At its March 22nd meeting, the Piedmont Unified Board of Education:
Recognized 2023 Arthur Hecht Volunteer of the Year Award Winner - Interim Superintendent, Dr. Donald Evans, announced Piedmont Makers President and Co-Founder, Dave Ragones, as the 2023 recipient of the Arthur Hecht Volunteer of the Year Award. Read full story here. Ragones will be honored at a Board Meeting in May.
Received Presentation Goal 2, LCAP Action: Equitable Grading Practices - LCAP Goal 2 states: All students will engage in relevant learning experiences that foster life-long curiosity, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and responsible citizenship. The fourth category in Goal 2 is equitable teaching and grading practices. PUSD staff are exploring alternative grading practices and policies. We are in the early stages of our discussions and will be learning from other districts who are further along in implementing new grading policies. Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Cheryl Wozniak, along with Piedmont High School Principal, Sukanya Goswami, Piedmont Middle School Principal, Karyn Shipp, and middle school teachers Jamie Van Kleek and Kate Waldron led the presentation. This is the first public discussion and will plan future parent engagement opportunities at the site level. Read full background, view slidedeck, and watch the presentation (starts at 23:00 of meeting video).
Approved Resolution Recognizing Arab American Heritage Month.
Approved Lease/Leaseback Contracts between Piedmont Unified School District and Kevin M. Sullivan and Associates, Inc. - Identified in the Facilities Steering Committee Recommended 2023 Summer Projects made to the Board at the January 25, 2023, meeting, the contract includes two HVAC projects replacing units installed in 1995-96: (1) Replace 3 rooftop units on the Piedmont High School 20s building, ducting, install Pearls and dampers. (2) Replace 5 rooftop units and one 25 ton MPR unit on the Piedmont Middle School 400 building. Preliminary cost estimates total $530,000. Read full contract.
Approved Lease/Leaseback Contracts between Piedmont Unified School District and Pacific Power and Systems.
Reviewed and Approved The District's Transportation Plan per Assembly Bill 181 - AB181 adopted last year by the State Legislature requires local school districts to develop transportation plans by April 1 this year and to update them annually. The legislation also provides funding of approximately 60% of the prior year's costs. For Piedmont, annual transportation costs are between $300,000 and $400,000. The State only provides $12,000 towards that cost. This legislation will generate an additional $150,000 per year to be applied toward transportation. Prior to this new law, the District was required to provide home-to-school transportation for special needs students per their Individual Education Plan (IEP) and homeless students. The new legislation adds the requirement to provide free transportation to "unduplicated" students (low income, English learners and foster youth). It also requires the plan to describe how we provide transportation services to all students. Read full background, read transportation plan, view slidedeck, and watch presentation (starts at 2:04:30 of meeting video).
Received Presentation on Website Modernization Project - After more than a year of research, surveys, interviews and training, the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) launched new district and school websites on Friday, February 24, 2023. Read full background, view slidedeck and view presentation (starts at 2:15:30 of meeting video).
Next Regular Board Meeting - Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 7:00pm
