September 3, 2020: Emails on the Second Preserve School Fill Public Comment as the Board Approves Its 2019-20 Actuals

The board approved its 2019/2020 unaudited actuals and its consent calendar, held a public hearing on its Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan, and heard emailed comments, most on the status of a second school in The Preserve 1 2 3 4.

About this record: no signed minutes for this meeting are in the archive. This page relies on the draft minutes printed in the September 17, 2020 agenda packet, pages 8 to 13 1. The board approved them on its September 17 consent calendar; that night's only amendment corrected a date in a personnel item, according to the September 17 draft printed in the October 1 packet, pages 20 and 21 5. The October 1 draft, printed in the October 15 packet, records the September 17 minutes going through on a consent motion with no amendment 6. The board approved the October 1 minutes on October 15 7. Names, motions and remarks come from that draft; the recording adds detail only within each speaker's subjects.

🔒 Opening and closed session

President Joe Schaffer reconvened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. with Andrew Cruz, James Na and Schaffer in the board room and Christina Gagnier and Irene Hernandez-Blair on Zoom 1. The board had met in closed session from 4:30 to 5:49 p.m. on anticipated litigation, employee discipline and the superintendent's performance evaluation, and reported no action requiring disclosure 1 8. The agenda listed the litigation item as one possible case, with Margaret A. Chidester & Associates 9.

🧭 Staff report: promoting engagement

Lea Fellows, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, Innovation, and Support, gave the staff report "Promoting Engagement to Support Positive Impacts" 1. On the recording she tied the district's non-discrimination policies to its LCAP goal on connectedness and engagement 10 and described Second Step, Safe School Ambassadors and the MTSS-B framework 11 and a new CVUSD wellness assistance line 12.

🧑‍🏫 Student and employee representatives

Student representative Justin Rendon reported on school activities, including highlights from junior high and high school campuses and virtual back-to-school nights 1.

Brenda Walker, A.C.T. president, spoke about the challenges of teaching and learning in distance learning, and said she was hopeful that continued communication would keep things improving 1. She described the work as "building the plane in the air while we're flying" 13.

Barbara Bearden, CHAMP president, announced a CHAMP-sponsored virtual speaker event and recognized school staff for their work through distance learning 1.

📨 Public comment

Staff read comments on non-agenda items into the record 14. The draft minutes list them this way 1:

• Lissa Fraga, Elizabeth and Gary Ingram, Ben Schmidt, Juan Franco, Natalie Chan, Wilbur Lin, Crystal Solano, and Kelly Southard, on the status of the second Preserve school.
• Michaela Estrada, on 2020/2021 ESA testing.
• Kelly Southard, on distance learning and blended learning discrepancies.

The minutes give subjects only, and staff read each writer's name with the comment, so this page does not summarize what the comments said.

✅ Action items

2019/2020 unaudited actuals. On a motion by Na, seconded by Cruz, the board approved the 2019/2020 Unaudited Actuals Financial Report on a roll-call vote and authorized the superintendent or designee to sign the district's certification 1 2. The staff memo explained that Education Code 42100 requires a board to approve the prior year's statement of receipts and expenditures by September 15, and that the external auditor's final 2019/2020 audit would come to the board in January 2021 15.

Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan hearing. Fellows presented the plan, and President Schaffer opened the public hearing at 6:56 p.m.; there were no speakers, and it closed the same minute 1 3. The memo explained that the plan, created by Senate Bill 98, replaced the LCAP for 2020/2021, listed its fiscal impact as $42,541,494.80 from general and restricted funds, and set adoption for September 17 16. The board adopted the plan at its next meeting, on September 17 5.

📋 Consent calendar

On a motion by Na, seconded by Cruz, the board approved the consent items; the minutes record no changes or deletions 1 4. Among them, with figures from the packet:

• The minutes of the August 20 meeting 1.
• Payment of $47,604.92 for July invoices from Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo; Margaret A. Chidester & Associates; and The Tao Firm 1 17.
• A resolution setting the district's Gann appropriations limit at $173,259,840 for 2019/2020 and an estimated $179,722,432 for 2020/2021 1 18.
• Three Baldy View Regional Occupational Program contracts for 2020/2021 1.
• Contractor and consultant agreements 1. They included a $278,801.50 City of Chino Hills agreement for school resource officers at Ayala and Chino Hills high schools 19, the contract that had been pulled from the August 20 agenda 20; an extension through June 30, 2022 of the City of Chino agreement for officers at Chino, Don Lugo and Buena Vista high schools, listed at $389,751.59 21; and a $168,000 California Department of Education grant for services to homeless children and youth 19. The Champion reported later in September that the officers' costs were not reduced even though campuses were closed to students, and that, according to the district's staff report, the district could not negotiate a discount on the Chino Hills contract 22.
• Signature authorizations, personnel items, the warrant and purchase order registers, fundraising, donations and surplus property 1.

The board also received the 2019/2020 second-semester expulsion report, which counted 12 students recommended for expulsion 1 23.

💬 Board and superintendent communications

James Na thanked parents from the Preserve community for their emails and said he agreed with their request, and asked Dr. Enfield to look into a concern raised in an email about distance learning 1. On the recording he said the second school is "really needed" in that area and that he agreed with all the parents 24, remarks Spectrum News 1 later quoted 25.

Andrew Cruz said he agreed on the need for a second Preserve school; spoke about data supporting the reopening of schools and data about the virus; said a COVID-19 vaccine would be risky to give children because the long-term risks are unknown; said he supports reopening schools; and commended Dr. Enfield for his handling of the situation 1. On the recording he said "the virus is not a hoax" while arguing that children face a far greater risk of critical illness from the flu 26, and, as captioned, that CDC figures 27 showed six percent of deaths caused by COVID-19 alone 28. Science Feedback, a fact-checking site, had reported days earlier that the CDC "did not report that only 6% of the deaths are actually due to COVID-19" 29.

Irene Hernandez-Blair spoke about a statement in the Champion about building the second Preserve school and its funding being diverted, and asked Dr. Enfield to clarify what was meant 1; on the recording she said she did not think the interview was meant to suggest that Preserve school funding was being diverted 30. She noted that LAUSD would open schools to small cohorts for specialized in-school services from September 14 and asked Dr. Enfield to look into that model and to clarify the claim that more students were in distance than blended learning 1. Noting that her eight years on the board were ending, she urged the community to choose board members who will make all students feel safe and represent all students 1; she added that board members do not attend the district's non-discrimination training and that it should be a requirement 31.

Christina Gagnier thanked Mrs. Fellows for the presentations on non-discrimination and harassment policies 1, saying she had heard from numerous students about harassment and bullying 32. She thanked the public for the comments and said she had no knowledge of the board taking any action on the Preserve school 1; on the recording she said the idea that "funds were getting shuffled around" was "not the case" 33. She spoke about what the board has jurisdiction over 1, saying that on reopening the board was "at the behest of the county" 34 and state departments of public health 35, and she highlighted a September 28 Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce event for local businesses 1.

Superintendent Norm Enfield acknowledged students learning in the new environment, thanked the community for supporting schools and staff, thanked teachers and staff, and wished everyone a happy Labor Day 1.

President Schaffer had no committee reports and wished everyone a happy Labor Day. He adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p.m. 1 36

🏫 Background: the second Preserve school

In mid-August, the Champion had reported that Assistant Superintendent Greg Stachura said modernization projects at Butterfield, Eagle Canyon and Hidden Trails elementary schools would be moved up if the Preserve land purchase and school construction did not proceed in a timely manner 37. On September 30, Spectrum News 1 reported that Cal Aero Preserve Academy, the area's only K-8 school, had 1,548 students, and that the district said the money set aside for the new school would not be spent elsewhere 25. In November 2024, Spaces4Learning reported construction complete on Legacy Academy, a K-8 school with capacity for about 1,250 students from The Preserve 38.