May 18, 2017 Board of Education Meeting

A meeting built around end-of-year celebration -- military honors, scholarships, and a long list of staff awards -- was overtaken by an hour and a half of public testimony pleading with the board to reverse course on Oxford Preparatory Academy (OPA), the charter school whose renewal the board had declined months earlier. The board took no action on OPA at this meeting, but two board members addressed it directly in their closing comments.

Oxford Preparatory Academy: a charter on the clock

The board had, in a November 2016 meeting, adopted findings on Oxford Preparatory Academy's charter petition that cited multiple concerns with the school's operations 1. By May 2017, OPA's charter was set to expire June 30, and the school's roughly 1,200 students faced having to find new schools for the fall 2.

Twelve people signed up to speak during public comment, several of them appearing at the podium more than once over the course of the evening 3.

A young student argued that closing a school serving 1,200 students made no sense, and described the community as one that had made significant changes and did not deserve to be broken apart 24. Another speaker, describing an emotional connection to education and to the opportunities it had provided their family, questioned why the board would not explain its reasoning to the community 5. A young person speaking on behalf of siblings and other students asked what more the school and its community could have done to keep it open 6.

One parent directed a series of unanswered questions toward district administration: what would happen to the campus once its lease expired, whether staff would receive additional training, and what accountability existed for the oversight that had allowed the dispute to reach this point 78.

Academic performance was a recurring argument. One parent, citing the School Accountability Report Card, compared low-income students' math proficiency at OPA (69%) with that at Dixon Elementary (14%), arguing the gap reflected school quality rather than the students' backgrounds or income 910.

Special education came up repeatedly. A parent of a child with Down syndrome argued that OPA's full-inclusion model let that child thrive among typical peers in ways the district's more restrictive settings did not, and pressed the district on what more it required of families before it would do the same 1112. Another parent said a kinesthetic-learning child had struggled for years in a traditional classroom before OPA, and that another of the parent's children had found real friendships there 13.

Several speakers pressed for a specific remedy: a special board meeting to grant OPA conditional charter approval before the June 30 deadline, citing a May 11 California State Board of Education hearing at which the state board considered, but did not act on, a motion to deny OPA's separate state-level petition 141516. Speakers argued the district's liability concerns were overstated, pointing to the charter network's own financial reserves and credit line as evidence it could meet whatever conditions the board imposed 1718. Multiple speakers also criticized the amount of money the district had spent on legal costs pursuing the non-renewal, arguing those funds could have gone toward students instead 19. One speaker, addressing the board partly in Spanish, pleaded for the school to remain open for its students, parents, and staff 20. Another speaker contrasted the joyful, celebratory tone of the evening's earlier recognitions with the board's treatment of OPA, saying the school and its staff had gone years without similar acknowledgment 2122.

In closing board comments, one board member said the earlier vote had not been made in silence and explained that the decision to vote against renewal was not about finances alone, but about concerns over equal access and demographics not matching the rest of the district 2324. Another board member asked district staff to look into whether any scenario -- even, as the member put it, an accident or a miracle -- could still help OPA's students before the charter's expiration, saying the board could not lose hope with about a month remaining 252627. No motion was made to revisit the non-renewal.

Military Salute and year-end recognitions

The meeting opened, after a closed session on litigation, student discipline and readmissions, and labor negotiations that produced no reportable action, with a Military Salute ceremony honoring 25 graduating seniors from across the district's high schools who had enlisted in the armed forces, introduced individually by school and branch of service 282930. One of the enlistees had already begun basic training by the time of the meeting and was recognized in absentia 31.

The teachers' association distributed 20 scholarships to graduating children of its members, funded through money the association sets aside over the course of the year 32. Regional student-activities recognitions went to several district schools -- four earned Outstanding Leadership Program honors from the state activities-directors association, and two district students were selected to a statewide student-leadership board 333435.

Employee recognitions filled much of the meeting's first hour: regional AXA awards for curriculum/instruction and for professional leadership went to two district administrators 36; elementary and secondary Teachers of the Year were honored, the latter a music teacher recognized for the district's commitment to arts electives 3738; a longtime early-childhood educator at the district's Children's Center was recognized for leading a program through a perfect federal monitoring review 39; and the district's school nurse and counselor of the year were honored, the latter from the Alternative Education Center 4041. A longtime district custodian, with 28 years of service, received CSEA's "Unsung Hero" award and was separately honored as the county's classified school employee of the year for maintenance and operations 4243. Several educators were recognized by the county for multilingual and English-learner support, and several special-education teachers and administrators were honored through the West End SELPA 4445. The graduating student board member delivered farewell remarks thanking the board and district staff for the year 4647.

Community and law-enforcement updates

A representative from the county supervisor's office announced a teen driving-safety class co-hosted with a regional auto club and the Chino Police Department, scheduled for mid-June 48. Police officers reported ongoing vandalism, graffiti, and break-ins at Woodcrest Junior High, where the meeting was held, and outlined a new trespass-notice program along with increased patrols in partnership with the district 495051.

Board business

The board deleted one student expulsion case from its consent calendar and flagged a school-sponsored-trip item for separate consideration 52. It appointed two community representatives to the City of Chino Community Services Commission 53, approved a Chino Hills High School senior as the 2017-2018 student board member and administered the oath of office 545556, and opened and closed -- without any speakers -- a public hearing on CSEA Chapter 102's initial bargaining proposal for a reopener agreement effective July 1, 2018, approving public notice of the proposal 5758. Two additional consent items were pulled for individual votes; the remainder of the consent calendar was approved together 59.

The district announced a round of retirements spanning certificated, classified, and management staff 60, including an elementary school principal retiring after 28 years and other certificated staff with 15 to 39 years of district service, and classified staff -- instructional aides, a custodian, and a clerical employee -- with 10 to 17 years each 6162.

After adjourning the regular meeting, the board held a brief special meeting and adopted a resolution authorizing the district to use a piggyback purchasing contract 63.

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; this summary is drawn solely from the publicly posted video transcript, and named attributions have been withheld accordingly.