Joint Board Meeting Report

April 14, 2025 | San Diego Community College District
Both boards together in a school library

SDCCD Board Member Marichu G. Magaña, SDCCD Student Trustee Haydee Zuniga, SDCCD Board Member Geysil Arroyo, SDUSD Student Board Member Joseph Cruz, SDCCD Board Member Maria Nieto Senour, SDUSD Board Member Sabrina Bazzo, SDCCD Chancellor Gregory Smith, SDUSD Board Member Shana Hazan, SDUSD Board Member Cody Petterson, SDUSD Board Member Richard Barrera, SDCCD Board Member Craig Milgrim, SDUSD Student Board Member Quinton Baldis, and SDUSD Board Member Sharon Whitehurst-Payne. Not pictured: SDUSD Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula.

On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, the governing boards of the San Diego Community College District and the San Diego Unified School District held their 13th annual joint meeting at Kearny High School Theater. 

SDCCD Trustees Geysil Arroyo (President), Craig Milgrim (Executive Vice President), Mariah Jameson, Marichu G. Magaña, Maria Nieto Senour, Student Trustees Haydee Zuniga, and Chancellor Gregory Smith, and SDUSD Board of Education Members Cody Petterson (President), Richard Barrera (Vice President), Sabrina Bazzo, Shana Hazan, Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, Student Board members Quinton Baldis and Joseph Cruz, and Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula. Following welcome remarks from Kearny High School Principal Ana Diaz Booz, SDUSD Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula, and SDCCD Chancellor Gregory Smith, the public meeting was conducted in the form of a presentation followed by a discussion.

Below are highlights from each section of the presentation. The following topics were presented by SDCCD Vice Chancellor Susan Topham, Dean Andrew “Luke” Menchaca; Associate Dean Tavaris Franklin, Acting Directors Clarissa Padilla and Olivia Picolla, Student Services Technician Cesar Gaxiola, Research and Planning Analyst Stephen Bass; SDUSD Instructional Support Officer Jennifer Roberson and students Zahraa Munaim, Aryah Palms, Marlee Nicholas, Naomi Mangum, and Leslie Aguilar Rodriguez.

  • Joint 3-Year S.M.A.R.T. Student Outcome Goals: The presentation began with an overview of the Joint 3-Year S.M.A.R.T. Student Outcome Goals, including insights about interim outputs to guide progress while keeping student outcomes in mind. Presenters noted that these goals guided the progress made over the past year since the 2024 Joint Board meeting. These goals were initially developed and discussed in the 2024 Joint Board and later approved by the SDUSD and SDCCD Boards.

  • Student Experiences: SDUSD students shared experiences with early college credit opportunities in the College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) Program, Fast Track, and Concurrent Enrollment courses on SDCCD campuses. The students discussed how these programs and classes empower them to get a head start on college, allowing them to begin their college journey before high school graduation.

  • Update on Early College Credit: Research and Planning Analyst Stephen Bass presented enrollment, outcome, and disproportionate impact data for SDUSD high school students taking college classes at SDCCD. This data was used to monitor the districts’ progress towards goals regarding equitable expansion of dual and concurrent enrollment and supporting high school students to complete college credits successfully.

  • Goal Highlights: SDCCD’s City, Mesa, Miramar, and Continuing Education colleges each presented updates on the work to support the Joint 3-Year S.M.A.R.T. Student Outcome Goals. The colleges shared efforts to create more access and connect students with SDCCD and SDUSD support programs/services. Financial Aid teams also discussed how SDCCD and SDUSD collaborated on a school counselor and partner conference to provide information to SDCCD and SDUSD faculty, staff, and administrators with information that could be shared with students about enrollment at SDCCD, addressing access and success gaps for disproportionately impacted students for early college credit courses. Slides are available here under item 5.01.

  • Board Discussion: Board members discussed the desire to have an additional Joint Board meeting in the fall to present 2024-25 data as the current data is incomplete for 2024-25. With the significant movement in Goal 1 (increasing SDUSD’s graduating student cohorts’ level of college and career readiness, as measured by the college/career indicator on the California State Dashboard) and Output 1a (increasing the number of graduating students that complete at least two or more community college courses earning a “C” or higher), the boards discussed reassessing the goal and creating new interim outputs. Board members discussed providing early information for middle school students about early college credit and examining how many career technical education pathways are available for SDUSD through early college credit offerings. Board members discussed the importance of data and reporting about career technical education series courses to make it more common for SDUSD students to complete. Board members thanked the teams for the intentional work done to support LGBTQIA+ students. Board members also wanted to review data disaggregated by college post-high school completion and where students enroll, including career technical education programs and what majors they are enrolling in. Board members also noted that one population that needs additional support would be students who are Arab and/or Muslim. The challenges the teams faced were also addressed, and presenters discussed funding for direct student support as a need. Board members would like to pursue joint budget priorities and joint funding opportunities.

Update on Legislation and Advocacy

SDUSD Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula and SDCCD Chancellor Gregory Smith each shared key legislation, all endorsed by both boards. Legislation included: 

SDCCD

AB 323 (Fong) - This bill would allow districts to use strong workforce funds to provide direct support to students and or employers for paid work-based learning.

AB 335 (Gipson) – This bill would appropriate $75 million in grant funding to provide academic support to designated California Black-Serving Institutions.  

AB 648 (Zbur) – This bill would exempt community college districts building housing from local zoning regulations, similar to UCs and CSUs.

AB 766 (Sharp-Collins) – This bill would codify an executive order made by Governor Gavin Newsom to require all state agencies to create and implement Equity Action Plans.

AB 1433 (Sharp-Collins) – This bill would establish definitions for noncredit colleges and noncredit education centers and require the board of governors to allocate base funding for designated categorical programs to noncredit colleges and noncredit centers.

SDUSD

AB 629 (Ward) – This bill would adjust the threshold for triggering inclusion in the inventory for inflation, increasing the threshold from $500 to $1,500.

AB 1224 (Valencia) – This bill would reinstate the extension on the number of days a substitute teacher can serve in a single classroom from 30 to 60 days, which was authorized during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SB 438 (Cabaldon) – This bill would shorten the school day for CCAP students from 240 to 180 minutes of attendance, comparable to Early- and Middle-College high school programs

Goals for the Future 

Both Boards directed their teams to update and adjust the Joint 3-Year S.M.A.R.T. Student Outcome Goals based on 2024-25 data. Both boards unanimously approved an additional Joint Board meeting hosted during the Fall 2025 semester to specifically report on data from the 2024-25 school year.  

The Boards expressed appreciation to the presenters and celebrated the progress made through goals one and two.  

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