School board candidate forum: report and searchable transcript

Room / unidentified voice · Opening

testing not ready. Here we are. Hey, good evening.

Jeannie Jensen (ACTA president) · Opening

Hey Dylan, welcome. Hello and welcome to the Amador County Teachers Association, ACTA and Special Educators of Amador County SEAC Board of Trustees Candidate Forum. I am ACTA President Jeannie Jensen

Michaelynn Angie Lucas (SEAC president) · Opening

And I am SEAC President Michaelynn Angie Lucas. In case of an emergency, there's an exit in the back there and there and an exit on the side.

Forum moderators (ACTA / SEAC) · Opening

Very well done, except those are not exits as you can read. I actually tried them. They are not exits. All right. Um in uh district one, um tonight we will be hearing from candidates from district 1, Shane Crowe and Keith Lynch. Thank you. and district two, Patricia and JJ and Ronnie Jean Gold. [cheering] While last night's vote was emotional, all candidates are encouraged to remain on topic and avoid speaking in a way that inflames emotions. This is an opportunity to let the community know more about yourself and not a setting for politicking.

This is how the event will proceed. Each candidate will be given three minutes to respond to each question with all people answering. They were given the questions on Monday. However, there may or be clarifying questions based on responses. All candidates will response to cl respond to clarifying questions. Before we begin, we ask that you check your cell phones, turn them off, and we ask that our candidates place their cell phones on the front of the table. We're going to possibly suggest that happens at the board meetings, too.

But right now, we're going to try to start with this here. Please hold your applause until the event is over. For future forums, the ACT team has chosen to implement the following change. Whoa, it's stuck. Can I borrow yours? There we go. Candidates will be given the topics rather than the questions before the event. We wanted that stated publicly. So, let's begin. Michaelynn, do you want to meet me over there? We'll be working over there.

Forum moderator · Introductions

All right. Um, starting with Shane Crowe, please introduce yourself. Tell us about your role in the community and what experiences and strengths qualify you to serve the Amador County Unified School District board. Can you hear me good?

Shane Crowe · Introductions

Yeah. So, uh, my name is Shane Crowe. I am the current, uh, district 1 trustee. Um, I have lived in Amador County since 2001. Uh, I have two children that are currently at in the elementary school system and I have a a daughter that graduated several years ago. Um, my wife, Sarah Crowe, she's a respected special ed teacher um, in at Jackson Elementary. Um, one um, one of my on my background, uh, I grew up in South Dakota. Um, never thought I'd live in California until I moved to Jackson and this is, uh, basically, uh, second place I've lived the longest.

Um, my background is I'm a civil engineer. I've been a licensed engineer for, uh, several for 20 years, and I, um, have over 35 years experience in construction. Um, I've worked as a project manager, uh, civil senior civil engineer, um, public works director, um, one of the, uh, some of the projects I've worked on, uh, range from several hundred,000 to over $20 million, um, in costs. um the $20 million uh project that I had originally the budget was for 23 million and because of my management I've been able I was able to uh cut $3 million off of the budget and and uh create a savings for the project.

Um, as far as my uh community, I've uh been a basketball coach at Argonaut uh uh high school uh back in 2015 16 and uh with that I was able to develop uh more relations with uh with our student athletes as well as the families and gives me more of an insight on you know what what the students uh face. Um, one one of my priorities as uh a D1 u u candidate is to maximize the educational opportunities for our students. And you know, yesterday was the consolidation vote and uh since I was first elected four years ago, that had always been the one of the main topics of discussion.

And I I don't think there was a day that went by between uh back then to now where I didn't hear or uh discuss consolidation with someone in the community. Um as far as my abilities, I think one of one of the things that makes me uh a good candidate to for reelection is that I am able to uh separate the emotion from some of our decisions that we have to make. they're uh a lot of the decisions that the board makes, they're not easy and we know that impacts a lot of our students and a lot of our families.

And so I think it's important to look at the data and look at uh you know information that's been provided. I've I've been uh the last few months I've been trying to provide uh information that the board has received and uh post that publicly and allow that to uh be commented on and you know I would provide feedback.

Forum moderator · Introductions (approximate time within caption cue)

That's your three minutes. Thank you.

Shane Crowe · Introductions (approximate time within caption cue)

That's my three minutes?

Forum moderator · Introductions

Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Keith Lynch · Introductions (approximate time within caption cue)

Oh yes, we're on a time limit?

Forum moderator · Introductions (approximate time within caption cue)

Mr. Lynch.

Keith Lynch · Introductions (approximate time within caption cue)

Uh, my name is Keith Lynch. I've lived in Amador County for 40 years. Uh been married to my wife for 30, owned a business in Jackson for 21 years. I have three wonderful kids. What makes me qualified for this job is what you see is what you get. There is there is no what you see is what you get. I'm I'm honest with you. I'm trustworthy. I'm easy to talk to. When when I commit to something, I commit to something 100%. You can ask anybody that knows me.

It doesn't matter what I do. If it's a baseball field, I'm going build it. If it's a car, I'll paint it. If it's a car, I'll fix it. If it's a business, I'll run it. If it's accountability, I I make people around me accountable. Uh I take responsibility for my actions. is if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I even do it with my kids. I'll tell my kids, if I'm chewing you out, stop me and tell me your side of the story that I'm wrong and I'll listen to you, but you better be right.

You better be respectful. And and that happens a lot of times. I'm I'm I'm chewing Hunter out and he's like, "Wait a minute. You don't see it this way. This is what I got." And I'm like, "All right, you're right. I I'm sorry." So So basically what you get is you get Keith Lynch, a community member. I've I've everybody knows I've coached your baseball kids. I've I've mentored your kids. Um I have a unique way to coming from a broken home. I have a unique way to figure out a kid.

And and the reason I'm doing this is is for the kids. I'm doing it I'm doing it to help the teachers help the kids. I want to improve the facilities. I don't I don't like what I see. I think there's a huge disconnect between district one and and and the representative now and I'm here to bridge that gap. I'm here for the people and I'm here for the kids.

Forum moderator / audience · Introductions

Thank you. [applause] Thank you, Patricia.

Patricia Angeja · Introductions

Good evening, everyone. Uh, my name is Patricia Angeja and I'm running to represent district 2, the Ione-Camanche area as school board trustee. I am grateful to the teachers unions for hosting this event to help better inform voters. I grew up very differently to how I'm raising my two kids. I grew up in poverty in an abusive home environment by a single mother. Both of my parents had substance abuse issues and unadressed mental health problems. I attended Head Start, received free school lunch, used food pantries, and had lots of financial assistance to be able to participate in things like field trips, clarinet lessons, and even AP exams.

My mother kicked me out during my senior year of high school, so I had to navigate that and still managed to attend university and obtain my bachelor's degree in mathematics. I am incredibly grateful to all of the amazing teachers and school staff who have helped who helped me keep going when it would have been so much easier to give up. School was my safe space and I want to make sure that it remains that for students who are currently growing up in similar situations to my own childhood.

I want to share with you a quote that has stuck with me since sophomore year English. It comes from the book The Color of Water by James McBride. They believed money without knowledge was worthless. That education was the way to climb out of poverty in America. And now I have done just that. I climbed out of poverty, broke many unhealthy fam familial cycles, and I'm able to give my children all the love, support, and opportunities I never had. I have had a career in various sectors doing financial analysis for over a decade, which has help which has proven useful already.

when I speak at on district finances at schoolboard meetings and I don't intend to stop doing that independent analysis to address our district's budget issues. My full-time job is very flexible so I have and will continue to be able to do this work as well as volunteer in the schools and for various organizations in our community. I am the treasurer for Amador's Heart of Gold, which is a uh nonprofit that supports Amador County families experiencing childhood cancer. I care very deeply about our small county, the wonderful people who call it home, and most importantly, our youth and their opportunities.

I'm excited to help serve our community in this capacity as schoolboard trustee, and I hope I have that opportunity. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Introductions

Thank you, Ronnie.

Ronnie Jean Gold · Introductions

Hello, my name is Ronnie Gold. Um, I was not born here, but I was raised here. I moved to Sutter Creek with my four siblings here when I was about 5 years old, and I attended Sutter Creek Primary, Sutter Creek Elementary, Ione Junior High, and I graduated from Amodore High School in 2011. My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad did hardwood floors for a living. And when I was around 13 years old, my mom decided to open up her own restaurant and diner in Ione, where I began working at the age of 13.

And a strong work ethic was instilled into me. Or maybe it's just the genetics that I was gifted with. Being exposed to the restaurant industry at such a young age made me fall in love with a fast-paced environment, building relationships with customers, and created a space for me to build a foundation with the citizens of Ione, which makes today feel like a full circle moment. Today, I currently own and operate my own business in Ione. I opened up my own bakery back in 2021 where I made a living off of basically selling loaves of bread and cookies.

I was a onewoman show back then and just recently I expanded my operations and I now am in charge of employees and I have shifted into more of a leadership role. I believe that owning my own business will translate over into being a trustee because I have acquired and gained knowledge of balancing budgets, making sure bills and employees get paid, marketing myself, marketing my products, making cuts when necessary. Um, you can ask my staff. I try to maintain a positive energy during stressful times, and I'm resilient during high stress situations.

I've tried to stay an active community member and some of the things I do in order to achieve this are coach my kids sports teams. I volunteer for our local 4 group. I attend various schoolboard meetings and city council meetings and I try to attend events throughout the county. I'm a big advocate for giving back to our community and I do so by trying to sponsor youth teams, donate to our school, donate to community events, and to families during hard times. I'm only able to pour into my community because my poor my community pours into me.

I have quickly learned that serving others gives me a purpose and that's exactly why I have chosen to run for school board. Aside from the many hats that I wear in the community, my most important hat that I wear is mom. My why in life, like many of you here, is my kids. They're the reason I started attending schoolboard meetings. And I wanted to ensure that I was advocating for them to be their voice, to set an example of how to use that voice and to fight for what you believe in.

My kids have seen firsthand what this looks like at the many unfortunately schoolboard meetings that they've been drugged to. They've attended just as many as I have over the years. And I hope that they're going to be able to see what it looks like to be a part of the solution and not just complain about the problems. Thank you all.

Forum moderator · Consolidation and students

Second question, we're going to begin this with Mr. Lynch. So, at a recent district's board meeting, one student board member reminded every one of us that while many Amador County community members have strong feelings and opinions on the district's current consolidation plan, the purpose of public education is after all meant to focus on the students. How do you envision balancing the potentially competing desires of the voting district you represent and the educational opportunities available to all students across Amodore County?

Keith Lynch · Consolidation and students

Well, first of all, the only reason I'm doing this is for the students. I have no other motives whatsoever. I'm doing this for the teachers. The students improve the facilities. The way we take care of the students is by giving the teachers the resources they need to teach. It's just like how I give my mechanics the great the the the tools to do the job. I I think you got to keep morale up with with your teachers and your workforce [snorts] and create a good work environment. Start you got to fix up the facilities.

The teachers got to walk into the classroom and there's got to be new paint. You got to have pride in where you're at. [snorts] This is honestly the responsibility that I believe that I'm signing up for and I'm willing to do it. I'm not here to become a politician. I'm not polished at this what I'm doing right up here right now. But the first part of the question, I believe you're referring to the student that said we the kids want want consolidation. All the kids want consolidation. The only thing I can refer that to is my kid at 16, Hunter, has came to me a lot of times and told me a lot of things that he wanted.

And I and I I kind of laugh. Sometimes my wife will say, "Nah, this is what he wants. This is what he needs." But I will tell you at 18 years old, Hunter calls me now and he's like, "Maybe your life ex maybe you were right, Dad." So sometimes I don't think the kids get I believe the kids probably want consolidation in a way, but they this plan of consolidation is not it doesn't it's it lacks it lacks intelligence and it lacks a fiscal responsibility. It it it costs too much for not we don't get anything for it.

The second part of the question I I believe your questions are like two-part questions. I wish they were easy one part questions, but the disconnect. [snorts] I believe and understand the voice of Amador County. If I'm wrong on this, I I will congratulate Mr. Crowe on his on his win and I'll support him. But I truly believe that the county I I mean, you could look at everything. Ione says no. Jackson says no. ACTC has problems. Sutter Creek wrote a beautiful letter that says, "No, none of it.

It doesn't add up. Th this plan does not add up. It wastes money." And I and I believe there's a huge disconnect between District One and and Mr. Crowe. I'm not being mean to him, but I truly believe that everybody believes what an overwhelming amount of people believe that this consolidation plan does not make sense.

Forum moderator / brief exchange · Consolidation and students

Thank you. All right. Yeah. Good job. Now, we started with you and we're actually going to go the other direction in order to give people a chance to breathe a little. But I watched that I watched that on uh I was sitting in the middle and I was hoping I would never get the first question because if [laughter] you watch the city of Jackson, their council debate there. Yeah. The end guys got it. I thought I was I thought I was doing good here in the second. [laughter] Sorry to trick you.

It was and I didn't know we had a threeminut timer. Yes. Yes. Mr. Crowe, we'll adapt and get better. [laughter] Will you please respond to that question? If you need it repeated, I will glad to. Yeah. Could could you repeat it? Just I could. Yes. Here we are. At a recent district board meeting, one student board member reminded every one of us that while many Amador County community members have strong feelings and opinions on the district's current consolidation plan, the purpose of public education is after all meant to focus on students.

How do you envision balancing the potentially competing desires of the voting district you represent and the educational opportunities available to all students across Amodore County?

Shane Crowe · Consolidation and students

Well, I you know, using an analogy that uh one of our coaches had made, I believe he said his uh his brain tells him that yes, we should we should consolidate. Everything points to consolidate, but his heart's telling him that uh he he doesn't want to change, and he he likes what uh what they have going on. My my uh little twist on that is my heart tells me I could have just said, "Yeah, let's leave everything as is. Let's let's let's accept the fact that uh you know, we might have opportunities to improve our opportunities for our to maximize our education opportunities for our students.

But, you know, my life would be easier if if [clears throat] I just went with the crowd, if I went with the loudest." Um, being a board member, you can't always go with what the popular opinion is, and I really don't think that it is a majority of opinion. I've I've heard feedback from those that are for consolidation and just as many as the ones that are against consolidation. So, I I do not think it's a majority. Um, you know, my like I said, I could have made made my life easy the last few months if I just said, "Yeah, let's let's not let's not do anything.

Let's leave everything as is. Let's struggle financially for for our teachers. Um, you know, the let's let's let the teachers take the brunt of the uh of the insurance premiums that are continually rising. Um, but you know, my brain says we can do better. We we have the opportunity to to help our students. We have the opportunity to to make it better for them. We have the opportunity to make students um access have teachers, veteran teachers accessible to all students. Um we have the opportunity to to combine funding for programs so that we have an even greater ability to impact our students education.

Um, and you know, I'm not the only one that uh is was concerned about consolidation that uh the FCMAT report references that that stalled consolidation is one of the reasons that the district was face facing financial difficulties and that we are at risk. And no one has said that the state's going to take over. And I' I've seen those rumors made that that wasn't anything that was said at the board. it was saying that we're at risk if we do not address the issues that that were outlined in the report.

Um we've we have declining enrollment, we have aging facilities. Um you know, I I recall someone had said they they would support a bond if we could just fix both schools. Fixing both schools at at the capacity we're at, that is not efficient. And um I know it's difficult. I know it's emotional. And thank you.

Forum moderator · Consolidation and students

Thank you, Ron. Ronnie Gold, can I go? Ronnie Jean, that's right.

Ronnie Jean Gold · Consolidation and students

Thank you. [laughter] Okay. Um, this is kind of a loaded question after last night. Um, the way this question is set up almost eludes that there is some districts in the county that have certain desires that will somehow take away from the educational opportunities from all students across Amodore County. This is something that I don't necessarily agree with because I believe that there there is a misconception out there that by consolidating we will have more educational opportunities. There's been plenty of presentations from the district that say we can do this, we can offer this, there will be more CTE classes, but no one has been able to physically show me what that will look like and put a master schedule together to actually show me what it's look going to be.

And that's where I struggle with this and this question. I thought consolidation was about bringing the community and the students together. And the wording of this question alone comes with insinuations that my voters and my constituents go against what's best for all students. And that's not what I believe. I'll agree with the student board member that all decisions I make should focus on students. But when I'm having parents come to me with concerns about consolidation, the focus is always on their kids and on the students. I think we are on the same page that we should be listening to the students.

I've been to many meetings over the years. I've listened to student board members give their opinions and give their feelings and I've seen it from both sides. Ryan Billingsley was also a board member who said he was going to stand with his constituents at Argonaut High School and they were not for this at that time. That was a different plan back then, a better plan. And I do understand that students are allowed to have their own opinions. I envision my job as a trustee is to make sure that those concerns are listened to and brought forth from my constituents.

If an idea and plan is truly what's best for the students, we should be able to show every town in the district that it's best, not just tell them to get on board. That's all I have.

Forum moderator · Consolidation and students

Thank you so much, [applause] Patricia.

Patricia Angeja · Consolidation and students

Um, while I understand uh trustees represent the constituents in their representative uh districts, they make decisions that impact all students throughout the entire county. I believe this should be the primary consideration when deciding on those issues of board of education overseas. I would lean on my neighbors in Ione and Camanche to represent their interests to the best of my ability. Since I already attend various agency meetings throughout the county, I would connect with members of the public before and after those meetings. Say an Ione City Council meeting.

I go early and I stay after. And the amount of great conversations I've had after those meetings have been very valuable. Um although I understand uh wanting to please every constituent that is near impossible I have learned. So I would bridge the divide by reemphasizing the one thing that I know to be 100% true. We all want what is best for our kids. That's all I have.

Forum moderator / brief exchange · Facilities and spending

Thank you. I I thank you Mr. uh Lynch for bringing up something that we wanted to talk about. So, facilities, I have a facilities follow-up question I'm prepared for. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. Is this for me? For everyone. Remember, if I'm ask a question of one, I ask it of everyone. I'm starting it though. You don't have to. I don't care. All right. Thank you. So, let me let me ask. I'm just That's what I'm just asking you. Yes. Actually, it would be good if you started because it's you're it's a topic you fel feel about.

So, let's start with you then. Many of our aging school facilities are suffering from deferred maintenance, raising the district's financial stakes even higher. Consolidation is touted to be a major step in cost savings, particularly addressing the facilities issue. Please explain how you plan to address the facilities issues currently experienced by the district. I don't see this as a gotcha. I think this is in your heart. Just to be clear, you're you're you're Can you say that one more time? We're asking how um you plan to address the facilities issues that are currently facing our district.

Keith Lynch · Facilities and spending

Do you have a $66 million budget? I say you cut 5%. You figure out how to cut 5%. That's $3.5 million. I by consolidating this high school right here and bringing two portables over and spending about a million bucks just on this high school alone. That doesn't do anything to this facility. That brings a portable from Jackson Junior High over or two of them. And it changes our PE clothes and the name of the school. I don't I don't think we need to change the color of the school, the name of the school or anything.

Even if we do consolidate, that makes zero sense to me. it. Why isn't it amateur high school still? Yeah, because that'll hurt the feelings of Argonaut. Their feelings are hurt already. They're pissed. So, there's that. You You spent $5 million on studies and we got nothing. We got zero. You You've wasted the money. That could have went to a roof. That could have went to whatever you want to do. That could have went to a baseball field. That's what I'd like it to go to. But I'm the baseball guy.

You know what I mean? I I would like it to go to band. I I I I support all the kids all over. I I understand all the kids can't play baseball. All the kids can't play football. I'd like to see a better band. I'd like to see a cafeteria at Argonaut that fits all the kids when it rains because we talked about the kids that we talked about the kids yesterday in the board meeting. The the cafeteria guy did. Don't know his name, but he says, "Oh, they go outside and eat." What about the day it rains?

Hunter told me that when the rains at Argonaut, we can't fit all the kids in the cafeteria. I I don't know. It doesn't seem like good planning. So, how are we going to fit them now when we go from 550 to 900? Well, I don't like it when it rains either. I told my wife last night I didn't want rain cuz I got some RVs to work on. I you you need to manage your money. Bottom line, there's a lot of money sitting at an administrative office. There's like 1.5 million.

I'm I'm trying to figure the administrative office out. I'm just a single guy here trying to figure this out, but I'm gonna figure it out. There's like $1.5 million in payroll a year there. I don't to manage 10 schools that already have managers at them with vice managers. And I don't there there's places we can cut. And if we were in receiverhip and the state takes over, that's the first place they're going to look. So you have to manage your money and quit wasting money. and we had the money.

He's going to say that there was it's only 3.4 million. Fine, we can argue over a loan that was made and and the interest on that. The money still exchanged hands. It's 5 million, but at least they came out and after two weeks of me asking and and challenging them with the 5 million. They came up with 3.4. I'm still not okay with 3.4. We don't have What do we have to show for it? Some studies? And we're still doing more traffic studies. I can guarantee you that when you pull out on the autobond tonight leaving, it's not a great intersection.

The intersection at Argonaut at John's pit stop is not a very good intersection. Thank you. Thank you.

Forum moderator / audience · Facilities and spending

You got the gist of it. Great. Thank you, [applause] Patricia. Actually, we're going to go with you next.

Patricia Angeja · Facilities and spending

That's fine. Um, so this is a great question. And this is exactly why I started attending schoolboard meetings in person was um facilities. I, you know, volunteer regularly at Ione Elementary School. That is the one school that is talked about the most when it comes to facilities and how deteriorated they've become over decades. Um, one of my friends in the community who went to those schools says that it hasn't changed since he went to school, you know, 20 years ago. Um that's unacceptable. Absolutely. My kids are in those schools.

Um and it's just it needs to be prioritized. I know many a board meeting I've gone to were spending, you know, 10,000 here, 15,000 here, and individually it doesn't look like a big expense, but when it's all put together at the end of the day, as Mr. Lynch said, that could be a roof. That could be I mean, look at the room we're in right now. Look at the ceiling. I mean, I just I'm okay with this room. You're okay with this room. I want better. Okay. I I will fight for better.

Um and that comes from different approaches. Um, I during this campaign season, I started advocating with um both representatives that are already in office and those that are hoping to become in office um at the local, state, federal level um to say we need more funding. That doesn't necessarily mean more taxes. It just means a reallocation of the taxes we already pay and prioritizing education and facilities. both of those facilities that we should be proud not just for our students but our teachers to be in. Who's going to want to come to work every day, you know, in somewhere where the roof is leaking, where there's fleas, where there's a room called the Batcave, you know, it's absolutely unacceptable.

And I honestly think it's an OSHA violation, multiple. Um, I think that combined with rebudgeting ourselves as a district level is important and wise to do. Um, and prioritizing facilities above everything until we're at a level where it's, you know, not so dire. And then of course once we're hopefully not in this horrible inflation, um maybe reaching out to our communities for a bond because right now everyone is in a pinch. I don't want to ask our communities for more when they already give so much. Um I think it's really about a shift of reallocating and redistributing funds to where the real areas of need are.

Thank you. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Facilities and spending

Mrs. Gold.

Ronnie Jean Gold · Facilities and spending

Hello again. Um, again another loaded question because is it for the current facilities right now is the way they are or our consolidated facilities because as we consolidate we're going to save $2 million that I guess can go towards facilities little pennies at a year that hopefully can help with those facilities. that I think the best way to gain more money for our facilities and help. The last time you guys went out for a bond, it wasn't connected to consolidation. Um, but to many of the community members, it was.

And I do believe that's why it didn't pass. And I don't want this to come off harsh. But last bond, it felt very I don't want to say the word threatening, but it was very much like if you don't pass this bond, we're going to do it anyways. We're going to find the finances to make this happen for consolidation. And I don't want I don't want to say use reverse psychology or reverse threatening, but I fel I feel like if you would have approached the community and given them an option and said, "Hey, if you guys do not pass this next bond, we have to consolidate and forced the community to put their money where their mouth is.

for voters like me and a lot of people I know that voted no against that last bond because it was tied to consolidation. It would force the hands to vote for money to finally be able to have a bond passed. I know we haven't had one passed in decades. I have older siblings and I think maybe one got passed when they were No. My mom's shaking her head. No. [laughter] Okay. Apparently not. Um, but I know that sounds harsh, but I do think that there's a divide in the community and in order to get that done because the people that voted for the bond last time believe that they will vote for a bond no matter what because it is towards the students, which is awesome.

But for other communities that are losing a primary campus, it's go it's harsh and it's hard to ask me to give over money when a lot of students in my area are going to be at a disadvantage because of this new plan. I also believe that when citizens and constituents come to you with ideas that are out of the norm, and I when I say out of the norm, when one other district in the entire state has done something and brought forth a citizens initiative bond and community members are sticking their own money and their own necks out on the line and they approach you and bring you a pretty good plan and they're going to pay for it and try and get something like that done.

give them the time and the opportunity knowing that we are a district that has never passed a bond and has no chance of passing a bond. At least let us try to do something like that. Um instead

Forum moderator / brief exchange · Facilities and spending

when you are met it's time I would like to make a motion for more time. [laughter] I second. And Mr. Crowe, please. Thank you.

Shane Crowe · Facilities and spending

So the the way to address our facil Well, let me first uh step back. Um Mr. Lynch has used 5 million 3.5. He's gone back and forth. It is 3.5 closer to 3.5. Um it it uh has been shared publicly and uh we'll just leave it at that. Um part of the reason we're doing consolidation is to address our facilities. And big picture where a consolidation would lower the cost for administrators because you would have less sites to manage. Um it would it would it would provide funding to to address the facilities.

I have spearheaded the focus on maintenance uh at the district. Um, I have continually asked uh our uh uh facilities uh uh manager uh Joe Cruz on updates on status reports and making sure that when we have work orders that those are are clearly defined on when they were made, what the outcome was, when the estimated uh schedule was, what what the estimated budget was, what the final costs were. And I think that's that would that's going to improve with consolidation and again I know that it it's a emotional uh subject and I I feel that sometimes people get so focused on the building and the name and the the colors that are used at the high school which one's going to be selected that we everyone forgets the whole purpose of schools is to provide an education for our kids.

Um, I I I really think that with consolidation we will have the funds to make those improvements. Um, I I wish I wish the bond in 2018 would have passed. We wouldn't probably wouldn't be doing consolidation right now and it it didn't. And so that's that's what uh pushed for the 2022 bond. Um, that one didn't pass. Um, I think most board members feel that uh any kind of bond measure is going to be very difficult. And I look at I look at our consolidation vote last night.

I look at as two phases. Phase one is we're bringing the community together. We're bringing the schools together um make be becoming more efficient. And then phase two is finding a way to find funding so that we could build that new school at Argonaut or at a neutral site uh behind Lowe's or by Independence High School where you know whatever is decided. But you know facilities are a major part of this. Um we always have to do upgrades. There's always building codes um that we always have to address.

the uh chopping 5% off the budget right now. That's not something you're going to do overnight. Thank you, Mr. Crowe.

Forum moderator · Employee healthcare and cost of living

All right. So, starting with Patricia and then moving backwards. We're kind we're keeping track. I like this. Uh what is your position on the financial pressures faced by school employees with rising costs in health care and basic goods and services and the squeeze on family budgets due to inflation?

Patricia Angeja · Employee healthcare and cost of living

Um so I definitely empathize with school employees financial strains um as my family has been experiencing them as well. Um my husband and I are both public sector employees. Also, many families throughout the county, state, and nation are feeling inflation's impacts as well. As trustee with my career background in finance, I will continue watching district spending like a hawk. And actually, my uh nickname at work is Eagle Eye, so that's fitting. Um, I will work to find more areas we can cut back to be able to try and support our school staff, especially in hard financial times such as this.

I will continue to do this work I have started already with local, state, and federal government representatives to prioritize employee pay and benefits so we can retain our quality educators and classified staff. Um, I appreciate the current boards and cabinet's efforts in advocating for more affordable health care plans at the CalPERS board meeting in Sacramento. I will join in this work to expand the number of plans available, their affordability, and improve access to local providers such as Sutter Health. Decisions are made by those who show up and I have I have and I will continue to show up and our students, schools, staff, and community are my partners.

Just look at how different school board meetings are just from a year ago. While I don't claim all of the credit, I like to think my nagging has been part of the reason about why financials are now presented in the way they are. I kept bothering Mr. Norton and the district leaders to uh provide a year-to-ate summary of vendor totals, and guess what? We have that. I've seen that. I appreciate that. Um, and I will continue advocating for things such as that so we can see where we are spending and it's more detailed.

Well, not more detailed, but more an overall picture than just separate line items on the warrant reports because it gives us more of a picture of where's our money really going, where can we really make those cuts. I promise to continue being persistent and getting answers and most importantly finding solutions. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Employee healthcare and cost of living

Cheers.

Keith Lynch · Employee healthcare and cost of living

All right. So, Keith, I I don't know. I I see it as a two-part question again. I I don't know enough about your healthcare situation, honestly, as the teachers. I'm ready and willing to help the teachers figure it out. them come up with a solution. What I do know is that the superintendent that talked to you into leaving the CBT and joining the new front gave you a summary in email and it told the teachers that this going to put more money in your pocket. And then I see that we have healthc care crisis and money teachers were upset.

This is the same superintendent that tells us that consolidating is going to save us money, too. I it's time to hold these people accountable and and that's all I have to say about that. I I don't know about your healthcare. I I'm willing to help you with it. Part two. I shop at the same grocery store you do. I buy the same loaf of bed. I personally think I have it worse than you. I pulled I I hauled a piece of equipment the other day with my low bed.

I pulled into the gas station. I put $600 in my fuel tank and I didn't even get threequarters of a tank. This is this part this is a problem that we have in the United States and and mainly California. This is a part this is something that's bigger than than us here. And the only thing that we can do to change it is we got to make change in California. And and you got to go out November 3rd and drag everybody, you know, to go out and vote.

That that's and I'm Republican. I don't I don't know how you feel. I I don't think we can hire another Gavin Newsome. That's that's my But you you do your research and you come up with your thing. But $8 an hour $8 a gallon fuel. I never in my life thought I would see that and there's only way we can do it is figure out how to vote this in and and stop this. That's pretty simple question. Thank you.

Shane Crowe · Employee healthcare and cost of living

health care. Health care is is probably one of the biggest impacts u that I've seen that uh impacts our our teachers and our staff. Um also I I was leading the way as far as transparency on what h what happened uh regarding the insurance. Um, I have continually asked the district to provide information so that the public can see what happened and also so that we know that uh what steps need to be taken so it never happens again. And I will continue to to push for that transparency because um there was a period that all the board members I I see Mr.

Marzano in the back. he could he could uh vouch for me that uh all of us board members uh lost quite a few tail feathers for three or four board meetings in a row because of because of the the uh insurance fiasco. And um I'm also I I'm also uh I have been an advocate for our for our uh teachers and for our staff. Um I attended uh meetings with Mr. Norton and and Mr. Critchfield at CalPERS. And following that meeting, um, shortly after that, we received feedback that alternative insurance would be available this this coming January, which I think is is a positive, but I don't think that uh that should should stop us from continually trying to find uh better health insurance for for our staff.

Um, I've also went to the state offices in Sacramento knocking on doors, dropping off letters, trying to trying to advocate for for Amador County uh school districts because um I see the impacts. My my wife's a teacher and uh her her connections to other teachers gives me another channel where I hear sometimes I think I might hear of things even before the district office hears about it. So, um I I have a good line of communication to know what's going on. And um you know, I I'm hoping that we're able to find more options to help our teachers.

Um I guess the last sense is our teachers and our staff are are one of our most important assets that we have to help our students. And if we if we can't help them, retain them, and recruit them, you know, we'll we won't make the strides that we really need to. And and I think we can. And I think after the consolidation uh vote, I think that uh it's going to be even uh uh more achievable than it was before.

Forum moderator · Employee healthcare and cost of living

Thank you, Ronnie.

Ronnie Jean Gold · Employee healthcare and cost of living

Um, I would like to start this off with unfortunately we are all in this same boat. So don't feel alone. Um, I feel like we all are feeling it at the pump, at the grocery store, all the things. As far as the insurance fiasco that happened, um, I don't really know how that happened and I feel like nobody really does and it hasn't been super public. Um, when the insurance ladies came to the board meeting and I did corner them and ask them some questions, the only thing that they could really tell me was I don't know who told them to do this, but I wouldn't have recommended this and now they're trying to help us.

Um, I'm lucky enough to bum insurance off of my husband, but if I put myself in a teacher's position and I was put in a position to where I needed to be taking the insurance to make the insurance pool larger and it was a crappier insurance than which my husband has, I wouldn't necessarily be super thrilled. Um, I know that the cash-in-lieu is awesome, but if I had to choose between not taking that crappy insurance and being able to use my husband's insurance as my premium, my primary insurance, I would rather do that than have anything in cash-in-lieu.

Um, I know that the cash-in-lieu originally was very high and that gets into a sticky situation because if you're receiving $500, $600 a a month because you are now receiving that and then you start relying on that money when it gets taken away, there goes your car payment, your groceries, which is almost like taking a pay cut at that time, which is also hard considering the financial situations that we are all in. Um, in order to address the first part of the question, which is the financial pressures, that just goes back to trying to go through the budget.

Um, as a district, we need to prioritize the employees, our teachers, and staff. They're the most important investment when it does come to our students education. If we are not super high on the pay scale compared to the neighboring districts, we got to balance that out with either great insurance, great retirement. It all has to balance each other out. You can't have crappy pay, crappy insurance, crappy retirement. Um I know this is affecting our group locally, but again, this is on a state level. Um, we need to somehow find more funding.

I recently went to a political debate um with people that were running for Senate and Congress and I feel like our whole system is backwards. I asked the two gentlemen there when state employees that work within our prison systems continually describe those facilities as state-of-the-art. And I've never once used those words to describe my innocent child's facilities. Where is the disconnect? Why is it that way? Motion for second. I'm done.

Forum moderator · Budget-workshop follow-up

Thank you so very much. [applause] I have a follow-up question and I'm going to start with you because I'm not going to give my personal opinion, but I love what you said. Uh, would you be open to attending an ACT workshop to learn more about the district's budget?

Ronnie Jean Gold · Budget-workshop follow-up

You know what, Jeannie? I will only attend if you for sure are going to be there. I'm kidding. I don't miss anything, darling. I will be there. Um, yeah, actually, I would be open to that because numbers are not my strong suit. So, I do feel like I need a little bit of handholding in that realm when I see numbers. Everything just starts kind of glazing over. So, I I would actually like to do something like that. Um, if people there could guide me and help me to understand things like that, especially from your guys's perspective.

Uh, that would be something I'm open to. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Budget-workshop follow-up

I'll bring cookies. We'll look forward to that, [applause] Patricia.

Patricia Angeja · Budget-workshop follow-up

Absolutely. Um, as I said, uh, I have a very flexible day job. Um, so I've already been able to attend a lot of things that, um, are in the community. Um, and in the evenings as well, you've seen me stay at many very long board meetings, not just the, uh, um, district side, but also the county side. Um, so I am always willing to give my time and lend any sort of number uh help that I can. Um, I won't claim to be an expert in any sense of the word, but I do like numbers and I can figure out how we can prioritize our teachers and our staff who make it so we have the environments

Forum moderator · Budget-workshop follow-up

and the schools that we do have. Thank you, Mr. Lynch.

Keith Lynch · Budget-workshop follow-up

Silly question because I'm sitting here right now and you invited me to this. So, that's super silly question. You're always invited. I I will go to anything you invite me in. I'd like to walk the schools. I'd like to talk to the teachers. I'm I'm in it to win it on this one. I I'm going to give you one quick story. I didn't know much about the school board when I was 35, 30. I always thought the smart people ran the school board and everything was going great.

I had no idea. As I got older and more into it, now I go to a schoolboard meeting the other day and I'm going to tell you the truth. I was like, man, this is going to be I'm going to get punished right now. I told my wife that. I got to the schoolboard meeting and actually I was pretty intrigued on what was going on and it was kind of challenging and I actually liked it. I I enjoyed it. So, so I'm I'm open to whatever you ask me to do and and I'm willing to help you.

So, yes, if it helps you, I'm in it. And that's that's genuine. I you I'm not making it up. Kind of nerdy that I like a schoolboard meeting, but it is what it is, I guess. But, right, I'm committed. Mr.

Forum moderator / Shane Crowe · Budget-workshop follow-up

Lynch, yeah, [clears throat] of course. Anytime. Text me, call me, email me. I'll be there. Gorgeous. Thank you so very much.

Forum moderator · Teacher recruitment and retention

As in most rural area school districts, we are deeply affected by shortages of general ed teachers, special ed teachers, and support staff. To date, many of these staffing shortages have been pampered over with expensive contractors who simply don't have the capacity to connect and engage with students the same way a full-time in-person employee would. Teachers at every site mentioned staff shortage, large class sizes, and lack of basic supports as major issues affecting their students, citing poor compensation and benefits as the most likely cause for trouble attracting and retaining highly qualified staff.

Please describe your plan to recruit and retain staff within our district. Mrs. Gold, you started something about this last night, so I'm looking forward to hearing you today.

Ronnie Jean Gold · Teacher recruitment and retention

Okay. Um, so having teachers and staff leave to neighboring districts has always been an issue for our district. Uh, obviously at the forefront there's always compensation, benefits, and retirement. Uh, the other half of that package is morale and supporting the teachers and staff. Um, to go back to the last question, gas is so high, I don't know if anybody's willing to pay to travel anymore to neighboring districts. Um, so maybe it's not an issue anymore. I know there are some, but I would love to see more full circle moments for our district.

Um, and what I mean by that is kids that went through our school system um, coming back and teaching here. And that is just because I feel like people that are from here and have deep ties within the community and know a lot of the community members and their children uh benefits everyone. It benefits the parents, it benefits the teachers and it benefits the students. Um I believe in order to achieve that we already do some of this but continue to do it. um partnerships that have the student credential teaching while they're here and working to earn their credential while they are doing that.

Um possibly finding grants out there to help us fund more programs like that. Um if we employ more people from here, they're more likely to stay here and invest into our district, which will help with retention in the end. Um, in order to help retain staff and teachers, we we need to make sure they're set up for success. And I know that comes with many different aspects. Um, we need to make sure they can manage their class sizes and they're set up with good mentors when they are first entering into our school district.

Um, I know we have a lot of veteran teachers that help with that that can guide the newer and younger teachers for success. Um, I did talk about this last night because these these questions were combi compiled from teachers and stakeholders and community members. And I did address this says right here, large class sizes are an issue and that's conflicting information. I thought consolidation at the high school level was because we didn't have enough kids to [sighs] make these classes happen. So, I [snorts] don't know which is true.

Um, I don't know how to help large class sizes, if consolidation is making the class sizes larger. Um, I also have always thought, and I don't know if the district already does this, and maybe I should do this as a boss when I fire one of my first employees. I'm kidding. Um, doing an exit interview to figure out why they left. Um, whether it was on our side or their side, what issues they were having.

Forum moderator · Teacher recruitment and retention

Thank you very much. Yes, I know you [laughter] are going to ask for some more time. Okay. So, yes, Mr. Crowe, will you please respond?

Shane Crowe · Teacher recruitment and retention

One of one of the best ways to uh recruit staff and and retain the staff is providing health care. I I know we've lost some fantastic teachers because of the health health care uh premiums rising so high. Um the other thing is uh providing competitive compensation. You know, us being uh rural, it's it's difficult to recruit someone that lives, say, in Sacramento to have to drive every day to come up here if they don't have a competitive salary and they and they could stay in the city or, you know, closer to their home.

So, um we're always striving to look at uh um providing a competitive salary and I think it's important that [clears throat] uh if we're able to improve our budget that that would uh provide one avenue to help recruit those uh teachers and retain them. One of the most costly uh programs we have is a special ed uh department. Um, we have so many specialized teachers that we're required to provide and you know speech speech pathologists are very expensive. It's very hard to recruit and if you've been following the schoolboard meetings you'll see that we always have openings for for speech p speech pathologists.

And one of the things that uh the district has done is created an incentive where it's it's basically a sign on bonus that uh would be paid out I believe up to five years or three years to help recruit them and and keep them. And I I think that's something that we can need to continue to focus on. Um, like I said, it's it's very expensive in the in the special ed department and I think many people might not realize how costly it is. Um, because we have we have actual agreements that if we do not comply, then we are looking at lawsuits and then it's going to be more costly.

Um, also I think one of the things is to u help help reduce the workload that our teachers face currently. If you go back to May of 2022, there was some educational issues that were listed as a reason to consolidate back then. Um, some of those issues involved uh students traveling between campuses, teachers traveling between campuses, teachers uh teaching up to six courses and having to prep for six courses every day. And the way that the way the only two ways that I could see that happen is you have to compress your preparation into into your prep period or you spend more hours past your contract um in doing that prep period.

And I'm pretty certain that most of our teachers go way above and beyond that single hour to prep especially if they're doing six classes uh six preparing for six classes. And um in the master schedule that uh we just received. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Teacher recruitment and retention

Some are teaching seven classes, Mr. Lynch.

Keith Lynch · Teacher recruitment and retention

First of all, being able to recruit a teacher in Amador County pretty easy. Amador County is God's country and I truly believe that. I've looked for places to live because of the high costs and whatnot. I can't find a better place in in America to move to that I'd say I'm going to pack up and go. So, coming to Amador County, I I think this is a blessing to live here. And I truly mean that. I Your teachers need to have support and a good work environment and morale.

And your teachers need to recruit people because they tell you how great it is to work here. Same as in an automotive business. Hey, you got to come work here. This place is great. We do cool cars or or whatever. Ronnie hit on it. I did do an exit. This this question is jacked up because I got an hour to talk on this one. But I did do an exit interview on a on a really good friend of mine that was a teacher at Amador. He worked here for two years.

I asked him, "Why did you leave?" He said, "Cuz my first day on the job, I was thrown to the wolves. I didn't have books. I didn't have a curriculum. I had to figure this out for myself. I had no support. I didn't know how to. He said something about logging in to get a to get a substitute for his class. He didn't know how to do that. So then I asked him, I said, "What's new at your new district?" He said, "3 days before work, they called in all the teachers and they had like a hype class.

They hyped us all up. They they inter they introduced all the new teachers what they expected from us. They gave us what did he say? He they gave him they gave him the tech support numbers, the numbers for this. They they showed him they laid it all out for him how how how it works here. And then they had a mandatory professional development class. He had to pick two of them and do those. I this has to be a pro. I I didn't I I only believe him because I trust him and I've spent so much time with him.

I it's hard to believe that that that happens, but I could see that happening. If I was a teacher in this district right now, I'd be super pissed, though, because last night at the board meeting, you're telling me that we're going to consolidate all the best teachers right here on this campus. Does that mean we have bad ones? I don't think so. I I think your teachers don't have the resources they need to do their job. And if you think you're at Argonaut right now, I think you're losing your job.

I don't think right now you're worried about your math class that you're teaching or your his or your English class. I And that's probably why our CAF scores are low. I believe you're on the computer at lunch. Instead of doing your curriculum and doing everything, you're looking at your where where's a better place to work. That that's how I feel. There's a lot to this question, but consistency across the board needs to be there. It need You have an earthquake every day and you have an aftershock. It was said a million times last night.

Every day is consolidation. Consolidation every day. Consolidation. Consolidation. Consolidation. Nothing about textbooks. Nothing. It's It's a huge tunnel and we're not worried about anything but consolidation. And I that affects our gas scores. Thank you, Mr. Lynch.

Forum moderator · Teacher recruitment and retention

Thank you, [applause] Mrs. GJ. Yep. Um,

Patricia Angeja · Teacher recruitment and retention

I know I've been a bit tame thus far, so let me remind you of a little bit more of who I am, uh, and my sassiness. I think our plethora of assistant superintendent need to step up and listen to our staff when they ask for support. I've heard so many times from teachers and staff that they never get responses from the district office. Returning a call or an email is free. So, a lot of work can already be done for nothing and it should be done. This communication is key when trying to retain our quality staff.

I discussed strategies regarding pay and benefits in the last question, but if we can work on giving the meaningful supports that our staff members have been asking and asking and asking for, that would help so very much. Somehow the district has the money for expensive contractors, but not for our in-house staff. I don't think HR is working hard enough at recruitment. Um, I believe Dr. Palos needs to do more to earn his six-figure salary. such as attending career fairs not just in Amador County but in all the neighboring counties in El Dorado, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Sacramento.

Um, and I will continue what I started during my campaign, which was posting job listings from Edjoin on my own page to share with different community groups um that will see them and hopefully bring teachers and staff to our area. Employees should not have to continually be asked and expected to take on more and more and more when the district office really needs to be the ones taking on more. They need to support our site staff. I know work has been done with manyus to recruit recent graduates or those still in their programs.

Um but we need serious help in recruiting those very specialized positions like Mr. Crowe mentioned speech and language therapists and extensive support needs staff in our special education programs. Those need to be found and retained. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Student behavior and support

Thank you very much. All right. You don't have [snorts] follow-ups on this one? What? You don't have follow-ups on this one? No followup. Give me a break. Huh? had a good one. All right, back to Shane and then we're going to go backwards. So, to Ronnie. All right. Um, staff at all sites report having been met with challenges in meeting the emotional and behavioral adjustment needs of students, including extreme cases of student behavioral outbursts. What would your plan be to help support students, teachers, support staff, and administrators in meeting those specific needs?

Shane Crowe · Student behavior and support

I think one of the main main issues as uh some of our schools I I think we need to have uh vice principals in place. um U Jackson Elementary. I I feel and I've I continually ask uh Jared about the possibility of of uh bringing in a VP because um they've they've added I believe the sixth grade there and so they're they're basically at the capacity and uh they really could use a vice principal and I think that's uh for some of our uh uh campuses that we have uh more students I think a vice principal could help alleviate some of those issues and and help those students.

Um, you know, one one thing we also need to do is provide better access to counselors. And, you know, we have the program called the Hive. And I think that's an excellent program. And, uh, every campus has like a [clears throat] kind of a closet, I guess, that's tied to the hive. And, and I I'm hoping that that's able to expand as we go down and, you know, hopefully our budget improves and uh, make those things better. Um the uh the other thing that I think uh going back to consolidation that could provide is providing resource officers at our high schools.

Um with with you know the way things are these days I I think having a resource officer could help address some issues. uh you know we've had issues with with students, issues with parents, and I think having having a resource officer available at these campuses could help address some of those and you know possibly uh uh diminish any kind of uh problem that could pop up because of high emotions. Um I I think we also need to be compassionate to those students that need help. Um it's to me it's shocking that we have so many homeless students uh in this county and uh many of those students they're just they're they might not be even thinking about what's what what they're learning in class.

They're wondering where their next meal is or where they're going to sleep that night. So, I think if if we're able to provide that u help that benefit and help those homeless students so that they can um bring them up to the to the level of the other students, I I think we need to try it. Um and again, it it all involves budget. It all involves combining resources. It all involves com um combining budgets from dup duplicate programs. And with that, I I think we can make an impact.

So that you know the uh one of the correspondents I had with someone they said well what's you know I don't see the problem because um we have people that graduated that I'll finish that later.

Forum moderator · Student behavior and support

Thank you. All right. So Oh sorry. No no it's okay. [laughter]

Ronnie Jean Gold · Student behavior and support

Thank you. All right. Um, so this question needs to be dealt with from many different angles. Um, I think that one of the first things is making sure each school site has a clear plan for when a child does escalate to the point that it's ruining the entire learning environment for the entire classroom. Um, and once that plan is put into play, it needs to stay that way. there needs to be some type of standard and not a lot of wiggle room. Um, and I say this because a couple years ago, um, my son was affected a lot by instances like this.

There was two separate children in his class that exhibited extreme behaviors to the point where there was a safe word for all the children to escape the room. before that child barricaded the door and [snorts] held that class hostage at at 8 years old. And it's hard for me to wrap my mind around that as a parent and to explain to my son that obviously those types of behaviors are not okay. And then he starts questioning because I am, how do I say this without cursing? a hard a hard mom.

Um, I hold my kids very accountable and I have high standards. And so when he's coming to me and asking why there's no repercussions for this type of behavior, I also have to sit him down, which is great because these are all life lessons. I also have to sit him down and explain to him that he is a very privileged child and that there are kids that are not living the same life that he is living and there's reasons for their behaviors and their attitudes and without getting into too much detail trying to go down that road with my own 8-year-old.

But at the same time, I struggle because it's my own kid and I need to stick up for them. And there's this whole no child left behind. And I I am empathetic and I understand that. But how is it no child left behind when 25 other kids are getting left behind and they're not getting an equal learning opportunity? Because when I say hours, I mean hours of education was taken away from the entire class because of reasons like that. When I know that my son is on a field trip and I get a call from a parent letting me know that, hey, we had to call the police to rip a second grader off the bus.

Can't wrap my mind around it. That's those big behaviors. Um, I think that we need some type of early intervention for those kids. I mean, I know this is school, but can those kids even have a mindset or a capacity to even start to learn? there is emotional needs that need to be met. Um, and I do feel for the teachers because it's instant instances like this that are pushing the teachers to the brink of

Forum moderator · Student behavior and support

not wanting to be at their jobs anymore. Followup. Thank you, Patricia.

Patricia Angeja · Student behavior and support

So, the work for student behavior starts at home, honestly. Uh, which is tricky because as I always tell my daughter Kaylee, we don't control what other people do or especially how they parent. I recently helped out with making pancakes for Ione Elementary's walk and ride to school day. Um, Amador Public Health was gracious enough and PD was gracious enough to help us with. Um, many parents showed so much joy um as they were walking their kids onto campus, seeing us making pancakes on the front lawn of the elementary school.

Um, I think that helps dissolve this sort of like us and them separation, real or perceived, that may exist between parents and teachers um and staff and showing them that teachers and staff are real people. They're regular people who um have their lives and they love pancakes. Um, at the end of the day, demonstrating how staff can be a partner to parents to elicit good choices and behaviors in our kids is fostered through unique experiences like this because conversations not be able to be had um otherwise or in a more standoffish environment um are able to be had in those more fun and just casual places.

I think more events at all school sites like this. Uh Mr. Sabbagh um the new principal at Ione Elementary. Um myself and other uh schools site council members have discussed doing family game nights um a family dance and other activities to get the community into an environment where they're able to see teachers in a different light and as partners in helping with their kids not just educationally but be behaviorally. Um, another direct way I have advocated for is having a full-time psychologist or a counselor at each school site.

Um, maybe more depending on student population. This really came about when I was really shocked to learn that Ione Elementary and Ione Junior High share a psychologist. I had conversations about this with Superintendent Critchfield, Principal Wagner at Ione Jr., and Mr. Huss at the time when he was principal at Ione Elementary. Um the superintendent claimed that this was fixed um by having the special education counselor fill in the gaps for the part-time counselor, but that just takes away from the already limited resources that special education has. Um and I don't see it as a sustainable solution.

I believe all ages, but junior high especially since we're adding puberty on top of all of the regular school issues, um really need to have a dedicated counselor, psychologist, and access to those resources. We need and our kids deserve permanent solutions, not band-aids. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Student behavior and support

and Keith.

Keith Lynch · Student behavior and support

Uh, this is the wrong question to ask me probably because it's single file military style with me. Um, behavioral problems need consequences. I come from a broken home and I was this kid in school. I I knew what I could get away with and and my mom could beat me and my uncle could beat me as hard as they wanted and it didn't do nothing to me. I didn't care. You couldn't beat me hard enough. I laughed. But the day I walked out and my BMX bike was gone.

Wait, wait a second. Or my or my Nintendo was gone. Then I got in check. You have to have consequences. And I support a teacher. This this there is no buck stop here. There is this isn't the kid's fault either. This is how the kid is raised. This is the parents fault. But the teacher should have the final say. If little Johnny is getting if they're barricading the wall, that kid, whatever the chain of command is, and I don't know what the chain of command is here, but he goes to the principal's office and mom gets called and mom deals with it.

If mom doesn't deal with it, there's going to have to be some sort of consequence whether that kid either can come to that school anymore or what happens. But until there's a consequence, there's there's no way to fix that. I I'll give you a quick thing. I went to Mel White. Mel White was my PE teacher. Crazy as all crazy as a bat. I worked on his truck like before he retired. I brought him his truck and there was like 60 kids in his PE class and I said why you got 60 kids in your class and he said because I can handle them and he blew the whistle and 60 kids went like this.

So [snorts] Mel White and my way is probably not the way but there has to be some sort of you have to figure the kid out. I can push little Mikey Nunez as hard as I want on the baseball field and he'll react. I can do something to Hunter and he'll react, but I do it to Dom and he would shut down and not talk to me. You have to feel You have to It's a It's a psychology thing of figuring out kids and you have to figure out how each individual ticks.

I know what will set my painter off and I know what will set my little apprentice off. There has to be a balance and and some people are better at it than others. I I'm going to tell you that right now. But there there has to be it has to end with the teacher. It it's like it's like the $25,000 in cameras on the bus. Why you got them? You're not going to do anything about it. I hired I vetted the bus driver. I interviewed the bus driver.

I backed the bus driver. If little Johnny can't handle himself on the bus, little Johnny don't ride the bus no more. Sorry. No camera is going to help us. What's the camera going to do for $25,000? show what Johnny's doing because you don't trust your bus driver or the bus driver says, "I need one camera. Put it in. This is what's happening. We need to document it." I'm good with that. I don't see you got to waste money on 25 grand in cameras cuz you're not going to do anything about it anyway until there's consequences.

That's all that's all that you can [snorts]

Forum moderator / brief interjection · Student behavior and support

Thank you. fix behavior. I just want to say I'm tired of it always being little Johnny because my son's name is Johnny and he's always the one being blamed in these scenarios. He's a good kid. Darn it. [laughter] Funny. It's the easiest name to say. I know. Yeah, it is. It is.

Forum moderator · Communication and accountability

All right. This is the last question. However, I want you to understand that I've heard you say that you would like to have a little more time. So, when we finish this, I'm going to ask you to complete any statement you'd like to have each of you. Okay? So, let's answer this as ask and answer this question. In recent years, open communication between the school board, labor partners, parents, and community members has improved, but it's often filtered through a district administration lens and rarely involves any conversation outside of board meetings.

While our members assume the best intention of board members, many feel like they're simply unaware of the lived realities students, teachers, and staff navigate in our classrooms and on our campuses. How do you plan to stay up to date and make yourself available to the community, including teachers, families, and staff, in order to address the various perspectives of our district's realities beyond board meeting attendance? And I'd like to begin with Patricia.

Patricia Angeja · Communication and accountability

Um, as I stated before, I often make myself a available before and after community meetings so I can have discussions uh with other community members. This is not just limited to um neighbors, but of course our teachers and our staff are also our neighbors. They're in the community. Um I do not intend to stop this once I'm elected. Um, I'm very fortunate, as I said, to have such a flexible day job that allows me to have conversations, usually through email or social media messenger, uh, which helps me inform my opinions, um, and compile questions and concerns from the public to further research them on my own.

Um, I'm also I've also given thought to hosting monthly virtual office hours um, separated intentionally by related groups. for instance, one meeting um for school teachers and staff, a separate one for parents and students, another one for site admin, and another separate one for community members not in those three other groups. Um that way the one branch of our community population doesn't dominate the conversation during those meetings and each group can be more comfortable sharing their thoughts and feeling heard. Um, essentially similarly to how I felt about No Child Left Behind, teachers deserve a seat at the table, and so do classified staff, students, and our entire taxpaying community at large.

Whether you have kids in our schools or not, you pay taxes. You deserve to be heard. You guys should not just have a board or a district leadership making decisions that will directly impact you every day without at least having a seat at the table and having your voices and lived experiences taken into consideration. I will always work to elicit the unfiltered view of our school employees and students and make decisions based on true real lived experiences. Not just how things should or ought to be, but grounded in reality.

Thank you.

Forum moderator · Communication and accountability

Thank you. Mr. Lynch, you're next.

Keith Lynch · Communication and accountability

Everything I've answered so far answers this question. I I I want to visit the schools. I want to walk the schools. I want to make a vote and then go see how that vote worked in the school. This right here that you told me to put in front of me, this is available from 8:00 till whenever you're if you're up, I'm up. Don't call me before 8 cuz I'm not up. But 8 o'clock till 1 in the morning, you can ring this phone and tell me how I'm doing.

This phone pisses my wife off and causes me a lot of problems. But I'm always available. Tell me how I'm doing. Tell me what I'm doing. I I'm here to listen. All these problems that we all the problems that we have with this community or or or the school district, if we look at as a $200 million problem, we're never going to be able to fix it. But inch by inch, life is a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard. So if we tackle everything little at a time and we we just peck at it a little at a time, two steps forward today, one step back, three steps forward tomorrow, that is how we that is how we fix these issues.

This is how we get the kids resources. This is how we paint one building or we put a roof on. You tackle it one at a time. And I'm I'm telling you, I'm I'm I told you at the beginning of this, I'm I'm a simple dude. I'll answer my phone and I want to know what's going on. I want to visit the schools. I'm I care. I honestly do.

Forum moderator · Communication and accountability

I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lynch. M Mr. Crowe.

Shane Crowe · Communication and accountability

Well, one of the ways I stay connected with the school community is I have a wife who's a special ed teacher. Um because of that, I've been able to develop uh friendships with numerous teachers uh throughout the district. Um and again, like like I said before, um sometimes I hear things that even the district hasn't heard yet. And uh um I I think that that is very helpful. Um, I hear of uh issues as far as uh uh finding staffing uh staffing uh issues uh finding uh ways to to address those.

Um special ed again is is it's such a costly program. I hear about that constantly and uh you know I'm hoping that uh the decisions that have been made recently we're able to address that by uh pulling resources for that uh bringing um staff in in one location to to make it easier make it more of a learning environment for our kids. Um, I also I'm uh I have uh took the plunge to share information and uh open myself up to feedback from the community. Um I'm not one to uh hide from whatever I post.

I I've I've shared what the district has uh presented to the board and uh that I think that's important to to keep the community involved and also let let them know that this is what this is what we saw in October of last year or two years ago or this is what this was four years ago. Um, like I said before that issues that were four years ago when consolidation was first brought up, they haven't gotten better, they've gotten worse. And um, one of the reasons I know that for sure is that I I do have a a channel of speaking to our teachers and knowing what they're facing.

So um, I I think having a wife as a teacher is always helpful. Um, and as I said, I'm open to people reaching out to me, calling me, um, texting me. Um, people stopped me in the street to to ask me questions. Um, again, I I will not stop that. I am always open. Um, and we might not agree, but what you'll get from me is you'll get a you'll get someone that'll listen and you'll get someone that will be respectful and after the conversation is over, you'll know that I heard you and you'll know that uh I took it in account.

Like I said, you might not agree with with my take, but um I will listen. Um and my my commitment is always going to be to our students to our to our employees and trying to make the best education possible for our students. What I was going to say at the end uh that last question someone had said that and time but [laughter] we're going to circle back. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Communication and accountability

All right. Oh, is it my question Ronnie?

Ronnie Jean Gold · Communication and accountability

Okay. Um, the first thing that I'm going to personally work on is my face. Uh, I recently was told that I can come off as maybe not as approachable um by someone that was actually sat me down and had a lot of questions um before they made their vote. Um, she said, "You know, I see you in the morning dropping your kids off and you just look kind of scary. You and I walk with a purpose. I got a lot of thoughts going on in my head." So work on that.

Um, one of the main things in this question is, uh, parents, I'm a parent. Um, I want to keep those lines of communication open because I I want to make sure that parents are heard in their opinions, in their voices, and their feelings because as a parent, and not only just a parent, I feel like I'm an involved parent. I when people come to me with concerns, that right there tells me that they are an involved parent. And I personally do get a little offended when somebody tries to tell me that this is what's best for your kid.

This is what's best. I don't like that take. I don't like that approach because I've invested into my kids and I truly believe that I feel I know what's best for my kids and I do believe other parents that are coming with issues also believe they know what's best for their kids and the best thing you can do is just keep open ears and listen. A lot of people just want to vent and be heard. You don't have to argue back and forth. Just be listening ears. Um communication lines are always open, text calls, emails.

um with this campaign and I've been fortunate enough to I own my own business. I don't want to use the term ambush because that's what a lot of people have been using, but people ambush me in my business all the time. Stop and talk to me. Um and I I'm grateful that I have that opportunity and that resource of being there physically during those hours for people to ambush me. Um I think the boardwalks that the board members currently do are great. It actually lets you see various campuses, classrooms, how everything's operating both from the teacher side and the student side.

Um, one of the biggest things personally that I have done is volunteered in both of my children's classrooms before. And honestly, for me, that was actually the best way to fully understand how a classroom operates. Um, and I am not embarrassed to admit this, but humanizing the teachers and seeing them on that level, um, was actually very helpful to me. Both the year that I decided to start volunteering, um, my daughter's teacher immediately had a health issue one day when I walked through the doors and that needed to be taken care of.

The aid immediately jumped in, the principal came and taught the rest of the class. Um, same year my son's teacher got diagnosed with cancer and through his treatments and all of his appointments, he did the best he could to have as much class time, but obviously he had to deal with his health. And I don't want situations like that to remind me that they're not just teachers, they're all humans and dealing with life. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Closing statements

[applause] All right, we'd like to end with giving the candidates an opportunity to provide some closing remarks. Um, we're going to follow the same structure with three minutes um to keep us on time. And we will start with Shane.

Shane Crowe · Closing statements

Well, I' I'd just like to say it's been an honor to serve on the board the last four years. Um, it hasn't been easy. Uh there's [snorts] there's tough decisions that uh we face uh at every meeting. Um when I first joined the board, uh there were some some topics that I didn't realize were part of the were were part of the duties as a board member and uh you know, being a a veteran of four years, I I definitely understand it's it's not an easy job. um decisions that are made could uh upset part of the community.

It could make part of the community happy. I I just I will let you know that um every decision I made, I don't make it quickly. I I I do my research. I look into it. Um I ask questions. And uh what you'll get from me is you'll always get someone who's level-headed, who will think of of all the facts and do my best to rem remove emotion out of out of some of the decisions that are made. Um looking at our function as a board, we're not, you know, we're from different districts, district D1, D2, D3, all that.

Um, I don't look at that as decisions I make is just for the students in my district in Jackson. It's for it's for the entire uh community. Um, decisions we make influences and impacts the the the opportunities that every student has. Um what I was trying to say those those couple of times uh one of the one of the correspondents I had with someone uh they said why are you consolidating um you know we have all these people that have went through the system and they've done great things.

We've got doctors and you know professional athletes and veterinarians and lawyers and I said yeah that that's great. We have we have some great students that could thrive in any atmosphere, but you know, that's maybe the 25%. What I'm hoping is that we can bring those 70 other 75% up so that they have the same opportunities so that they don't have to travel to to go to classes. Um, one of the one of the benefits of cons consolidation is not making students travel back and forth because I am pretty certain that there's students that they want to take a class but they don't have the the transportation to make it possible.

So, having it all in one one location that gives them the opportunity. Um, you'll you'll always you'll always hear um back from me. if if you ask me a a question, um I will do my best to answer. Um and again, during the schoolboard meetings, I think it's it's always important to be levelheaded, be be professional. We're an elected official. Um it it's not a time for politics. It's it's a time to make a dec important decisions, consider all the facts, and make sure that we can we can help our students succeed.

Forum moderator · Closing statements

mic drop. [clears throat] Thank you. So, in keeping with the back and forth, I believe we go around the horn to Ronnie.

Ronnie Jean Gold · Closing statements

Okay. Um I I am glad I approached this the way I did. I feel like when I started attending schoolboard meetings a couple years ago, I I was younger. Um, I used to maybe come in a little hy. Um, I've learned to calm down with the guidance of my cool, calm cucumber husband. He keeps me level-headed at times. Um, and as I'm getting older and realizing that my kids are watching every move I make, I feel like I am being being able to approach things more level-headed than I used to be.

Um, I I am doing this because selfishly I want to do what's best for my own children. And many parents have come to me and told me that they like the things I say, they like the ideas I stand for, and they are on board with me. And I want to make those effects on my own children. And I think that's going to be spread across many other children within the district because I have the same mindset as a lot of people from my region that extends to all the other regions and districts as well.

Um, and I'm only saying this because it's just time and time again. It's I feel like the community has basically been waiting for me to run. Um, I've put in the time at these meetings and I will continue to do that. Um, I know because I own my own business, it seems like I may be painted as I'm overwhelmed, but honestly, if I didn't own my own business, I wouldn't be able to do what I am doing. I'm able to go to the school in the morning when my kids receive awards.

I can split and see their plays. I get off at the hours that I need to get off to make things happen. I used to work in the dental office from 8:00 to 5:00 and I traveled and I would not have been able to do what I'm doing if I didn't own my own business and have that flexibility. Um, I am grateful for the support that I have had and I do want to make an impact on this generation, the future generations. I want to see the teachers stay.

Um, when I went through this system, maybe I was a kid and maybe I didn't know, but I felt like the teachers that were at especially the high school, they taught my oldest sister, my brother, the sister above me, me and now I don't feel like that's happening. The retention's not there and there's some type of disconnect. It was everybody knew all my family members because they had already taught all my family members and now it's like doors spinning and people are coming in and out. Um, as now a boss that is in charge of employees again I know compensation, retirement, all that is a factor but the morale is one of the biggest things.

We have to make the environment fun. We have to make teachers feel comfortable and have the support or [laughter]

Forum moderator · Closing statements

Thank you. Thank you, [applause] Patricia.

Patricia Angeja · Closing statements

Um, so I am extremely grateful to have this opportunity to be able to run to potentially represent Ione and Camanche area. Um, I put in a lot of thought into running a year ago when I started and I got up the courage to finally attend board meetings in person because I had attended them virtually for the past four years since my son started uh kindergarten in 2022. Um, I really like Ronnie, I came in hot. Like I was mad. I was mad. I still get mad, but I'm much more empathetic than I used to be with both sides of it.

Um, I would give Jared and stuff a hard time at times and the board members. Um, but I think keeping in mind that we all want what's best for our students and we're all humans at the end of the day is what matters. Um, we're preparing adults for life. We're not raising children. We're raising adults. We need to make sure that they're prepared for the future. I I am not afraid to vote no on things. I'm not afraid to deviate from what the staff recommendations are when it comes to board votes.

I'm not afraid to table things. Last night at the consolidation meeting, I wish they would have tabled it. I had nine questions, and that wasn't all the questions I had. I had nine questions that I really, really thought still today need to be answered. I would have tabled that vote. It needed more time to think about. I'm not saying that it was rushed because we've been at this for years, but I'm saying those questions in particular still haven't been addressed. I think personally I've grown um just learning so much more about my community than I would have otherwise.

Um I am very introverted. Um I come across as unapproachable sometimes. Maybe that's the Chicago in me. Who knows? Um, I didn't grow up here. That's no secret. Um, none of us were born here. Um, and I view that as a pro. I have no like loyalties really because I advocate for good ideas and I question bad ideas. I advocate for good behavior. I question bad behavior. No matter who it's coming from, I will never defend someone who is doing something wrong. No matter who they are, even my husband, he can tell you.

[laughter] Um so that what you that is what you will get from me. If you're wrong, you're wrong. If you're right, you're right. Just like with um how I thought at the end of last year we were going to have this mass exodus of teachers because of the healthcare thing. We didn't. And I researched that independently. Did I not present it because it didn't fit my agenda? No. I presented it because that's how I am. If it's going to show yes, the district's doing well, I'll present it.

If it shows the district's doing bad, I'll present that because it's facts. Thank you.

Forum moderator · Closing statements

Thank you. and Keith.

Keith Lynch · Closing statements

I'm simply here to challenge the whole community, the teachers, the community, the the administrative office. I see some of you here. I I'm here to challenge you for everybody to do better. Kayla Kayla lectured me last night and everybody else in this county about everything in the world. Some things she she was right about. I agree with her. It it is time that we rise up and we make some changes. I I appreciate you the four years you spent. Thank you. Honestly, it's time to think outside the box and start fixing some things around here, though.

Uh I wanted to meet Brenda Wilson if she's in this crowd tonight, but I doubt she showed up. But my phone is always my my phone is available. I'm I'm here for the people. I have no skin in this game. I don't have a teacher that teaches. I don't have a kid in the class. I'm only here I I literally love Argonaut High School. It changed my life. I I painted that that that blue A out there green multiple times. Do I hate this school? But but will I support this school?

100%. I coached I coached a team to a state championship. So, and and and my sister-in-law, every day I showed up and her kids went to Amador and my wife my wife graduated from Amodore and my my two daughters went to Amador and then and a good friend of mine, Jared, I'm like, "How do you coach the Amodore football team?" I I never understood it. And then here I am. I got Amodore hats in my So, so there is change in me and there is open-mindedness and vote me in and and and I'll I'll give you my 100%.

I promise. And and I'm open and easy to talk to. I I don't know how to explain it anymore, but thank you for coming and for the people that are supporting me tonight. I appreciate it.

Forum moderator / audience · Closing statements

[applause] Thank you all for coming to this event. Come on closer because you can't be seen. Thank you, Mr. Crowe. Thank you, Mr. Lynch. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Sania. Thank you, Mrs. Gold. Thank you, Jeannie. You're welcome. Please uh vote only once and uh [laughter] and we're grateful. Golden Lynch, it's a safe and drop it in a return box, not the mail.