RUSD Board of Education — June 11, 2024

The last regular meeting of the 2023-24 school year was the statutory one: everything the district had to finish before July 1 came to the board in a single evening. The 2024-2025 budget and the Local Control and Accountability Plan were adopted, four resolutions cleared, and nine appointments to management positions were read out of closed session along with one classified employee's resignation and settlement. The community-input period, by contrast, was given over almost entirely to objections to the district's recognition of Gay Pride Month, including a request that the board put the subject on its next agenda.

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💰 The year-end package, and why it landed here

The calendar, not the board, set this agenda. The district's own agenda states the rule: the 2024-2025 budget, "per Education Code 42127 and Assembly Bill 1200, must be approved on or before July 1 per the District's decision to utilize the single budget adoption cycle" 1. Board policy frames the duty the same way, describing the board's "critical responsibility for adopting a sound budget for each fiscal year which is aligned with the district's vision, goals, priorities, local control and accountability plan (LCAP), and comprehensive plans" 2. The minutes record that the board met the deadline here, adopting the budget together with the rest of the year-end package 3.

The board worked through the package one item at a time. It adopted the 2024-2025 Local Control and Accountability Plan 4. It then adopted, in order, the LCAP's ESSA federal addendum, the Annual Proposed Budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Resolution No. 32 (an increase in statutory school fees on new residential and commercial/industrial construction), Resolution No. 33 (acknowledgement of due diligence and authorization to commit funds), Resolution No. 34 (Education Protection Account requirements and spending determinations), Resolution No. 35 (order of election), the district's 2024-2025 balance in excess of minimum reserve requirements, and the 2024-2025 board meeting dates 3.

The LCAP came with a consultation trail printed in the agenda: the draft went to the LCAP Advisory Committee on May 16, 2024 and to the English Learner Parent Advisory Committee on May 15, the district consulted the SELPA administrator on March 18 and May 3, the public was notified of its chance to comment in writing on May 10, and the LCAP public hearing was held on May 21 1.

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📉 A budget built on less money

Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Jason Hill presented the annual budget. The minutes record his highlights as a funded COLA of 1.07%, a special education contribution expected to increase by $5.4 million, over $2 million less in Supplemental and Concentration funds on a declining unduplicated pupil percentage, and confirmation that the district will meet its legally required 3% reserve balance 5. The minutes also record Hill telling the board that the Governor uses “The Maneuver” to prevent cuts to K-12 budgets and programs, and that it "is controversial and has faced significant criticism and even potential legal challenges" 5. He then went through the budget's major assumptions and the components of the ending balance, the committed items, the general fund multi-year projection and the next steps 6.

The presentation itself was blunter than the minutes summary. It projected "about a $4 million decrease over this year's base enrollment or base funding" for 2024-25, with roughly $850,000 less in supplemental funding and about $1.5 million less in concentration funding, which it framed as the LCAP committee having "fewer dollars than they did this year" to plan with 7. The multi-year picture was worse than the single year: a beginning fund balance of $108.6 million for 2023-24 falling to $96.6 million, then $67 million, then $57.8 million by 2026-27, because the district would be "operating in a deficit spending mode over the next couple years" with expenditures outpacing revenues in every projected year 7. The presentation asked the board to commit $8.5 million as an offset for future deficits and $6.2 million for current and future textbook adoptions, $14.7 million in all 7; the board adopted Resolution No. 33, the acknowledgement of due diligence and authorization to commit funds, later the same evening 3.

Two figures cut the other way. Enrollment, after a long slide, was projected to turn: "for the first time in probably 10-plus years, our enrollment is starting to turn around just a little bit" attributed to new construction in the area, with average daily attendance also recovering from its 2022-23 low 7. And the state's "maneuver" had already been abandoned under the threat of lawsuits, with deferrals expected in its place, against a Prop 98 shortfall the presentation put at a little over $8 billion 7.

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🧑‍🏫 Out of closed session: nine appointments and a settlement

Vice President Michele Rendler opened the 4:00 p.m. session. Melissa Ayala-Quintero, Patty Holohan, Jim O'Neill and Rendler answered roll call and Alex Vara was absent; Superintendent Juan Cabral, Assistant Superintendent Jason Hill (Business Services) and Assistant Superintendent Ken Wagner (Educational Services) attended 8. No one spoke at the closed-session community input, and the board adjourned to closed session at 4:02 p.m. 8. It returned to open session at 5:46 p.m., and Rendler called the regular meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. 9.

Rendler reported the closed-session actions once the board was back in public 10. Five certificated management appointments, all effective July 1, 2024:

Thompson, Johnson, Beemer and Beal were appointed on the record at 11, and Christopherson at 12.

Four classified management appointments followed, all to the position of School Occupational Therapist and all effective July 1, 2024: Hailey Campa at Step 5, Nicole Fung-Burris at Step 1 and Sarah Herbert at Step TBD 12, and Jessica Nathania at Step TBD 9. Separately, the board accepted the resignation of Classified Employee 2023-24-06, effective June 7, 2024, and approved the settlement and release agreement connected with it 9.

That is the whole of what closed session produced. The conference with the labor negotiator on contract management produced no action 8, and the anticipated-litigation, student-matters and other items each record "No Action was taken" 9. Rendler's open-session report-out covered the nine appointments and the resignation and settlement, and nothing else 1013.

The board then adopted the agenda with flexibility 9 and approved the minutes of the May 7, 2024 and May 21, 2024 regular meetings 10. Student Trustee Aleena Jose led the Pledge of Allegiance 9.

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🗣️ Community input: Pride Month

Four people spoke. These are the minutes' own summaries of what each said, and they are the only record that pairs a name with a statement at this meeting:

• Neal Waner: "Noted that he will be running for his father's previous seat on the County School Board of Directors." / "Encouraged the Board to reach out to him and he will support them in any way possible." 13
• Lawrence Hebron: "Shared concerns with Gay Pride month." / "Recommended that the District focus on education and keep the kids safe." 13
• Joshua Hall: "Shared concerns with Gay Pride month." / "Noted that school is not the place to teach sexuality issues." 13
• Dale Broome: "Shared that he feels RUSD is promoting gay pride." / "Requested that the item be placed on the next Board Agenda." 13

An email from Ashley Rodriguez was received before the meeting, distributed to the board and attached to the published minutes; the minutes do not summarize what it said 13.

ℹ️ How speakers are named on this page. The recording of this meeting is machine-transcribed, and its speaker labels are software guesses, not the record. The adopted minutes are the only document that reliably pairs a name with a statement, so every name above comes from the minutes' own summary. The recording carries far more argument than the minutes summarize; where the minutes do not attach that argument to a person, it is reported below without a name rather than guessed at.

The recording shows a comment period much longer than four bullet points. One speaker asked "When was Straight Pride Month?", read out Merriam-Webster's definition of equity as "freedom from bias or favoritism", said "I would definitely recommend a neutral policy on all of these things", and argued that the district had been "called on the carpet by both the federal government and the state government" over student sexual safety and should attend to that before taking up other issues 14. Another speaker put a list of questions to the board: "What is the purpose of having a Pride Month? What is the educational value of having Pride Month?", why pride and transgender flags appear in the district's June social media posts, why taxpayer dollars should pay for them, and "Has the school board even voted on this issue?" That speaker also cited the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, arguing that a government that lets one group's flag fly has to let others fly theirs 15.

What the board could have done with the agenda request is set out in its own bylaw: a board or a board member "may provide a reference to staff or other resources for factual information, ask staff to report back to the Board at a subsequent meeting concerning any matter, or take action directing staff to place a matter of business on a future agenda" 16. The minutes record no such action at this meeting; the discussion-items section reads "None" 17.

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🏳️ Archive context: the flag question before and after this meeting

The subject was not new to this board. The October 10, 2023 minutes record Dale Broome urging the board to allow only the California and American flags in the classroom and on school grounds, citing government regulation on special interest groups flying flags, noting that the City had decided not to fly the Pride flag over the City building, and urging the board not to let teachers push their agenda on students 18. The same minutes record many speakers on the other side of the question, among them Kathy Sadanala urging the board to keep the flags in the classroom, Kate Heinze noting that the Pride flag shows safety, Traci Lowenthal saying that removing the flag sends a message that it is acceptable to oppress and discriminate, and Miguel Rivera speaking against a ban because schools are supposed to represent the diversity of the student body 19.

It was not settled here either. At the next regular meeting, July 9, 2024, the minutes record Broome asking the board to address the purpose of celebrating Pride Month and why it needed to be done in June, noting that schools can be inclusive without symbols; Joshua Hall making the same request and saying social media promotion should not be promoting gay pride; Lawrence Hebron questioning why gay pride month is celebrated and encouraging the board to stick to the basics; and Michael Paisner providing history on Gay Pride Month and urging the board to continue celebrating it 20.

A year after this meeting the dispute became policy. RUSD's policy manual carries Board Policy 6115, Ceremonies And Observances, with an adoption date of July 8, 2025, providing that "No flag other than the United States of America and State of California may be displayed on school grounds or in classrooms, unless it is a country, state, or United States military flag used solely for educational purposes within the adopted curriculum" 21. This policy did not exist in June 2024 and is not the rule that applied to anything at this meeting; it is included because it is where the argument heard here ended up. The July 8, 2025 minutes list the item as "Approve New Board Policy 6115: Ceremonies, Observances, and Flag Displays [Second Reading]" 22, and Community Forward Redlands reported the board passing "a new policy limiting flags flown on school property to only the U.S. and California flags, with a few narrow exceptions" 23.

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📊 Presentations

Kristine Hubbard, Coordinator, Categorical Programs & Educational Support, recognized the 2023-24 LCAP Committee members; Jamie Cortz, Director III, Innovation, Technology & Accountability, presented the annual Local Indicators report for 2023-24, covering state and local indicators and the California School Dashboard, priorities, supporting student success and barriers; and Pat Kohlmeier and Chris Rivera of the Redlands Community Scholarship Foundation set out the foundation's mission, purpose and history, noting that since 2012 RCSF has awarded over $5 million in scholarships 5.

The local indicators presentation is worth reading past the minutes' summary. On basic services it reported zero teacher misassignments or vacant positions, zero students without access to standards-aligned materials, and zero instances of facilities not meeting good-repair status 24. On parent engagement, the presentation reported that 74% of parents responded with a four or a five on the five-point scale, with neutral threes deliberately left out of the figure 24. On access to a broad course of study, 71.2% of elementary leadership and 69.7% of secondary leadership agreed or strongly agreed, with visibly wider disagreement for students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students and English learners; staff named the barriers as support for English learner newcomers, time, paraprofessional support, more modern curriculum and more counseling 24. In the questions afterwards, the "I feel welcome at PTA parent group meetings" result, at 66%, was raised from the dais with a suggestion that it be shared with the Redlands PTA so the gap could be worked on from both sides 25.

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🎓 Hearings, the student trustee, and a change at RTA

Four public hearings were opened and closed in immediate succession between 6:18 and 6:20 p.m., each with no one wishing to comment: the 2024-2025 Education Protection Account requirements at 6:18 p.m., the statutory school fee increase at 6:19 p.m., and the initial 2024-2025 bargaining proposals of the Redlands Teachers Association and the Redlands Education Support Professionals Association at 6:19 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. 26.

Student Trustee Aleena Jose reported on the week's graduations and events at eAcademy, Orangewood, Redlands High School, Citrus Valley and Redlands East Valley, including the RHS e-sports team's showing at a national competition 26 and Citrus Valley's Advanced Ensemble performing at a clinic hosted by the college of San Mateo, where the Wind Ensemble won first place and the Chamber Strings and Advance Jazz band won second place 27.

The RTA report was delivered by Mrs. Abt, who counted five high school graduations, one adult school graduation, four middle school promotions and 17 elementary promotions in a single week; described an initial 2024-2025 proposal opening two contract articles, with an emphasis on better following board policy on cell phone usage and on school, student and staff safety; and announced that she has chosen to return to the kindergarten classroom, with former RTA vice president Stephen Caperton stepping into the association's presidency 27. The recording of that report adds a detail the minutes leave out: the association split its retirement dinner across two evenings because, in the report's words, "we have 86 retirees this year" and "This is about three times the normal number we have" 28.

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💬 Board and superintendent comments

• Jim O'Neill said he enjoyed the scholarship presentation, noting that the Kiwanis Club awarded $70,500 to RUSD graduates, and observed that school finance is complicated while thanking Mr. Hill and his team 6.
• Aleena Jose noted that some students stay active with extracurricular activities even after the school year ends 6.
• Patty Holohan thanked Jason Hill and his team, congratulated the class of 2024, and noted that the Redlands Bowl opens on June 21 6.
• Melissa Ayala-Quintero acknowledged staff and students working through the summer, reminded AP students to do their summer work, and said the graduations were rewarding 6.
• Michele Rendler wished everyone a happy summer vacation and said she had attended the fifth-grade essay contest winners' reception at the Burrage Mansion 6. She went on to recount a rocket launch at Mission, STEAM work at Mariposa and career day at Mentone, and thanked the Redlands Community Scholarship Foundation board and Tiffany Cameron for organizing Senior Awards Nights, Keara Gonzalez for the invitation, Todd Flowers and Molly O'Day for walking her around the Mentone stations, and instructional coach Kelly Batres and her team for an end-of-year event with 98 first- and second-year teachers 29.
• Superintendent Juan Cabral called graduation his favorite time of the year, said he would be celebrating with retirees at the RTA dinner, thanked the LCAP Committee and the evening's presenters, and noted that the meeting marked his one-year anniversary as superintendent 29.

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🧾 Consent and routine business

The Business Services consent block ran from XV.b through XV.ab 30. Items worth surfacing:

• Nicole Miller & Associates, Inc., professional legal investigation services at $250.00 per hour, not to exceed $75,000.00, from General Funds 30. The agenda describes the firm as an "independent investigative firm serving California's educational institutions" 31.
• Food Safety Systems, a comprehensive safety and sanitation program, not to exceed $80,000.00, from Food Services Funds 30.
• John R. Byerly, Inc., geotechnical, testing laboratory and special inspection services for Redlands East Valley High School including the stadium and parking lot improvements, not to exceed $64,927.00, from Redevelopment Agency Funds 30.
• Redlands Boys and Girls Club, Amendment No. 1, extending management and supervision services through June 30, 2026 at a decreased cost, from $1,500,000.00 to $1,100,000.00 32.
• Two Logicalis agreements ratified for Cisco work, not to exceed $24,077.63 and $5,830.24 32.
• Bid 20-24, Redlands High School Girls Gym HVAC, awarded to the lowest responsible/responsive bidder, Wakeco Inc., in the amount of $448,000.00 4.
• Payment Transmittal Numbers 24001688 through 24001799 for June 11, 2024, in the amount of $4,082,145.74 4.

All of it moved on a single vote, the mechanism the board's own bylaw describes: "the Board may act upon more than one item by a single vote through the use of a consent agenda" and reserves it for "items of a routine nature or items for which no Board discussion is anticipated and for which the Superintendent recommends approval" 33.

The block drew one question before it was voted: why the two student-meal agreements, one with Barbara Phelps County High School and one covering Fallsvale Elementary, carry different per-meal rates 34. The explanation given was that the agreements themselves differ, Fallsvale's carrying a lease fee and a transportation fee on top of the food cost, and that the schools take different combinations of breakfast and lunch 35.

The Educational Services consent block covered three student travel requests, including a Citrus Valley Advanced Mixed Choir trip to the National Choral Competition in New York in March 2025, and a revised administrator-on-loan agreement with Redlands Educational Partnership 36. The board then approved seven expulsion and stipulated-expulsion items for students 2023-2024-041 through 2023-2024-047 3637, and the Human Resources consent block XIX.b through XIX.bg, on which the minutes record an abstention on item XIX.d 37.

There were no Human Resources action items and no discussion items, and the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. 17.

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Note on the documents: the minutes for this meeting are born-digital and every one of their 20 pages carries extractable text, so nothing on this page rests on OCR. Quotations keep the district's own spelling and punctuation, including the consent line that reads "Approve all Consent in Items" 30.