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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2021-06-08 @1:00MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING S� OF THE y SCHOOL DISTRICT LIAISON STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE CITY COUNCIL c�LIF0R�1A P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue) South San Francisco, California 94083 TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2021 1:00 P.M. Teleconference via Zoom Housing Standing Committee conducted this meeting in accordance with California Governor Newsom's Executive Orders N-25-20 and N-29-20 and COVID-19 pandemic protocols. Call to Order. TIME: 1:02 p.m. Roll Call. PRESENT: Mayor Addiego, Vice Mayor Nagales, Board President Lujan and Board Clerk Murray Agenda Review. None. Remote Public Comments — comments are limited to items on the Special Meeting Agenda. The following individuals provided public comment: • Eddy Holman • Russell Lee • Ethan Mizzi • Cesar Rodriguez • Jojo Gomes • Liliana Rivera • Alfredo • Olga Perez • Yarelih Solorio • Aristel De La Cruz Matters for Consideration Report regarding a presentation to the School District Liaison Standing Committee of the City Council regarding the proposed renaming of the Community Learning Center in honor of former Assemblyman, Mayor, City Council Member and School District teacher Eugene R. Mullin. (Valerie Sommer, Library Director) Before Library Direct Sommer presented the report, she wanted to thank Superintendent Dr. Moore for providing insight and information on the school district process on renaming facilities. Former Assembly member, Mayor and City Council member Eugene R. Mullin passed away on April 5, 2021. Mr. Mullin taught Social Studies at South San Francisco High School for 32 years. His work both in the classroom and in public life made life better for students individually and for the community at -large. He was also a strong advocate of the Library's Community Learning Center (CLC), and naming the public facing learning venue in his honor is eminently appropriate. Mr. Mullin was on the City Council during the planning, renovation, and startup of the CLC and was heavily involved in community meetings and outreach leading up to CLC program focus on family support, ESL classes, literacy programming, and afterschool homework programs for local elementary school children. On October 23, 1997, then -Council member Mullin led the first planning meeting at Grand Avenue Library, attended by Old Town community members, City and South San Francisco Unified School District (SSFUSD) staff and representatives of community- based organizations. The goal of the group was to create a focused vision for a CLC and to examine existing resources. The group identified two main program areas - parent/family learning and basic skills tutoring for youth and adults. Per the February 25, 1998 Progress Report on CLC: "After the October 23 meeting, (Mayor) Mullin surveyed students in the 15-18 year age group to see if there was student interest in a learning center with 102 out of 133" responding. A second meeting in December 1997 further developed startup program focus of the CLC, with a third meeting fine- tuning the vision. The CLC opened on March 20, 2001, having spent the previous year in a temporary site at Linden/Baden; Mr. Mullin was Vice Mayor on opening day and his name is memorialized on the building plaque. Prior to his passing, Mr. Mullin designated the CLC for any memorial donations in his honor following his death. The CLC had received approximately $17,000 in donations in memory of Mr. Mullin. A public request has been made that the CLC be renamed in Mr. Mullin's honor. The family, led by Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Kevin Mullin, is in favor of this honor. The CLC building is owned by the SSFUSD and the current agreement ends in 2029. Mr. Mullin was a long-time school district teacher and a strong advocate for learning opportunities and the distinct partnership provided by City staff via CLC afterschool homework programs/learning hub as well as support for local families. At the May 10, 2021, meeting of the City Council Naming Committee (Ad -Hoc), committee members, Mayor Addiego and Councilmember Nicolas, were in favor of this naming opportunity, with the next step being School District participation in the process and decision. Director Sommer provided background to support this honor, highlights of Mr. Mullin's community, educational, civic, and legislative leadership follow, with associated documents. Board Clerk Murray thanked Director Sommer for all her hard work on the presentation and thought it was a great idea to do something in Mr. Mullin's honor. Vice Mayor Nagales agreed with honoring Mr. Mullin and felt it was a fantastic way to recognize his service as a teacher, as an educator, and public servant. SCHOOL DISTRICT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 8, 2021 MINUTES PAGE 2 Board President Lujan agreed and thought it was a wonderful idea. She looked forward to working with Superintendent Dr. Moore and presenting the item to the School Board and ideally move forward in partnership with the City. Mayor Addiego stated Mr. Mullin was that special bridge between the schools and city government, just as the CLC itself was a wonderful bridge between the education community and city government. He advised he could not think of a better name. Mayor Addiego inquired whether this was the first building named after someone. Superintended Dr. Moore stated she believed it was. 2. Discussion of the Childcare Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Renewal for the 2021-2022 School Year. (Sharon Ranals, Assistant City Manager) Assistant City Manager Ranals advised City staff provided a staff report on this topic at the School District Liaison Standing Committee meeting of March 26, 2021; the report described the School District locations at which City -sponsored childcare was provided, and the key provisions of the MOU. The original Childcare MOU, which had a four-year term running from July of 2016 - July of 2020, came up for renewal last year. A one-year extension of the agreement was approved in 2020 and was now set to expire on July 31, 2021. Although a significant percentage of the population had been vaccinated, and the COVID-19 infection rate had declined, there remained many related challenges for both the City and the School District. In light of these demands, coupled with staff vacancies and seasonal budget deadlines, it was understandable that progress on renewing the MOU had been delayed. School District staff had indicated that there were some "sticking points," but City staff had not yet been informed regarding their nature. To plan for Before and After School programs on school campuses in the Fall, and to be transparent with families regarding the number of childcare spaces that would be available, it was requested that any significant changes to the MOU contemplated by the School District be shared with the City as soon as possible. Staff continued to appreciate the past and ongoing commitment from SSFUSD in serving the School District's children by supporting the City's provision of affordable high-quality care and learning support outside of school hours through this partnership. The item had been placed on the agenda to keep the issue moving forward and encourage timely renewal of the agreement. The Joint Use Agreement between the City and School District, which did not expire until 2028, was the controlling document. All of the Park and Recreation Before and After School and Summer Camp programs that were operated in partnership with the School District continued to be covered by the Joint Use Agreement. There were no financial or budgetary impact related to the Childcare MOU. Vice Mayor Nagales stated he received a lot of phone calls from parents regarding the program. He advised the sooner the better to give parents ample time to plan ahead in terms of their children's schedule. Mayor Addiego recognized how difficult an MOU could be and that it could take additional time. He inquired whether they could just extend the previous agreement. Assistant Superintendent of SCHOOL DISTRICT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 8, 2021 MINUTES PAGE 3 Business Services O advised there was some language on the MOU that both the City and the School District could not agree on and would require legal counsel input. He stated the School District valued the working relationship with the City and would allow the City to continue to operate the normal summer program until the MOU gets finalized. 3. Discussion of School Liaison Officer Memorandum of Understanding. (Jeff Azzopardi, Police Chief) Chief Azzopardi stated the report was a collaborative effort between Ryan Sebers, Dr. Jay Spaulding and himself. Dr. Spaulding gave a quick background and advised in February, they were asked by the School Board to work with, in conjunction with the Chief of Police and come up with an MOU regarding Student Resource Officers (SRO) or Student Liaison Officers (SLO). He found some MOUs between public schools and police departments where the public schools funded the SLO and SRO officers to be on campus. He looked at about 10 or 12 MOUS across the country and chose one he thought had the elements of what was asked to bring to the City and prepare a draft MOU to bring to the School District Liaison Standing Committee for review. Ryan Sebers stated the process was intended to lead to a discussion or collaborative starting point for the School District and for City Council. Mayor Addiego inquired whether anyone anticipated the process if both sides were not able to reach an agreement before the new school year. Mr. Sebers advised the arrangement between the School District and the Police Department had been largely consultative, so police officers generally go to schools for unfortunate criminal activity situations or situations where safety was in question, which basically fell within the current guidelines and the law about when police would normally go to campus. However, there were situations where there could be consultative situations where there might be some assistance requested. The SLO were also serving as regular officers in the community, but they were more readily available to respond to school issues. He concluded that the fact that there was no MOU, did not change the role and relationship. Chief Azzopardi confirmed there had not been an MOU but had a school police handbook for the last 30 years that had been developed by the School District, with the Police Department. He advised there were two officers that are assigned as SLOs and their responsibility was to liaison with the schools in the district and respond when SLOB are called and patrol the schools during recess and interact with the students. The SLOB were devoted to school calls only, but as things got busy, the SLOB would sometime get tied up with school calls and the Police Department would need to send a patrol officer to another school when needed. Chief Azzopardi emphasized that if the two SLOB are no longer assigned, then they would go back into the patrol pool. He stated that in two years, only two people have left the schools in handcuffs, one student and one teacher. Superintendent Dr. Moore stated the School District needed to sit down with the Police Department to make the necessary adjustments, refinements, additions, and revisions in a timely manner and bring it back either to a School District Liaison Standing Committee meeting or a joint meeting between the School Board and City Council. SCHOOL DISTRICT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 8, 2021 MINUTES PAGE 4 City Manager Futrell recommended a two-step process for approval of the MOU. First step was to present and approve the MOU via the School District Liaison Standing Committee, and the second step to have the School Board and City Council approve the MOU individually. He added the SLOs volunteered and received specialized training prior to taking the role as SLO. Board President Lujan thanked staff and supported the idea of staff coming back to tighten a few things on the MOU. She suggested giving clearer guidance to the administrative staff on when to call for an SLO. Vice Mayor Nagales agreed that the MOU should come back to the School District Liaison Standing Committee to refine the language before presenting to City Council and the School Board. 4. Presentation on City of South San Francisco Childcare Budget. (Sharon Ranals, Assistant City Manager) Assistant City Manager Ranals stated the item was brought to the School District Liaison Standing Committee at the request of the School District to better understand the City's childcare budget. The presentation focused on the portion of childcare, which happened in school districts facilities. There was a large recreation division, and she would zone in on those activities that are for before and after school programs. Recreation & Community Services Supervisor Armanino gave a presentation of the item and advised that the City -operated childcare programs served approximately 1,400 children and young adults annually, three licensed preschools, four licensed before and after school programs, three grant - funded After School Education and Safety (ASES) program, Winter, Spring and Summer seasonal camps, and the Full of Fun Program. She advised that in March 2020, the City paused in-person services due to COVID-19 pandemic and pivoted to maintaining virtual connections with families. In June 2020, the City began offering modified, full day preschool and summer camp programming. She advised of the following grants: Ongoing Grants ASES $247,695 Big Lift $220,000 COVID-19 Grants San Mateo County Childcare Relief Fund $20,636 San Mateo County Learning Hubs Expansion Fund $17,000 Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County (4C's) $2,063 Children's Council of San Francisco $208 Other Grants and Donations Quality Improvement Grants from Quality Counts San Mateo County (Big Lift) South San Francisco Friends of Parks and Recreation Private donations Total miscellaneous grants and donations collected: approximately +/- $10,000 annually SCHOOL DISTRICT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 8, 2021 MINUTES PAGE 5 On June 7, 2021, Summer Camp began at Ponderosa Elementary School, Orange Park, and Terrabay Gymnasium and Recreation Center. In July 2021, the City will begin enrolling families into the Expanded Learning Program and REAL Program for the 2021-2022 school year. Vice Mayor Nagales inquired whether the preschool waitlist had increased from four to five years since the pandemic. Supervisor Armanino stated there were currently 700 families on the waitlist which translated to around four years. She added that they were only able to take two or three families off the list for the last school year. City Manager Futrell advised it was the City's intention to expand the pre -kindergarten and childcare program as robustly as possible. The City Council, through study sessions, had wanted to adopt a goal of universal pre -kindergarten and expects that it would be part of the City's 20 years strategic plan that every child in South San Francisco would have a real opportunity to attend pre- kindergarten prior to going to first grade. The City was building a new pre -kindergarten center in Westborough on existing land with construction starting by next year. Board President Lujan thanked staff for the presentation and also thanked the City for the continued support of the child care program. In closing, City Manager Futrell thanked and was grateful for City staff to have reopened in person and for finding imaginative ways to open additional sides to take care of kids during the pandemic and to help as many kids as possible survive distance learning. Adjournment Being no further business, Mayor Addiego adjourned the meeting at 2:47 p.m. Submitted by: Gabriel Rodrig ez, Deputy City Clerk City of South San Francisco Approved by: jAgJT � Mark Addiego, Mayor City of South San Francisco Approved by the School District Liaison Committee: 07 / 2 D / 2-C)Z 1 SCHOOL DISTRICT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 8, 2021 MINUTES PAGE 6