Title
Approval of March 17, 2021 Minutes
Body
AUSD / City Council Subcommittee Meeting
Notes
3.17.2021
Start - 8:30am
Via - Zoom (recorded)
1 Call to Order/General Introduction
Councilmember Knox White - Chair
Councilmember Daysog (not present)
Vice President Jennifer Williams
Boardmember Heather Little
Staff present:
- Pasquale Scuderi, Superintendent
- Shariq Khan, AUSD COO
- Susan Davis, AUSD Senior Manager of Community Affairs (PIO)
- Jennifer Williams - AUSD VP of Board
- Heather Little - AUSD Board member
- Jodi McCarthy - AUSD Student Services Coordinator (mental health item)
- Lani Molina, AUSD Athletic Director
- Kirsten Zazo, AUSD Chief Student Support Officer
- Rob van Herk, AUSD Outgoing Technology Director
- Robyn Kondo, AUSD Incoming Technology Director
- Henry Mills, Student Board member at Alameda High
- Brian Lin, Student Board member at Encinal High
- William Lau - Student Board member at ASTI
- Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager
- Amy Woodridge, Recreation and Parks Director
- Randy Fenn, Interim Police Chief
- Gail Payne, Transportation Coordinator
è Brief introductions for subcommittee members
2 Oral Communication Non-Agenda (Public Comment)
Speakers may address the Subcommittee in regard to any matter over which
the Subcommittee has jurisdiction or of which it may take cognizance that is
not on the agenda
è None
3 City/School District Issues
3-A School Reopening Highlights & Overview [Alameda Unified School District (AUSD)]
a. COVID-19 Protocols for HS Sports
è Superintendent Scuderi gave brief update on reopening
o AUSD reopened on Monday
o Daily student screener is proving challenging, but is a helpful tool to the AUSD
o Asking families to test bi-weekly (not a one-time test)
o Working to reopen elementary and middle schools
o Working to reopen secondary schools
è Athletics, Lani Molina & Kristen Zazo
o Following State guidance on rules for sports restarting
§ Allow scrimmage
§ Football can restart
o Games will restart this week
o Orange- and Yellow-Tier sports will also be getting scheduled (i.e., basketball and volleyball)
3-B Shared Use of Pools (City & AUSD)
a. Particularly daytime use of Encinal High School Pool
b. Update on Status of Emma Hood Pool Construction Project
è Encinal High - Amy Wooldridge
o Director Wooldridge provided an update on the discussions between the City and AUSD regarding use of the pool
§ Issues that have come up: noise and safety
• City is funding consultants that are managed by AUSD to look into these issues
§ Joint Use Agreement will be updated when issues are addressed
o Vice President Jennifer Williams asked whether kids will be on campus during the day
o Director Wooldridge - yes
o Boardmember Little - is allowing public on campus is a newer concept
o Director Wooldridge - yes, newer; but, something the City has been interested in for some time
o Boardmember Little - will we require a negative COVID test result to use pool?
o Wooldridge - following County Health protocols, which does not require a test result
o Councilmember Knox White - is there agreement that we are moving forward?
o Boardmember Little - does the school need to use the pool during the day
o Wooldridge - details could be worked out during the agreement process
è Emma Hood - Amy Woodridge
o A year ago, City and AUSD completed a larger study and effort to look at options to rebuild pool
o Staff is prepared to move forward; however, no funding at this time
§ Infrastructure bond was considered, but didn’t proceed due to COVID
o Pool will be closed by County in May 2022
o Funding - total cost for new pool and facilities
§ Est. $25M
3-C Potential Collaboration - Native American History (City)
a. Develop a Joint Plan to Better Reflect History & Culture of Native Americans in
Alameda, CA and the US
è Councilmember Knox White
o Based on recent relationship building with Native American groups, there may be interest in community education (class and broader community)
o Question about whether there could be interest in an AUSD/City partnership related to community education regarding Native American history
§ Acknowledge that there are timing constraints
§ City staff would take the lead on developing ideas and a preliminary work plan for consideration by the AUSD/City Subcommittee
o Is there interest?
o Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi
§ Could work to make part of social studies program (makes sense for that content to be hyper-local)
§ Social studies audit is forthcoming; could be good timing to incorporate into curriculum standards
o Vicki Sedlack - Artists and artists of color were brought into the discussion about renaming (former) Jackson Park (Rhythmix and others may be willing to collaborate)
o Ryan Christifer LaLonde - Community member would like to be a part of this project; has plenty of experience working with Native American groups and topics
o Amy Wooldridge - Staff can make introductions between local Native American groups and AUSD staff for the curriculum work
o Boardmember Little - Supports Director Wooldridge’s suggestion to connect AUSD to the local Native American network
o Boardmember Williams is supportive of the concept
o Councilmember Knox White would like the City to focus on community possibilities and Superintendent Scuderi will focus on AUSD curriculum
3-D Teen Mental Health Program (AUSD)
a. Status Update
è Kale Jenks (AFS)
o Funding that CC had allocated to teen mental health two years ago
§ Program paid for 1 therapist for two high schools
o Funding ended in June 2020 (no funding since then; working with intern and other methods to try to address the need)
o Due to COVID
§ 2 therapists have been supporting students across the district (students covered by medical) because there is no way to be physically at one school at this time
o Year ahead will be challenging, as students return to school
§ Looking for ways to enhance the program (partnership with Alameda Education Services) to be able to hire a full-time therapist
o One full-time therapist may not be enough, so looking for more support for the year ahead
è Boardmember Williams - What can we do to see if additional funding can come from the City?
o Councilmember Knox White - Will consider during the City’s budget, but would like to see this identified as an ongoing cost (not one time)
è Boardmember Williams - We need better ways to help kids that don’t have MediCal coverage
è Boardmember Little - Federal Relief dollars can be used over a number of years; look at ways to use the next few years to solidify the mental health support system
o Consider other partners as well related to funding
è Boardmember Little - Could we use City funding from reimagining Alameda Police Department to fund this need?
è Councilmember John Knox White - City budget process is coming in May
3-E Partnership around Tech Access for AUSD students - Smart Cities Master Plan Project
è Gail Payne - Made a brief presentation/overview of the smart cities master plan
o Boardmember Little - is there a way to move this forward faster
o ACM Beaudin - earlier in COVID, we provided people with a link to lower cost internet; Citywide upgrades will take time
o Director Wooldridge - we had facilities ready to open, but would need to partner on communications (homework hubs) to raise awareness and utilization
3-F AUSD/City Subcommittee Meeting Frequency (All)
a. Next meeting date
è Councilmember Knox White - let’s set the date and stick with it, if that’s the desire of the subcommittee
o Boardmember Williams -- Third Wednesday, at 8:30am, every other month
§ Okay by Boardmember Little and Councilmember Knox White
• Acknowledged that Boardmember Daysog was not able to attend today
4 New Business
è Native American planning work (18-24 month process)
5 Adjournment
è 9:35am (Zoom meeting was recorded to cloud)