Folsom City Council Regular Meeting: School District Updates, Public Comments on Ceasefire, November 28, 2023
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Folsom City Council Regular Meeting: School District Updates, Public Comments on Ceasefire, November 28, 2023
The Folsom City Council held a regular meeting on November 28, 2023, beginning at approximately 6:30 PM (after a special meeting adjournment) and adjourning at 9:51 PM. The agenda included a presentation from the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD) on district reorganization feasibility and facilities, adoption of the consent calendar, and a lengthy public comment period focused on the Israel-Palestine conflict, with many speakers urging the council to pass a ceasefire resolution. Council members also discussed future agenda items and provided reports.
Consent Calendar
- The consent calendar was adopted unanimously (5-0) after a motion by Councilmember Kozlowski and a second. The calendar included a revised staff report for item number four.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Elena Wagner (Folsom Ranch resident) expressed full support for building new schools in Folsom Ranch, noting that 86% of students in the SFID3 bond area live in Folsom Ranch and that two-thirds of bond money will be paid by Folsom Ranch residents through 2035. She urged the council to protect the city's investment by advocating for schools where students are.
- Justin Zongk (retiring Navy veteran, Folsom Ranch resident) argued that the community south of Highway 50 must become self-sustaining to avoid "tipping over" and capsizing. He stated that the need for a high school is immediate, not by 2029, based on Navy recruiting data.
- Sung Park (Folsom Ranch resident) requested the city council be present at future FCUSD board meetings and emphasize that Measure M funds should benefit all students in SFID3. He suggested separating SFID3 or using remaining funds to build a TK-12 foundation in both communities, with each community building on top later.
- Over 60 speakers addressed the council during Business from the Floor, overwhelmingly calling for a resolution supporting a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Speakers included students, physicians, community leaders, and representatives from the Muslim community of Folsom and CAIR. They cited statistics: over 20,000 Palestinians killed (including 7,000+ children), 1.7 million displaced, and a dire humanitarian crisis. Many criticized the council's October 24 declaration for only condemning attacks on Israeli civilians and failing to mention Palestinian suffering. Several speakers also reported hate crimes and rising Islamophobia.
- Chandra Vinakota and a neighbor from Lake View Oaks community reported a series of hate crimes against Indian American families, including vandalism on Diwali and a fire at a home, with racial slurs used. They asked the council to increase security and send a strong message against hate.
- Jason Davis inquired about follow-up on the October 10 homeless discussion and urged the council to develop a homelessness management plan.
- Nadeem Muhammad (22-year resident) expressed frustration at the council's perceived inaction and called for fairness and inclusivity.
Discussion Items
- Folsom Cordova Unified School District Presentation: Sean Martin, Assistant Superintendent, presented an update on the district reorganization feasibility study (jointly funded with Rancho Cordova and the district) and facilities in SFID3 (south of Highway 50). Key points:
- The feasibility study for splitting the district is ongoing; a draft report is expected by end of 2023, with a joint meeting in January/February 2024.
- SFID3 (Measure M, $750 million bond) has about $545 million unissued. Escalation has doubled construction costs since 2016; Folsom Ranch High School is now projected at $400 million in 2023 dollars.
- The district is redesigning schools to reduce costs, including moving to single-story models and phased construction.
- Tax rates in SFID3 are a concern due to the limited assessed value base; the board will discuss demographics, tax rates, and timelines at a December 12 study session.
- Location of the new high school is not yet decided; options include Folsom Ranch, Rancho Cordova, or two smaller high schools. The board is seeking equitable distribution of Measure M funds.
- Council members asked about enrollment trends, capacity at existing high schools, interdistrict transfers, and the possibility of a new SFID for Folsom.
- Council Requests for Future Agenda Items: Councilmember Kozlowski requested authorization for new polling on a potential sales tax measure. Councilmember Orbaugh requested a follow-up discussion on homelessness (from October 10) and action steps on the strategic plan, unfunded liabilities, and community development department. Vice Mayor Challagulla proposed a future agenda item to bring together Jewish and Muslim communities for dialogue on humanitarian grounds. Mayor stated that the city manager is working on something, possibly by the December 12 meeting.
- City Manager Reports: Announced Rebecca Neves as new city engineer; joint safety message on e-scooters; Folsom Holiday Lights contest; and a $1,900 donation to the library from the author Jeff Kinney event.
Key Outcomes
- The consent calendar was adopted unanimously.
- No formal action was taken on the ceasefire resolution; council members noted that they cannot debate items not on the agenda but acknowledged the public comments. Mayor Rodriguez expressed appreciation for the community's engagement and stated that silence does not mean inaction, referencing ongoing work.
- Councilmember Orbaugh reported on the National League of Cities conference and encouraged other council members to attend future sessions.
- Councilmember Aquino announced he will attend COP28 in Dubai, paid for by the Air District and personally.
- Councilmember Kozlowski expressed sympathy for the suffering in Gaza and noted the difficulty of addressing such issues within meeting rules.
- The meeting was adjourned at 9:51 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. We will now uh reconvene the city council special meeting. Are there any final actions? Good evening, Madam Mayor, and no final action tonight. All right, we will now um adjourn the city council special meeting and call to order the city council regular meeting for Tuesday, November 28th. Will the clerk please call the roll? Council members Aquino here, Chalum Chairla, Kozlowski here. Roarbah here and Rodriguez. Here let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance. One nation undervisible with Democrat. Okay. Are there any agenda updates? Yes, Madam Mayor, there is a revised staff report transmitter for item number four on tonight's agenda. A copy has been previously provided to you, and it is also available on the table in the back. Thank you, Mr. Wong. And Mayor, I'd also like to share that we are going to take items one, uh, the presentation from Folsom Cordova, followed by the consent calendar ahead of business from the floor. And we are going to continue presentations number two and three to a future date uncertain. Thank you. All right, thank you. All right, well, the clerk please call the next item. Okay, your next item is scheduled presentation item number one. This will be the Folsom Cordova Unified School District Updates, feasibility study on district reorganization facilities and potential funding options. Good evening. Good evening, everybody. My name is Sean Martin. I'm the assistant superintendent of business services for Folsom Cordova. With me tonight is Matt Washburn, our chief operations officer, and Jerry Wickham, our director of facilities. Tonight we're gonna do a quick presentation. Um this is accumulation of approximately uh probably about 10 hours of presentation, so you get it in 20 minutes. So it hopefully it will be brief, but to the point. Um tonight we were asked to present to you all two specific items. One with regards to uh reorganization uh discussion, and then the other one is with regards to facilities, uh, specifically with regards to uh the areas that are within the city limits of Folsom. So I'm just gonna go ahead and get right into it. Uh with regards to the reorganization, I know the the city council took action to approve uh a cost sharing plan where between the city of Rancho Cordova, the city of Folsom, and the Folsom Cordova School District, we will be sharing in the cost of a feasibility study to look at potentially splitting the district or reorganizing the district into two distinct districts, um, one more or less representing Folsom and one representing Rancho Cordova. Um I have some history here with regards to the conversations in the past about reorganization. This is not something new to Folsom Cordova School District. Um as you can see, back in the uh mid-90s, there was an actual uh measure put on the ballot to split the district, which did not pass in the early 2000s. Uh there was action taken by the Folsom Cordova board as well to potentially split the district, but that was also uh no longer put forward after uh some board discussions in 2004. Um at this point, where we are is we have uh hired school services of California to provide a detailed analysis of the nine criteria, as you can see here, um, that are required to be met uh to move forward on a reorganization discussion. Um and so I know you uh majority of you were able to attend the uh joint meeting that we had with school services and reviewed that. At this point, all the data information has been provided. School services. We're hoping to have a draft here uh by the end of the calendar year uh with the intention of um bringing both city councils and our school board together uh in sometime in January or February to then review the the report. Um at that time, then it would be the up to either city council or the school board can take action to potentially file a petition to continue the process of reorganization, which would then go on to the county office of education reorganization committee to review, um they would review the same nine criteria from there it could potentially move on to the state board of education, and then ultimately if it continued through the process, it would actually go to the voters within Folsom Cordova to vote on whether or not reorganization would be move forward or not. So um so that's kind of where we are at this time. We're we're still waiting for that draft report, and then we're also working with uh staff for both city councils to try to get a date on the calendar, as we know it's a lot of folks' calendars that we have to coordinate to make that happen. So any questions on the reorganization conversation before I move on. Okay.
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