May 5, 2022 Board of Education Meeting

The Chino Valley Unified board met in closed session from 4:30 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 6:00 p.m. with all five members present 1. Its main business was procedural: whether board member James Na's request to agendize a resolution opposing Assembly Bill 2223, a state reproductive-health bill, fell within the board's jurisdiction. The board denied the request 2. It also tabled a safe-environment resolution for a study session 2 and seated next year's student board member 2.

🏛️ AB 2223: the request to agendize is denied

At the April 21, 2022 meeting, Na said he agreed with speakers addressing AB 2223 and requested a resolution opposing it 3. The packet memo for this item, issued under Na's name, says that on April 26 President Christina Gagnier, reviewing the request, determined the issue was not within the board's jurisdiction, and that Na then asked the board, under Board Bylaw 9322(b), to decide whether the item would go on the agenda 4. The companion item, Resolution 2021/2022-76, was to come up only if the request was found to be within the board's jurisdiction 4. Its text argued that declining birthrates mean declining enrollment and state funding, and that the bill's effects "essentially contribute to declining birthrates" 5.

The minutes name thirteen speakers on the request, ten in support of placing the item on the agenda and three opposed, and record each speaker's position, not what each said 2.

Na moved and Andrew Cruz seconded a motion to discuss the item. Joe Schaffer then moved and Don Bridge seconded a motion to deny Na's request, which the minutes record as carrying with Cruz and Na voting no; the student representative voted yes 2. Resolution 2021/2022-76 was therefore not heard; the minutes say it "was not heard as item II.A.1., determined the resolution did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education" 2.

Background. CalMatters reported in April 2022 that AB 2223 would stop treating stillbirths as "unattended deaths" that coroners must investigate. Anti-abortion activists feared it would legalize "infanticide" after birth, and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, the bill's author, called that argument "disinformation" 6 4. FactCheck.org called the infanticide claim misleading 7. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill on Sept. 27, 2022, an update to the CalMatters article says 6.

🛡️ Safe-environment resolution tabled for a study session

Resolution 2021/2022-77, "Reaffirming Chino Valley Unified School District's Commitment to a Safe and Positive Environment for all Students and Stakeholders," was submitted by Gagnier, according to its packet memo 5. The memo ties it to a Resolution Agreement the district entered with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights on March 31, 2022, in a Title IX investigation, including written guidance and training support for district personnel and student athletes 5. CBS Los Angeles reported in April 2022 that the office found the district had failed to respond effectively to sexual harassment on a school athletics team in fall 2017, and that the district agreed to train administrators and coaching staff and to survey the team's climate 8.

The minutes name three speakers on the item, Richard Wales, Eneida Ramos and Lynda Ramos, and record that they addressed the board, not what each said 2.

Bridge moved and Gagnier seconded a motion to discuss the resolution. Na then moved and Bridge seconded a motion to table it and hold a board study session on the item and related issues, and the motion carried 2. The minutes set no date for the study session.

🎓 A new student board member

By consensus, the student-member item was moved to the front of the action agenda 2. On a motion by Na, the board approved Maya King of Chino High School as its 2022/2023 student member, and President Gagnier administered the oath of office 2. Outgoing student representative Esther Kim had congratulated King in her report 9.

💬 Diplomas, special education and bus drivers

Diplomas. Danny Hernandez, CSEA president, supported the opportunity for staff to hand graduating family members their high school diplomas 9, calling the district unique in letting staff hand "their graduating high school family members their graduation diploma" 10. In board communications, Joe Schaffer asked whether the district has a policy on staff passing out certificates or diplomas 11. Don Bridge said he supports a policy letting staff hand out diplomas to their family members, and Andrew Cruz said he also supports staff handing out graduation diplomas 11. Gagnier said she finds it "somewhat problematic" that someone was denied the opportunity to present a diploma to a person they had given a great amount of care 12, adding that she did not "know why we don't have a policy that just allows any of our members if they have a relationship to do that" 13.

Special education and books. Schaffer addressed public comment about services for students associated with IEPs, and about specific sex education books in the classroom. Na asked staff to look into the success of programs using a blended model of mild-to-severe students with other students 11.

Late start and bus drivers. Na asked about the possibility of waivers regarding the late start, and Superintendent Norm Enfield said legal counsel had been consulted and waivers are not possible 11. For context, FOX 11 reported in 2019 that SB 328 bans California public high schools from starting before 8:30 a.m., with compliance due by July 1, 2022 14. Gagnier said the district must be competitive on salary and benefits, pointed specifically to current issues with bus drivers, and said the district should brainstorm a pipeline into that career for students 12.

👥 Employee groups and recognitions

• Brenda Walker, A.C.T. president, spoke about retaining educators and said many teachers, nurses, counselors and psychologists are weighing their options for next year 9: "it would be a great loss to our district if they found the district home somewhere else" 15.
• Barbara Bearden, CHAMP president, congratulated newly appointed coordinators for student support and health services and said CHAMP members celebrated with Canyon Hills JHS Principal Todd Finkbiner on his Middle School Administrator of the Year Award 9.
• On Na's motions, each seconded by Bridge, the board adopted resolutions for Classified School Employee Week and the Day of the Teacher and a proclamation for National School Nurse Day on May 11, 2022, and approved the Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators for 2022/2023 2.
• Bridge announced retirees and their years of service and congratulated Walnut ES, Levi Dickey ES, Canyon Hills JHS and Ayala HS as 2022 California Pivotal Practice Award recipients 11.

🗣️ Public comment on non-agenda items

The minutes list nine speakers and a topic for each, not what each said 9:

• Jacob Costa, to thank board members Na and Cruz 9.
• Richard Wales, regarding the Department of Education complaint 9.
• Sonja Shaw, regarding special education concerns, the bus driver shortage and SB 866 9.
• Virginia Renteria, regarding CRT/SEL, sex education and teaching kids basics 9.
• Oscar Avila, regarding vaccines 9.
• Casandra Sanchez, regarding sex education 9.
• Nichole Vicario, regarding staff being able to give diplomas to family members, and student services 9.
• Tyra Weis, regarding school board unity 9.
• Byron Gonzalez, regarding "SB 2223," as the minutes print it 9.

✅ Closed session and consent business

• Appointments. In closed session the board appointed Eunice Castanos as Coordinator, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior, and Antonia Hunt as Coordinator, Equity, Diversity, and Support Systems, both effective May 6, 2022 9.
• Pulled items. Bridge pulled the personnel items and Gagnier pulled two student expulsion cases; the rest of the consent calendar was approved on Na's motion and Bridge's second 2. The expulsion cases were then approved on a motion by Na, seconded by Bridge 16, and the personnel items on a motion by Na, seconded by Gagnier 16.
• Roofing. The roofing bid was awarded for Dickey ES and Chino Hills HS to San Marino Roof Co., Inc., and for Eagle Canyon ES and Ayala HS to Letner Roofing Co. 16. The staff memo puts the four sites at $4,010,844.00 from the Deferred Maintenance Fund and says Dickson ES, also in the bid title, would not be awarded because the bid came in over budget 17 17.
• Produce. The fresh produce proposal went to Loewy Enterprises dba Sunrise Produce Company 16; the memo lists two proposers and $322,688.00 from the Cafeteria Fund 17.
• Other. The board approved payment for legal services to Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo and Margaret A. Chidester & Associates 16, whose March invoices the memo lists at $40,845.56 18. It rejected a claim, referring it to the district's insurance adjuster, and received two new courses, Coding Connections and Computer Science Discoveries, for information 16.

Closing

Gagnier asked that everyone remain respectful to each other during board meetings 12: "I just ask that everybody be respectful regardless of your point of view" 19. She adjourned the meeting at 9:09 p.m. 12.