May 4, 2017 Board of Education Meeting Recap

No official minutes are on file for this meeting, so nothing below is attributed to a named
individual — every statement, position, and comment is described namelessly. Names read into
the record (including honorees and appointees) are withheld pending an official record that
could confirm the spelling and pairing.

The evening was dominated by two long stretches of ceremony — nearly half an hour celebrating
award-winning students, and an extended, emotional address marking a change in one of the
district's employee-association leaderships — bracketing a brief but memorable moment of public
comment from a second-grade student. 1

🏆 Student Achievement Fills the Front Half of the Meeting

Odyssey of the Mind. A fourth-grade team from a district elementary school was recognized
for qualifying for the 2017 World Finals of the Odyssey of the Mind creativity competition, set
for May 24–27 at Michigan State University. 4 The team described its
balsa-structure division problem, which required constructing a balsa-wood tower used
as a prop within a themed skit. 5 Costumes for the performance were made
from recycled materials, including trash bags and cardboard. 6 Students
explained their structure was assembled with Gorilla Glue and Elmer's wood glue, using
required-length balsa pieces to meet the competition's specifications. 7
Outside press coverage confirms the team had trained together since first grade, spent two years
preparing, and that its structure ultimately held more than 800 pounds in competition; eight
CVUSD teams had competed at the March 25 state finals among roughly 750 schools statewide.
8

Science and Engineering Fair. The board also recognized several students who advanced
through the tri-county Science and Engineering Fair, covering San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono
counties. 9

• A team from one elementary school tested peripheral vision and eye dominance using a
  homemade protractor-style device, finding that left-eye-dominant participants tended to
  have better peripheral vision overall. 10
• A fifth-grader at another elementary school, competing in her first science fair, advanced
  from the school to the district and then county level, where she earned the county
  Sweepstakes award (first place in her division) for a project testing how different sugars
  produce carbon dioxide gas when mixed with juice — finding dextrose produced the most gas
  across roughly a dozen samples tested. 12
• A student at a third elementary school studied soundproofing, testing household materials
  such as cotton, plastic bags, and shredded paper with a sound-level meter, and found that even
  common materials made a measurable difference. 14
• An eighth-grade team from the district's junior high school earned a gold medal at the
  regional level and a third-place medal at the state competition (held at the California
  Science Center) for testing the effects of the plant hormones auxin and gibberellin on a
  mustard-family test plant, with findings the students said could apply safely to modern
  farming. 16

Principals from each participating school introduced their students and thanked the parent
volunteers who supported the projects. 18

🎤 A Change in Employee-Association Leadership

The meeting's longest single stretch of remarks came from a leader of one of the district's
employee associations, who announced plans to step down from the post later that spring.
19 The address ranged widely, touching on appreciation for the district's
cabinet for its openness during years of labor discussions and a personal tribute to a spouse's
support through confidential labor matters, before closing with a reflection on legacy and a
note that a successor arrangement was already in motion. 20

Earlier in the meeting, a leader of a second district employee association congratulated the
recognized students and used the floor to address a recent incident in which students returning
from a trip waited roughly three hours to be picked up at LAX — clarifying that the bus involved
had been privately chartered and that neither the district nor its bus drivers were responsible,
despite social-media criticism directed their way. 23

Later, during board comments, multiple board members thanked the departing leader, describing
years of gold-medal-caliber district arts programs alongside their own reflections that the
working relationship had endured real disagreement but also mutual respect.
25

📝 Public Comment: A Second-Grader's Case Against Homework

A second-grade student addressed the board with a petition — signed by roughly half of the
student's class — asking that teachers stop assigning homework. 27 The
student said, "children already spend seven hours at school" and argued kids should instead be
"outside riding their bikes and playing with their friends," adding that homework causes parents
to yell, which only makes children resent it more, and that more signatures would be gathered
before the end of the month. 28 The student also said a teacher had signed
the petition but withdrew support upon learning it would be presented to the board. 29

Board members responded warmly later in the meeting. Board comments referenced separate letters
from students at another district school raising similar requests — including permission to
bring skateboards to school, more variety in cafeteria food, and a later start time, since many
students there walk to school and start times as early as 7 a.m. felt too early. 30 One board member compared the willingness to ask hard
questions to a young Einstein and noted some school systems elsewhere have eliminated homework
altogether; another board member returned to the subject near the meeting's end to again commend
the student's poise. 33

🗂️ Personnel Actions and Closed Session

The board met in closed session from 4:00 to 6:50 p.m. on matters including existing and
anticipated litigation, student discipline, and labor negotiations with both employee
associations. 2 Coming out of closed session, the board reported appointing
a new director of purchasing effective May 18, 2017, and adopting a resolution to terminate a
classified employee — identified in the record only by an employee number — effective May 5,
2017. 2

The board also recognized a lengthy list of retiring certificated and classified staff from
across the district. 36 Individual names and school assignments were read
into the record but are withheld here — see the note at the top of this page — and are flagged
as restoration candidates pending an official record.

✅ Routine Business

Without discussion, the board approved a declaration of need for fully qualified educators for
the 2017–2018 school year 37 and its consent calendar 38, along with several minor agenda changes and deletions covering a fundraising-date
correction, a withdrawn student-expulsion case, an added school-sponsored trip, and a coaching
appointment. 39

🎉 Other Recognitions

Board members used their closing comments to note a district high school's six-year WASC
accreditation with a three-year revisit 40; a dance team's national titles
in the lyrical and hip-hop divisions 41; a color-guard program's gold medal
at a Southern California championship and a percussion/drumline program's gold and bronze medals
at the Winter Guard International World Championships in Dayton, Ohio 42; and an upcoming county Golden Bell Awards cycle that board members urged school sites
to enter. 44

One board member also cited data on rising CalSTRS and CalPERS pension costs and their effect on
district finances, noting the district received about $8,474 per pupil against a statewide
unified-district average of roughly $9,380 — ranking the county sixth-lowest among the state's
33 counties — and said the funding gap would be raised at an upcoming state School Boards
Association delegate assembly. 45

The meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m. 47

This is an independent, community-maintained summary of public records and is not affiliated
with or endorsed by Chino Valley Unified School District. No official minutes are on file for
this meeting, so speaker identity cannot be verified against an official record — no statement,
position, or comment in this recap is attributed to a named individual, in keeping with this
archive's policy for minutes-less meetings.