•  McArthur & Levin, LLP

Having a variety of legal firms allows the District flexibility to select the firm with the most expertise and experience for a particular matter. Since the District's firms represent many clients in the education field the possibility of conflict of interest could arise, therefore District will have the option to easily select alternative counsel. 

The attached document lists the contracts executed by the Superintendent or designee.

In an effort to expedite the award and contract for the Live Oak Fencing Project, staff received delegation of authority to award authorization on June 15, 2021. 

In accordance with public contract code, bid notice was placed in a local newspaper (San Jose Post Record) for two consecutive weeks. Bids were received and opened on July 15, 2021. District Staff analyzed the bids for compliance and it was determined that the low bidder listed below, presented a responsive and responsible bid.

Dryco Construction     $305,690

Cyclone Fence & Iron $311,430

Silicon Valley Paving $363,000

Staff requests approval to ratify the award of contract to Dryco Construction for the total price of $305,690

The price includes owner approved change order value allowance.

On June 1, 2021 the Board of Education gave approval for the Deputy Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer to sign the agreement for fixed rate pricing for electrical service with Direct Energy Business, LLC. On June 23, 2021 Staff executed the Agreement and is returning the Agreement for Board ratification. 

Electric payments are paid out of the General Fund. Total cost is highly dependent on usage, but for the preceding fiscal year the contract with Direct Energy Business LLC was approximately $236,000.

The Department of Special Education requests approval of the following 2021-22 Special Education contracts for Morgan Hill Unified School District.

Morgan Hill Unified School District is opening to full in-person, five-days-a-week instruction on August 12th. Universal masking in all K-12 schools will be in place for adults and students, regardless of vaccination status.

Below are important resources regarding safety measures for the start of the 2021-22 school year:

• Fall 2021 Back to School: What to Expect

• Safety Measures for K-12 Schools

• Frequently Asked Questions

Two new laws, AB 104 and AB 130, affect grades, retention, graduation exemptions, and independent study options for our students. The attached presentation was provided to our staff, parents and community. The District held two community forums (one at 10 am and one at 6 pm in English and Spanish) to answer questions and to help disseminate Back to School information. A third community forum will be held in Spanish on Monday, August 2, at 6 pm.

Staff will present on our Back to School 2021-2022.

The Governor signed the 2021-22 State Budget into law on June 30, 2021. While Education Code does not specifically require that school districts revise their budgets, it does require making the revisions public if the school district decides to make revisions based on the Enacted State Budget.

Education Code Section 42127(i)(4) states that, “Not later than 45 days after the Governor signs the annual Budget Act, the school district shall make available for public review any revisions in revenues and expenditures that it has made to its budget to reflect the funding made available by that Budget Act.”

This year given the significant changes from the May Revision to the final Budget Act, Santa Clara County Office of Education has advised that districts prepare a 45-day Revision.

Major changes from the May Revision include: 

• A-G Completion Improvement Grant - One time Prop 98 funding. These one-time funds are to help districts to increase the number of high school students who graduate with A-G eligibility.  

• CA Pre-Kinder Planning and Implementation Grant - One time Prop 98 funding. Beginning in 2022-23 the eligibility will expand by two months. This will offer TK to all four year olds. 

• Expanded Learning Opportunities Program - Before and after school opportunities to provide access to comprehensive expanded learning for all unduplicated students in elementary. 

• Unemployment Insurance rate - At budget adoption the rate unemployment rate was 1.23%. The new rate has decreased to 0.5%. It is still a significant increase from 2020-21, which was 0.05%.

The California Code of Regulations, Title 5, requires that the Board of Education annually adopt a Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators prior to the issuance of limited assignment permits and/or emergency permits for the upcoming school year. The Declaration must include the recruitment efforts the District has made to employ fully credentialed teachers and an estimate of the number of teachers that may need to be employed under the authorization of an emergency or limited assignment permit. This Declaration of Need is submitted to the Board for action in order to meet these legal requirements. 

Morgan Hill Unified School District continues to place a strong emphasis on recruiting fully credentialed teachers. To accomplish this, Human Resources posts vacancies on online platforms and with nearby universities' teacher preparation programs and career centers, attends recruitment fairs, and advertises in various professional publications, and will continue doing so throughout the school year.

Finding fully qualified teachers in the high-need areas of special education, bilingual certification, mathematics, and science can be challenging since the current demand generally exceeds the supply of these credentials.  Additionally, personnel changes sometimes occur during the school year due to a variety of statutory leaves which may increase the demand for fully qualified teachers when the mid-year supply of fully credentialed teachers is at its lowest. Adoption of a Declaration of Need is required prior to the issuance of any emergency or limited assignment permit and is submitted annually every June to the Santa Clara County Office of Education and to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing in the event that any of the District’s staffing assignments throughout the upcoming year require the issuance of a limited or emergency permit.

The same item came before the Board and was approved at the regularly scheduled meeting of May 18, 2021, and was submitted to the CTC. On July 1, 2021, the District received feedback from the CTC that the District's Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators was incomplete due to the item being placed on and approved as part of the consent calendar. The CTC asked that to remedy the situation that the item return as a General Business action item and be acted upon separately. The District, therefore, has complied and prepared the Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educations on the CTC's updated form.

The CTC requires the Board of Education to take action to approve the Declaration of Need as a separate action item in an open session of a regularly scheduled board meeting. Upon approval, the necessary documents will then be resubmitted.

The California Commission of Teacher Credentialing issues the Provisional Internship Permit (PIP) which provides applicants additional time to meet the subject matter competence requirement(s) needed to enter an internship program. A District may request a PIP only after a diligent search has been conducted and a fully credentialed teacher could not be found. The PIP is issued for one (1) year and is not renewable. All requests for a PIP must be presented to the Governing Board of a public school district for approval. Every PIP request that is submitted to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing must also include verification that a notice of intent to employ the named applicant has been made public.

As of July 26, 2021, MHUSD still has two vacancies in our Special Education program. Despite repeatedly posting on EdJoin, Indeed, LinkedIn, the MHUSD website, District Facebook, and contacting partner universities, qualified candidates have not applied. It is difficult to hire qualified teachers this late in the school year in a high-need credential area such as Special Education.

Kimberly Budrow is a good candidate for a PIP. She has been employed with MHUSD as a paraprofessional since December 2019. She began her Master's degree and Education Specialist credential coursework with Grand Canyon University at the end of 2020.

Approving Kim for a Provisional Internship Permit will allow her time to complete all of her credentialing requirements. Morgan Hill Unified will provide an experienced mentor teacher with the same credential throughout the entire period of her PIP. Kim will participate in Morgan Hill Unified's Intern Mentor Program for additional training and professional learning.

If approved for a PIP, Kim will be placed in an SDC classroom at Barrett Elementary for the 2021-22 school year.