Karen Hemphill

Berkeley Unified School District Board President Josh Daniels and board member Karen Hemphill participated in their final meeting as board members Wednesday night, delivering advice and parting thoughts.

Members of both the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees spoke during public comment in front of audience members holding signs that read, “Living wages for BUSD employees.”

Six candidates — Ty Alper, Norma Harrison, Dru Howard, Abdur Sikder, Julie Sinai and Ka’Dijah Brown — will be vying for the three open board seats.

Citing worries about the standardized testing mandated to start next week, members from the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, or BFT, addressed the Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, school board at its Wednesday meeting — its first meeting of the school year.

The Berkeley Unified School District board approved next year’s budget and made recommendations for the Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, at the board’s Wednesday meeting.

The board approved hiring a districtwide bilingual substitute teacher, who will speak both English and Spanish. The approved programs also include a $25,000 Berkeley High School African American Studies 50th Anniversary program and a $300,000 Structured Literacy Instruction program.

At their meeting Wednesday, Berkeley Unified School District Board members discussed proposed expenditures, as well as a measure that would consolidate REALM Charter Schools into one school for sixth through 12th grades.

Berkeley Unified School District is making its special education programs more cost-efficient and suitable to the needs of its students.

BUSD discussed updates Wednesday for the “Universal 9th Grade” program that will be implemented into Berkeley High School for the 2018-19 school year.

The decision to build district employee housing is still under consideration after the Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, voted at its meeting Wednesday to consider the option if the district pursues a 2020 facilities bond.