Title
Approval of the July 21, 2021 Minutes
Body
AUSD/City Council Subcommittee Meeting
Minutes
7/21/21
Start - 8:30am
Via - Zoom (recorded)
1 Call to Order/General Introduction
Heather Little, AUSD Board of Education, Trustee and Chair of Meeting
Jennifer Williams, AUSD Board of Education, Vice President
Tony Daysog, Councilmember (joined meeting at 8:50am)
John Knox White, Councilmember
Staff Present:
• Kerri Lonergan, Senior Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
• Shariq Khan, AUSD Chief Business Officer
• Susan Davis, AUSD Senior Manager of Community Affairs (PIO)
• Jodi McCarthy, AUSD Student Services Coordinator
• Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager, City of Alameda
• Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Officer, City of Alameda
• Amy Wooldridge, Director ARPD, City of Alameda
• Kale Jenks, Alameda Family Services
• Ryan LaLonde, Community Member
• Katy Babcock, Director, North Region SELPA (Special Education)
• Vicki Sedlack, Executive Director, Alameda Education Foundation
• John Jacobs, Bank of Marin
Brief Introductions for subcommittee members
Board Member Heather Little Chairing Meeting
2 Minutes
Voted to approve minutes from March 17, 2021 and May 19, 2021 Minutes
Motion: J. Knox White Second: J. Williams
Yes: J. Knox White, J. Williams, H. Little
No:
Absent: T. Daysog
3 Oral Communication Non-Agenda (Public Comment)
None
4 City/Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Issues
4-A School Reopening, Including Upcoming Vaccine Clinics
Ø Susan Davis, Senior Mng Community Affairs for AUSD, explained the new protocols from the State of California. Masks will be required indoors. Testing is not a requirement from the State, but we are still working on this issue. The State has modified the protocols and we would not be surprised if there are more changes in the next couple of week. AUSD will communicate with our families and staff about any new or changed protocols.
Ø AUSD has scheduled Vaccination Clinics on July 29th and August 21st and they are publicizing these events to let the community know about the clinics so that we can get higher numbers of our citizens vaccinated.
Ø Board Member Heather Little asked if there are different requirements for Elementary students considering they are not vaccinated. Susan Davis stated she participated in a Public Health call last week and there is no new information to share at this time regarding Elementary school aged students returning to school.
Public Comments:
Vicki Sedlack, Executive Director of Alameda Education Foundation, asked if there is any news about sports and what the requirements will be for athletes. Ms. Sedlack also stated if testing is required, people can test positive for up to 3 months after they have had COVID.
4-B Pool Discussions
Ø Amy Wooldridge stated we have an agreement to modify the facility at Encinal Pool so that community members can access the pool without being on the Encinal campus. The cost of this project should not be significant.
Ø Shariq Khan stated the pool programs in the day time should not generate any additional noise for neighbors.
Ø Amy Wooldridge stated once the facility modifications are finished, the MOU will come to City Council and School Board to be approved. The City is using Emma Hood right now. The City has been working with AUSD to safely open up Encinal pool during the day without impacting Encinal High.
4-C Mental Health Contract with Alameda Family Services
Ø Gerry Beaudin stated the City has worked with Katherine Schwartz and Kale Jenks from Alameda Family Services to come up with a scope of services that we expect to have in place by the time school opens in August.
Ø Jennifer Williams stated AUSD has awarded the $600k Mental Health Services contract to Alameda Family Services. Staff and Board members are just returning from vacation but will be meeting in the next two weeks to formalize the plan for Mental Health and Alameda Family Services.
City Council Member Tony Daysog joined the meeting at 8:50am.
4-D Native American History
Ø Amy Wooldridge informed the group on Thursday, July 29th we will have the Chochenyo Park Renaming ceremony at 6:30pm. The park is located at 2430 Park Avenue. Folks from the renaming committee and artists will attend, and there will be music and picnic dinners for the first 150 folks to enjoy after the ceremonial aspects of the event.
Ø Amy Wooldridge said a special “thank you” to Ryan LaLonde who has donated his time and effort to come up with signage, etc.
Ø Amy Wooldridge stated we will be having a meeting in the fall to discuss ways the city can partner with AUSD to get curriculum out to our students and families.
Ø Heather Little shared that she has talked to Ryan LaLonde at length about AUSD’s participation in getting curriculum out to students, and she plans on being at the event next week.
4-E Update on Council and Board Remote Meetings
Ø Gerry Beaudin gave the group a bit of background on the state of where we are with in-person meetings. An Executive Order provides that all City Council Members/Board Members and the public may participate in meetings virtually which differs from provisions of the Brown Act in place prior to the Pandemic. The provision allowing the suspension of some portions of the Brown Act expires on Sept. 30, 2021. Mr. Beaudin stated it is a shared goal of all to have our public be able to access meetings remotely.
Ø The group talked about the possibilities of having a “hybrid” meeting where Elected Officials would be in person with community members participating at home through an online format, such as Zoom. The hybrid meeting in City Council Chambers is very difficult because the technology is just not there.
Ø Heather Little asked if the City was looking at technology to be able to hold hybrid meetings. Gerry Beaudin explained the City is interested in exploring a hybrid option for meetings. As of today, City Council is remote through September with the plan to be in person in October. If the Governor extends the order, the City will take that under advisement and will work with council in August to define what City Council/School Board meetings would look like.
Ø Jennifer Williams stated she fully supports a hybrid meeting format, and she is following bills in the Assembly that would allow this format to happen. Ms. Williams explained she believes the hybrid option increases public participation.
Public Comments:
John Jacobs, Community Member: Mr. Jacobs asked both agencies to include any Zoom links for meetings on the actual meeting agenda.
Katy Babcock, Director, North Region SELPA: Ms. Babcock stated the new meeting formats are a hot topic within her group of Special Education leaders across Alameda County. Ms. Babcock asked if there is there any interest in advocating to the Governor to get an amendment to extend or make permanent the remote meeting option? In the SELPA state organization there is a common interest in continuing the access that remote meetings provide.
4-F AC Transit Service Enhancements
Ø Gail Payne from the City of Alameda stated AC Transit has done a great job of being nimble during the pandemic. Ms. Payne stated we will have a cross town route that will go between the new ferry terminal to Fruitvale BART. Ms. Payne further explained another enhancement is how students can get on and off the bus: the City has partnered to have an affordable bus pass program for low income students. This has been in place for several years. Ms. Payne explained the program is now opened up to Wood and Encinal students. Ms. Payne stated she invited AUSD’s Communications Manager to a meeting next week to create promotional materials to advertise this.
Ø Jennifer Williams stated she would love to see a free program for all youth in Alameda, as it is in San Francisco. Ms. Williams stated she would love to see this city-wide for our youth in Alameda.
Ø Tony Daysog stated he thinks the point Jennifer Williams brought up is very important because to do this City-wide would mean students would not be identified as being from a low-income family in order to participate. Mr. Daysog said to do this for all students as mentioned by Jennifer Williams takes away the stigma for students.
Ø Heather Little stated she agrees with Board Member Williams and Council Member Daysog, the option to have a bus transit system that is Island-wide would be wonderful. Ms. Little stated getting across the island can be difficult and expensive for students. Ms. Little stated she would like to offer her help in thinking of solutions that may be outside the box.
Ø Gail Payne stated one thing the City is hearing is that the community does not want to use this Measure BB funds for people who can afford their own bus pass. Ms. Payne stated this is one perspective City staff are hearing.
Ø John Knox White stated AUSD can help by making sure families’ sign up for free and reduced lunch. This will help get Clipper Cards in the hands of students who need them.
5 New Business:
There was no new business discussed.
6 Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned by Heather Little at 9:12am (Zoom meeting was recorded to cloud)