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February 12, 2021 - School Board Retreat

FEBRUARY 12, 2021 - SCHOOL BOARD RETREAT

REDWOOD CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Redwood City, California

APPROVED MINUTES OF BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING

February 12, 2021

CLOSED SESSION AND SCHOOL BOARD RETREAT VIA TELECONFERENCE

  1. Call to Order

President Alisa MacAvoy called the closed session to order at 9:11 a.m. via Zoom Teleconference Meeting.

Present during Closed Session: President Alisa MacAvoy, Vice-President María Díaz-Slocum, Trustees Cecilia I. Márquez, Janet Lawson, Mike Wells and Superintendent John R. Baker.

Others Present: Deputy Superintendent Wendy Kelly, Chief Business Official Priscilla Aquino-Dichoso and Assistant Superintendent Liz Wolfe. 

  1. Oral Communication on Closed Session Items

None. 

  1. Closed Session
  • Budget Negotiations Update (9:00am-10:45am)
  • Workforce Housing Update (11:00am-12:00pm)
  1. Reconvene to Special and Open Session at Approximately 12:46pm.

President MacAvoy reported that the School Board received information during Closed Session from the Administration and accepted their recommendation. Others Present: Robert Price and Maria Sudduth from the National Urban Alliance, Antonio Pérez and Michelle Remond.

  1. Welcome

There were no changes to the agenda.

  1. Changes to the Agenda
  1. Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved as amended, (Lawson, Wells; 5-0)

  1. Oral Communication

None.

  1. Discussion Items
  • Equity Work Update (12:45-1:45pm)

Linda Montes, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Equity provided a presentation to the School Board and Superintendent Baker on the collaborative work between the Redwood City School District and the National Urban Alliance and its impact in the RCSD community. 

Assistant Superintendent Montes commented that a Redwood City School District Equity Consciousness Committee was formed in response to the Redwood City School District School Board request to develop Administrative Regulations for newly developed Equity policy. The Committee will act by providing input and suggestions to the Department Directors for Administrative Regulations. Furthermore, Assistant Superintendent Montes expressed that Dr. Yvette Jackson in leading RCSD’s work in Equity. 

Assistant Superintendent Montes commented that the Committee often works in small groups to determine what would be permissible and impermissible in classroom settings. Students were also given an opportunity to develop a student survey and determine how virtual school has affected on how they feel, if they had an opportunity to express to their teachers how they feel, what would they say. 

Both Robert Seth Price and Maria Sudduth thanked the Redwood City School District for the opportunity to work with a wonderful community.

The School Board and Superintendent Baker thanked Assistant Superintendent Linda Montes and the National Urban Alliance for the wonderful work on Equity.

  • Review Mission, Goals and Beliefs (1:45-3:00pm)

Superintendent Baker addressed the School Board by expressing that the last time the Redwood City School District’s mission, goals and beliefs were reviewed and modified was when he had just become superintendent. Superintendent Baker opined that after working collaboratively with the National Urban Alliance, the Redwood City School District’s mission, goals and beliefs need to be modified in order to reflect an extensive discussion and completed work on equity. 

In response to Superintendent Baker’s comment, President MacAvoy stated that the School Board and Superintendent Baker needed to discuss a process on how the mission, goals and beliefs would be updated. Whether it was hiring a consultant or obtaining input from the Redwood City School District community. 

Vice-President Díaz-Slocum advised against having community members participate in the writing process of the mission, goals and beliefs and rather encouraged Superintendent Baker and the School Board to use information from discussions and collaborative work with the National Urban Alliance centered on equity.

In response to Vice-President Díaz-Slocum’s comment, Trustee Lawson recommended that the School Board and Superintendent Baker write the mission, goals, and beliefs using the work with the National Urban Alliance as a guidance tool and subsequent to this process, seek feedback from the Redwood City School District community. 

Trustee Wells and Trustee Márquez agreed with Vice-President Díaz-Slocum’s proposal. 

Superintendent Baker commented that he would start a discussion with Dr. Yvette Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban Alliance and invited President MacAvoy and Trustee Márquez to be part of that conversation on February 23rd. 

President MacAvoy expressed that on February 23rd, she, Superintendent Baker and Trustee Márquez would meet with Dr. Yvette Jackson to further discuss the process of writing the mission, goals and beliefs for the Redwood City School District and would report back to the School Board at a future board meeting. President MacAvoy invited School Board members to visit school district websites from neighboring school districts such as, Oakland and San Francisco to gather ideas for writing RCSD’s mission, goals, and beliefs. 

  • Next Steps (3:00-3:30pm)

Superintendent Baker requested to meet with the School Board on March 26th, April 23rd and May 7th. 

All School Board members expressed they would be available on the aforementioned dates. President MacAvoy stated she would confirm whether she would be available on April 23rd. 

10. Adjournment (Action Required)

The board adjourned the Board Retreat – Open Session at 2:30 p.m. (Wells, Márquez; 5-0).

 

 

Cecilia I. Márquez, Clerk