Nevada County Board of Education: January 2023

Four of the five members of the Nevada County Board of Education met in January 2023: Louise Johnson, Susan Clarabut, Timothy May, and Julie Baker. Heino Nicolai as president of the board was absent to fulfill jury duty responsibilities, so Susan Clarabut, vice president, led the meeting. 

The board voted on the following motions: 

Consent Agenda

The consent agenda contained motions to approve the minutes and a review of complaints. The board pulled the December 2022 minutes to be voted on separately, then the four trustees approved the consent agenda. The December 2022 minutes were amended in the meeting and then also approved by the four present trustees. 

FY21-22 Audit Report

All four present trustees voted in favor of accepting the FY21-22 audit report. The audit was performed by Christy White, Inc., a company based in San Diego that employs certified public accountants and serves school districts throughout California. The audit was completed on December 14, 2022. According to Christy White, there were “no transactions entered into by Nevada County Superintendent of Schools during the year for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or consensus.” 

Block Grant

This was a motion to approve the “Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Arts, Music and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant Plan.” All four present trustees voted in favor of this motion. 

A memo from Teena Corker, Associate Superintendent of Educational Services, was included in the packet on page 93. Corker’s memo states that Governor Newsom approved AB 181 in June of 2022, which established the block grant, and AB 185 in September 2022, which revised the block grant. 

AB 181 states that $3,560,885,000 would be appropriated “from the General Fund to the State Department of Education to establish the Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant, for allocation to county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, and the state special schools, in accordance with a formula based on a per-pupil basis, as provided. The bill would authorize funds to be used to obtain standards-aligned professional development and acquire instructional materials in specified subject areas, to develop diverse book collections and obtain culturally relevant texts, and for operational costs, as provided.” 

AB 185 states that “existing law appropriates $3,560,885,000 (over three billion dollars) from the General Fund to the department to establish the Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant, for allocation by the Superintendent to county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, and the state special schools, in accordance with a formula based on a per-pupil basis, as provided.” 

Corker claims in her memo that the purpose of the block grant is to obtain “standards-aligned professional development and instructional materials for specified subject areas,” then adds, “and for improving school climate.” Corker also suggests that operational costs will be defined as including “retirement and health care cost increases” and COVID-19-related costs to keep school campuses safe. 

After explaining these purposes for the Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant, Corker proposed that the total budget of $28,401 be spent on a summer workshop for educators. 

The board agreed that the next meeting will be held on February 8, 2023 at 3:00 PM at 380 Crown Point Circle, Grass Valley, California.