The Pleasanton school board is set to review and possibly approve a set of recommendations from the district's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force on Thursday that would help address various equity gaps in the district.

According to the district staff report, the DEI Task Force, which aims to identify opportunity and achievement gaps within the Pleasanton Unified School District, will be going over various subcommittee's "findings, discovery of equity gaps and recommendations for the PUSD school board to consider."

According to the presentation, the task force discovered that students with disabilities, who are also racial and ethnic minorities, have fewer opportunities to complete their general education requirements.

The presentation states that the equity gap which needs to be addressed is the "access to general education classes, with embedded supports, services and accommodations, for students with disabilities."

Some of the other findings include data which reveals a disproportionately high suspension rate for Black and African American male students in grades six through eight compared to their peers.

The presentation will go over the several recommendations from staff that will aim to address these and other equity issues in regards to school climate, academics and staffing.

The board's open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 14). Read the full agenda here.

In other business

* The Board of Trustees will be voting on approving construction agreement contracts with two companies, which will help the district get started on various Measure I projects.

Last November, Pleasanton voters helped pass the $395 million Measure I general obligation bond that the district said would help continue the "modernization and construction of new facilities."

Since then, district staff have worked with Van Pelt Construction Services, a contractor firm based in Fairfield, to develop an implementation plan for the various facility improvement projects.

The plan was then approved by the board in June and now, district staff are ready to move forward with the construction service agreement with Van Pelt, which will make the company responsible for the project management of the entire Measure I program.

"In their project management role, they will support staff with all the services outlined in the agreement and be the main contact and provide regular updates to the Citizen Bond Oversight Committee and the board," the staff report states.

The firm will also be responsible for construction management services for the two main high schools, which will see major renovations including new gyms and performing arts centers, as well as the majority of the elementary schools except for Vintage Hills Elementary.

Vintage Hills, as well as the three middle schools and Village High School, will mainly be under the purview of the Cumming Management Group, a project management and cost consulting firm based in Seattle.

According to the staff report, Cumming will provide construction management services on the early start projects, which include moving the long-running Horizon Early Education Center and STEAM Preschool program to Harvest Park Middle School and replacing all of the middle schools in Pleasanton with artificial turf.

That way, Van Pelt can concentrate on the planning and design work for the two high school projects.

"By utilizing two firms, the district will have additional resources to execute more projects simultaneously," the staff report states.

If approved by the board the total fees for the services of both the firms will be just over $15 million. About $11 million will go toward Van Pelt and the remaining $3.6 million will go to Cumming.

"This fee aligns with industry practices and the Measure I1 Bond program," the staff report stated referring to the $270 million Measure I1 bond that voters approved in 2016. "The District is utilizing agreements developed by Dannis Wolver Kelley, the board approved legal counsel PUSD uses on all the bond programs."

* The school board will be participating in a board governance workshop where the trustees will review and discuss material regarding the board's 2023-24 initial organizational work plan and goals.

The board will also be reviewing its governance handbook as part of the workshop.