The District Governing Board held its regular bi-weekly meeting on Feb. 4, in the 600 building on the Fairfield campus. The Board addressed actions to proclaim February as Black History Month on campus, reviewed resignations to retire and other agenda items.
There was no comment from the public before or after the closed session, and President Cargo-Reed reported that no actions were taken in closed session.
The meeting started with a presentation of the district’s financial statement and federal compliance external audits, as well as an external Measure Q Bond audit.
All audits received clean (unmodified) opinions after adjustments were made to make sure that the financial statements were correct. Auditors found only one weakness in how financial reporting is reviewed and controlled within the district. A corrective action plan was created and implemented.
After that, the Board established the new tuition fee for non-resident students, which was determined based on the statewide average cost. The former fee was $403 per semester unit, and the new fee is $409 per semester unit.
Next, the Board honored two seasoned faculty members with a celebratory agenda item. Nicholas Cittadino, Full-Time Counselor with 21 years at SCC, and Maria Santiago, Full-Time Chemistry Instructor with 35 years at SCC, submitted their resignations to retire.
The Board invited any members of the audience to speak about the retirees.
“To me, Nick is Solano. It’s going to be hard to imagine Solano without him,” said Rebecca LaCount, counseling faculty member.
Others offered similar tributes to the retirees.
“Yes, we will find a replacement, but no one can be Maria,” said chemistry faculty Kiran Kaur.
After almost 40 minutes of words from peers and colleagues, the Board moved on to the next agenda item, where Vice President of Student Services Lisa Neeley read a resolution to proclaim February as Black History Month.
“Whereas, Black History Month is celebrated every February as tribute to the achievements of African Americans who have shaped American history from 1619 to the election of the first Black President and Vice-President of the United States of America in 2008 and 2020, respectively, and beyond,” said VP Neeley. The resolution was moved by Trustee Young and seconded by Trustee Thurston.
Later on, Sabrina Drake, Director of Children’s Programs, gave a presentation regarding the Early Learning Center. The overview covered the center’s licensing requirements for staff, their staffing structure and how they follow strict standards set by funding sources.
“Because we have four different funding streams, we have four different sets of rules. And of course, we have to go with the most stringent of all those rules,” said Drake.
Before the meeting ended, Trustee Greer announced that Bryan Travis, Chief of the Department of Public Safety, was recently appointed to the Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee (North). Trustee Karah also announced that she acquired copies of the book “Other People’s Children” by Lisa Delpit for all the members of the Board.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:46 p.m.
