Chino Valley Unified Board of Education: June 4, 2020

The board met on Zoom during the COVID-19 school closure, with all five members present 12. Emailed comments about Superintendent Norm Enfield dominated the open session, and board members' closing remarks largely answered them 23. The required budget hearing drew no speakers 45. The board approved the consent calendar and voted separately on two facilities items, from both of which Christina Gagnier recused herself 467.

This page follows the board's signed minutes, which the board approved without amendment on June 18, 2020 8. Names, motions and attributed remarks come from those minutes; recording quotes appear only where the minutes already give that remark to the speaker.

✉️ Emailed comments about the superintendent

The agenda asked for comments by email between noon and 2 p.m., to be read into the record under Board Bylaw 9323 9. At the start of the comment period it was announced that the board would hear up to 30 minutes of comments on any one item and, for non-agenda items, could choose to hear the rest after all business 10.

The minutes list 30 entries, naming 31 people, whose emails expressed concerns about Superintendent Enfield or were on that subject 24. Thirteen of those were read in full. After the 30 minutes ran out, staff read only the remaining names and subjects 211. The minutes do not record what each letter said, and the recording reads each one under its writer's name, so this page does not summarize them.

Other emailed subjects, as the minutes record them:

• Inmi Chao commented on the reopening of school guidelines 2.
• Elaine Noh commented on intervention teachers 4.
• Judith Hernandez commented on elementary intervention teachers 4.
• Gabriella Torres commented on the Ayala HS freshman class 4.
• Kristie Sepulveda-Burchit commented on reopening schools 4.
• Richard and Lisa Wales commented on the budget public hearing and the June 16 study session 4.
• Kelly Southard commented on LCAP data and intervention programs 4.

💬 How board members responded

• Andrew Cruz made no comments 3.
• James Na spoke about the number of public comments that had the same wording and said he would like comments on other subjects to be heard too. He said his heart was broken by what he heard, spoke about repentance, said education starts at home, named John Wayne, Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King, Jr. as figures who stood for moral values, spoke about standing up for unborn babies, and encouraged students to reach out to Superintendent Enfield 3. "We need to repent," he said on the recording 12.
• Joe Schaffer, presiding, reminded members to keep comments germane to public education 3.
• Irene Hernandez-Blair agreed with that reminder and said she had asked for specific instances of the alleged wrongdoing or failures. She clarified that the board cannot recall a board member. She said the letters' reference to 2015 pointed to people who came before Enfield, who cannot be recalled because the board appoints him. She also agreed with Na about repentance, saying the prior board majority failed students in 2018 on sexual harassment 3. On the recording she said "the board doesn't take action on a recall" 13.
• Christina Gagnier spoke about how the public was being allowed to interact with the board and the process for reading comments into the record. She took exception to the term "redundant words" that the minutes attribute to Na, said everyone has a right to come to the board, asked to explore a more interactive format if meetings stayed virtual, and thanked students 314. "All of these voices are equal," she said 15. She also asked what the district would do to include the community beyond the next study session on reopening 14.
• Superintendent Enfield answered that the study session would be a meeting for the board, followed by a communication to all district parents and a couple of community surveys about reopening 1416.
• Joe Schaffer thanked students for writing and agreed with Hernandez-Blair that allegations need specific instances. He said some issues are law-enforcement or confidentiality matters, said he knows Enfield is not the person portrayed in the letters, and urged people to contact the superintendent. He noted that any member may ask for consensus to extend the comment limit 14. He said of Enfield, "he has my complete confidence" 17.

💰 Budget hearing

President Schaffer opened the hearing on the 2020/2021 budget at 6:43 p.m. There were no speakers, and he closed it at 6:43 p.m. 4. The staff memo, from Associate Superintendent Sandra H. Chen and Fiscal Services Director Liz Pensick 18, said the proposed budget followed Governor Newsom's May Revision. That revision addressed a $54 billion state shortfall and proposed a total cut of 10% to the Local Control Funding Formula 19. It projected that the general fund would meet the minimum reserve through 2021/2022 but not from 2022/2023, and noted that the county office requires the board to identify ongoing reductions to address the deficit 5. The budget was scheduled for the June 18 meeting 5, and the June 18 minutes record that the board adopted it that night 20.

Chen had presented the May Revision's impact on the district at a June 2 study session 21. All three employee-group leaders referred to the budget presentation:

• Brenda Walker, A.C.T. President, thanked the district and Chen for the session, spoke about possible state changes to the budget, and said A.C.T. looks forward to collaboration 2.
• Danny Hernandez, CSEA President, hoped for federal and state relief, wanted to work with the district on phasing staff back in, and said safety measures should be in place 2, naming gloves, masks and safety barriers 22.
• Tom Mackessy, CHAMP President, acknowledged staff on the budget presentation and said everyone did a great job during the closure 223.

✅ Consent calendar and the two separate votes

Gagnier pulled two items. The rest of the consent calendar was approved by roll call on a motion by Na, seconded by Gagnier 4. The two pulled items then came up on their own:

• Piggyback contracts. Eight resolutions let the district buy through other public agencies' contracts: six for nutrition-service goods and distribution (Gold Star Foods, Sysco and others), plus Office Depot supplies and Xerox copiers 2425. They were adopted on a motion by Na, seconded by Cruz, and the minutes record that Gagnier recused herself 6.
• Small construction projects. Notices of completion for four small CUPCCAA projects, including gym and dance floor refinishing at Cal Aero K-8 and a theater wheelchair lift at Chino Hills HS 26, were approved on a motion by Na, seconded by Irene Hernandez-Blair (printed "Blair"), again with Gagnier recused 7.

The approved consent items included:

• The nutrition services dairy contract, awarded to Clearbrook Farms 27. It was one of three proposals, at a cost the memo put at approximately $1,189,967.20 from the cafeteria fund 28.
• Resolution 2019/2020-59, keeping Cal Aero K-8, a year-round school, at 175 days of instruction 629.
• Thirteen notices of completion, one with a change order, for bid packages of the Cattle, Litel and Oak Ridge elementary alteration project 727. Two days later the Champion Newspapers, covering Measure G bond construction, reported that modernization was complete at all three schools 30.
• The notice of completion for the Cortez ES, Rhodes ES and Don Lugo HS roofing project, a contract of $889,515.00 with Bligh Roofing Co. dba Bligh Pacific 2731.
• Payment of $57,937.53 in April legal invoices to Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo and Margaret A. Chidester & Associates 632.
• The 2020 senior scholarships: 22 awards of $1,000 funded by the district's golf tournament and three from the BAPS Charities Educational Fund 433.
• Routine business: the May 21 minutes, warrant and purchase order registers, fundraising, donations, contractor agreements, surplus property, personnel items, and claims, which were rejected and referred to the district's insurance adjuster 434627.

The board also received the COVID-19 Operations Written Report for information 3. A state executive order issued April 22, 2020 required it, due with the budget by July 1 35. It reported over 7,200 Chromebooks and 700 Wi-Fi hot spots deployed 36 and approximately 5,125 breakfasts and 5,125 lunches served daily at seven curbside locations 37.

🔒 Closed session

The board met in closed session on labor negotiations with A.C.T. and CSEA, employee discipline, three appointments, and the superintendent's performance evaluation 1. It reported appointing Adrienne Chase as principal of Glenmeade ES, Alpercy Bennett as coordinator of child welfare and attendance, and David Ries as assistant principal of Cal Aero K-8, all effective July 1, 2020 38.

President Schaffer adjourned the meeting at 7:09 p.m. 14

⏭️ What came next

The board held its study session on reopening schools on June 16 39, and on June 18 it approved an addendum to the superintendent's employment contract 8. On June 13 the Champion Newspapers' Here & There column reported that Cruz and Na intended to run for reelection and that Hernandez-Blair had declined to run 40.