November 4, 2025: Test Scores Rise While Public Comment Turns on Special Education Staffing

Redlands Unified's Board of Education met on November 4, 2025 with four of its five members present; Jeannette Wilson was absent 1. The board heard two presentations, on state test results and on this year's Redlands Educational Partnership grants, moved three consent calendars and four student discipline items, and then spent its public comment period on special education staffing and campus safety. The meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m. 2.

📊 Test scores, and the college credit behind them

The 2025 CAASPP Summary and College Course Credit Report was the first of the evening's two presentation items, agendized under Jean Joye and Jamie Cortz, senior directors of TK-12 education for elementary and secondary 3. The minutes record the 2024–25 CAASPP and ELPAC results as showing overall growth in ELA, math and science, with Redlands Unified continuing to outperform county and state averages, along with notable gains among several student groups and school sites 4.

The figures behind that summary were read into the record as district proficiency of 50.61% in English language arts, 37.54% in math and 33.7% in science, with 18.42% of students scoring as well-developed in English proficiency on the ELPAC, a slight decrease from the year before 5. Staff flagged a proficiency dip in middle school math, met this year with training in the 2023 math framework and targeted intervention at all four middle schools 5. Asked from the dais what produced the year's large gain among foster youth in English language arts, staff pointed to academic case carriers keeping targeted track of individual students and checking in with them academically and social-emotionally 6.

The college-credit half of the report carried the sharpest numbers. The minutes record that 1,441 students, over 20% of the district's high schoolers, took at least one AP exam last year, with an 81% pass rate, a 6% increase from the prior year, and site pass rates ranging from 74% to 89% 4. Beyond AP, 666 students earned dual enrollment credit through Crafton Hills College, 50 more than the previous year, and 549 students completed a full ROP career pathway, 144 more than the previous year 7.

Community Forward Redlands, which previewed the agenda the day before the meeting, set the same results against a longer baseline two days after it: 50.6% ELA proficiency in 2025 against 57.4% in 2019, and 38% in math against 44% 8 9. A year earlier this board was told the California Science Test had reached 32.96% and the ELPAC summative 18.74% 10, so science edged up this year while English proficiency slipped back.

Juan J. Cabral used his report to credit the results to the hard work of all staff, including teachers, paraeducators, administrators and classified staff 11, and recognized rising graduation rates, which increased from 86% in 2023 to 92% 12.

The evening had opened with Mentone Elementary's AVID program. Teachers Kristen Mariani (TK) and Pichara Oung (Grade 3) presented the organizational strategies used from TK through second grade and a staff-built AVID student planner, and students Martha Hermanson (Grade 4) and Haley Mandeville (Grade 5) described how AVID improved their organization, note-taking and goal-setting 1.

💵 What the board approved

Business services. On a motion by Candy Olson, seconded by Patty Holohan, the board approved the business services consent calendar 12. It carried a $15,718.60 materials testing agreement with Verdantas Inc. for the Redlands East Valley High School shade structure, roofing change orders of $7,887.58 at Crafton Elementary and $12,406.05 at Kimberly Elementary, a $200,000 global release and settlement agreement in case 610699, rejection of claim number 662062, a notice of completion for the Redlands East Valley High School Stadium Phase II project, and payment transmittals totalling $7,000,781.62 12 13.

Inside that same block sat a first reading of a revision to Board Policy 3440, Inventories 12 14. Neither the minutes nor the agenda reproduces the proposed language, so the record does not show what the revision changed. What the code covers is set out in the district's administrative regulation under the same number, which as the policy manual now publishes it requires an inventory of every equipment item currently valued in excess of $1,500, and of every item bought with state or federal categorical funds that has a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $500 or more per unit, with a physical inventory conducted and reconciled against the property records at least once every two years 15.

Educational services. On a motion by Patty Holohan, seconded by Candy Olson, the board approved the educational services consent calendar: field trips for 90 Smiley Elementary fifth graders to Pathfinder Ranch and for 57 Redlands High School Chamber Singers and Les Chanteuses to a festival in Anaheim, a $6,000 special education evaluation agreement, $5,000 of interpretation services, $11,500 of Solution Tree professional development, and a $74,208 Summit K12 curriculum to accelerate English language proficiency 13 16. The minutes record Melissa Ayala-Quintero as having "abstained from item XIV.c.", the Chamber Singers trip 13; on the recording that abstention was first announced against item B and corrected to item C in the exchange that followed 17.

Student discipline. The board approved four items together: reinstatement of a stipulated expulsion for one student following a suspended expulsion, and stipulated expulsions for three others, one of them with the second semester suspended 16. The agenda records the underlying Education Code violations as force or violence upon the person of another in two cases and assault or battery upon a school employee in the other two 18. The motion was put twice: it was first stated as items A and D rather than A through D, and the board redid it 19.

Human resources. The routine personnel calendar was approved on a motion by Patty Holohan, seconded by Candy Olson 16, and the single human resources action item, a clinical student placement agreement with San Jose State University running from October 17, 2025 through October 30, 2030, was approved on a motion by Candy Olson, seconded by Michele Rendler 20 21. In closed session, before the open meeting, the board had approved the superintendent's recommendation to accept the resignation of a classified employee effective January 1, 2026, and the resignation agreement in connection with it 22.

🗣️ Public comment: staffing, safety, and the fight over the fight

A reminder read into the record before comment began noted that the California Office of the Attorney General has asked that matters pertaining to specific, identifiable students remain private to the extent possible, and directed anyone with a complaint about an employee or a student matter to the district's complaint procedure 23.

During comment on agendized items, Peter Hall asked for clarification regarding a recent student expulsion, noting this was the first time he had heard about the matter and referencing information he found online about a separate incident at Cope Middle School, and expressed the opinion that decisions regarding student expulsion or readmittance should remain at the discretion of site principals 11.

Five speakers are recorded in the general comment period 20.

• Joshua Hall: the minutes record only that his "comment was not of board concern" 20.
• Eriko Grossman addressed safety and staffing in special education classrooms, describing understaffed classrooms with students exhibiting severe behavioral challenges, including physical aggression toward staff and other students, and noting the lack of adequate training and support for staff managing those situations. She highlighted low pay for paraprofessionals and the sustainability of staffing under current conditions, and emphasized the need for the board to take proactive measures so that all students have access to a safe and effective learning environment 20.
• Dale Broome addressed the teaching of Thanksgiving history, highlighting the early Pilgrims' experiment with a communal economic system and its transition to individual land ownership under William Bradford, and suggesting the example be taught as "a lesson on the limitations of socialism and the benefits of personal accountability and economic freedom" 20.
• Peter Hall returned to raise concerns about Together for Redlands, noting that they have repeatedly threatened lawsuits in response to school board policies. He expressed the opinion that students should be treated equally without categorization based on race, sexual orientation or gender identity, and that schools should not encourage students to express gender identities that differ from their biological sex, and "Urged the Board to disregard the lawsuit threats." 20
• A speaker the minutes record only as Bea reported multiple incidents of student-on-student assaults, including one involving a chair, and highlighted a prolonged vacancy for a BCBA coordinator, shortages of paraprofessionals and cuts to school counselor positions. She noted joining SEPTA to connect with other parents, and expressed concern that the district's focus was on policy debates, "such as flag and book bans, rather than addressing student safety and support" 20.

Together for Redlands had been in front of this board three weeks earlier: at the October 14 meeting, Trisha Keeling read a statement on the organization's behalf announcing that a formal cease and desist letter had been issued to Trustees Candy Olson, Jeannette Wilson and the affiliated platform Awaken Redlands, demanding retraction of statements the letter called false and defamatory 24.

The paraprofessional thread is older still. In March 2023 a Victoria Elementary site representative told this board that behavioral training should be mandatory for every instructional paraprofessional, describing a previous employer where the training had to be renewed on a fixed schedule or the employee could not work on campus 25.

🧭 Board and superintendent comments

Patty Holohan thanked the Redlands Educational Partnership for its grant funding and noted that schools must apply to receive it, commended the presentation on district performance data, congratulated student and athletic award recipients, and inquired about district plans to address SNAP shortages. Superintendent Juan J. Cabral confirmed collaboration with the nutrition services department and assured a plan to support families and provide needed resources 26.

Melissa Ayala-Quintero thanked the superintendent and the Parent Power Center for a parent seminar, praised Redlands High School's Noche Cultural, congratulated Mentone on its student agenda, and requested that AB 1390 be added to the next board agenda 26. The board's governance handbook sets out how such a request travels: in writing to the board president and superintendent at least eight calendar days before the scheduled meeting, with anything submitted later liable to be postponed so there is time to consider and research the issue 27. Board compensation is not a new subject here. In February 2025 the minutes record Ayala-Quintero discussing state guidelines that allow a $400 monthly stipend with a 5% raise each year, unused in this district, and calculating that board members would be at $831 a month had those raises been applied since 1973 28.

Candy Olson thanked the staff and high school math teachers leading the district's math curriculum process, then addressed concerns regarding Title IX and "the presence of biological boys in girls’ spaces", emphasizing the importance of protecting students' privacy while complying with the law. She suggested proactive measures such as surveying families and providing private changing areas, and encouraged the district to develop solutions without placing the burden on students or families 26.

Michele Rendler highlighted recent school and community events, congratulated award recipients at the Superintendent's Awards, praised visits to Mission, Orangewood High School and Redlands High School programs including welding and senior seminar classes, and encouraged families to model voting for their students 26.

Closing the meeting, Juan J. Cabral congratulated Citrus Valley girls golf on its Division 5 championship and thanked REP for the $85,000 in grants and ADK for sponsoring the new teacher event 26. He acknowledged HR's efforts in rapidly hiring 70 paraprofessionals, "noting ongoing challenges with staffing shortages while recognizing areas where classrooms are well-staffed", and emphasized the commitment to addressing incidents, training staff and taking proactive measures 2.

🎁 Also on the record

The evening's second presentation went to the Redlands Educational Partnership. Uma Harano, a volunteer with the foundation, announced that REP awarded 114 teacher grants of $500 each and 11 principal grants of $2,500 each this year, more than $85,000 in support of innovative educational projects across the district, funded by a fully volunteer organization 4. REP made the same rounds a year earlier, when Jennifer Moore presented for the foundation 10.

Iwona-Maria Luczkiewicz-Contreras, president of the Redlands Council of PTAs, reported that State PTA had sent a letter to Congress urging the release of SNAP funds, that districtwide PTA membership had reached 4,070, and invited the board to the Council brunch on March 19, 2026. Jennie Dyerly, RAPA president, reported the association's first breakfast with over 30 members attending, two bins of Halloween costumes collected for Lugonia Elementary, and a canned and boxed food drive for Thanksgiving baskets 11.