The Peralta Community College District (PCCD) Board of Trustees met on Dec. 10 to settle an end of semester agenda. Some notable agenda items include an audit presentation and a proclamation recognizing the retirement of longtime Laney College Head Football Coach John Beam.

Longtime football coach retires

The PCCD board honored Laney Football Coach John Beam as he retired from coaching after 45 years. Beam will continue his role as Laney College Athletics Director.

The board issued a proclamation praising Beam for helping the Laney Eagles receive two league titles, achieve a .600 winning percentage, and win one state championship.

Beam brought national fame to Laney College in 2020 when the Laney Eagles were featured on the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U.

The board extended its “deepest gratitude to Coach Beam for his steadfast leadership, [and] his impact on the lives of countless students,” according to the proclamation.

Latest audit dives into PCCD’s financial oversight

Ben Leavitt, a Certified Public Accountant at CWDL, presented the board with a summary of the district’s 2023 – 2024 annual financial audits.

Leavitt’s team confirmed that, “the financial statements by the district could absolutely be relied upon by the district’s governing board and all the districts’ stakeholders.” Two minor compliance issues, however, were noted in the audit.

The first was a compliance issue in the tracking of federal financial aid awards. Leavitt’s team found that due to PCCD’s failure to appoint a Financial Aid Director, the college failed to review student award packages and verify students selected by the Department of Education.

The second issue was caused by a misunderstanding on the part of two instructors who erroneously reported 100% attendance in their courses rather than their actual attendance. In California, community colleges’ funding is partially determined by enrollment, so institutions must report attendance accurately. Leavitt’s team found that this error was a non-repeating failure issue.

Other audits, such as the bond measure compliance and parcel tax compliance audits, were completed without any findings of noncompliance, Leavitt said.  

From the consent calendar

The consent calendar is a group of agenda items that are usually voted in one motion without discussion. The board can pull items for discussion and vote on those items individually.

The board voted unanimously to approve all items on the consent calendar, with no items pulled for discussion.

Academic Affairs

The board approved a contract with Lao Family Community Development, a nonprofit organization that helps immigrant and refugee families receive education and work opportunities, for $137,665 to provide Vocational English as a Second Language classes at Laney College.

The district will also continue their East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) contract education program at Laney for $119,500. The program will be available from Fall 2024 to Spring 2026 and allow EBMUD employees to earn accredited units through instruction and work experience credit.

Construction updates 

A slew of amendments and change orders to construction projects districtwide were approved at the meeting.

Alten Construction will receive a $320,986.71 change order to provide the College of Alameda with additional construction services needed for the colleges’ Auto/Diesel Complex Project. These additional funds bring the total value of the contract to $33,063,068.

The largest item for Laney College during the Dec. 10 meeting was a change order for the Laney College Central Utility Plant Project. Gilbane Building Company will receive $241,051. These funds will address additional services needed for the project. With this change in the contract, the current total of the project increased to $17,144,633.

W.E. Lyons Construction Company received $121,042 to investigate electrical issues and make repairs to Laney college’s Digital Fabrication Lab, also known as the FabLab. This is the second change order to the original contract with PCCD which provided W.E. Lyons Construction Company with $1,090,430. There have been multiple delays for the project due to electrical issues.

Johnson Controls Fire Protection received a $500,000 amendment to their original contract with Merritt College to inspect and repair the fire alarm and sprinkler systems. This amendment brings the total of the project to $1,524,926.

Johnson Controls also received an additional $30,458 as an amendment to another contract with the district to provide additional fire safety monitoring for an additional 12 district locations. These locations include several buildings with College of Alameda, Laney College, and the District Offices.

King Construction Inspection, Inc. will receive an additional $321,932 to provide Merritt with an additional 328 hours of records keeping, to maintain codes, documents, and inspection records of the build site for the Merritt College Child Development Center and Landscape Horticulture Complex projects.

Ninyo & Moore Geotechnical & Environmental Services Consultants will receive an additional $143,416 to their original contract with PCCD to cover the cost of additional field and steel inspections for the same projects at Merritt. This is the third amendment to this contract, bringing the total to $690,520 so far.

District Office

Visual Edge IT will receive $1,091,999 to lease out 60 copiers to PCCD. The lease covers a 60-month term at $18,200 per month. Currently, the district leases copiers for $19,979 per month, and so the new lease should save the district $21,352 next year.

The district also ratified a $850,000 grant from the federal Department of Justice that will go towards the development of a community policing, enhancement, and training program.

Editor’s note: The Citizen is looking into how the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants and loans will affect PCCD.

Arrivals and departures

Several employee appointments, retirements, and other contract items were featured on the consent calendar.

Chandra Johnson-Malone was appointed as CalWorks Coordinator for Laney College.

Laura Leon-Maurice’s retirement from her position as Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor’s Office of Educational Services was noted along with the resignation of Ashley Cornwall as Coordinator of the Art Department at Laney.

Nicole Porter was appointed as Vice President of Instruction at College of Alameda (CoA) beginning Jan 6, 2025. Mozell J. Person was appointed Dean of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Berkeley City College.

Former Interim Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, Ronald McKinley, will serve as a consultant to PCCD’s Human Resources Department through June 30, 2025.McKinley’s original independent contract began July 1, 2024 and has now been extended twice. His ’s total compensation now totals $172,900.00.

Action Items: District IT

The board approved a resolution to purchase $443,319.96 worth of information technology equipment and services for the College of Alameda from NetXperts, a state IT contractor.