June 2, 2022: After Uvalde, a Campus Safety Review and a Call for a Community Town Hall

Nine days after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, President Christina Gagnier led a moment of silence 1 for its victims and for all victims of gun violence at the nation's schools 2. Board members Don Bridge, Andrew Cruz and Joe Schaffer were present for the open session; James Na was absent 3. The evening's main presentation covered the district's safety protocols, and the meeting closed with Gagnier's call for a community town hall on school safety 14.

This page's record is the district's adopted minutes, which name the people below. 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.

Out of closed session

The board met in closed session from 4:30 to 5:40 p.m. on litigation, student discipline and two administrative appointments 3. With Na and Cruz absent from closed session, it appointed Katrina Gomez Director of Health Services/Child Development effective July 1, 2022, and approved a non-monetary settlement in Public Employment Relations Board case LA-CE-6675-E, in which the district agreed to renew its commitment to following the Educational Employment Relations Act and to work collaboratively with the Associated Chino Teachers 3.

Scholarship check

Tim Adams of School Portraits by Adams Photography presented Superintendent Norm Enfield with a check for $18,477.44, the proceeds of the Julie Gobin Memorial Hit the Greens for Scholarships event 1. The district describes the golf tournament as started in 2009 to fund scholarships for graduating seniors, renamed in memory of the district communications director who led it, and hosted since 2010 by Adams's company 5.

The safety review

Whitney Fields, Director of Risk Management/Human Resources, and Jessica Asbee of the Chino Police Department gave an overview of the district's safety protocols 1. Board Policy 0450, as revised in January 2020, keeps the tactical-response portions of school safety plans out of public disclosure 6.

Fields described annual "ALICE" (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate) training at every school site, with 29 sessions completed this school year 7. District security staff are assigned to each high school, a security patrol runs around the clock, and sworn school resource officers serve every high school 8, along with armed probation officers assigned to student support services 8. An anonymous tip line reports to the risk management office and to law enforcement at the campuses 8. Police agencies run active-shooter exercises at the high schools each year, and administrators, principals and first responders take part in a tabletop exercise each June 888.

Each campus keeps an emergency supply container with triage kits, first aid, food and water 9, and a notification system can send texts, emails and voicemails to every employee 9. For the coming year Fields described a grant-funded pilot of anti-scale fencing at three school sites 9 and a Cisco project that includes 1,800 smart cameras with AI technology 10. A grant awarded in 2021 covers items from law enforcement training to security equipment and threat-assessment consulting 1010.

Asbee, who introduced herself as a Chino Police Department school resource officer 11, said attackers choose schools for notoriety and because schools are "soft targets" 1111, and that the department's policy is to enter immediately and stop the threat whether one officer or ten arrive first 1111. She said training stresses evacuating when a threat is in a distant part of campus rather than simply locking the door 1212, that no measure can prevent every attack 13, that police dispatchers now have access to the district's campus cameras 13, and that the department's mental-health encounters more than doubled from 2019 to 2021 13.

Employee representatives

Barbara Bearden, CHAMP President, congratulated Dr. Katrina Gomez on her appointment, congratulated Program Specialist Patty Carrillo as a Multilingual Award recipient, and announced the CHAMP scholarship recipients 1.

Public comment

The minutes list ten people who addressed the board on items not on the agenda: Kendra Lippa and Kim Grapentin regarding assault and bullying; Kelly Allen regarding a campus assault on a special needs student; Callie Moreno extending gratitude from Allegiance STEAM Academy; Sonja Shaw regarding safety and advocating for kids; Lisa Greathouse regarding student board representatives; Misty Buckwalter regarding safety for special needs students; Cindy Foisy regarding security and Marxism; Juan Villalba regarding the board setting an example; and Virginia Renteria regarding board behavior and mental health 1. The minutes record each speaker's subject but not what was said, and almost every subject belongs to one or two named speakers, so this page does not summarize the remarks from the recording. Later in the meeting, Cruz invited Grapentin to schedule a follow-up meeting with Enfield about her concerns 4.

Public hearings and the superintendent's contract

The board held public hearings on the 2022/2023 budget, opened at 7:16 p.m., and on the Local Control and Accountability Plan, opened at 7:17 p.m.; there were no speakers at either, and both closed at 7:17 p.m. 1.

Gagnier gave the oral summary of compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits 1. As read on the recording under the state's disclosure rule for executive fringe benefits, the addendum adds retiree medical coverage up to the certificated-management benefit cap if the superintendent has served full time in the district for the 10 years before retirement or separation, ending at death or age 65, and longevity pay of $1,701 a year, the same program offered to other managers 141414. On a motion by Schaffer, seconded by Bridge, the board approved the addendum to the superintendent's employment contract; Cruz abstained 1.

Consent calendar

Gagnier pulled the agreements for contractor/consultant services for separate action; on a motion by Schaffer, seconded by Bridge, the board approved the remaining consent items 1. They included the May 19, 2022 minutes, the 2022 senior scholarship recipients and the warrant register 1; fundraising applications and activities, donations, and payment for legal services to Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo; three student readmission cases and five expulsion cases; school-sponsored trips for Rolling Ridge Elementary and Chino Hills High; a resolution to maintain 175 days of instruction for schools on a multitrack year-round schedule; the purchase order register; and surplus property 14. Three resolutions to use piggyback contracts, the personnel items and a new job description for Coordinator, Compliance completed the list 4.

The pulled agreements were then approved on a motion by Schaffer, seconded by Bridge; the minutes record that Gagnier recused herself 4.

Board and superintendent communications

Schaffer congratulated graduates, promotees and scholarship recipients, noted that summer school starts Monday on several campuses, and thanked district security staff and law enforcement partners for keeping students safe 4.

Bridge said he took part in the Don Lugo, Ayala and Buena Vista high school graduations, attended the Cortez Elementary sixth-grade promotion, the Chino Hills State of the City address and a budget workshop on the governor's May revise, and read a family statement regarding the Columbine shooting 4. On the recording he explained that the statement's author, a relative by marriage, was shot at Columbine 15, and said that shooting is why he has advocated for and supported the district's school safety measures 16.

Cruz said now is the moment to start a safety committee, attended the Chino, Chino Hills and Buena Vista high school graduations, thanked Schaffer, Bridge and Na for attending graduations, and spoke about the good things Na has done for students since 2008 4. Enfield congratulated graduating seniors 4.

Gagnier said she would like a town hall or community conversation on school safety, with a mechanism for response, in collaboration with local law enforcement 4. On the recording she said study sessions are "basically like board meetings," asked for a town hall held both in person and virtually 17, noted shootings within 30 miles of the district 18, and pointed to the three law enforcement agencies the district works with, and the cities, as partners 18. She also spoke about her request for a resolution, and said the district's harassment and anti-bullying policies are not being carried out on the ground 4; a policy staff do not implement, she said, "is meaningless" 18, and the board needs to invest in more staff, resource officers and aides on very large campuses 19. She closed on mental health for everyone in the community 4, and adjourned the meeting at 7:47 p.m. 20.