CVUSD Board of Education: November 20, 2025

The board's one substantive action item was the one most of the room came for: Resolution 2025/2026-22, "To Safeguard Every Child and Protect Students from Unauthorized Release and Preserve Parental Authority Under AB 495." The minutes record James Na moving it, Andrew Cruz seconding, and the board adopting it, with the student representative also voting yes 1. The item was submitted by board president Sonja Shaw 2.

⚖️ The district's own release rules

AB 495, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025, widens who may sign a caregiver's authorization affidavit; critics had warned it would endanger children 3. The item's background memo notes the law takes effect January 1, 2026 and says it has "dangerous loopholes" 2.

No student may be released to a non-parent without prior parent authorization, and staff must try to reach the parent by phone, text and email, documenting every attempt 4. Each site designates two trained officials to verify affidavits, caregivers must show government-issued photo ID, and a doubtful affidavit, or a student who does not recognize the caregiver, means no release, with law enforcement or child protective services contacted 4. Parents are to be notified whenever a student leaves with a caregiver under a verified affidavit 5.

It was the board's second action on the law in three months. In August it adopted Resolution 2025/2026-12 opposing AB 495 6, and in October the minutes record Shaw announcing a November proposal that codifies existing District practices and calling AB 495 "the predators' kidnapping dream bill" 7.

The minutes do not narrate the board's discussion, so it appears here without names. One board member described a babysitter who downloads the affidavit and signs it with no parent signature, notarization or court order 8, then takes the child to another state 8. Another said, "We're just not going to hand the kids over to anybody" 8, and a third called each of the district's 23,000 students "our children" 9.

🗣️ Public comment

The minutes list twelve people who addressed the board on agenda and non-agenda items but record nothing of what any of them said 1, so their comments are summarized here without names.

AB 495 drew much of it. One speaker said the law lets parents, especially those vulnerable to immigration detention, designate a trusted adult in advance 10 so a child is not sent into foster care 11. Two speakers said the father of a district student had been shot weeks earlier during an immigration enforcement action 1112. The second of them also listed existing safeguards, including ID checks, photographs and visitor logs 13, and said "No child has ever been released to an unknown adult. And that will not change" 13. A supporter of the resolution argued that loose state laws conflicting with district policy endanger children, citing child trafficking 14.

A second request ran alongside: adopt Board Policy 5145.14, "Commitment to Safe and Welcoming Schools," which a speaker said Fullerton Unified already uses, citing California Healthy Kids Survey figures on student distress 1111 and asking that it return as an action item 11. The board had it only as an information item: the minutes record receiving Steven Frazer's request, on behalf of the Associated Chino Teachers Human Rights and Equity Committee, to place the matter on an agenda 15; the packet carries the request 16 and the policy text 17. Another speaker on that item said a student's immigration information already cannot be released without a court order 18 and called the proposal "a statement of what we should already be doing" 18.

Other threads:

• A teacher described about fifteen students showing an airdropped video of a campus fight 1919, said students sent to the office over phones came back with them 20, and asked the board to "Bring back Saturday school" 20.
• One speaker described elementary students carrying birth certificates in their backpacks 21 and said surrounding districts had spoken out against the immigration raids while Chino stayed silent 22.
• Several criticized legal spending. One put it at $1.3 million last year and more than $1.5 million this year 23; another asked why legal counsel no longer sits in the room 24; a student attending for an AP Government assignment said the board had not worked in students' interest and cited the same figure 2525.
• Two speakers praised the board's record 2614, while several leveled personal accusations at board members that are the speakers' own and are not repeated here 2213.

👩‍🏫 Reports

Sarah Palmer, secretary of the Associated Chino Teachers, acknowledged the assessment results and said A.C.T. had presented its initial reopener proposal 27. The minutes record her raising an increase in teacher injuries from student behavioral incidents across multiple sites and asking for more classroom support staff, updated safety protocols, enhanced supervision and reinstating full-time assistant principals at all sites 1. In the recording she described teachers being hit and bitten 28.

Later the president opened and closed the hearing on A.C.T.'s initial reopener proposal at 7:20 p.m. with no speakers 1. The proposal opens Articles 14, 15 and 17: hours, assignment and transfer, and compensation and benefits 29.

Student representative Phoenix Kim reported on school rallies, Chino Hills HS's CIF football run and its band's first place at Harmony in the Hills 27.

📊 Assessment results

Tracy Freed, Ed.D., assistant superintendent, CIIS, presented the essential standards and Smarter Balanced results 27. In 2025, 62.12% of district students met or exceeded the standard in English language arts and 49.79% in math 3031; the presentation put the next-highest unified district in the county at 54.79% and 40.40% 31.

🗨️ Board communications

Shaun Smith said the district should prioritize essential standards and keep schools inclusive for all students without special provisions for specific groups, and voiced concern about perceived political agendas 1532. From the dais: "They want exclusivity for specific groups that many times infringe on the rights of other groups" 33. He also praised Chino Hills HS football, Harmony in the Hills and the music and color guard programs, and acknowledged staff including Mrs. Rutherford 32.

James Na said the district's reputation is increasingly recognized across the region, acknowledged Smith's involvement, and asked Superintendent Enfield to explore reinstating Saturday school at Chino HS, as a teacher had suggested 32.

Andrew Cruz announced the "Run for Russ" 5K on February 1, 2026 and reflected on his family's immigration and military-service background 32.

John Cervantes emphasized reading, writing, math and career technical pathways and said the board remains committed to decisions it believes are right despite pushback 32; in the recording, "we're not afraid of push back and lawsuits" 34.

Superintendent Norm Enfield thanked support staff, said performance is not yet where he wants it while crediting teachers for rising scores, and highlighted the district's Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports achievement 35. He told the board every school in the district is at the platinum level 36.

The minutes record Sonja Shaw thanking staff for restoring positions without cutting essential services; answering public-comment concerns about student safety by clarifying, with the superintendent's help, the district's long-standing procedures on federal immigration authorities at schools; criticizing the content and cost of the state's mandated PRISM training, which she examined through public-records requests, while noting the district met the legal requirement with its own program; and citing a recent Title IX complaint over athletics that she assisted with 35. As explained in the recording, officers may enter only a school's office 37 unless a court order requires more 37. The district's policy on immigration enforcement, last revised in June 2023, requires procedures for any officer's request for access to records, school sites or students 38. On PRISM: "we did not adopt this training. We did our own" 39.

🔒 Closed session, consent and the rest

Closed session ran from 4:04 to 5:39 p.m. 40. Reported out: approval of a settlement resolving OAH Case No. 2025040116, not to exceed $104,665, with Cervantes, Cruz, Na and Smith voting yes and Shaw voting no; and the appointments of James Newcomb as principal of Buena Vista HS, Stephen Kessler as coordinator of security and risk management, and Ann Marie Jahahn as coordinator of child welfare and attendance 27.

Expulsion case 25/26-08, packet page 37 and CUPCCAA project CC2025-69 were deleted 1. Smith pulled expulsion case 25/26-11; the rest of consent was moved by Na, seconded by Cervantes and approved as amended 1. Case 25/26-12 was approved on Na's motion, and case 25/26-11 on Smith's motion, seconded by Na, with the minutes recording Smith voting no 41.

Consent also approved payment to three law firms, for which the packet lists $73,107.58 in September invoices and $330,921.56 year to date 4142; set December 18, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. for the annual organizational meeting and adopted Resolution 2025/2026-25, compensating Na for the October 16 meeting he missed 1; and rejected all bids for the Ayala HS "H" portables refresh, authorizing a rebid 15. The adopted student body budgets and the cash management report were received for information 15.

President Shaw adjourned the meeting at 8:08 p.m. 35.

An independent, community-maintained summary of public records, not affiliated with Chino Valley Unified School District. Names appear only where the adopted minutes print them. No local news coverage of this meeting was found.