May 6, 2021: Letters Plead for Sixth-Grade Promotions as the Board Eases Graduation Rules for the Class of 2021

The board met with the public watching on YouTube and commenting by email 1. Several of the emailed comments read into the record asked for in-person sixth-grade promotion ceremonies 2. In its action items the board suspended the district's own high school graduation requirements for the class of 2021 34, adopted recognitions for school nurses, classified employees and teachers 567, and approved a consent calendar that included a re-roofing contract at Don Lugo High School of just over $1 million 89.

This archive holds no minutes for this meeting, so this page attributes no statement, motion or vote to a named person on its own authority. The account below comes from the recording, the agenda packet and press coverage. The few names that appear are the ones the Chino Valley Champion printed, credited to it. Outcomes are given as announced on the recording, without who voted which way.

Sixth-grade promotions

The district was holding in-person high school graduations and junior high promotions, but not sixth-grade promotions at its elementary schools, the Champion reported 2. Staff read the emailed comments in the order they arrived, under a rule allowing up to 30 minutes of comments 10, and the Champion reported that several parents' letters asked for promotions for their sixth graders 2. Their arguments, grouped here by theme and not in speaking order: junior highs and high schools were getting ceremonies, so why not sixth graders 11; ceremonies could be held outdoors, class by class, after school hours 12; and costs such as chair rentals could be avoided with a scaled-down standing ceremony using chairs from the classroom 13.

The reasoning given from the dais near the end of the meeting was that elementary promotions take place during the school day, and the reopening plan approved by the state and the county did not allow visitors on campus while the county was in the orange tier 14. Junior high promotions had been moved outside the school day and scheduled around high school graduations so that families could attend both 1515. The district's determination was that it could not do the same effectively at the elementary level within the guidelines 15.

The Champion also reported that Trustee Andrew Cruz said he supported allowing sixth-grade promotions and proposed a discussion at the May 20 board meeting 2. On May 20 the board gave elementary sites discretion to hold in-person promotion ceremonies for 2020-21, according to that meeting's minutes as printed in the June 3 agenda packet 16. The board approved those May 20 minutes on June 3 17.

Graduation requirements for the class of 2021

The board suspended Board Policy 6146.1, the district's high school graduation requirements, for the 2021 graduating class only, and adopted the state's requirements under Education Code 51225.3 in their place 3. The motion was announced as passing 4. The superintendent's memo said the district's requirements exceed the state minimum, and that students had moved to virtual learning for part of 2019-20 and most of 2020-21 3.

According to the Champion, the state requires 13 specific courses, while the district adds three more classes and requires 225 units and a minimum 2.0 grade point average; state policy lists no unit or grade point requirement 2. The paper quoted Superintendent Norm Enfield: "I think the compassionate thing to do is to go to the state minimum requirements so that as many of our students as possible are able to graduate during this unprecedented time" 2.

Masks

The Champion's Here & There column reported that board member Andrew Cruz announced on May 6 that the board should take action to make mask-wearing optional for students and employees 18. The question came back on June 3, 2021 as a request to decide whether lifting the mask mandate was within the board's subject-matter jurisdiction; that motion failed, and the June 3 minutes record the request as not within the board's jurisdiction 19.

Other emailed comments

Beyond promotions, one letter asked the district to require students to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination before attending school, noting that the Cal State and UC systems already required it 12. Another asked that masks be made optional 20.

Trustee-area elections hearing

A public hearing on the composition of trustee-area maps opened and closed at 7:04 p.m., and no emailed comments on it were reported 21. The superintendent's memo gives the background 22. Around January 23, 2021 the law firm Shenkman & Hughes wrote to the district stating its belief that the at-large elections had diluted minority votes in violation of the California Voting Rights Act, and the board's March 4 resolution declared its intent to comply 22. Notices of the hearing ran in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Chino Valley Champion 22. The Champion's school notes had previewed the discussion 23.

Other action items

The board approved an amended Proposition 39 facilities agreement under which the Allegiance STEAM Academy – Thrive charter school uses the former El Rancho Elementary School site through 2025 245. The district charges the school an oversight fee of 3 percent of its revenue plus monthly utility costs 24.

The board adopted a proclamation for National School Nurse Day on May 12 255, a resolution naming May 16 through 22, 2021 Classified School Employee Week in recognition of the district's more than 1,000 classified employees 266, and a resolution marking May 12 as the Day of the Teacher, or Día del Maestro 277.

A hearing on the Associated Chino Teachers' initial proposal to reopen its contract on compensation and health and welfare benefits opened at 7:19 p.m. and closed at 7:20 p.m. 728. The current agreement expires June 30, 2022 28. The board also approved the annual Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators for 2021-22, which the state requires so the district can keep using select emergency permits 299.

Consent calendar

Two changes were announced before the vote: a corrected funding source on a security-guard contract, and the withdrawal of the item rejecting the bids for off-site improvements at the Chino High reconstruction 303031. The consent calendar was then announced as passing 9. It included:

• a $1,024,666 re-roofing contract at Don Lugo High School to Best Contracting Services, the lowest of five bids, paid from the deferred maintenance fund 8;
• a revision of Board Policy 3280 on selling or leasing district property, reflecting two 2020 laws, SB 820 and SB 98, which until July 1, 2024 exempt some sales from the advisory-committee requirement and let proceeds from property bought entirely with local funds be spent on one-time general fund purposes if conditions are met 32;
• a change order adding $35,766 to the alterations at Canyon Hills and Townsend junior highs 33;
• a new career technical course, Gaming and Animation 2 34;
• $21,791.31 in legal-services payments for March invoices 35, a warrant register of $12,454,144.39 36 and a purchase order register of $2,976,381.84 37;
• the rejection of a claim, and student-teaching and affiliation agreements with the University of the Pacific and Alliant International University 38.

Information items included new Information and Communication Technologies 1 and 2 and Personal Finance courses 39 and the county superintendent's third quarterly Williams report for 2020-21 40.

LCAP update

Staff presented the annual update on Goals 2 and 3 of the Local Control and Accountability Plan 41. Because COVID-19 suspended the 2020 state dashboard, the district used the California Healthy Kids Survey and its own school quality survey 4242. Staff reported, as captioned, 12,310 "voices heard", parent participation up 21 percent over three years, and the share of students who feel they belong at school up from 70 to 75 percent 42. The PBIS coalition recognized 31 schools last year, and staff said the annual measurable outcomes for both goals were met 4242.

Board communications and closed session

In board communications, a member described a shortage of substitute teachers at larger campuses and suggested looking at signing bonuses to recruit them 4343.

Reporting out of a closed session held from 4:25 p.m. to 5:41 p.m., as captioned 44, the board announced two appointments: an assistant principal at Canyon Hills Junior High effective May 10, 2021 44, and one at Townsend Junior High effective July 19, 2021 44. The closed-session agenda also listed two anticipated-litigation matters, negotiations with A.C.T. and CSEA, and the superintendent's evaluation 41. The meeting adjourned at 7:54 p.m. 45