November 19, 2020: A Preserve School Site Agreement Is Tabled and a Charter Reimbursement Agreement Is Requested

The board reported that it had directed its attorney to prepare an agreement for Sycamore Academy to repay the district $245,027.52 for overallocated space, tabled a license that would let district consultants test a planned Preserve School #2 site, and approved its consent calendar 1 2 3 4 5. Irene Hernandez-Blair was absent; employee leaders and colleagues bid her farewell 1 6.

About this record: no signed minutes for this meeting are in the archive. This page relies on the draft minutes printed in the December 17, 2020 agenda packet, pages 13 to 18 7. On December 17 the board approved those minutes as part of its consent calendar 8. The changes read into the record that night concerned other items, so the draft stood unamended 9. Names, motions and remarks below come from that draft; the recording adds detail only within the subjects the draft gives each speaker.

🔒 Closed session and the Sycamore Academy reimbursement

President Joe Schaffer reconvened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. with Andrew Cruz, James Na and Schaffer in the board room, Christina Gagnier on Zoom, and Hernandez-Blair absent 7. The board had met in closed session from 5:32 to 5:49 p.m. on anticipated litigation, negotiations with A.C.T. and CSEA, and a personnel matter 7. The agenda listed the litigation item as one possible case, with the firm of Margaret A. Chidester & Associates 10.

Out of that session, the board directed the Law Offices of Margaret A. Chidester to prepare a reimbursement agreement under which the Sycamore Academy of Science and Cultural Arts, Chino Valley, would repay the district $245,027.52 for overallocated space; the draft minutes say no other reportable action was taken 1 2. A Champion "Here & There" column, which gives a different date and details for the session than the draft minutes, explained that Sycamore's actual enrollment was lower than what the charter school had in its lease agreement 11.

🏗️ Preserve School #2 site access: tabled

The packet memo explained that Chino Holding Company, LLC owns land in Chino that the district was negotiating to buy for Preserve School #2, and that the California Department of Education and the Division of the State Architect require environmental and preliminary construction testing before a purchase 12. A license the board backed on September 5, 2019 had expired 12; the earlier agreement, dated September 20, 2019, ended on December 18, 2019, and the new one would run 90 days or until a purchase and sale agreement was signed 13.

President Schaffer pulled the item from the consent calendar 14. The draft minutes record a motion by Na, seconded by Cruz, to discuss approving the license, and then, following discussion, a motion by Schaffer, seconded by Gagnier, to table it 3. They print no result for the motion to table; on the recording it is announced as carrying 4.

The Champion reported that Schaffer voiced a concern about the name North Mountain Corporation on the agreement's signature line, which he said did not appear anywhere else in the contract, and that Superintendent Norm Enfield said he recognized the signer's name in connection with the Lewis company but not the company name 15. The paper quoted Randall Lewis, a principal with the Lewis Corp., calling the delay "a minor technicality," and noted that the district set aside $20 million for the school in 2016 after voters approved the Measure G facilities bond 15.

✅ Consent calendar

On a motion by Na, seconded by Cruz, the board approved the rest of the consent calendar, as amended 14 5. Among the items, with figures from the packet:

• The 2020/2021 Single Plan for Student Achievement for each school, which the state requires of every school receiving federal funds 16 17.
• Payment of $6,594.50 to Margaret A. Chidester & Associates for legal services 18 17.
• A notice of completion for asphalt replacement at Briggs K-8 and Ayala High by Premier Paving, $418,300 including a $14,300 change order 19 3, and a change order and notice of completion for science lab upgrades at Magnolia and Ramona junior highs by ACC Contractors, adding $10,457.21 and 45 days 20 3.
• A resolution to buy bread and tortilla products through a Colton Joint Unified contract with Gold Star Foods 21 3.
• The Community Facilities District 4 (College Park) special tax report; no bonds have been issued in that district 22 3.
• December 17, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. as the date of the annual organizational meeting 14.

Personnel items went through with corrections read into the record 1 3.

The board also received the county superintendent's first quarterly Williams report, which reported no unresolved instructional materials insufficiencies and said facilities inspections were not conducted because no monitored sites were open for in-person learning 23 24.

🧑‍🏫 Student and employee representatives

Student representative Justin Rendon reported on activities keeping students connected during distance learning 1. On the recording he described spirit days at Ayala High 25 and virtual events and drive-through senior pickups with yard signs at Don Lugo 26.

Brenda Walker, A.C.T. president, marked American Education Week and School Psychology Week, acknowledged staff teaching special education and sports conditioning small cohorts on campus since November 9, and spoke about educators' concerns over rising COVID-19 cases 1; she said the increase in cases "has been met with an increase in concern among our educators" 27.

Danny Hernandez, CSEA president, spoke about staffing concerns and outbreaks and reminded everyone to wear masks 1. He said staff were concerned that elementary students would be on campus all day from November 30, while instructional aides leave at two o'clock and classrooms can be left short-staffed 28 29.

Barbara Bearden, CHAMP president, said CHAMP was planning a donation drive for the district's CARE Closet 1 30.

Two days after the meeting, the Champion reported that four high school students and 23 staff members had tested positive in the previous 14 days according to the district's dashboard, and that only special education students could attend school on campus 31.

📨 Public comment

Staff read emailed comments on non-agenda items into the record 32. The draft minutes list Alicia Sirop regarding reopening schools, and Shaun Barrows and Michele Fleischer regarding concerns for reopening school during COVID-19 1. Because staff read each email under its writer's name, this page leaves the content of the readings to the recording.

Before the closed session, Angie Bacon, Bryan Wierzchucki, Debra Johnson, Samuel Lee, Karen Lee, and Audrey Suh submitted email comments regarding a closed session item; the draft does not say which item 7.

💬 Board and superintendent communications

Andrew Cruz spoke about a Danish study on COVID-19 measures, raised concerns about tightening and loosening lockdowns and students' mental health, called for another survey of whether parents want students back in school, said he believes the virus was manufactured, urged critical thinking about what is happening to the country, and read a parent's letter 6. On the recording he described the study's roughly six thousand adults and infection rates of 1.8 percent with masks and 2.1 without 33. He said "this virus was manufactured" 34 and proposed "a simple survey" asking families whether they want children going back to blended learning 35. The letter he read described families "suffering with the schools being closed" 36. The Danish trial, published November 18, 2020, tested whether a recommendation to wear surgical masks outside the home protected the wearers; according to the publisher's release, the authors said the findings should not be used to conclude that a community-wide mask recommendation would be ineffective, since the trial did not test masks as source control 37.

James Na acknowledged parents' email comments, said special education classes need support, thanked special education teachers and aides, and thanked the administrations of Chino Hills High and Country Springs Elementary 6. He suggested classrooms might need "a little more manpower or woman power" 38.

Christina Gagnier asked Dr. Enfield to address how staff and teachers would be supported as special education students returned to campus, and the district's contingency plan if a third wave of COVID-19 kept staff and students off campus 6. She also gave Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce updates, including an entrepreneur program for students 6: a program starting after the Christmas break 39, with an entrepreneurship boot camp and a pitch competition 40. She thanked Hernandez-Blair for her service 6.

Superintendent Norm Enfield thanked Hernandez-Blair for her eight years on the board and thanked special education teachers and support staff 6, a list on the recording that included instructional assistants, bus drivers and nurses 41.

President Schaffer thanked Hernandez-Blair for her service and for putting the well-being of students first 42, saying she "always put the well-being of our students first" 43. He adjourned the meeting at 6:43 p.m. 42 44.