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South Pasadena Unified board meeting, Jun 9, 2026

2 h 08 min · 4 public speakers

AI in schools ▶ 11:44Phones in school ▶ 51:00Reading and test scores ▶ 8:35

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 2 h 08 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

South Pasadena Unified board hears LCAP and budget, discusses high school phone policy 4:26

  • A district staff member presented an executive summary of the Local Control and Accountability Plan, including data reviewed by educational partners and planned changes to actions. 4:26
  • A staff member presented the adopted budget, which was attached to public hearing item 5.02 and was set to return for approval at the next meeting. 35:06
  • Board members discussed the mobile communications devices policy as a discussion item, and Karen Tamis asked for research into how other schools implemented away-all-day policies. 1:24:04
  • The board took roll-call votes on the consent agenda and action items, including a joint use agreement with the city. 1:56:36

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda 0:27
    • The meeting was called to order, roll was taken, and no public comment was offered on closed session items. 0:27
    • After closed session, the presiding officer said there was nothing to report, and a staff member said there were no changes to the agenda. 0:44
  2. Local Control and Accountability Plan summary 4:26
    • A staff member said the CAASPP ELA average distance above standard was 91.6 points in the current year, up from 81.2 in the baseline year, and chronic absenteeism for all students dropped from 7% to 5%. 7:07
    • The staff member said the district would not continue Lexia, would pay for high school credit recovery with new one-time funds, and would develop an AI literacy implementation plan for students. 14:46
    • Zahir Robb asked which subject areas were behind the decline in the A through G completion rate, and a staff member said an environmental science class had been added in response to that data. 25:58
  3. Adopted budget presentation 35:06
    • The staff member said the budget would return as an action item at the next board meeting. 35:30
    • A staff member said the May revision included a $2.87 cost of living average and an additional 1.44 augmentation for a total of 4.31. 37:51
    • The staff member said the projected deficit for this school year was about $1.5 million and was filled with one-time money, and that reserve levels remain above the required minimum throughout the multi-year projection period. 45:27
  4. Public hearings 49:08
    • The presiding officer opened and closed public hearings on the 2026⁠-⁠2027 accountability plan, the adopted budget and the initial negotiation proposals from CSEA Chapter 17 and the district, with no comments noted. 49:08
  5. Public comment 49:08
    • Several speakers at public comment asked the board to adopt a bell-to-bell or away-for-the-day phone policy that would include the high school. 51:31
    • The presiding officer reminded the audience that board members would not respond to public comments and that comments were limited to 3 minutes. 54:01
  6. Board and staff reports 1:03:14
    • Board members spoke about end-of-year graduation and promotion ceremonies, and Karen Tamis noted that summer athletics tryouts and freshman orientation were coming up. 1:03:28
    • In the superintendent report, a staff member congratulated graduates and said students would return on Wednesday, August 12th. 1:11:22
    • A human resources staff member introduced the new principal of Monterey Hills Elementary School. 1:14:22
  7. Adult-student interaction policy first reading 1:17:01
    • A staff member said the new board policy results from California Senate Bill 848 and would return for approval at the next meeting. 1:17:41
    • Patricia Martinez-Miller said wording in several sections, including items 7 and 8, should be more specific and directive rather than advisory. 1:19:27
    • One board member said the requirements would likely add work for staff and suggested advocating for fewer unfunded mandates. 1:21:51
  8. Mobile communications devices policy discussion 1:24:04
    • Karen Tamis said the high school policy is away during instructional time and asked for research into how other schools implemented away-all-day policies and what the costs were. 1:24:21
    • One board member asked to reinvestigate the policy and look at what other districts are doing, and another board member asked what problem a change to the high school policy would address. 1:28:24
    • A staff member said staff would put more data together for the board and that usage of the Custodio app had increased to 34%. 1:48:31
  9. Consent agenda 1:56:17
    • Zahir Robb moved to approve consent agenda items 8.01 through 8.16, the motion was seconded, and each member called in the roll answered aye. 1:56:36
  10. Education Protection Funds resolution 1:56:53
    • A staff member said all Education Protection Funds would be spent on instructional programs, namely personnel salaries, and none on administrative salaries. 1:57:13
  11. Enterprise fund transfer 1:57:51
    • A staff member said the transfer from the enterprise fund to the general fund covers facilities, maintenance, administrative costs and general operations. 1:57:59
  12. Declaration of need for educators 1:58:58
    • A staff member said the annual declaration is submitted to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing in case the district needs an emergency or limited assignment permit. 1:59:08
  13. Classified employee negotiation proposals 1:59:37
    • A staff member said the CSEA proposal seeks to open Article 13 salary and Article 14 evaluation procedures. 1:59:49
    • A staff member said the district proposal would open Article 13, salaries; Article 15, transfers and promotions; and Article 7, leaves of absence. 2:00:40
  14. Extra duty compensation schedule 2:01:16
    • A staff member said the schedule raises stipends by 1% and adds stipends for girls flag football, an orchestra director and other positions, and sets a fixed AP stipend per course. 2:02:02
  15. Joint use agreement with the city 2:03:56
    • A staff member said the agreement formalizes the use of common spaces for the community and continues work with the city for the next 10 years. 2:04:10
    • One board member said the partnership between the schools and the city benefits both. 2:05:21

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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