At the March 7 meeting of the Sacramento City Unified School District Board, the Board announced that Christopher Ralston has been appointed as Assistant Superintendent for Facility Support Services, and recognized students from Miwok Middle School who participate in the “Oakey Dokies” as Stellar Students. The Oakey Dokies is an extracurricular jazz band ensemble directed by district music teacher Patricia Wassum. The students named their band as a play on words with the new Miwok mascot, the mighty Oak tree.

The Stellar Students participating in the Oakey Dokies Jazz Band are  Siena Payne (trumpet), Leila Sasaki (trumpet), Giuliana Balestreri (clarinet), Bari Eizenberg (tenor saxophone), Hannah Harper (tuba), Eje Edwards (drums), Martin Fletcher (drums), Lilyanna Jacobs (banjo), and Sidney Manricks (piano).

The Oakey Dokies performed at the Teagarden Jazz Festival at Sac State last month, where they won the middle school division and were invited back for an “encore” performance at the evening awards ceremony. In addition, six students from the nine-person jazz band won individual awards at this event.

The Board provided an update on the District’s superintendent search. Previously, the Board interviewed several Superintendent search firms but did not approve a contract with any of the firms. While the Board initially considered hiring a search firm to recruit outside candidates, the Board has also remained open to hiring from within the organization and has directed legal counsel to discuss possible contract terms for the permanent positions of Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent with Interim Superintendent Lisa Allen and Interim Deputy Superintendent Mary Hardin Young. Any appointments or approval of contracts for the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent positions will take place at a future Board meeting.

The Board received informational updates on the following topics:

• Actualizing English Learner Reclassification, covering successes and opportunities to better serve emergent bilingual students in SCUSD; and 
• Early Learning and Care, covering highlights in early learning and PK-3 grade alignment efforts.

The Board held a public hearing and subsequently approved an agreement between SCUSD and SCTA for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 year.

The Board took action to receive an independent audit report for the Fiscal Year that ended on June 30.

The Board also held a public hearing and subsequently took action to approve a 2023-24 Second Interim Financial Report with a Qualified Certification. The District is projecting to be able to meet its financial obligations for the current and next fiscal year, however, the district may not meet its required 2% reserve in 2025-26; therefore, the District self certifies with a qualified certification.

More detail on all of these items can be found at https://www.scusd.edu/boe030724

For more information about the SCUSD Board of Education, including the schedule for future Board meetings and to submit a public comment at future meetings, please visit https://www.scusd.edu/board-education.