October 21, 2021 Regular Meeting: ESSER III Plan Tabled, Mandate Opponents Fill the Comment Period

President Joe Schaffer called the regular meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. with board members Don Bridge, Andrew Cruz, Christina Gagnier, James Na and Schaffer present 1. The board reconvened in open session at 6:12 p.m., streamed live on YouTube, and Schaffer adjourned at 10:06 p.m. 12. The board tabled its main item, the district's $34 million federal pandemic relief (ESSER III) spending plan, approved two other action items and the consent calendar, and heard dozens of speakers opposed to vaccine mandates 34.

This page's record is the district's adopted minutes, signed by the president and the clerk, which name the people below. Detail from the recording about a named person appears only within the subject the minutes give that person.

Closed session

The minutes record that Schaffer adjourned to closed session at 5:31 p.m. on anticipated litigation, student discipline matters, personnel and labor negotiations 1. The report on reconvening gives a different window, 4:30 p.m. to 6:12 p.m., and a slightly different list of subjects; no reportable action was taken 11.

The ESSER III spending plan

ESSER III is the third round of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money. Superintendent Norm Enfield's cover memo put the fiscal impact at $34,040,685.00 and said the board had to adopt the plan at a public meeting on or before October 29, 2021 5. The draft put $5,000,000.00 toward safe in-person learning, $9,017,885.00 toward lost instructional time and $20,022,800.00 toward other uses 6. The in-person line would upgrade or replace air conditioning units for MERV13 filtration 7, and $20,000,000.00 would go to technology infrastructure such as cabling, the data center, network security and wireless 8.

Assistant Superintendent Lea Fellows gave the staff report 1. On the recording, she said 20 percent of the roughly $34.04 million, $6.8 million, would go directly to school sites for their own plans, leaving $27.24 million for district-level priorities, both as captioned 99. A committee of school administrators, parent representatives from every school and union leaders ranked five priorities: technology, mental health services, indoor air quality, COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, and pandemic training, and the money would fund the top three plus the school-site share 910. A student survey drew more than 850 secondary responses, as captioned 11.

The minutes record that the group Parent Advocacy of Chino Valley addressed the board on this item, but not what it said 1. After a motion by Na, seconded by Bridge, to discuss the item, the board tabled it on a motion by Cruz seconded by Na, until a special meeting on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. 13. On the recording, Cruz's motion first named October 28 and was restated for October 26 at 6:00 p.m. before the vote 1213.

In board communications, Enfield laid out the timeline: an October 26 meeting to receive input and give him direction on changes, and an October 28 meeting to approve the plan in time to submit it to the state by Friday, October 29 2. On the recording he said staff would have one day, October 27, to rewrite it 14.

The minutes of the October 26 study session record a staff presentation, 13 public speakers and proposals from board members 15. The memo for the October 28 special meeting says the revised plan included the board's direction from that session 16. What the board decided on October 28 is recorded on that meeting's page.

Student and employee representatives

Student representative Esther Kim said the Student Advisory Council had met with district mental health professionals and administrators about the mental health budget, and spoke about COVID-19's effects on students' mental health 1. On the recording, she said students' main concerns were access to counselors and academic stress 17 and said counselors at crowded schools were spread thin, with ratios above 500 students to one, as captioned 17.

Danny Hernandez, CSEA president, spoke about anti-union statements, negotiable items, respect for differing views, and the workload expected of classified staff 1; on the recording he said classified staff were asked to do more in the same time while site expectations remained what they were before the pandemic 18. Barbara Bearden, CHAMP president, thanked members who attended CHAMP's speaker event, acknowledged parents who collaborate with school sites, and urged everyone to watch for COVID-19 symptoms 1.

Other action items

The board approved a grant of easement to Southern California Edison for the new district office, on a motion by Gagnier seconded by Na 3. The memo prepared by Assistant Superintendent Gregory J. Stachura said the easement was needed for utility access and services on the new office site, with no fiscal impact 19. The San Bernardino County Sentinel reported in April 2021 that the district had sought approval for the Xebec Building Company to build a 59,798-square-foot administration building at 13461 Ramona Avenue 20.

On a motion by Bridge seconded by Na, the board approved a pay increase, effective January 1, 2022, for substitutes and student workers including AVID tutors, playground supervisors and nutrition services assistants 3. The memo prepared by Assistant Superintendent Richard Rideout said the minimum wage would reach $15.00 an hour that day and rates as low as $14.00 would rise to $15.00, at an unknown cost 21. The state's $15 rate applied to employers with 26 or more employees 22.

Consent calendar

On a motion by Na seconded by Gagnier, the board approved the consent items 3. They included a student expulsion case and a readmission case, school-sponsored trips, two piggyback-contract resolutions, a new job description for a Coordinator of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior, and an amended student teaching agreement with Cal Poly Pomona 34. The board awarded the roofing package for Butterfield Ranch and Hidden Trails elementary schools to San Marino Roofing Co. 4, the low bidder among seven at $1,313,064.00 23. A change order on the Don Lugo High re-roofing project added 139 days of contract time at no added cost 424.

Public comment

As captioned, the recording announced 61 requests to speak on items not on the agenda 25. The minutes list 41 speakers there: Linda Vargas, Scott Spector and Jamie Valenzuela-Mumau on the submission of the Global Steam Academy charter petition; Jim Gallagher on public speaking on non-agenda items; and 37 people who addressed the board opposed to vaccine mandates 4. The record does not explain the difference. Under public comment on closed session items, the minutes list 20 more entries, including the Parent Advocacy group, regarding mandates 1.

The minutes record who spoke and on what subject, not what each person said. On the recording each speaker is called to the podium by name, so this page does not summarize individual comments. Board policy sets the clock once a charter petition is received: a public hearing within 60 days and a decision within 90 26.

The Chino Valley Champion's review of 2021 recorded that more than 300 people rallied in front of district headquarters that fall, in a statewide walkout against the state's upcoming requirement that students be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend school 27.

Board communications

Andrew Cruz thanked everyone for attending, called these perilous times for children's education and health, and spoke about his research on COVID-19 and children, COVID-related deaths, the timelines for mandates, and recalling elected officials 4. On the recording he presented slides on what he called a 99.9995 percent survival rate 28 and a CDC total of 243 COVID-19 deaths among school-age children nationally, both as captioned, and argued that counting "presumed" deaths inflated the figures 2929. He said mandates would be implemented in January or July and that a recall had to start now 3030.

James Na thanked parents for coming, spoke about Sacramento being broken and about people changing once in office, requested a policy revision as an information item at the next meeting and an action item at the following one to protect female students in locker rooms, showers and bathrooms, and described a classroom visit at Ayala High 4. On the recording he cited a reported assault on a female student in a Virginia school bathroom as the reason for the request 3131. His memo on the November 4 agenda asked the board to receive a revision of Administrative Regulation 5145.3 for information and says he requested it at this meeting 32. LAist later reported that the resulting proposal, which would have excluded transgender students from restrooms and locker rooms of their identified gender, failed on November 18 after a student outcry and a warning from the state superintendent 33.

Don Bridge announced the Don Lugo FFA fall festival for Friday night 4. Christina Gagnier thanked the community and student speakers, announced a Chamber of Commerce pitch competition on November 6 and a job fair at Chaffey College on October 27, and said she supports a county proposal for a student position on the San Bernardino County board 4. Schaffer made no comments 2.