Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Ted Alejandre, Superintendent, San Bernardino County Schools
Meeting In-Person and via ZOOM
Minutes
Present: Ted Alejandre, Megan Barajas, Deborah Barmack, Carole Beswick, Greg Bradbard, Rashelle Bussell, Luis Cetina, Ken Coate, Kevin Dyerly, Dr. Sam Gibbs, Louis Goodwin, Fran Inman, Lowell King, Steve Lambert, Darcy McNaboe, John Mirau, Robert Nava, Norm Nunez, Bansree Parikh, Cid Pinedo, Cat Pritchett, Thomas Rice, Michael Rivera, Dan Roberts, LaShe Rodriguez, Dan Schenkel, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Reggie Webb, Michael Wells, Ray Wolfe, and Frank Zabaleta.
Guests: Carrie Schindler
Announcements: 1) The SCAQMD workshops regarding rail facilities have been canceled. 2) The Inland Action holiday party is planned for Wednesday, December 6, 2023 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Kevin Dyerly, Chair presiding.
Motion by L. King/Second/Passed: Minutes from July 18, 2023
Robert Nava introduced Ted Alejandre, Superintendent, San Bernardino County Schools who joined us in person. He began his four-year term as the County’s 34th Superintendent after being elected to office
in June 2014. He has more than 33 years of experience in public education serving in many different roles: teacher, vice principal, principal, director of fiscal services at the district level, assistant Superintendent of Business Services in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. Ted served some 17 years in the Air Force Reserves and currently works as an Air Force liaison officer for local high schools and is responsible for the recruitment/evaluation of prospective students for the Air Force Academy.
As County Superintendent he works collaboratively with educators, families, other agencies and stakeholders to provide advocacy, leadership and services for and on behalf of the 406,000 K-12 students attending public schools in San Bernardino County. His office oversees a $230 million annual operating budget and employs nearly 2,000 employees. He is committed to lifelong learning and utilizes the Cradle to Career Roadmap, born as a result of the San Bernardino Countywide Vision.
The Roadmap works for these critical components:
- Collective Impact
- An innovative approach to making collaboration work across multiple sectors to achieve significant social change.
- Success Indicators at Every Milestone
- Based on students achieving specific academic and career readiness success indicators at each age and grade level.
- Pillars of Support
- Parents and families, educators, government, business and labor, and faith and community-based organizations act as pillars of support to children.
The County District capitalizes on the diversity of its people, its geography, and its economy to create a broad range of choices for its residents in how they live, work, and play. Some of these programs are:
- Footsteps2Brillance (F2B) is a countywide spotlight on literacy.
- F2B overcomes the barriers to equity access by offering a solution that is device agnostic, requires no Internet, and provides 100% bilingual resources. Districts can leverage the smartphones that families already own and provide content in families’ home language. This allows for a scalable citywide solution that rallies the entire community around early literacy. The comprehensive F2B curriculum has thousands of interactive eBooks, songs, and games in English or Spanish. It has won numerous awards for using game-based methodology to engage students and inspire a love of learning.
- College and Career Readiness includes numerous programs such as
- AVID provides scaffolded support that educators and students need to encourage college and career readiness and success. With AVID, school leaders have the flexibility to start small and can deepen AVID’s impact on their campus over time.
- Dual enrollment, also referred to as dual credit, allows current high school students to take college-level classes.
- CA Biliteracy- The State Seal of Biliteracy (SSB), is marked by a gold seal on the diploma or transcript, recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing one or more languages in addition to English.
- Career Education Map- The Centers of Excellence, in partnership with the Alliance for Education, has developed a regional GIS map that identifies the location of existing K12 CTE pathways, community college programs, and regional labor market data illustrating the alignment/misalignment of workforce needs with regional workforce preparation programs.
- Digital Learning-
- Educator Workforce Investment Grant includes Computer Science Update
- Garner Holt Productions (manufacturer of animatronics) has partnered with many schools
- SBCSS eSports- used to describe “electronic” sports video game played by professional and amateur player/athletes. eSports also refers to a growing industry that in addition to game development, includes careers and opportunities in marketing and broadcasting. The critical thinking, communication and teamwork required to compete make eSports more than just “playing” video games. Colleges and Universities have recognized the explosion of this new sport and have begun to offer scholarships and play opportunities to students.
Ted Alejandre’s vision for ALL students is that they:
- Graduate, prepared to compete in and contribute to our local economy and the global marketplace.
- Become successful adults as a result of innovative and relevant educational programs.
- Master 21st century skills including critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration, and social/personal responsibility.
- Have equal access to highly effective and engaging instructional programs at all levels.
- Learn in safe, encouraging and motivating school environments.
Q & A period followed
Meeting adjourned 8:29 a.m.