CSC- Collaborative School Committee

CSC Minutes

CSC Meeting Minutes

Castro Elementary

CSC Minutes, January 30, 2023

Members present: Gerardo Gomez (5th grade ELA-S teacher), Shayna Johnson (Restorative Practice Coordinator), Jose Lopez (4th Grade ELA-S Teacher), Eve Ulloa (Community -Parent Liaison) Gilberto Muñoz (Principal). Absent: Bessie Tapia (parent)

Vision/Grounding in our School and District Priorities
Select the CSC Chair – the committee selected Eve Ulloa as the CSC Chair
Scenario 1
The committee liked the simplicity and the minimal impact of this scenario. This scenario allows us to keep the Dean of Instruction in a similar capacity as now.
Scenario 2
While this scenario would restore one of the positions that was reduced in the previous meeting (a .5 STL/.5 classroom teacher), it would necessitate two further reductions – the .5 Technology teacher and .5 Dean of Instruction.
Scenario 3
This scenario would also restore the .5 STL/.5 classroom teacher. It would also reduce .5 Technology and .5 Dean of instruction as Scenario 2; however, it would combine the .5 Technology and .5 Dean to teach the newly created 4th Grade ELA-E. After discussion, it was pointed out the 4th Grade ELA-E could not be “reserved” for the .5 Technology and .5 Dean of instruction because all RIBed teachers would have first right of refusal to that position (if more than one RIBed teacher is interested in the position, we will have an interview process for it). Therefore, this scenario was not an option and was discarded.
Public Comment
There were several comments on the Google Meet regarding the potential savings of reducing the Mental Health supports by .2 FTE (since we are .2 FTE over the required minimum). The principal said that it was indeed an option, but that finding the right may be more challenging and the district sometimes determines the placement due to the sharing of schools. It also wouldn’t be enough to get us to the target of a .35 FTE. One of the committee members responded that it would also take a new person time to establish relationships with students. One of the speakers on the Google Meet argued that our students are resilient and could acclimate to a new Mental Health provider. Ultimately, the committee did not endorse this recommendation. A recommendation was also made to reduce one para instead, but that would only yield half the targeted reduction of .35 FTE and therefore was also not endorsed by the committee.
CSC Discussion and Consensus
After thoroughly discussing each scenario and listening to the public comments, the committee unanimously chose Scenario 1 – to reduce the Dean of Instruction by .5 FTE and pair that position with the .5 Senior Team Lead role that we were going to give back to the district. The work of the Dean already aligns very closely with the STL role since the Dean has a caseload of teachers (the other STLs), observes and evaluates them. The district pays for 35% of the STL role so we would only pay for .15 FTE of this position.
Meeting Adjourned

CSC Minutes, January 24, 2023

Vision/Grounding in our Priorities

Share the 23-24 Budget/Numbers

Scenario 1
- Reflection (see attached slides)
- Q/A – There was a question about how we could get the district to fund the ESL Teacher again like they used to. Funds for ESL Resource Teachers are provided by the district for TNLI schools “at a ratio of roughly 0.5 FTE for every 30 eligible students (MLLs who speak a language other than Spanish), and rounded to the nearest 0.5 FTE” and we currently have 12 eligible students and therefore are not receiving any funding for this position (i.e. we would need 60 eligible students).

Scenario 2
- Reflections (see attached slides)
- Q/A
Scenario 3
- Reflections (see attached slides)
- Q/A
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IyVMN4HB29otrUWe8O6kaPYz2TrsxUKqtf5m9GfnKBg/edit

Public Comments:

Comments were in support of Scenario 2 – people were concerned about losing the supports that the Restorative Practice Coordinators provide and that staff that don’t need them or rely on them as much may not be aware of the value they bring to the rest of the school.

CSC Discussion and Consensus

Scenario 3 was discarded since it would not add a 4th grade ELA-E teacher and everyone was in agreement that a class of 38 was too large
Half the committee was in favor of Scenario 1 and the half for Scenario two.
Those in favor of Scenario 1 felt that it would be very challenging to teach a 4/5 ELA-S split class and favored scenario 1 because it minimized the academic impacts on classrooms. They also felt that reducing an RP coordinator would have less impact on academics
Those in favor of Scenario 2 felt that the RP coordinators provide critical supports to the whole school and that their work with students allows them to be successful in class, therefore having an impact school-wide. A concern was also shared that under Scenario 1, we would be cutting a paraprofessional as well which would further reduce classroom supports and supports at the school-level for duty coverage
The principal cast the deciding vote for Scenario 2 because of the importance and focus on Safe and Welcoming Environments and the specific need at Castro in this area. The principal shared how many schools are having to do splits due to declining enrollment. We will also be requesting budget assistance, which we would find out if we are awarded on February 8-9.

Scenario 2 was approved