October 22, 2024: Thirty-nine minutes, a new tax district, and nobody in line to speak

The board opened this regular meeting at 6:09 p.m. and adjourned at 6:48 p.m., with no human resources action items and no discussion items on the calendar 12. The roll taken from the dais recorded five members present 3. Nobody had filed a card to address the board, so the public participation section was skipped outright 4.

Short as it was, the agenda carried the formation of a Mello-Roos tax district with authority to issue up to $250 million in bonds, and a detailed public accounting of the training the district owes under the two civil-rights agreements it signed in 2024.

---

🏛️ Compliance training: "we have met all of our deadlines"

The longest single stretch of the evening was a staff report on the mandates the district is working under this school year, described from the dais as coming from the Department of Justice and the Office of Civil Rights, and an assurance that "we have met all of our deadlines" 5.

What staff told the board 5:

• Management training is done. Staff put it that "every single manager, which is over 100, classified and certificated at every level, has been trained" in a "four and a half hour training that everybody had to participate in", delivered "over three different time periods" of an hour and a half each, with make-up sessions for anyone who missed one. The trainers were described as Department of Justice attorneys, and board members were said to have attended several sessions themselves.
• All-staff training was still being approved, with a November 1 target for the first part and a January professional development day for the second.
• Student training was being written in-house. The board was reminded that "every single student will participate in sexual harassment prevention training", age-appropriate material the district decided to develop itself because suitable curriculum "does not exist in the way that we need it to". Completion was targeted for the end of October.
• Rollout sequence. Three campuses, referred to on the recording as JMB, Beatty and Rev, would go first. "It will be made available first to parents and to the staff so that they see it before we actually implement it with students", and to the board before implementation. District administrators would then "go into classrooms and provide those lessons for all of our students at every level", targeting December or the beginning of January.
• A December survey of all students and staff, testing whether "they know how to report any incident that is going on" and which adult on campus to go to.

Why this was on the agenda. The mandates come out of two settlement agreements reached in spring 2024. The minutes of the May 7, 2024 meeting record an update and presentation to the board "on the two settlement agreements reached by the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice", note that "the OCR Report was reached on April 24th and publicized shortly after", and record board questions about deadlines, oversight and "the new position of the Assistant Superintendent of Compliance" 6. On May 29, 2024 the California Attorney General announced a stipulated judgment with the district requiring it to hire that Assistant Superintendent of Compliance and to provide annual training to staff and investigators on their duties in responding to reports of sexual assault, harassment and abuse, under a minimum of five years of court and Attorney General oversight 7. Coverage the same day reported that the district would also hand over all oral and written complaints of sexual harassment, assault and abuse to the Department of Justice 8.

The policy machinery moved in parallel. On September 10, 2024 the board approved second-reading revisions to a block of regulations and policies on criminal record checks, sex discrimination and sex-based harassment, including the Title IX sex discrimination grievance procedures 9.

The student-facing piece did arrive, later than the window described here: in March 2025 the district announced educational video lessons for transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, with "only students in grades 3 through 12" asked to complete an accompanying survey in April 10.

---

💰 A new Mello-Roos district, and $250 million of borrowing power

Three public hearings were noticed for this meeting: on the Edison easement, on the establishment of Community Facilities District No. 2024-1, and on the bonded indebtedness that district may incur 11. Each was opened and closed in turn with nobody asking to comment 4.

The board then worked the sequence, one item at a time:

• Resolution No. 15 formed CFD No. 2024-1, authorized the levy of a special tax within it, established an appropriations limit, and provided for annexing territory in the future 12. It built on a resolution of intention the board had adopted on September 10, 2024 13. It was taken up 14 and carried 15.
• Resolution No. 16 recorded the board's determination that it is necessary for the district to incur bonded indebtedness and set an aggregate not-to-exceed figure of $250,000,000 that CFD No. 2024-1 may issue in future 16; it carried 17.
• Resolution No. 17 called the special election of the CFD's qualified electors, approved the boundaries and the tax-rate formula, designated the Clerk of the Board as election official, and set 8:00 p.m. at 25 West Lugonia as the deadline for returning voted ballots 16. It carried in the same turn, which closes by asking the Clerk of the Board to open the ballots 17.
• The ballots were opened and read at the dais, envelope by envelope. Resolution No. 17 had put the question to the qualified electors of the Community Facilities District 16; what the recording shows being opened are returns from a homebuilding company 18 and from land-holding limited liability companies 19, not from residents.
• Resolution No. 18 declared the election results and directed recordation of the Notice of Special Tax Lien against property inside the district 20. It was read out 22 and carried 23.
• First reading of Ordinance No. 1 (2024-1), levying the special taxes, followed immediately 23 and carried 24. It came back as the agenda said it would: the board adopted the ordinance at its second reading on November 12, 2024 25.
• Resolution No. 19 authorized the mitigation agreements that put property into the CFD and make it subject to the special tax 20; it carried 26.

What the district's own rules say about all this. Board Policy 7212.11, Community Facilities Districts, last revised January 31, 2006, sets the terms the board is meant to work to. The Mello-Roos Act is to be used "to finance developer mitigation obligations for the construction and/or acquisition of public K-12 school facilities". The administrative cost of forming a district, or of annexing to one, is to be funded by the CFD itself and may include an initial deposit from developers, because "No administrative expenses will be funded by the school district's general fund". The land securing any bonds must be worth "at least three times the principal amount of the bonds to be sold", and the total tax burden on a developed home "shall not exceed two percent of the sale price of such parcel". The policy also requires builders and developers selling inside a CFD to give purchasers the disclosure notice required by Government Code 53341.5, which is how the homeowners who end up paying the tax are supposed to find out about it 21.

What became of it. CFD No. 2024-1 is a live line in district finance: the board approved a special tax rate for it for fiscal year 2026-27 27.

---

⚡ An Edison easement for the bus charging yard

Resolution No. 20 dedicated an easement over district real property to Southern California Edison, for the purpose of providing electrical power to vehicle charging stations at the Transportation Department 20. The agenda records that the dedication will not adversely affect the district's ability to operate and maintain the Transportation Department, that the intent to dedicate was published in the newspaper and posted publicly before the hearing, and that "A two-thirds vote is required for adoption" 11.

It produced the evening's one procedural wrinkle: on the recording a second is offered and then withdrawn before the item proceeds 28. The resolution carried 29.

The charging stations were already under contract. A year earlier, on its consent calendar of October 10, 2023, the board awarded Bid 1-24 for Transportation Center Electric Vehicle (EV) Bus Charging Stations to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder, at $251,000 30. This easement is the utility-side companion to that work.

---

🏫 Safety plans for 25 campuses, and one question

As a standalone action item, the board approved 2024-2025 Comprehensive School Safety Plans for 25 school sites, from Arroyo Verde Elementary through eAcademy 31. The whole list was read out from the dais before the motion 32, and the item carried 35.

It drew the only question asked on an agenda item all evening: whether the plans are "available at the district and at each school site if parents want to come look" 33. The answer from staff was "Yes, and it should also be online" 34.

That the plans were taken as an action item rather than on consent is not a stylistic choice. Board Policy 0450, Comprehensive Safety Plan, last revised January 17, 2006, provides that "The Board shall approve the plan at a regularly scheduled meeting and the adoption of the plan shall not be a consent item", and sets a floor for the discussion: at a minimum the board is to address how the plan meets each school's needs and how the site council weighed the "three essential components" in Education Code 35294.21 36. The recording of this item runs from the reading of the site list to the vote and carries no discussion beyond that one exchange about public availability 3235.

The timing is worth noting too. The agenda restates the statutory schedule: each school must update and adopt its plan by March 1, and the district must notify the California Department of Education by October 15 of any school that has not complied 37. This approval came a week after that October 15 notification date. The comparable action a year earlier was also a much smaller one: on November 14, 2023 the board approved 2023-2024 safety plans for a list of eight campuses, not 25 39.

---

🎓 No student trustee at the table

The Orangewood High School student trustee seat was vacant, its previous holder having graduated from the district, and a successor was to be selected at the school. The Orangewood report was read into the record from the dais in the student's absence 40.

It reported that "Over 90% of our seniors are on track for graduation and preparing for life after Orangewood"; that the school has a new graduation requirement under which "All seniors must complete 10 hours of community service" for the class of 2025; that seniors were signing up for a full-day trip to Redlands Family Services to prepare supply boxes for families in need, and volunteering at RUSD elementary fall festivals; and that the first group of graduates would be announced on October 31 40.

---

🤝 Committee reports and board comments

Two community partnerships were reported on 41. Redlands Compact Club drew 27 adults and 49 students to a recent mixer, is placing students in job shadows across a range of fields, and filled a room at Redlands High School with more than 80 students for a career speaker from Cal State San Bernardino; its next officers meeting was set for November 4 and its steering committee for November 7. At Redlands Educational Partnership, the report was of a discussion about presenting grant checks to the teachers and principals who had won them at the November 12 board meeting, of an academy fall camp running November 25 to 27 and nearly full, and of payroll deduction as a way to lift donations.

Board comments were entirely local: a theater clinic workshop that brought together students from four campuses for monologues and professional feedback 42; a fall choral festival at Redlands High School, a new-teacher welcome, and a children's book written by a district teacher and selected for distribution to every elementary school 43; an informational election event, a run of high school football games, and a free Christmas Under the Stars concert set for December 6 44; and an account of emceeing the Citrus Valley High School band competition from four o'clock to nine 45.

---

👥 Appointments and the consent calendar

Coming out of closed session under the agenda's public employee appointment item 46, three appointments were reported from the dais: a principal for Kimberly Elementary School, effective November 1, 2024 at step four of the management team salary schedule 47; an assistant to the superintendent at step five 48; and an administrative secretary for the compliance office, acted on at the October 8, 2024 closed session 49. The compliance office that third appointment supports traces to the settlement agreements, which require the district to hire, train and give appropriate oversight authority to an Assistant Superintendent of Compliance and Sexual Harassment Prevention 7.

Most of the rest of the calendar moved on consent.

Business Services items B through Q were taken up 50 and carried 14. They included a mentoring agreement serving up to 25 foster, probation or homeless youth at Orangewood High School and a county memorandum of understanding bringing in grant funds for school-based mental health services 51; six amendments extending inspection and materials-testing contracts on three gymnasium HVAC projects to June 30, 2025, two of them adding cost 5253; the first-quarter Williams uniform complaint report and two notices of completion on finished gym HVAC work 53; two special education compromise agreements; and payment transmittals totalling $5,783,364.50 12.

Educational Services consent items B through G were taken up 29 and carried 54. They were three field trips — 15 Citrus Valley High School Virtual Enterprise students to a trade show in Bakersfield, 105 fifth graders from Smiley Elementary to Pathfinder Ranch, and 75 fifth graders from Cram Elementary to Three Oaks Outdoor Science School — and three new secondary electives: Intro to Screenwriting for 2024-2025, and for 2025-2026 both Film and Literature and a course the agenda prints as "Creating Writing III – The Novel" 5531.

The agenda grounds all three courses in Board Policy 6141, Curriculum Development and Evaluation, and records that the District Level Curriculum Committee met on September 3, 2024 to review and recommend them 55. The administrative regulation under that code, last revised January 11, 2005, is what defines that committee: elected representatives from each of the secondary schools it lists, chaired by the Director of Secondary Education, whose job is to "Receive, review and approve proposals from the School Level Curriculum Committee(s) before submitting the recommendations to the Superintendent's Cabinet for recommendation to the Board of Education" 56.

Educational Services action items 16A and 16B, an expulsion reinstatement and a stipulated expulsion, were taken together 31, taken up 54 and carried 32.

The Human Resources consent slate, items B through AA, covered certificated and classified employment, revised salary placements and assignments, extra assignments, resignations and separations 37, and then temporary athletic coaches at seven campuses along with volunteers and field-trip chaperones for the year 38. It was taken up 35 and carried 2. There were no Human Resources action items at all 2.

---

🔇 Nobody signed up to speak

Public participation was passed over because no registration cards had been submitted, and none of the three public hearings drew a speaker 4. The only correspondence entering the record was a letter received from the City of Loma Linda, acknowledged from the dais as one that would be reflected in the published minutes 4.

For a meeting that created a tax district with a quarter of a billion dollars of bonding authority behind it, not one member of the public asked to be heard.

---

No official minutes for this meeting are on file in this archive, so nothing said at this meeting is attributed here to any named individual. The speaker labels on the recording are automated voice matches: they are evidence about audio, not a record of who spoke.