News

At its December 16^th meeting, The FUSD Board of Education:

Recognized Outgoing Trustees – Outgoing Trustees, Dr. Michele Berke and Ann Crosbie, were recognized and thanked for their years of service to FUSD students, staff and the community.

Held Ceremonial Oath of Office – Congratulations to returning Trustee, Desrie Campbell, and new Trustees Vivek Prasad and Yajing ‘Rachel’ Zhang, who were sworn in for their new terms.  

Annual Organization of the Board – The Board elected Larry Sweeney as President, Dianne Jones as Vice President and Vivek Prasad as Clerk for 2021.

Adopted Resolution No. 025-2021, Approving Acquisition of Lila Bringhurst Elementary School Property and Authorizing the Filing of a Notice of Exemption - The Board adopted the Resolution, which will (1) approve proceeding with the close of escrow for the School site; (2) authorize the Superintendent to execute all documents and take all actions to consummate the transfer of property to the District, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement; and (3) authorize staff to file a Notice of Exemption for the acquisition, based upon the exemptions generally set forth in the Resolution and detailed in the form of Notice of Exemption.

Approved First Interim Budget Report for 2020-21 & Adopt 2020-21 Budget Overview for Parents – The District’s general fund revenues are projected to increase by $1.2 million from the 45-Day Budget Revision to $408.0 million. Expenditures are projected to increase by $12.9 million to $421.6 million. Below is the summary of general fund revenue, expenditures and fund balance. The attached budget analysis shows the detailed explanation of the changes from the 45-Day Budget Revision to the First Interim Budget. As a result of the changes in the revenues and expenditures, the ending fund balance is projected to increase by $1.8 million from the 45-Day Budget Revision. This leaves a reserve of approximately $18.2 million. The District reserve is projected to be 3.0%. A multi-year budget projection (MYP) was prepared to determine if the District will be able to meet its financial commitments for the 2 projected years. The assumptions used in preparing the MYP are detailed on pages 80-92 of the attached First Interim Budget Report. In order to balance the District's budget and maintain positive certification, the District needs to enhance its revenues and/or reduce its expenditures by $17.6 million ongoing starting in 2021-22 and an additional $13.3 million starting in 2022-23. Due to its magnitude, the District has yet to identify detailed enhancement in revenues and/or reduction in expenditures for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years. The size of the revenue enhancements / expenditure reductions will also change with the Governor's January budget proposal. Staff recommended a "Positive Certification" which certifies that, based upon current projections, and current assumptions, the District will meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year and subsequent two fiscal years. See presentation here.

Received Update on Future Return to In-Person Instruction – The Alameda County Office of Education and Alameda County Public Health continue to make adjustments to the guidance and regulations related to returning students to campus for in-person instruction and is now in the purple tier (as of November 21), with the waiver process suspended, at this time. Staff has taken action to survey our community, and has crafted an outline of how FUSD can navigate the process of safely returning to in-person instruction. The Board of Education was provided an update on the new Alameda County Office of Education and ACPHD Guidelines, along with a summary of community input and a framework, and the draft timeline for FUSD to safely return to in-person instruction in the future. Additional future actions will include publishing reopening plans in further collaboration with our community, staff, and students, while concurrently negotiating aspects of how we return students and staff to in-person instruction. 

Received Presentation on Advanced Placement Courses and Testing in FUSD High Schools – College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program is a series of courses and examinations offered at each FUSD comprehensive high school. Students who successfully take these courses earn high school credit and may choose to take the course exam offered by College Board in May. Post-secondary credit can be earned for an AP course if a student scores a 3 or above on the 5-point AP course exam. In November 2020, the Board requested that staff provide an informational presentation and related data on Advanced Placement courses and testing in Fremont Unified School District high schools.

Discussed and Approved Continued Suspension of Service Learning – The Board of Education voted to continue distance learning in July 2020. Current 12th graders who completed the 40 hours prior to the start of the school year will have that noted on their transcript and those who did not complete the 40 hours will have "n/a" noted on their transcript. This will not impact graduation status. For current 9th, 10th and 11th graders the required hours are adjusted. The 40-hour requirement for those students is reduced by 10 hours for the 19-20 school year and 10 hours for the 20-21 school year.

Approved Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between FUSD & FUDTA for Distance Learning Plans (DLP), In Person Assessment, and Distance Learning - State Preschool Addendum – The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between FUSD and FUDTA remains in effect with the addition of the MOU's and addendum, to be enforced for the duration as outlined in the attached.

Approved the Adoption of Learning Loss Assessment System for Secondary and for the Spanish Immersion Program – A mandate of SB 98 is to track student learning loss. In order to do this, the Fremont USD LCP allocated funding for the purchase of assessment systems from outside vendors. Vendors were selected from a list provided by the California Department of Education's July 2020 memo "Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments" as well as from input from FUSD teachers on their experiences with evaluation systems. Instructional Services will utilize these assessments in order to help identify students needing intervention and also as a district wide measure.

Approved the Comprehensive Coordinating Early Intervening Services (CCEIS) Plan – In February of 2020, the California Department of Education determined that Fremont Unified School District is significantly disproportionate in the following areas:

• Identification of white students in the eligibility category of other health impairment (OHI)
• Identification of white students in the eligibility category of emotional disturbance (ED)
• Identification of Hispanic students in the eligibility category of specific learning disability (SLD)

As a result, the District is required to submit a CCEIS plan to address these three areas over a 27-month period with the goal of decreasing identification of students in these ethnic and eligibility categories. See presentation here.

Authorized Staff to Enter in an Agreement with Bay Area Community Health (Formerly Known as Tri-City Health Center) for the 2020-21 School Year – The District desires to continue to contract with Bay Area Community Health (formerly known as Tri-City Health Center) for a part-time Health Care Associate. Working with District and site administrators, the team will continue to focus their efforts on strengthening supports across the three tiers of prevention, early intervention and treatment, building the capacity of adults to address the social-emotional needs of students, strengthening behavioral health coordination and infrastructure, and linkages to primary care services and other health-related resources in the community. The contract is for August 1, 2020, through July 31, 2021.

Adopted the Fund 25 Capital Facilities Fund (Developer Fees) Annual and Five-Year Report for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2020 – The District's fee consultant, Koppel & Gruber, prepared the Annual and Five-Year Report based on information provided by District staff and in accordance with the statutory requirements of Government Code sections 66001 and 66006. The information and the statutory findings are set forth in the attached Report.

Adopted Resolution 022-2021 for the Conveyance of Easements to the Alameda County Water District (ACWD) – Pursuant to Section 17559 of the Education Code, District staff requests the Board adopt Resolution 022-2021, Resolution of Conveyance, which conveys the Easements to Alameda County Water District for utilities and right of way purposes.

See Video of entire meeting here 

The Board’s next Regular Meeting (virtual) is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6^th, 6:30pm (time subject to change)