March 17, 2022: A GPA Waiver Tabled, the Second Interim Approved, and Requests on Mental Health, Child Care and Late Start

President Christina Gagnier reconvened the regular meeting at 6:00 p.m. with Don Bridge, Andrew Cruz, James Na, Joe Schaffer and Gagnier present 1. It came days after California changed school masking from required to "strongly recommended" beginning March 12 2. The board tabled a proposed waiver of the GPA requirement for extracurricular activities, approved its second interim financial report and the consent calendar, and closed with board requests on mental health services, child care and transportation under the state's later school start times 34.

This page's record is the district's adopted minutes. Speakers are named only where the minutes name them, and remarks from the recording are attributed to a named person only within the subject the minutes give that person.

Closed session

The board met in closed session from 4:30 to 5:50 p.m. on student discipline matters, a student readmission, a high school assistant principal appointment, labor negotiations with A.C.T. and CSEA, employee discipline and the superintendent's performance evaluation, and reported no action requiring public disclosure 1.

Student and employee representatives

Student representative Esther Kim spoke about mixed emotions over the lifting of the mask mandates, bills before the legislature, the inefficiency of school lunch lines and college decisions 1. On the recording she estimated that about 65 to 70 percent of students at her school were still masked, with some students anxious and others happy about the change 55. She urged students to follow the new legislative session, pointing to concerns about SB 328, the school start time law 5, and said students were waiting 20 minutes in lunch lines 6.

Barbara Bearden, CHAMP President, said orientation information for students moving to junior high or high school is on each school's web page, spoke about fundraisers and the Julie Gobin Memorial Hit the Greens for Scholarships golf tournament, and reminded parents to screen their children for symptoms before sending them to school 1.

Public comment on items not on the agenda

The minutes list Jacob Costa, Cindy Foisy, Donna Martinez and Caitlyn Martinez regarding mandates; Richard Wales regarding complaints; Jim Gallagher and Agnes Mazur, who read letters on behalf of persons in support of mandates; and Parent Advocacy of Chino Valley and Sonja Shaw (spelled "Sonjia" in the minutes) regarding updates on their work and suggestions for a mental health study session 1. The minutes record subjects, not what each speaker said, so the remarks are not summarized from the recording.

Agenda change

Item II.A.1, Rescinding the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan, was pulled from the agenda 1.

GPA waiver for extracurricular activities: tabled

On the waiver of the GPA requirement for extracurricular activities, Na moved and Cruz seconded a motion to discuss the item. The board then tabled it on a motion by Na, seconded by Cruz 37. On the recording, concerns raised from the dais before the motion to table included whether a standard below the CIF's could get the district's students disqualified from games 7.

Second interim financial report

The board approved the 2021/2022 Second Interim Financial Report and authorized the board president and the superintendent to sign the positive Certification of Financial Condition for the current and two subsequent fiscal years, on a motion by Na, seconded by Bridge 38. On the recording there were no public speakers and no comments from the dais on the item 8. The minutes give no figures from the report.

Consent calendar

The consent items were approved on a motion by Na, seconded by Bridge 3. They included the March 3, 2022 minutes, the warrant register, fundraising activities, donations, payment for legal services to the law office of Tao Rossini, APC, two student expulsion cases and a student readmission 3; school-sponsored trips for Ayala, Chino and Don Lugo high schools, the purchase order register, a surplus property declaration, a piggyback contract resolution, a CUPCCAA notice of completion, and three change orders with notices of completion for alterations at Canyon Hills and Townsend junior highs 3; and a notice of completion for safety and security work at Butterfield Ranch, Eagle Canyon, Hidden Trails, Walnut and Wickman elementary schools, the appointment of Art Bennett to the Measure G Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee as a bona fide taxpayers' organization representative, personnel items, the rejection of claims, which were referred to the district's insurance adjuster, and a student teaching agreement with United States University 4.

The board also approved new Board Policy 0420.5, Multi-lingual Academy Pathways (MAP) 3. The policy says each MAP dual language immersion program follows the 90/10 dual language immersion model and that enrollment for students within the district is determined by lottery 9. In August 2022 the Champion reported, in an article republished by the Mandarin Immersion Parents Council, a ribbon-cutting for the district's first Mandarin dual language immersion program, at Hidden Trails Elementary School in Chino Hills, which a district spokeswoman called the first dual language program offered through MAP; its launch had been delayed from 2021-22 by the pandemic 10.

The Agreements for Contractor/Consultant Services were approved by a separate motion by Na, seconded by Bridge. The minutes record that Gagnier recused herself and give no reason 3.

Board and superintendent communications

Schaffer made no comments. Bridge expressed sympathy to the family of Ron Reclusado, a former coach and teacher at Don Lugo High School, on his passing, recognized St. Patrick's Day and said the district's spring break runs from March 28 to April 1 4.

Cruz said Orange County schools are requiring EKGs for young student athletes to play sports. He spoke about publications reporting on rates of negative health effects from the COVID-19 vaccine, the potential to mandate vaccines and the lack of efficacy of booster shots, read student comments about how they felt about mandates and how they were mistreated, and asked Superintendent Norm Enfield who is responsible for decisions about displaying posters at schools 4. On the recording he said he had received 23 student comments by email 11 and predicted that vaccine mandates would come in the fall 12. He also said Pfizer documents showed about 1,200 deaths in the first two months, as captioned 12. Full Fact reported in December 2021 that a Pfizer post-marketing report released through a records request listed 1,223 fatal outcomes among adverse-event reports collected through February 2021, and that adverse events after vaccination are not necessarily caused by it 13. On April 14, 2022, four weeks after this meeting, the California Department of Public Health postponed the state's student COVID-19 vaccine requirement until after full FDA approval and no sooner than July 1, 2023 14.

Na asked Enfield to share the student comments read by Cruz with site administrators, to have site administrators at Briggs K-8 meet with a student facing challenges there, and to look into early-morning supervision or a program at junior high schools to help families with the change in start times. He also requested a mental health study session with an expert on successful programs 4. Enfield made no comments 4.

Gagnier said that beyond pandemic-related mental health concerns there are persistent issues students face, and that a holistic view of current services would help. She said persistent child care problems are another issue she is hearing more about, that the district needs to look at how it staffs some of its programs and that she would like a follow-up. She also said the district should look at transportation issues from the late start times under SB 328 and consider flexibility in transportation policies 4. On the recording she asked, in preparation for a study session, for an audit of all the district's programs 15, including services enhanced by state or federal funding 15, and said many people are back at work and have persistent child care problems 15. She said the board had made clear it was not a fan of SB 328, which looked to be here to stay 16, and endorsed exploring flexibility in transportation policies within the next month 1616. At the February 3, 2022 meeting, staff had explained that under SB 328, by July 2022 junior highs could not begin earlier than 8:00 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. 17.

Gagnier adjourned the meeting at 7:13 p.m. 1816.