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from the June 26, 2018 meeting
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Certificated Managers named
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In Closed Session, the Board approved Superintendent Cheryl Jordan's recommendation of three certificated managers. During Jordan's report in Open Session, she introduced and recognized the new Principal of Anthony Spangler Elementary School, Assistant Principal of Milpitas High School, and Interim Program Manager - Moderate-Severe and Autism Support, effective July 1, 2018. After they were each recognized, one at a time, they came forward to say a few words.
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Luis Lopez to become Spangler Principal
Lopez recently served as Assistant Principal at Thomas Russell Middle School where he has worked for five years after serving in the same capacity at Rancho Milpitas Middle School for a year. He has worked 18 years total in education, which he said has exposed him to many opportunities and role models that allowed him to witness and take on tasks that call for leadership. In Milpitas, specifically, he has worked as an ALMA Intervention Coordinator and Social Studies teacher.
"To the Russell learning community, the staff, I've been privileged to see some excellent teaching, and I'm truly going to miss them," he said. "But I must say, I am super excited about the staff, the families, especially the students that I'm about to meet very shortly."
Jordan said that during an interview, she posted paper up detailing thoughts previously shared by parents and staff about what they hope for the new Principal along with school challenges.
"And as he looked around, he said, 'I think I can fulfill this because I have a humanistic approach and I am very interested in creating a positive culture,'" she said.
She added that "he talked about how we can not reach our students until we care about them first. And in that same manner he is ready to care for our staff, parents, and, most of all, our students."
Lopez thanked a number of family members and mentors who have helped him along the way, but emphasized "his friend, his partner, his compadre" Damon James, Principal of Thomas Russell Middle School.
"He has truly shown what it means to be student centered, engaging families, listening to staff, really being present and being in the moment, and I thank you for that Damon," he said.
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Jonathan Mach will join MHS Assistant Principal team
With the addition of Mach's new position, this will be the fifth Assistant Principal at Milpitas High School, which serves approximately 3,214 students.
"I think that Mr. Mach is going to greatly complement our team of four Assistant Principals and our Principal Francis Rojas," Superintendent Jordan said.
Since 2014, Mach recently served as Associate Principal of Educational Development at Silver Creek High School, in East Side Union High School District, which has a student body of about 2,550 students. He worked his way up in the District, starting as a chemistry and physical science instructor at Andrew Hill High School from 2000 to 2012.
"I'm looking forward to meeting all the parents and students," he said. "...I'm really excited to see what we have in store.
Superintendent Jordan shared, "Mr. Mach is a person who demonstrated a sense of humility. He is a person who understands his own capacity for growth, and wants to give himself time to do that."
She added: "He is dedicated to building bridges with parents and students, and he wants to make sure that our team glows. And he wants to do everything he can to work with us in personalizing pathways and building capacity in others and breaking down institutional racism."
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Vanessa Espitia to fill Interim Program Manager - Moderate-Severe and Autism Support
With Program Manager Marissa Ciardella going out on childbearing leave for a year, Espitia was chosen to fill her role for the next year.
"We have with us a person who has not only been with us for seven years as a very dynamic role model, teacher of Special Education, particularly with our moderate to severe classes, which has students with the highest needs, and the smallest students with the highest needs," Jordan said, continuing, "she was also a student in Milpitas Unified, and her family has deep roots here in the community of Milpitas."
Espitia's grandparents moved to the area in the 1950s and her parents attended school here. Espitia attended Rose Elementary School, Rancho Milpitas Middle School, and Milpitas High School, and played basketball.
"So to come full circle like this is pretty much a dream," she said.
Jordan added that when she sat down with Espitia for an interview, she saw a different side of her she hadn't seen before.
"I saw a person that's made up her mind that she's ready to take the leadership skills we saw as a teacher leader and apply to them to the greater Milpitas Unified," Jordan said.
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Volunteers from Padres Unidos honored
for community engagement
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Superintendent Jordan and the Board of Education recognized
Padres Unidos, a volunteer group of parents that seeks to increase the involvement of all MUSD families in cultural celebration and developing a home academic culture. This dynamic and energetic team is made up of parent representatives of Child Development Centers, elementary and secondary levels, Calaveras Hills High School and Adult Education.
The group is led by Dr. Gerry Lopez, Coordinator II of Child Development Centers and Parent Engagement Coordinator, and was founded by Latino Liaison Norma Morales.
"These parents have grown in their own capacity to engage truly with school," Jordan said. "They demonstrate what true engagement is. Because when we're talking about parent engagement, we're not talking about just being involved in meetings and coming to events. Authentic parent engagement means that our parents are sharing with us what it is that they would like to see at our schools in support of our students, their children. So Padres Unidos is really a model for what authentic parent engagement is."
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Parent Engagement amping up across the school district with Assistant Principals
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Dr. Gerry Lopez, Coordinator II of Child Development Centers and Parent Engagement Coordinator, gave a
presentation about Parent Engagement Activities for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. He shared out programs that engaged families during that time, including the Elementary Olympics with 326 participants, celebration of learning with 160 participants, and Love for Literacy with up to 112 participants. There are many partnerships involved in the process, including County Health Agencies, Elmwood Correctional Facility through Adult Education and First 5.
There has also been online family engagement with parents participating in surveys, including 689 participants as part of the 2018 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Stakeholder input. In addition, Curtner parents participated in a survey as part of a parent engagement avenue, which Lopez said outlines the involvement at that site. Next year, Assistant Principals will be a part of the Parent/Family Engagement Plan.
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Zanker Elementary library to be modernized
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Joe Flatley, Director of Facilities Modernization, led a brief
presentation about the Zanker Elementary School library project, being funded through a $50,000 grant from Golden Altos. He credited former Principal Trisha Lee for being the driving force of the grant to modernize the library.
Flatley said the project design is complete, the project is currently bidding, and they are hoping for completion of phase one work by October 2018. Helping MUSD with the project is IBI Group, who did the learning center at Zanker and at the new elementary school, and Kitchell.
"If you walk into the library now, it would look like something from out of the '70s, '80s, and a little sprinkling of the '90s," Flatley said. "(Trisha's) goal was to bring it up to the level of the learning center at the site, kind of make it feel on the same lines."
Some of the phase one work that is currently happening is new flooring, painting of the walls and shelves, writable wall surfaces, and new lighting, if they can afford the latter. Phase two work would include light tubes and new windows and a door leading to the learning center, and is dependent on the Bond passing in November.
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District adopts 2018-19 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP)
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Norma Rodriguez, Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Development, explained that per California Education Code, Sections 52060-52077, The Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, is a critical part of California's new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). It is a three-year, district-level plan that is updated annually. Local Education Agencies (LEA’s) are required to engage all stakeholders in cycles of continuous improvement through the development and revision of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). This process consists of four steps:
1) Consult (review previous year’s plan with stakeholders to evaluate necessary changes)
2) Review (make necessary revisions)
3) Input (actively seek stakeholders’ input and make draft available for public comment and review before board approval)
4) Adopt (Board approval, followed by County approval)
The District LCAP Advisory Committee fulfilled its responsibility to engage in all the required steps for the LCAP Development and Revision Process. The Board formally adopted the 2018-2019 District Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
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Trustees approve 2018-19 proposed budget
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Wendy Zhang, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, explained that the Budget Study Session was completed on June 12, 2018 with the Board, District staff, and community members. The Budget Hearing was held that same evening during the Regular Board Meeting. No changes were made to the budget document afterward. Trustees adopted the 2018-19 proposed budget as presented.
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