West Sonoma County Union High School District board meeting, Sep 9, 2026
3 h 22 min · 5 public speakers
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What happened
What happened at this meeting
West Sonoma County board motion calls for appointment to fill trustee vacancy 2:10:14
- Students from the Sebastopol FFA chapter presented results from the Sonoma County Fair, and the board heard reports from students, employee associations and principals. 1:09:46
- The board discussed how to fill a board vacancy, and a motion called for an appointment process with a 2-week application period and a tentative special board meeting on the 30th. 2:10:44
- A district staff member presented the unaudited actuals, saying expenditures were under budget by almost $1.6 million. 2:21:30
- The board considered a 2026-2031 technology plan, and the motion was amended to accept the plan and fund option 2. 3:01:21
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Item by item (14)
- Opening and agenda approval 58:32
- Jeanne Fernandes reconvened the meeting in open session, led the Pledge of Allegiance and asked for approval of the agenda. 58:32
- FFA chapter recognition 59:18
- Members of the Sebastopol FFA chapter presented their accomplishments from the Sonoma County Fair, including swine and goat awards. 1:00:14
- A student said the chapter's fall barbecue fundraiser is on October 13th, with sales opening September 21st. 1:09:46
- A student said the Jameson Merit Award is a scholarship of $300 for sheep, goat and hog exhibitors and $1,000 for market steers. 1:10:42
- Public comment on non-agenda items 1:11:49
- Consent calendar and closed session report 1:17:29
- Student, association and principal reports 1:18:15
- The president of the Teachers Association said the fund balance was around 30% and that the loss of technology, main office and library positions was being felt, and suggested spending some of the $11 million reserve. 1:23:32
- A principal said the new cell phone policy had resulted in little cell phone use on campus and that 7 internship applications had been submitted. 1:27:17
- Another principal described 9th grade teams and the phone-free school day and said a grand opening for new facilities is set for Tuesday, September 29th, 6 to 8 PM. 1:31:33
- Board member and superintendent reports 1:42:27
- One board member said the district is serving a broad swath of the students who live in the district. 1:43:51
- Jeanne Fernandes thanked the agriculture teachers for their work during the summer. 1:44:05
- The superintendent said the district would continue as the LEA for the consortium through the expiration of the MOU if there was no viable plan in place, and that any action item would not be agendized until November. 1:45:58
- Instructional materials hearing and resolution 1:48:00
- A public hearing on the sufficiency of instructional materials was opened and closed with no speakers. 1:48:00
- The superintendent said the review is an annual process in which principals work with department chairs to check alignment with content standards. 1:49:03
- The board took a roll call vote on the resolution. 1:49:29
- Item 1:49:51
- A staff member said one chart for the 25-26 school year showed a total of 133 infractions and another showed 73 incidents, and attributed an uptick in suspensions to better campus coverage and a new approach to hate speech. 1:51:43
- Revised policies from the CSBA August 2026 update were presented as a first reading and will be placed on consent at the next meeting. 2:00:48
- Filling a board vacancy 2:02:07
- One board member said of the options that there was concern about the time and expense, and a staff member said an appointee would need to live in the trustee area. 2:03:55
- One board member suggested a 10-day application window, and a staff member recommended 2 weeks. 2:04:26
- The motion called for an appointment process, a 2-week application period and a tentative special board meeting on the 30th. 2:10:44
- Human resources agreements and stipends 2:12:07
- A staff member presented an MOU for a Spanish teacher to teach a 1.20 FTE assignment and an MOU capping the leadership class at 40 students outside class size overage calculations. 2:12:37
- A staff member asked the board to rescind the two-tiered athletic stipend schedule so all coaches would receive the same rate. 2:17:47
- A staff member said stipends for dance, band, drama, intramurals and speech and debate are being reinstated for this school year. 2:19:09
- After a vote on a Spanish teaching assignment, Jeanne Fernandes said there would be 3 with 1 absent. 2:12:37
- Item 2:20:45
- A staff member said revenue came in almost $670,000 higher, expenditures were under budget by almost $1.6 million, and the fund balance ended at about $11.5 million. 2:21:12
- Lewis Buchner asked whether part of the $1.6 million was deferred PG&E costs, and a staff member said PG&E took 6 months to begin billing the district. 2:32:58
- A staff member said the district met all the criteria of Proposition 4 and did not need to make an adjustment to its GAN limit. 2:41:07
- Proposition 28 annual report 2:41:47
- A staff member said the funds paid for 0.2 FTE sections of dance, fine arts, digital photography and band and that the next allocation is estimated at about $263,000. 2:42:05
- Lewis Buchner asked whether Prop 28 money could continue a section started with earlier funds, and a staff member said it could. 2:49:05
- Speakers at public comment thanked the board for reinstating a music stipend and asked for more transparency in the use of Prop 28 funds. 2:51:30
- Bond project update 2:56:43
- A staff member said requests for qualifications will go out for the stadium and cafeteria projects and that the district plans 3 grant applications totaling $7.5 million, due December 1st. 2:56:51
- Technology plan and device funding 3:01:21
- A staff member said the district supports about 1,500 student devices and 159 wireless access points and presented option 1 for student and staff devices and option 2 adding labs. 3:03:50
- A staff member said bond funding of $55,000 paid for 100 devices this year because no other source was available. 3:17:49
- The motion was amended to accept the plan and approve funding for option 2. 3:21:04
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
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Video: posted by the district as “Board Meeting September 9, 2026”