Board Meeting Highlights: June 26, 2024 (Regular)

See the Meeting Agenda for a full listing of items considered and actions taken at this meeting.

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Board President Yajing Zhang was not present for this meeting and all votes are among the present trustees; Vice President Larry Sweeney presided over the meeting.

1.1 Recognition of Outgoing Superintendent

The Board of Education recognized and acknowledged Superintendent CJ Cammack's accomplishments while at Fremont Unified School District. This was Superintendent Cammack’s final meeting as superintendent; his final day with the District is June 30, 2024, and he will become superintendent of San Ramon Valley Unified School District as of July 1, 2024. A reception was held to thank Superintendent Cammack for his service, and wish him well in his future endeavors.

7.1 Report on Action taken in Closed Session

The Board unanimously approved the price and terms of payment for the Former Marshall School Site to Nuvera Construction.

The Board unanimously approved the appointment of the following staff for the 2024-25 school year:

• Angela Hsu, Interim Principal, Bringhurst Elementary
• Katharine Baird, Assistant Principal, Walters Middle School

8.1 Superintendent Report

Superintendent CJ Cammack noted his appreciation for the acknowledgement of him this evening, and noted it was an honor to serve Fremont Unified.

8.2 Student Member Report

Student Board Member Sriya Neti reported there were no notable events to share from sites.

16.1 Appointment of Superintendent of Schools and Approval of Employment Contract

The Board of Education unanimously approved the Contract Agreement and the appointment of Erik Burmeister as the new Superintendent of Fremont Unified School District.

Mr. Burmeister will begin on July 1, 2024.

16.2 Approve the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) for 2024-25

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was enacted as a component of the Budget Act for 2013-2014 school year under Assembly Bill 97. It eliminated the Revenue Limit funding and most of the State categorical funds and established the new funding formula that provides the same base grant to all school districts. Supplemental funding is provided to address the needs of eligible students. Eligible students include English Learners (EL), low income students, foster youth, and homeless youth.

The LCAP is a critical part of the LCFF. Each school district must engage parents, students, employees, and the community in the development of the plan. The plan is designed to describe the district's vision for students, annual goals and specific actions the district will take to achieve the vision and goals. The LCAP must focus on eight areas identified as state priorities over a three year period. The eight priorities include: Basic Services, Common Core Standards, Parental Involvement, Student Achievement, Student Engagement, School Climate, Course Access and other Student Outcomes.

Each district is required to hold two public meetings, the first is designed to receive feedback and the second public meeting is designated for adoption of the plan. On June 12, 2024, FUSD held a public hearing. There have not been any changes since it was last reviewed and approved by the Board of Education.

This evening we present the final LCAP for approval by the Board of Trustees. This new LCAP will mark year one of the new three-year cycle. This board item includes the full LCAP package: 2024/25 Budget Overview for Parents; 2023-24 LCAP Annual Update; the 2024/2025 LCAP; Instructions for the 24/25 LCAP; Required Actions Appendix.

After approval, the LCAP will then be submitted to the Alameda County Office of Education before June 28, 2024.

Fremont Unified School District utilized multiple strategies to engage all stakeholders in the process to give input into the priorities and goals of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). Members of the school community, parents, teachers, administrators, staff, students, and employee groups were invited to learn more about LCFF and LCAP and to participate in activities that would inform the planning process. We used a variety of strategies to gather input from students, staff, parents, and community, including surveys, area input session with the community and our Local Control and Accountability and Advisory Committee (LCAAC) which met throughout the 2023-24 school year.

Based on the themes, priorities, and stakeholder input, the 2024-2025 Local Control Accountability Plan increases and improves services to the unduplicated student groups: Homeless students, low income pupils; English Learners; and foster youth. The plan provides extensive supplemental materials to increase access to the core curriculum, increased direct teacher to student support through interventions, more time to access the curriculum through an extended day or year, targeted support for students who have skill gaps that need to be addressed, and social-emotional counseling for students in need of support.

The following four (4) over-arching goals have been identified to serve Fremont Unified’s targeted student subgroups:

1. Improve outcomes for unduplicated students by targeting resources to provide research based interventions that address the needs of students and identified areas of disproportionality.
2. Expand an effective Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to eliminate barriers to improve academic, behavioral, and emotional wellness outcomes for students.
3. Align P-12 systems to help increase post secondary preparation and attainment.
4. Enhance student, family and staff connectedness by fostering and supporting an inclusive school culture.

The Board unanimously approved the Local Control Accountability Plan for 2024-2025.

16.3 Approve the 2024-25 Proposed Budget

The District is projecting a General Fund beginning fund balance of $79.3 million. The projected revenues are $483.2 million and projected expenditures are $516.0 million. More expenditures than revenues creates a structural deficit of $32.8 million. Deficit spending reduces the fund balance from $79.3 million to $46.5 million ($23.8 million is Unrestricted and $22.7 million is Restricted).

The District's Reserve for Economic Uncertainties is 3.00% or $15.5 million and is budgeted under Fund 17 Special Reserve for Other Than Capital Outlay Projects.

The Other Funds including Adult Education, Child Development, Cafeteria, Construction Funds, etc. are all balanced and do not require contributions from the General Fund.

The District prepared a multi-year budget projection to determine if the District will be able to meet its financial commitments for the current and two (2) projected years.

The District will be able to meet its financial commitments for 2024-25 and two (2) succeeding years based on the assumption that FUSD will reduce expenditures by a minimum of $20.0 million in 2025-26.

The presentation, Proposed Budget Book for 2024-25 and Reserve Disclosure Certificate are attached as information items.

The Board unanimously approved the proposed budget for 2024-25 showing that Fremont Unified School District will be able to meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year and the subsequent two years.

16.5 School Resource Officer (SRO) End of Year Report

The Fremont Police Department and Fremont Unified School District have had a professional partnership since 1998. A School Resource Officer (SRO) was assigned to each of the six high schools and serves all schools and offices throughout the District. The mission of the SRO unit is to ensure a safe learning environment for students, teachers, and school administrators.

At the January 31, 2024 Board Meeting, Fremont Police Department provided the Board a mid-year report covering data and program developments from August 16, 2023 ( first day of school) through December 22, 2023 ( last day before winter break).

Fremont Police Department staff provided the Board of Education a final end of year report, regarding the SRO program. This is a non-voting item.

16.6 Receive the California School Dashboard Report on Local Indicators for Fremont Unified School District for 2023-24

California's school accountability system is based on multiple measures that assesses how local educational agencies and schools are meeting the needs of their students. As a component of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the California School Dashboard (Dashboard) reports performance on these measures. The Dashboard, with its ability to provide both district-wide data as well as results disaggregated by student group, is an essential tool that districts can use to to inform their annual review and development of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) for the intended purpose of improving student outcomes. The measures publicly reported on the Dashboard align to the eight priorities identified for districts within the LCFF and are broken down into two categories; State and Local Indicators.

The State Indicators are based on data that is collected consistently across the state from districts through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and authorized testing vendors. These indicators capture information on student academic achievement, English language acquisition, school attendance, suspension rates, graduation rates and college and career readiness.

State sourced data is not available for some priority areas identified in the LCFF statute. For these priority areas, the State Board of Education (SBE) approved the Local Indicators, which are based on information that a district collects. These Local Indicators are:

• Basic Services and Conditions
• Implementation of State Academic Standards
• Parent and Family Engagement
• School Climate
• Access to a Broad Course of Study

Districts use a SBE-adopted Local Indicators self-reflection tool to report its progress through the Dashboard. Provided a district satisfies the performance standards for each Local Indicator, the Dashboard will automatically assign a performance level of "Met." The Dashboard is updated annually, and performance on the Local Indicators, informed by the submission of this self-reflection tool, is predicted to be published on December 1, 2024 in conjunction with the release of State Indicator performance.

The Board accepted the information about the California School Dashboard Report on Local Indicators for Fremont Unified School District for 2023-24.

16.8 Approve Long-Range Facilities Plan Prioritized Project List

The Fremont Unified School District’s current Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP or Plan) was adopted by the Board of Education on January 29, 2014. The Plan identified approximately $1.6 billion in facility projects at that time.

On June 3, 2014, the voters of Fremont approved the $650 million Measure E general obligation bond initiative.

On October 28, 2020, the Board authorized staff to enter into an agreement with AE3 Partners (AE3) to assist the District with updating the 2014 Plan. This work includes a facilities assessment and condition report along with a prioritization of potential projects. AE3 suspended some of their work while schools and staff were geared toward reopening schools for August of 2021. Since that time, staff had worked with AE3 to move the plan along. District staff supported the Facilities Advisory Committee (FAC) in their effort to draft a set of goals and priorities for the final version of the Plan​, which is still in development.

On May 24, 2023, an update was provided to the Board on the​ work accomplished to date with focus areas for staff and the FAC on the​ Long Range Facilities Plan. At that meeting, the Board was provided with an update on ​AE3 data collection and​ draft formatting of school site-level information. District Staff from Facilities and Maintenance began visiting all of the school sites to verify that the work that is listed in the dataset from AE3 was properly assessed and verified. AE3 provided a draft school site summary to the Board. The FAC Chair provided the Board with a summary of FAC’s advisory input on the goals and priorities the FAC believes should be considered in the final LRFP.

On April 15, 2024, Staff and Cumming Group presented an update regarding the LRFP with information on changes to District needs since the 2014 LRFP, changes to DSA project approvals since 2014, proposed timeline & milestones, proposed timeline for a potential General Obligation Bond and the proposed vision for 2024 and beyond.

The Board provided staff with feedback and directed FAC to prioritize the project list to above the line and below the line of a potential $900 million mark with a focus on the first $600M considering several factors including but not limited to: TK and child nutrition, equity on the list of prioritization in terms of intended outcomes, contingency strategies, addressing future instruction through design and athletic facilities

On June 12, 2024, Staff presented an update on the Long-Range Facilities Plan after continued work on the LRFP and after meeting with the FAC and FAC LRFP subcommittees. The presentation addressed information requested by the Board and provided a draft project list and prioritization framework, both of which were approved by the FAC. The FAC also voted in support of the Board considering a future general obligation bond for November 2024.

The FUSD Prioritized Project List is now being presented for consideration of approval.

The Board unanimously approved the long-range facilities plan prioritized project list.

16.9 Establishing a Formal Process for Advisory Committees

The Board of Education recognizes the critical role that Advisory Committees play in advising and guiding the Board on various aspects of district operations and educational strategies. Historically, these committees have operated with varying degrees of structure and alignment with the Board’s strategic goals. To enhance the effectiveness and tangible outcomes of our Advisory Committees, it is proposed that a formal process be established. This process will serve two essential goals:

• Annually provide clear direction to the Advisory Committees regarding their scope of work.
• Establish a formal mechanism for committees to report their meeting results, recommendations, and advisory points to the Board in a timely manner.

Currently, Advisory Committees function with a general understanding of their roles and responsibilities, but without a standardized process for receiving annual direction from the Board or systematically reporting their findings and recommendations. This lack of formal structure can lead to misalignment with the Board’s strategic priorities and inconsistent communication.

This structured approach will foster greater coherence and synergy between the Board, staff, and community members. It will ensure that the efforts of the Advisory Committees are strategically aligned with the district’s goals, enhancing overall effectiveness and impact. By providing clear direction and facilitating regular communication, the Board will be better positioned to leverage the expertise and insights of the Advisory Committees, ultimately improving decision-making and educational outcomes.

It is recommended that the Board adopt the following process to enhance the integration and alignment of the Advisory Committees with the Board’s strategic priorities:

1. Annual Direction:
   • At the beginning of each school year, the Board will provide specific direction to each Advisory Committee. This will include defining the key focus areas, expected outcomes, and any particular areas the Board wishes the committees to address.
2. Meeting Updates:
   • Advisory Committees will provide meeting updates to the Board, such as meeting minutes, highlighting any recommendations, updates and progress towards the goals set by the Board.
3. Annual Presentations
   • At the Board's request, committee staff and chair will present to the Board annually. These presentations will offer an opportunity for more detailed updates and allow for direct dialogue between the committees and the Board.
4. Integration with Strategic Planning:
   • The Board will incorporate feedback from the Advisory Committees into its annual strategic planning process, ensuring that the committees’ work is aligned with the district’s overall strategic objectives.

Trustees requested staff input on issuing initial direction to Advisory Committees, based on the specific committee’s work to date and current goals.

The Board unanimously adopted the stated process to enhance the integration and alignment of the Advisory Committees with the Board’s strategic priorities.