacy and digital citizenship. Policy also deletes references to the use of Instructional Materials Funding Realignment Program funds for the purchase of classroom library materials, as that program was repealed by AB 1246. Policy references a State Board of Education document identifying alignment of library instruction standards with Common Core State Standards and expands material on program evaluation.
- A first reading was held for BP 6162.51 – State Academic Achievement Tests: Retitled policy updated to reflect AB 484 which establishes a new state assessment system, designated by the CDE as the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). Policy also reflects SB 247 which requires the CDE to identify existing tests that may be used by classroom teachers for diagnostic purposes in grade 2. Policy reflects AB 97 which repealed law that encouraged boards to examine state assessment results by school, grade, and student subgroup during their annual discussion of each school's Academic Performance Index, but which still requires demonstration of comparable improvement in academic achievement by numerically significant student subgroups.
The next meeting of the Santee School District Board of Education will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, October 3, 2023, in the Educational Resource Center, 9619 Cuyamaca, Santee. Meetings can also be live-streamed at santeesd.net/LiveBoardMeeting.
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, click here.