RUSD Board of Education — January 9, 2024

Meeting Summary

Seven residents took the microphone on the first board night of 2024 — on library books, school restrooms, tardiness letters and the Education Code section the district had begun explaining from the dais — and one of them used her three minutes to announce she was running for a seat on the board.

President Vara opened the afternoon session at 4:31 p.m., with Melissa Ayala-Quintero, Patty Holohan, Michele Rendler and Alex Vara present and Jim O'Neill absent 1. A two-part LCAP workshop filled that session, which adjourned to closed session at 5:27 p.m. with no action taken on the labor-negotiator item 2. The minutes record no action taken on the employee discipline, student matters or other closed-session items either, and the regular meeting opened at 6:08 p.m. 3.

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📚 A book-removal request comes back denied

Candy Olson told the board she had received the final denial of her request to have the book Tricks removed from the school libraries, reporting that "the committee did not believe that the descriptions were overly graphic" 4. She said the board does not know what books are in its own libraries, so parents cannot be expected to; that the community is horrified by them; read excerpts aloud and asked whether what she had read was condemnation or glorification; and asked that the book be removed 4.

The appeal she lost ran under an old rule. BP 1312.2, Complaints Concerning Instructional Materials, carries an adoption date of February 14, 1995 and no later revision. It advises complainants to "consider and accept the Superintendent or designee's decision as final", while committing that a board decision "will be based on educational suitability and will not be influenced by a desire to suppress information or deny students access to ideas with which the Board disagrees" 5. The companion administrative regulation that now sets out a step-by-step challenge procedure — including a separate track for material alleged to be pornographic — was last revised on August 19, 2025, nineteen months after this meeting, so it is not the version this appeal ran under 6.

Susan McCarley opened with a proverb — "when the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan" 8 — then read definitions of pornography, said exposing children to pornography should be forbidden, and asked that the books she described as pornographic be taken out of the libraries 7.

Michael Paisner came at the same policy from the cost side. He thanked the board for the guidance it had given on public comment at the previous meeting, which he took as an attempt to reduce politics and drama, and for the book review policy itself, which he said lets parents raise a concern without children losing access to books 4. His proposal was that the requester pay: "The obvious solution is let the person requesting the review pay for it", waived where the review is valid and the book is pulled 9. He added a second reason: "It's also going to cut down on frivolous requests" 9.

Where it went. Two months later the board took "Complaints Concerning Instructional Materials" up as a discussion item; the March 12, 2024 minutes record Superintendent Cabral walking through the process and noting that "One of the criticisms of the process that was noted is that it is not timely" 10. Community Forward Redlands reported that "School board members discussed ways to streamline the process during the March 12 meeting, taking no action to ban books" 11.

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🚻 Williams complaints: a rewrite, a quarterly report, and a parent testing the system

Paul Blatchley, an Area 5 resident speaking as a concerned high school parent, said the public should be told why the Williams complaint policy on that night's agenda had been struck through and rewritten 4. He had filed an anonymous Williams complaint about the Redlands East Valley restrooms and told the board he intended to file again by name: "I'm going to complain again, and next time I'm going to put my name on it" 12. His specifics were hand dryers that do not dry hands and restrooms not kept stocked through the school day 4.

Those are close to the regulation's own words. The copy of AR 1312.4 on file today carries a last-revised date of February 13, 2024, a month after this meeting, and its definitions restate the Education Code: a clean or maintained school restroom is one that "has been stocked at all times with toilet paper, soap, and paper towels or functional hand dryers" 15.

A revision of that regulation was on this agenda as a first reading 13, the agenda explaining that the revisions bring it current with CSBA guidelines, Education Code and/or legislation 17. The minutes record the board taking action on the business services consent calendar, with the first reading inside it 14.

The same consent block carried the quarterly Williams report for the quarter covering October through December 2023 16. The agenda explains why it exists — "A requirement of the Williams Case Settlement is the quarterly reporting of complaints received and resolved" 17 — and the regulation requires the superintendent or designee to report "summarized data on the nature and resolution of all complaints" to the board and to the county superintendent every quarter 15.

Two figures about those complaints are in the minutes, and the minutes do not reconcile them. Jeannette Wilson said "four Williams Complaints District-wide seems very low" and that the district needs more transparency 7. Superintendent Juan Cabral said there were "five Williams Complaints on the agenda that have been resolved", and suggested a deep dive into the Williams process as a refresher for the board 18.

Blatchley's other complaint was about paper. He objected to the district's automatic tardiness letters — "I consider them to be nasty grams from the district" 12 — and said that if he wanted the best education for his child he would send the child to a private school 4. President Vara returned to it in board comments, saying first instruction is very important and occurs within the first 15-20 minutes and that "the letters that are sent out are just to keep parents aware of what is happening" 19.

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🗣️ Education Code 7054 at the podium

Belinda Sunny read from Education Code sections 7050 through 7058 and told the board that 7054 "is the code that the Board is using to attempt to silence any political speech", that the board is failing as a whole and being deceitful, and that the community's voices will continue to be heard 7. At the podium she described the section as one "that this board is using an attempt to justify silencing any dissension or political speech", citing a court case in which, she said, speech had been silenced 20. She closed: "this board is being deceitful, devious, and trying to apply this code to us. Our voices will continue to be heard" 21.

Superintendent Cabral took the point up in his report. The minutes record him describing Education Code 7054 as a provision that "urges the public to refrain from supporting or not supporting a political issue/candidate at the podium", while noting that it does not mean a member of the public cannot speak about an issue they feel strongly about; he drew the same distinction on profanity — disruptive profanity is not allowed, but reading a book containing profanity for the purpose of discussion is acceptable — and invited anyone with questions to come to him 18. In his own words: "it doesn't mean that you can't read a book that has profanity if that's a point that you want to make" 22.

What the record does not show. The adopted minutes contain no accusation that any speaker broke Education Code 7054, no finding by the board or the district that anyone had, and no action of any kind on the subject. The superintendent's remarks are recorded as a general explanation of the code, addressed to no one and naming no one 18, and nothing in the minutes links that explanation to any individual who spoke that night 7.

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🗳️ A candidacy announced at the podium

Jeannette Wilson told the board she had been coming to meetings for two years to help protect the innocence of children and to improve policies and procedures, and that it had fallen on deaf ears; that she had met with a principal about a book the principal had not read; and that she had been met with indifference 7. She told the board that "on the other side of indifference could be a child at risk" 23. Her closing line ties the Williams figures to a decision: the district needs more transparency, "which is why she has decided to run for School Board Area 4" 7.

The minutes record that as her own announcement, and record no response to it from the board 7.

Nine days later City News Group carried an announcement from the group Awaken Redlands that Wilson was a candidate, saying her "background as a licensed clinical social worker makes her a valuable candidate for Area 4" 24. By the district's organizational meeting on December 17, 2024 she was seated as an "elected member of the Board of Education (2024-2028)", and the board elected her Clerk that night 25.

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🤝 A comment for diversity and inclusion, and a name the minutes leave out

Felipe Albertao, an Area 5 resident whose child attends a district school, said he had come "to show my support and solidarity to the school board's commitment to diversity and inclusion, and to alert the community that our Redlands public schools are under attack" 26. The minutes compress the rest of his comment into a single line — he "Spoke about another community member's donations and beliefs" — and record neither that person's name nor what the donations and beliefs were 7. This page follows the minutes on that point. He closed by saying he is proud to live in a community that values all Redlands families 7.

The recording carries an exchange the minutes do not. The comment was interrupted, and someone was warned: "Can you just be quiet? Because if not, I'm going to have you removed" 27. Every speaker label on this meeting's transcript is an automated voice match, so the recording cannot establish who issued that warning or who received it, and the minutes do not record the exchange at all.

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📊 Audit: a clean opinion, uncomfortable trends

Royce Townsend of Eide Bailly, LLP presented the audited financial statements as of June 30, 2023, reporting an unmodified opinion with no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies identified on the financial statements, the federal awards and state compliance 18. The presentation put it plainly: "The highest level of assurance that the audit can present to you is an unmodified opinion." 28

The schedule of financial trends was the uncomfortable half: the minutes record deficit spending in one of the past three years, a projection of deficit spending in the current year, declining average daily attendance — "which is the funding source" — and available reserves declining with it 18. The board accepted the report as a business services action item 16. The agenda supplies the deadline behind the timing: the prior year's audit had to be accepted "by February 28, 2024, as per Education Code 41020.3" 29.

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💻 Innovation update

Jamie Cortz, Director of Innovation, Technology & Accountability, gave a technology update covering usage figures for Google, Google Classroom and Chromebooks, elementary lesson and professional-development topics in LEGO Education, coding, digital citizenship and 3D design, and 16 whole-school PDs, 23 small-group PDs and 112 co-teaching lessons in elementary innovation 18. The minutes also record five newsletters with 4,400 views and two podcasts with 207 listeners, Canva deployed district-wide, the Finalsite website, the Raptor visitor system, content filtering, and training on using artificial intelligence safely and responsibly for students and staff 14. The framing number in the presentation was zero: "That was the number of usage in 2016, 2017" — before Google, Chromebooks, one-to-one at the high schools or Wi-Fi in all buildings 30.

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Around the table

• LCAP. Coordinator Kristi Hubbard gave the mid-year LCAP update, covering the legal reporting requirements, the Budget Overview for Parents, and metrics and actions on LCAP Goals 1 and 2 1, then on Goals 3 and 4 2. With Assistant Superintendent Ken Wagner she then previewed the 2024-2027 cycle: long-term English learners added as a student group, the foster-youth goal no longer required, and an Equity Multiplier goal in its place 2.
• Student report. Christian Rolle of Orangewood reported six REV band students selected for the San Bernardino County All County Honor Band, REV's librarian Mrs. Krohne receiving the California School Library Association Presidents Award, a blood drive on January 23, and a Rube Goldberg contest with 23 other high schools on February 3; the All-Star band from RHS, REV and Citrus Valley went to London at the end of December 31.
• Committee reports. Michele Rendler reported that the Cultural Arts Commission had asked City staff why approvals take so long, and that a local artist, Frank Samaro, wants to restore or paint murals with the district 31.
• Board comments. Patty Holohan wished everyone a happy and healthy 2024; Rendler thanked Cindy VanHorn and the teachers and paraprofessionals who work with her, congratulated the Inspire Choirs on their winter concerts, and said meeting the student trustees — where much of the discussion was about bathrooms — had been enlightening; Melissa Ayala-Quintero had nothing to report 19. President Vara presented Ayala-Quintero a gift on behalf of the board in appreciation of her hard work as President 18.

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Routine business

The board approved the minutes of four earlier meetings — October 24, November 14, December 5 (special) and December 12, 2023 3. The business services consent calendar carried architectural-history ($21,100) and surveying ($25,500) agreements for the Packinghouse Buildings warehouse conversion, a contract extension with Mindfulness in Motion, the AR 1312.4 first reading and a $98,670.67 change order with Wakeco, Inc. for new district offices 14; and the quarterly Williams report, Jim O'Neill's designation to certify board action as Clerk through the December 2024 organizational meeting, a $5,680 assembly agreement, a $400,070.81 zero-emission transit school bus reimbursed by a California Air Resources Board grant, donations, and payment transmittals of $5,707,619.24 16.

Educational services consent approved six student travel requests 16, among them a choral trip to Anaheim 16 and choral trips to San Antonio, New Orleans and St. Louis 32. Human resources consent covered new certificated bargaining unit personnel and classified contract personnel 32, management salary placements, athletic team coaches and volunteers 33, and a student teaching agreement with the USC Rossier School of Education 34.

Under human resources action items the board approved the 2024-25 student attendance calendar on second and final read and the 2025-26 calendar on first read, each on its own motion 34. The recording shows why the minutes carry two separate blocks there: the two calendars were restated and voted separately, with the reason given on the record, "we need to vote again on each separately" 35.

The board reconvened to closed session at 7:22 p.m. and adjourned at 7:38 p.m. 34.