The meeting has been adjourned at 8:09pm.

Dr. Powell discusses attending Lang Ranch's culture fair, and wishes congratulations to the students recognized earlier. She acknowledges the mental health of students: “We always have to be thinking about mental health and social emotional wellfare of students,” Powell said.

Trustee Gorback wishes the board a happy Black History Month, and agrees that diversity is what makes CVUSD strong. “One of the things I’m most proud of about our district is that we’ve added belonging to DEI,” Gorback said.

Trustee Gill wishes the board a happy Black history month, and acknowledges the 3 year anniversary of Katie Meyer’s passing. Gill addressed arguments over ending CVUSD's DEI policy. “Our strength comes from our diversity […] there is no excellence without equity,” Gill said.

Trustee Gill wishes the board a happy Black history month, and acknowledges the 3 year anniversary of Katie Meyer’s passing. Gill also addressed arguments over ending CVUSD DEI policy. “Our strength comes from our diversity […] there is no excellence without equity,” Gill said.

Student Trustee Light shares an anonymous letter from an SDAC member, shedding light on the importance of mental health awareness, in the wake of recent events. Light reminds students that resources are always available to those who are struggling.

The board has reached consensus on a policy regarding communication devices across all three levels of schooling– elementary, middle, and high school. In TK-8, devices, including smartwatches, will be expected to be off and away from the first bell to the last bell.

The board discusses that the elementary age students, in particular, have an issue with smart watches rather than phones.

The school board continues to discuss policy changes when it comes to cell phone usage during school hours, especially the difference between elementary, middle, and high schools “I don’t think a one-size-fits all [policy] makes sense,” Trustee Sylvester said.

“It really was a culture shift that I would say happened in 4-6 weeks,” Student Trustee Light comments about how he has noticed the cell phone policy impacting high school students at his campus.

Trustee Sylvester asks if smart watches have been an issue in terms of device usage, and Stockton comments that the recurring issue has been cell phones.

“How do we deal with students that would be exemptions to a general ban but don’t want to be singled out as exemptions?” Trustee Gorback said about the cell phone policy.

Trustee Gill comments on how to handle cell phone policies. “[Let's talk] less about taking the devices away completely, because we cannot separate the harmful parts and the potentially beneficial parts,” Gill said.

“We really wanted there to be robust data and input across the board from folks from the district,” Trustee Lisa Evans Powell said while discussing the Cell Phone policy.

Feedback from District Parent Advisory Councils/Committees suggested that 59% of respondents were in favor of a limited-use phone policy and 37% favored a total prohibition of device use.

Data from an SDAC survey across 6-high school locations suggested that 53% of student respondents were in favor of no ban on phone usage, 30.3% favored a  restriction, 16% for a partial ban and 0.7% complete ban.

The board presents about California's changing cell phone policy, called CA Assembly Bill 3216. Here is a link to the presentation:

Kevin Fei,  Benjamin Xie and Dhilen Mistry of WHS are awarded for winning the 2025 VC Office of Education Hackathon by the Sea for creating an app built to aid farmers in predicting droughts. “What’s particularly impressive is their use of 3D farm models,” their principal said.

Mihir B. and Benjamin X, WHS students, are awarded for winning the 2024 Congressional AppChallenge Winners for California's 26th Congressional District for their works in creating a fire prevention app. “They represent the best of what we hope to offer,” their principal said.

The School Board honors Thousand Oaks High School student, Benjamin Chung, for his achievement of 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search Top 300 Scholar. “I am left with an immense feeling of gratitude for everyone who supported me,” Chung said.