February 16, 2023: Regular Meeting

Four of five trustees attended; James Na was absent 1. The one action item, releasing temporary certificated employees at year's end, carried with Andrew Cruz voting no 2. The consent calendar revised the meeting-conduct bylaw, started the process to name the Chino High basketball court for two longtime coaches, and approved the school safety plans 3 4.

Opening and closed session

President Sonja Shaw called the meeting to order at 4:45 p.m. with Don Bridge, Andrew Cruz, Jonathan Monroe and Shaw present 1. The board met in closed session from 4:45 to 5:51 p.m. on a student readmission, a parent's expungement request, labor negotiations with A.C.T. and CSEA, a curriculum coordinator appointment and a personnel discipline matter 1. It reported authorizing a notice of non-reelection to one certificated teacher, identified only by employee number, and appointing Brian Ilharreguy coordinator of secondary curriculum effective February 28, 2023 2.

Golden Bell recognition and the safety-plan report

President Shaw presented Ayala High teacher Michael Collins with a certificate recognizing his Engineering and Architecture Pathway program 2; as presented on the recording, it marked the program's Golden Bell Award for career technical education from the California School Boards Association 5. Inland press credited the pathway, run with Baldy View Regional Occupational Program, with 50% growth in female participation 6, a figure CSBA's write-up also reports 7.

Whitney Fields, Director of Risk Management, presented the comprehensive school safety plans 2. Sites finish their plans by early February so the board can adopt them before March 1, and each is reviewed by a third party 88. This year's update added consultation with the fire department and first responders and tactical procedures for criminal incidents 9. Site plans are available on request; the tactical plan is confidential 10. Answering questions from the dais, staff said the district generally holds about four active-shooter drills a year 10 and that public interest in the site safety-plan meetings is low 10. The board approved every school's plan on consent 4.

Student and employee representatives

Student representative Maya King reported on school sports, including the Chino High girls' basketball CIF semifinal that Saturday; congratulated the Golden Bell recipients; and asked for well wishes for a student 2.

Barbara Bearden, CHAMP President, spoke about Ibis Cordero, coordinator of parent and family engagement, and the presentations Cordero provides; promoted the March 20 Julie Gobin Memorial Hit the Greens for Scholarships tournament; and noted English proficiency and fitness testing under way 2. On the recording, the CHAMP remarks urged principals to consider inviting the parent engagement coordinator to present 11.

Public comment

Eight people addressed the board on items not on the agenda. The minutes list them with their topics: Albert Vande Steeg (rescinding the board's action naming the Preserve #2 school), Kathy Gallagher (a book recommendation), Rhonda Wallace (long-term substitute pay for certificated staff), Richard Wales (Chino Hills Police Department), Jim Gallagher (an upcoming Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce career day), Misty (special education issues), Byron Gonzalez (current issues and children's book author Raphael Warnock), and Krystal (bullying and school disciplinary actions) 2. Names come only from the minutes, which record topics, not remarks, so the recorded remarks are not summarized here.

Action item: release of temporary certificated employees

Education Code 44954(b) requires the board to notify temporary certificated employees that they are released for the following year 12; the resolution sent that notice to all of them, effective June 30, 2023 12.

Answering questions from the dais, staff said the release covered roughly 10 teachers (as captioned) plus some intervention counselors and a few nurses, hired temporarily to replace staff on leave or to fill grant-funded positions, and not long-term substitutes 1313; staff expected the vast majority to return 13. A temporary contract typically covers someone out for an entire year, staff said, while a long-term substitute covers a shorter absence and earns the long-term rate after more than 10 days in one position 1414.

Bridge moved and Monroe seconded the resolution, which carried with Cruz voting no; the student representative voted yes 2.

Consent calendar

Changes read into the record removed the extra-duty appointments from the personnel report, corrected two Chino High reconstruction change orders ($58,924.52 and $44,109.73) to read as credits, and pulled one Chino High notice of completion 2. On a motion by Bridge, seconded by Monroe, the board approved the consent items as amended 3; 44 of the 45 listed items were acted on 15.

• Meeting-conduct bylaw. The board approved a revision of Bylaws of the Board 9323, Meeting Conduct 3. Per the staff memo, it reflects SB 1100 (2022), which lets the board president remove an individual for disrupting a meeting after a warning and defines "disrupting" and "true threat of force"; the board had seen it for information on February 2 16. The new text requires a warning before removal, except for a use of force or a true threat of force 17. A law-firm summary of SB 1100 describes the same warn-first rule 18.
• Ayala attendance credit. The board approved a request for allowance of attendance due to emergency conditions at Ayala High 3. Per the memo, after a possible threat surfaced on October 27, 2022, more than 20% of students were absent the next day; law enforcement later found the threat not credible, and state approval avoids a loss of attendance funding 19.
• Student discipline. The board approved a student readmission and denied a parent's request to expunge the related expulsion proceeding 3.
• Chino High basketball court. The board approved proceeding with the process to name or dedicate a facility at Chino High 4. According to the February 2 draft minutes printed in this meeting's packet, President Shaw had asked Superintendent Enfield that night for the process to name the new court after coaches Frank Elder and Joe Murillo 20; this calendar approved those minutes without amendment 3. The memo notes Elder coached Chino High basketball for more than 26 years and Murillo for 27, and sets out the Board Policy 7310 steps: a 30-day comment window opening February 17, a public hearing, then action at the following meeting 21.
• Other approvals. A new Medical Assistant job description 4, budgeted at $42,321 to $49,864 in salary and benefits 22; the Universal Prekindergarten Program Grant plan 3, state money under AB 130 and SB 22 to create or expand prekindergarten 23; three new courses (Cybersecurity Honors, Professional Theatre, Advanced Professional Theatre) and the CTE/Perkins advisory committee 3 3; Fund 35 sub-funds for state modernization money at 11 schools 15; 20 change orders and notices of completion for the Chino High reconstruction and the Butterfield Ranch and Hidden Trails alterations 15 4; rejection of claims 4; and student teaching and fieldwork agreements with Hope International University and the University of Massachusetts Global 4 24.

Board communications

Don Bridge reported on the Chino Hills Parks and Recreation Commission's work on a teen advisory board and said the city is seeking students from Chino Hills junior high and high schools 24; on the recording he added that applications open in March for students in grades 7 through 12 25.

Andrew Cruz commented on substitute teacher pay and the need to make tough choices; requested an action item to rescind the naming of the Preserve School #2; spoke about California dropping the COVID-19 shot mandate for schoolchildren and about AB 659; and said he will read from and donate a book at every meeting 24.

Jonathan Monroe said he and President Shaw toured the Chino Police Department's new crime prevention facility; said the district's three cities have law enforcement agencies with differing budgets, a gap that will be looked at; reported meeting A.C.T. leadership; and thanked Glenmeade Elementary for a site visit 24. Superintendent Norm Enfield made no comments 24.

President Shaw said she met with Chino council member Mark Lucio, congratulated Hidden Trails Elementary on its California Distinguished School status, and said she will follow up with Dr. Enfield on discipline levels 24. She adjourned at 7:07 p.m. 24.

Press coverage and what happened next

The Chino Champion reported on February 25 that Cruz had asked at this meeting for the Preserve #2 naming to return on a future agenda, six weeks after the board chose "Louis W. Moreno School" for a former Chino police captain who served on the school board from 1981 to 1989 26 24. On March 2, 2023, the board rescinded its January 19 naming action 27. The Champion reported that 14 Moreno family members attended and that President Shaw said something concerning had come to the board's attention after the January vote 28; the San Bernardino County Sentinel called the reversal cryptic 29. The Chino High court followed the memo's schedule: an April 6 hearing drew no speakers 30, and on April 20, 2023 the board voted to name or dedicate a facility at Chino High after Elder and Murillo 31.