Chino Valley Unified Board of Education: Special Meeting, November 7, 2024

At a short special meeting, the board approved a revision of its meeting-conduct bylaw that folds public comment into a single session at each meeting 1 2. The district's staff report said the revision responded to an October 21, 2024 letter from the Associated Chino Teachers (ACT), the teachers' union, alleging Brown Act violations at a September board meeting 3 4. The same consent action awarded two construction bids, approved personnel items and rejected two claims 1 5.

The record for this page is the adopted minutes of this meeting. President Sonja Shaw called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. with Donald L. Bridge, Andrew Cruz, Jonathan Monroe, James Na and Shaw present 6 7. The board met in closed session from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. and reconvened at 5:01 p.m. 6, and Shaw adjourned the meeting at 5:13 p.m. 8.

🗣️ One public-comment session per meeting

The bylaw was Board Bylaw 9323, Meeting Conduct. The redline in the agenda packet makes these changes:

• Comment on agenda items and comment on matters not on the agenda are consolidated into a single public comment session for each open session meeting, to be listed on each agenda 2.
• Speakers still get up to three minutes, but the words granting that time "on each agenda or non-agenda item" are struck 9.
• The 30-minute limit on public input for each item becomes a 60-minute total for public input 9.
• The revision adds an explicit rule that speakers may not cede unused time to another speaker 9.
• New example ranges show how the president, with board consent, may adjust speaking time as the list grows: three minutes each for up to 18 speakers, two minutes for 19 to 30, and one minute for 31 or more 9.

The existing rule that the board "shall not prohibit public criticism of its policies, procedures, programs, services, acts, or omissions" was left unchanged 9.

The staff report quoted the union's letter and cited Government Code 54954.3(b)(1), which lets a board adopt reasonable regulations, including limits on total public testimony time and on each speaker 3. It said the revisions would also clarify matters for "some members of the public who have incorrectly interpreted the Ralph M. Brown Act" 3.

On the recording, an explanation given before the vote proposed to "take all of our comment session and put it at the beginning of the meeting," so that speakers could talk on several matters 10 without being stopped and redirected 10. It said the change was brought forward because of the complaint from the union, as captioned 10. The explanation also pointed to "an hour time for public comments" in the revised bylaw 10. The captions do not label speakers and the minutes do not say who explained the item, so this is reported without a name.

⚖️ The union's letter

The district printed the union's letter in the agenda packet as the record for its closed-session item on anticipated litigation 11. The letter says that at the September 19, 2024 meeting the board discussed a proposed "No Deception" parental-notification policy, written in response to a September 11, 2024 Superior Court permanent injunction 4. The Attorney General announced that ruling the same day, saying it permanently halted the parental-notification provisions of the district's earlier policy 12.

The letter alleges that, during public comment on that item, board members imposed content-based restrictions on speakers, limited them to the policy's "actual technical language," and barred references to the court case and the injunction 13. It describes three speakers, a former teacher, a current teacher and a former student, as interrupted 13 14. It says the current teacher's microphone was muted and the former student's was cut off, and that the current teacher was ordered removed from the meeting 14. These are the union's allegations. This meeting's record does not rule on them.

The letter demanded corrective action 15, including an unconditional commitment approved in open session "as a separate item of business, not on its consent agenda." It warned of legal action seeking injunctive and declaratory relief if no commitment came within 30 days 15. The bylaw revision was approved as one of the consent items 1.

🔒 Closed session

The agenda listed two closed-session items. One was the anticipated-litigation item, listing the law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, and its record was the union's letter 11. The other was a real-property negotiation over parcel 1019-441-10-0-000 with the Charles & Christine Unsworth Trust, listing Tao Rossini, APC 16.

The minutes report that the board "voted to deny initial request to direct counsel to engage in further communication with requesting party," and that no further action required public disclosure 17. They do not say which item that action belonged to.

🏗️ Two construction bids

James Na moved and Andrew Cruz seconded the consent items 18. They included two awards:

• Chino High small gym floor. The board awarded Bid No. 24-25-01F to McWill Sports Services, Inc. 19. The staff report listed four bids plus one withdrawal, with McWill lowest at $476,567.00, charged to Fund 25 20 20.
• Ayala High HVAC replacement. The board awarded the bid to American Construction Co., Inc. 21. The staff report listed 15 bids, with American Construction lowest at $350,000.00, charged to Fund 14 22 22. The item title, in both the agenda and the minutes, and the staff report number the bid 24-25-02F, while the agenda's recommendation line and the minutes' action line say 23-24-02F 23 21. A July 2025 staff report refers to the award as 24-25-02F. It says the work was completed May 30, 2025, and recommends a change order reducing the cost by $50,000 24.

📄 Personnel and claims

The board approved and ratified the certificated and classified personnel items 1. The list includes new hires 25 and teacher induction mentors for 2024/2025, among other actions 25.

The board rejected two claims and referred them to the district's insurance adjuster 1 5. According to the staff report, both came from former certificated employees. One alleges discrimination. The other alleges discrimination, a hostile work environment, retaliation and wrongful termination 5.

🎙️ Public comment

The minutes list one member of the public, Amanda Swager, as addressing the board on closed-session items and again on agenda items 6 26. They do not record what was said, so this page does not describe it.

📰 Outside coverage

No press coverage of this meeting or of the bylaw change was found.