Pledge of Allegiance

Adoption of Consent Items - Regular Meeting of October 28 and November 25, 2003

1. Board of Education Report No. 123 - 03/04 ADOPTED
Accounting and Disbursements Division

(Report of Warrants Issued) Reports A & B warrants issued by Controller for approximately $454 million.

Bernadette Aguayo from Foshay Learning Center, Pedro Sanchez from Manual Arts High School and Christopher Baker from South West Middle College

2. District's Initial Proposal to United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) Regarding Single Track and Multitrack Year-Round Calendars for the 2004-05 School Year)

3. District's Initial Proposals to United Teachers Los Angeles, Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, Los Angeles School Police Association, Local 99, California School Employees Association, Building Trades Council, and Teamsters

4. Teamster Local 572 2003-2004 Initial Proposals for Unit S, Classified Supervisors (Reopener Contract Proposal)

Public Notice of Initial Negotiating Proposal (Received October 14, 2003)

5. California School Employees Association for Unit D, Office-Technical & Business Services

Receipt of Communications for Action at Next Board Meeting
(The Board will assign these items to Consent or Regular Calendar)

6. Board of Education Report No. 131 - 03/04 REGULAR JANUARY 13, 2004, BOARD MTG.
Budget Services and Financial Planning Division

(Initial Proposal to United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) Regarding Single Track and Multitrack Year-Round Calendars for the 2004 05 School Year)

(After School Service Providers Contract) Approves contracts with 8 after school program providers at 26 schools.

9. Board of Education Report No. 136 - 03/04 (via Facilities Committee) CONSENT
Facilities Services Division and Office of Environmental Health and Safety

(Approval of Project and Approval of Mitigated Negative Declaration Mount Washington Elementary School Multipurpose Room Addition, San Rafael Avenue)

(Measure K Revision to Existing Facilities Bond Projects Strategic Execution Plan) Authorizes staff to begin the design and construction process for projects included on the priority list.

(Award of Advertised, Unadvertised and Informal Facilities Contracts, Approval of Change Orders, Completion of Contracts, Rejection of Bids, Termination of Contract, Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreements, and Approval of Agreements for Professional Services Agreements) Approves construction contracts totalling approximately $49.9 million, two change orders totalling approximately $1.8 million, professional services contracts totalling approximately $880,000, real estate purchases totalling approximately $3.3 million and professional service agreements amendments for approximately $14.3 million.

(Report of Warrants Issued) Reports A & B warrants issued by Controller for approximately $541 million.

(Capital Facilities Fund (Developer Fees) 2002-03 Annual Report) Approves Developer Fee Annual Report containing fee collections and expenditures for year ending June 2003.

15. Board of Education Report No. 147 - 03/04 REGULAR
Facilities Services Division

(Approval of the Old South Gate Site for Feasibility Studies as a Potential Future Schools Site) Approve the designation of Old South Gate site for school use and approve expenditure of $4,855 million for feasibility studies and other costs. Prior Board action determined that the site would not be used as school site.

17. Board of Education Report No. 150 REGULAR
Business Services Division

(Agreements and Amendments) Approves professional services agreements totalling $25.7 million, amendments to increasing specific professional services agreements by $503,000 and three donations.

19. Board of Education Report No. 153 - 03/04 REGULAR JANUARY 13, 2004, BOARD MTG.
Staff Relations

(2003-2004 District's Initial Proposals to United Teachers Los Angeles, Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, Los Angeles School Police Association, Local 99, California School Employees Association, Building Trades Council, and Teamsters)

(Financial Advisory Service Bench Contract) Awards five-year contracts to 7 financial services companies which will establish prequalified vendors that will perform distinct tasks as requested.

Special Reports and Presentations

Appreciation to Nightingale Middle School for their Website CANCELED

Adoption of Regular Calendar - Regular Meeting of November 25, 2003

22. Board of Education Report Revised No. 113 - 03/04 ADOPTED
Business Services Division

(Approval of Agreement for Professional Services and Donations of Money and Material) Approves one-year master services agreement for environmental site assessment and remediation services for $6 million; receipt of $445,000 in funds and materials.

(Request State Waiver To Allow Inclusion of Two Health Education Programs Included in LEA Plan) Requests ability to use two specific alcohol and drug avoidance curricula.

(Facilities Agreements) Approves advertised and unadvertised construction contracts totalling approximately $24.3 million, change orders totalling approximately $179,000, award of unadvertised and informal contracts totalling approximately $1.2 million and professional service agreements for approximately $20.6 million.

(Measure K Library and Information Services Strategic Execution Plan) Approves required plan and authorizes expenditure of $38.5 million in Measure K bond funds.

(Authorization to Negotiate and Enter into an Agreement to Lease Space for District D Bond Project Management) Approves leasing of space in Marina del Rey allowing for the consolidation of Local District D project management personnel.

(Revision of Board Rules - Chapter 16, Construction, Alteration and Repair of Plants) Approves Board Rule changes to better reflect current practice, responsibilities and changes in law.

28. Board of Education Report No. 144 - 03/04 (via Audit, Business and Technology Committee)

(Adoption of the District's Appropriations Limit (Gann Limit) for 2003-04) Provides public notice of Gann limit appropriations of $3.685 billion for the 2003-2004 fiscal year.

31. Board of Education Report No. 139 - 03/04 (Direct) ADOPTED
Risk Management and Insurance Services

(Liability Insurance) Ratifies actions taken by the Risk Management and Insurance Services Branch including payments of $5.8 million under workers' compensation program.

(Various Purchasing Transactions) Ratifies routine purchases and contracts totaling approximately $28 million and approves entering into various technology and telephone equipment contracts.

(Nonroutine Personnel Actions) Approves nonroutine personnel transactions for the hiring of 5 people and the dismissal of 5 individuals.

35. Board of Education Report No. 149 - 03/04 (Direct) ADOPTED AS AMENDED
Pupil Services Branch

(Student Expulsions) Expels 1 student and suspends enforcement of the expulsion action for 4 of the students. Assigns the students to appropriate educational settings.

(Special Education Teacher Credential Waiver Authorizations) Approves request to apply for waivers of credential requirements for 11 special education teachers.

Whereas, The Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles is responsible for the education of all the students who reside within the Los Angeles Unified School District's boundaries or are otherwise eligible to attend a District school, including students on probation or under the jurisdiction of the dependency courts, whether living in out-of-home placements, or other placements;

Whereas, The Board is committed to improving the academic achievement of all students and closing the gap in academic achievement for those student populations, including dependent and probation students, who face greatly educational challenges and as a result have traditionally been less successful than their peers in school;

Whereas, It is estimated that in 2003 in Los Angeles County alone there are 32,000 foster children and 32,000 probation students and that the District serves approximately half of these students;

Whereas, During the 1988 calendar year, 48% of foster children changed placement between one and five times and 7% were assigned to six or more foster placements;

Whereas, Research from the United States Department of Education regarding homelessness found that, for every change in residence, a child loses three to six months of educational benefit;

Whereas, Family stability and environmental conditions greatly influence students' mental and emotional well-being and intellectual alertness and contribute significantly to their overall receptivity to academic instruction;

Whereas, Poor education outcomes for dependent and probation youth lead to continued challenges as they face adulthood; studies show that within two to four years after emancipating from the foster care system 51 percent of foster youth are unemployed, 40 percent foster youth are on public assistance or incarcerated, and 25 percent of foster youth become homeless;

Whereas, The academic achievement of dependent and probation students is a shared responsibility among local agencies, which include, but are not limited to, school districts, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Probation Department, the Judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and other child advocate groups;

Whereas, On May 16, 2003, a group of community leaders, spearheaded by the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles, convened the first ever Los Angeles Education Summit to discuss the need to enhance collaborations and improve educational outcomes for abused and neglected youth in the Los Angeles County; and

Whereas, The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in response to the Summit recommendations, has convened a work group to explore the creation of an Education Coordinating Council to address the educational needs of foster and probation youth in association with many organizations including the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Probation, Los Angeles City Commission of Children and Families, Los Angeles County of Education, School District, California Youth Correction, the Judiciary, the Children's Law Center, and other advocacy groups, the Commission on Children and Families, the Probation Commission, the Children's Planning Council, foster caregiver groups, the Public Defender, and the District Attorney; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles commends the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for creating the Los Angeles Education Coordinating Council and directs the Superintendent to actively participate as a member of the Council to strengthen integration of partnerships and collaboration to serve dependent and probation youth and report outcomes of said Council to the Board on a periodic basis;

Resolved further, That the Board instructs the Superintendent to develop and recommend to the Board a District policy to serve as a standard for service to dependent and probation youth and to return to the Board for adoption of said policy;

Resolved further, That the Board instructs the Superintendent to develop a District-wide plan that would enhance support services provided to dependent and probation students; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Board instructs the Superintendent to report back to the Board on which data system is used to monitor progress of dependent and probation youth and how this data is integrated into the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS).

Whereas, 71.9% of the Los Angeles Unified School District's K-12 student population is of Latino descent, with today's Latino youth becoming the largest source of workforce, emerging leadership and parents;

Whereas, A coalition of preeminent local organizations, individuals, foundations, and corporations have joined together to create the "Latino Scorecard 2003: Grading the American Dream" to assess the well being of Latinos in Los Angeles across the areas of education, health, economic development, housing, and public safety;

Whereas, The Education Scorecard will be released on October 30, 2003, and offers a final grade of a "D" to the state of education provided to Latino students in Los Angeles County based on the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute's analysis of pre-school enrollment, academic achievement, drop-out rates, and college preparation which indicates that:

• Only 26% of Latino high school graduates in the County of Los Angeles are UC/CSU eligible, compared to 44% of White, Non-Hispanic, 31% of African-Americans and 69% of Asians;

• The County of Los Angeles high schools lose more than 41% of Latino student enrollment between the 9th and 12th grades, more than 30,000 students somehow disappear from the high school system; and

• Latino 4th graders in the County of Los Angeles score lower than all other groups on the California Achievement Test (CAT/6) in both math and reading, with the exception of math achievement when compared to African American students indicating that Latino students have not mastered the basic skills of reading and writing thus are likely to fall behind in the years to come.

Whereas, The Latino Scorecard highlights rays of hope in public education provided to Latino students by identifying the District schools that excel in educating Latino students;

Whereas, The Latino Scorecard identifies 12 out of 46 District schools as Higher Performing Latino Los Angeles County Schools in READING based on the CAT/6 for 4th grade;

Whereas, The Latino Scorecard identifies 20 out of 61 District schools as Higher Performing Latino Los Angeles County Schools in MATH based on the CAT/6 for 4th grade;

Whereas, The Latino Scorecard identifies 21 out of 52 District schools as Higher Performing Latino Los Angeles County Schools in LANGUAGE based on the CAT/6 for 4th grade;

Whereas, The Latino Scorecard recommends that the best practices of these schools and others, middle and senior high schools, be identified and researched for replication in other schools;

Whereas, The Latino Scorecard Education Action Team has requested to work with the District to develop best practices recommendation; and

Whereas, The Board Members are committed to better educating our Latino student population to maximize their skills and future contributions to our society; now therefore, be it

Resolved That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles directs the Superintendent to immediately initiate research of the best practices of District schools that were identified by the Latino Scorecard as having a strong record of Latino student achievement and develop recommendations that could be adopted Districtwide in efforts to improve student achievement in the District; and be it finally

Resolved, That the finding of said research will be presented to the Board in April 2004 with recommendations.

Whereas, The federal child nutrition programs, including the school lunch and breakfast programs, are important to the health and education of the children of Los Angeles Unified School District;

Whereas, The child nutrition programs must be reauthorized by the Congress of the United States during the current fiscal year;

Whereas, Reduced price school meals are offered, in participating schools, to children with family income between 130 percent of the poverty line and 185 percent of the poverty line;

Whereas, Many families in the reduced price income category are finding in difficult to pay the reduced fee and, for some families, the fee is an insurmountable barrier to participation; and

Whereas, The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides free benefits to all participants with family income below 185 percent of poverty; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles supports reauthorization of all federal child nutrition programs;

Resolved, That the Board urges the Congress of the United States to eliminate the reduced price school meals programs, and to provide free meals for all children with family incomes below 185 percent of poverty;

Resolved, That the Board supports the following modifications to the Federal child nutrition programs:

• Support and fund expansion of nutrition and nutrition education programs

• Allow an early meal application period for schools on a year-round schedule

• Continue the current rate of income verification for the school lunch program

• Provide adequate reimbursement rates for meals

• Base year for provision 2 and 3 schools should be pricing to encourage return of applications

• Establish nutrition standards for all meals sold outside of the Federal school lunch program using District current competitive food standards as a model for addressing the availability of foods of low- to no-nutritional value in American schools; and be it finally

Resolved, That this resolution shall be sent to the State's Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District has the responsibility to provide basic safety for all students in order to enhance their educational achievement;

Whereas, The Superintendent's Strategic Plan states, "All students have a right to attend campuses that are safe, secure, and conducive to learning";

Whereas, Numerous studies demonstrate the correlation between a safe learning environment and overall student performance;

Whereas, The intent of the School Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 is to protect students from discrimination or any form of illegal bias, including harassment, on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender, ethnic group identification, race, ancestry, national origin, religion, color, or mental or physical disability;

Whereas, The Los Angeles School Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department Cadre (LASPD/LAPD Cadre) have been meeting regularly to assess and discuss existing District anti bias and hate-crime prevention training programs; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles direct the Superintendent to declare the identification, prevention, and proper resolution of hate-based incidents and crimes to be a priority of the staff and administration of all District schools and Local Districts;

Resolved, further That the Board direct the Superintendent to utilize the LASPD/LAPD Cadre in developing an anti-bias and hate-crime prevention training program for all appropriate school personnel, including but not limited to deans, counselors, campus aides, safety officers, teachers, and administrators, as well as age-appropriate training programs for all school-aged children; and be it finally

Resolved, That this training program shall include, but not be limited to, such content as teaching school personnel how to accurately report hate crimes and related student disciplinary infractions; how to effectively respond to acts of hate-violence and bias-related incidents; teaching pupils techniques for resolving conflicts without violence (including, but not limited to, anger management, conflict resolution, and peer mediation); and training all appropriate school personnel to support and promote peaceful methods for resolving conflicts among pupils.

Whereas, The Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles, recognizing that a safe, healthy, and clean learning environment is critical to a student's academic success, is committed to ensuring that all students attend schools that are safe and sanitary;

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District conducts regular health and safety inspections at each school site;

Whereas, The District's health and safety inspection program is nationally recognized and considered a model program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency;

Whereas, The District is currently spending $20 million per year to provide all students with access to clean, functioning restrooms, including the recent $11 million budget augmentation known as the Clean Restroom Initiative; and

Whereas, Public reporting of health and safety inspection results will provide the Board, parents, and the community with valuable and timely knowledge about the health and safety of District schools as well as District maintenance action; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the District will highlight its health and safety standards for cafeterias and bathrooms on-line;

Resolved further, That the District will public results of inspections of bathrooms and cafeterias monthly on-line, an specifically highlight facilities monthly that do not meet minimum health and safety standards, as well as planned corrective action and deadlines for such action;

Resolved further, That the Superintendent shall provide a semi annual report on the health and safety of cafeteria and bathroom facilities, trends, and corrective actions planned and taken, and be it finally

Resolved, That the Board of Education directs the Superintendent to brief local elected officials with jurisdictions within the District's boundaries on related District efforts, policies, and procedures so that they may be informed in their legislative activities and constituent interactions.

42. Appointment of Member to the Bond Oversight Committee ADOPTED

Resolved, That Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles ratify the appointment of Lynda Levitan, representing the 31st District PTSA, to the School Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee.

Whereas, A critical analysis of today's high school education is taking place to identify approaches to improve academic achievement, and increase student passage rate of the State's high school exit examination;

Whereas, This analysis will result in the identification of approaches‹including small learning communities and academies‹to engage students, reduce dropout statistics, and provide graduates with meaningful post secondary educational and career alternatives;

Whereas, Graduating seniors face a higher educational system and a workplace with 21st century technical fields demanding skills in reading, interpreting, strategizing, calculating, and communicating clearly‹skills contributing to both post secondary educational pursuits and employment;

Whereas, In analyzing the improvement of secondary schools, the opportunity exists to significantly address academic achievement, graduation rates, pupil attendance and retention, and career preparation;

Whereas, Quality career technical education is based on integrated, contextualized academic and career technical instruction;

Whereas, This integration provides students with a comprehensive instructional program that optimizes their options for success;

Whereas, Studies indicate that secondary students who graduate with a career technical education concentration are 2.5 times more likely to be employed while pursuing post secondary education than other students;

Whereas, In some technical fields, such as health care, private firms and public agencies are having to rely on imported talent because of the shortage of workers with the necessary skills;

Whereas, The stated purpose of the Federal Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 and the State's Regional Occupational Programs/Centers is "to develop more fully the academic and technical skills" of secondary and post secondary students; and

Whereas, The Board of Education recognizes that every high school student should have the opportunity to access quality career technical education; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles affirm its support of career technical education by instructing the Superintendent to direct the Facilities Services Division to adequately address the facility needs of the Division of Adult and Career Education based on the recently developed Division of Adult and Career Education Guidelines for Facilities Master Plan;

Resolved, That the Superintendent return in 60 days with the amount of funding from Measure K's modernization allocation to address the first phase of priority needs of Division of Adult and Career Education facilities;

Resolved, That the Superintendent return in 120 days with a validated scope of work and cost of delivery of projects determined by the Division of Adult and Career Education and funded by Measure K;

Resolved, That the Superintendent return in 120 days with a plan for the construction of small learning community high schools on District Occupational Center campuses with a curricular focus on Career Technical Education;

Resolved, That the Superintendent return with a validated scope of work and cost of delivery of projects determined by the Division of Adult and Career Education and funded by the March 2004 bond in a timeframe aligned with any execution plans developed for any projects funded by the March 2004 bond; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Superintendent include Division of Adult and Career Education facilities modernization, technology, and new construction needs in future bond measures.

Whereas, The Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles in 1989 adopted a goal of reducing by 25 and 50 percent the waste that the Los Angeles Unified School District disposed in landfills by 1995 and 2000, respectively;

Whereas, In response to this goal, the District has aggressively implemented waste reduction and recycling programs that have exceeded the stated goal;

Whereas, The District serves an area of 704 square miles with a population of more than 4.6 million, has the second largest student population in the country which exceeds 800,000, has a staff of over 75,000, and consequently has the opportunity to significantly impact the generation of waste in California and influence market development for recycled products;

Whereas, The Board recognizes that waste reduction and recycling can substantially reduce disposal costs, and the District is currently recycling a number of materials, including paper, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, scrap metal, concrete, asphalt, textbooks, yard trimmings, toner cartridges, and tires;

Whereas, The District has been able to avoid disposal costs of $2.4 million in 2003 because of successful recycling efforts;

Whereas, The District was previously successful in encouraging polystyrene manufacturers to establish a recycling program for styrofoam, but due to varying market conditions it appears the program is no longer feasible; and

Whereas, It is the District's policy to purchase "environmentally preferable product" when economically feasible, and to encourage the utilization of materials to their highest and best use; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles directs the Office of Environmental Health and Safety and the Business Services Division to work with District schools and offices to increase recycling participation rates among these District facilities, and identify additional waste reduction and recycling opportunities in consultation with vendors, product manufacturers, and appropriate State and local agencies, and specifically attempt to reestablish a recycling program for styrofoam;

Resolved, further That staff be directed to place priority attention to recycling opportunities that would result in savings to the District; and be it finally

Resolved, That staff be directed to consider the purchase of products that contain "recycled content" where feasible and an existing stable supply chain to meet the product demands of District schools and offices.

46.Mr. Tokofsky - Full Day Kindergarten FOR ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE DECEMBER 9, 2003, REGULAR BOARD MTG.

1 p.m., Regular Meeting, September 23, 2003
9:30 a.m., Closed Session, October 28, 2003
1 p.m., Closed Session, November 18, 2003

Announcements

This Week in Education

Public Comment

Adjournment

Please Note That The Board Of Education May Consider Any Item Referred from a Board Meeting Five Calendar Days Prior To This Meeting. (Education Code 54954.3(b)(3))

The Board Of Education May Also Refer Any Item On This Order Of Business For The Consideration Of A Standing Committee Of The Board Of Education Which Meets On The Tuesday Or Thursday Immediately After This Meeting.

Members Of The Public Who Wish To Address The Board Regarding Items On This Agenda Should Call The Board Secretariat At Area Code (213) 241-7002 or Toll Free (877) 772-6273, Prior To 10:00 A.M. The Day Of The Meeting To Determine If They May Be Added To The Speakers' List.