RUSD Board of Education — January 27, 2026

Three resolutions authorizing 2026–27 reductions in force adopted over two members' dissent; an east coast HBCU campus tour approved on a divided vote; a new student cell phone policy through first reading with corrections; a parental notification policy discussed with no action.

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Overview

This was a long, crowded meeting that ran to adjournment at 10:25 p.m. 1, and nearly all of it turned on the district's budget. The board adopted three Human Resources resolutions authorizing reductions in force for the 2026–27 school year — Resolution 2025-26-14 for certificated staff, Resolution 2025-26-15 for classified positions, and Resolution 2025-26-16 adopting tie-breaker criteria for certificated seniority. On each one the minutes record Michele Rendler, Jeannette Wilson and Candy Olson voting aye, and Patty Holohan and Melissa Ayala-Quintero voting nay 2 3 4.

The board also accepted the district's 2024–25 financial audit and its Measure D bond audit 5 6, approved an east coast tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities for 20 high school students 7, passed a new mobile communication device policy on first reading with corrections 8, and closed with a discussion of a proposed parental notification policy on which no action was taken 9.

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🚨 Reductions in force for 2026–27

What the resolutions authorize

The certificated resolution in the board's packet lists the services to be reduced or eliminated at the start of 2026–27 and the full-time equivalents attached to each: 20 FTE of teachers on assignment, 16 elementary physical education teachers, 10 in Redlands Adult Education, 9 elementary and middle school assistant principals, 8 Academic Case Carrier counselors, 8 elementary counselors, 6 secondary counselors, 4 librarians, 4 program specialists, 3 school nurses, and three further positions in coordination and English language instruction — 91 certificated FTE in total 10 11.

The classified resolution lists 47 positions: 22 library paraprofessional positions across three classifications, 9 health care technicians, 8 instructional paraprofessionals in general and special education, 3 special education behavior assistants, 2 licensed vocational nurses, 2 family and community engagement liaisons, and one academy coordinator 12. Those reductions take effect July 1, 2026 13. KVCR News, reporting two days later, described the board as having "voted to start the pink slip process for 138 jobs" 14.

The board's own policy is the mechanism. BP 4117.3 provides that the board "may determine that a reduction in certificated personnel or a reduction in hours and wages is necessary" on grounds that include declining enrollment, and that the board "shall authorize the Superintendent or designee to lay off employees by adopting a resolution to that effect" 15.

What the board was told

The minutes do not record the discussion that preceded these votes, and the meeting recording cannot establish who said what, so what follows is what the board heard rather than who said it. The district was described as carrying a projected $17 million deficit in the current year and still projecting a deficit the following year even with a $15 million reduction in expenditures, the aim being to reach a positive position within the three-year budget cycle 16. The list was framed as a ceiling rather than a plan — "I would just describe it as a maximum. It allows us the opportunity" to make the reductions if they prove necessary — with a final list to come back to the board by March 10 17. Anyone laid off, the board was told, would hold first rights of return to those positions for up to 39 months 18. That ceiling did come down: the May 27, 2026 special meeting minutes carry the text of a follow-up resolution reciting that the district's administration had "reduced the number of affected positions to seventy-one (71) FTEs" 19.

The unions

Redlands Teachers Association representative Stephen Caperton told the board that most of the cuts land on school sites — librarians, nurses, PE teachers, paraprofessionals, health technicians and assistant principals — and that of 135 proposed position eliminations only three affect central office administration, which he said has grown over the past six years 20. The association report put the question to the board directly: "Where is the equity in that decision? Where is the prioritization of our students?" 21

Maricela Gonzalez read a statement on behalf of the Redlands Education Support Professionals Association, urging the board to weigh the human consequences of the decision and to look for alternatives that protect both students and employees 22. The statement read: "The decisions being made right now are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are people." 23

Public comment

Public comment filled most of the evening and was overwhelmingly against the reductions.

• Jessica Marrone presented data on student medical needs and said the proposed cuts to nurses and health technicians would make it impossible to safely manage ongoing care, including diabetes monitoring, daily medications, tube feedings and catheterizations 24.
• Allison Muise described her first grader's life-threatening allergic reaction at school and said timely access to a nurse or health technician was critical to her child's safety 24.
• Ryan Schaverien said Academic Case Carrier staff are critical for foster youth and students experiencing homelessness, and warned that cutting the positions would increase absenteeism and reduce funding 25.
• Mark Laird opposed the certificated and classified cuts — counselors, librarians, library media technicians, textbook clerks — tying them to student learning, mental health, Williams Act compliance and attendance, and warned that layoffs fall hardest on high-seniority staff and could drive newer teachers away 26.
• Quinn Shea, speaking as an autistic teenager, said one-on-one aides, counselors and support staff had helped them through bullying and mental health struggles, that these low-paid positions save lives, and urged the board to vote against the cuts 27.
• Arrissia Turner argued the district's own budget reporting attributes the 2022–23 deficit to negotiated salary increases backed by a multi-year savings plan and the 2024–25 deficit largely to unexpected legal settlements and higher special education costs, noted the district held 20% in reserves, and pointed to reserves, district land and declining enrollment as alternatives 27.
• Gregory Abt said that while more than 135 employees face job loss, the board had recently increased its stipend and district administrators received raises 24.

Community Forward Redlands reported the resolutions as authorizing "the elimination of up to 138 positions for the 2026–27 school year", against a projected $17 million deficit that it attributed to enrollment loss, chronic absenteeism and expiring one-time funds 28.

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💵 2024–25 audit accepted, with a standing risk flag

Laura Liz of Eide Bailly, LLP presented the 2024–25 audit, explaining the review of the district's financial statements, federal and state programs and internal controls, and reported that the district received an unmodified — clean — opinion; the bond audit also received an unmodified opinion, with 91% of the bond expenditures reviewed found consistent with voter-approved projects 20. The board accepted the financial audit report, then the Measure D report 5 6.

Michael Paisner raised the audit in public comment, pointing to the significant risk that management could override financial controls and potentially conceal fraud 29. That risk is stated in the auditors' own governance letter, which identifies "Management Override of Controls" as a significant risk and notes that management "may override the District's controls in order to modify the financial records with the intent of manipulating the financial statements to overstate the District's financial performance or with the intent of concealing fraudulent transactions" 30. It is standard language in such a letter rather than a finding against the district — the opinion itself was unmodified.

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✈️ HBCU campus tour approved

The Educational Services consent calendar was approved as items 15.a, 15.b, 15.d and 15.e 6, and the HBCU trip, item 15.c, was taken separately. The board approved travel by bus and airplane for 20 students from Citrus Valley High School and Redlands East Valley High School to tour Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the east coast from March 22 to March 25, 2026, with no school days missed. On that motion the minutes record Michele Rendler, Patty Holohan and Melissa Ayala-Quintero voting aye, and Jeannette Wilson and Candy Olson voting nay 7. Community Forward Redlands reported the cost as "about $35,000" covered by Local Control and Accountability Plan funds 31.

The discussion before that vote, which the minutes do not attribute to anyone, weighed the $35,000 against one-on-one tutoring for students at risk of not graduating, and questioned whether a trip for 20 students could be sustained or offered to other clubs that might ask next 32. Two community members spoke for the trip: Dominique Mackey said early exposure to HBCUs led her and her sister to attend them 22, and Danielle Mackey said both of her daughters had been on the program and later attended HBCUs 24.

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📵 Cell phone policy: first reading, with corrections

New Board Policy 5131.8, Mobile Communication Devices, passed its first reading with corrections 8. The draft in the packet would have required TK–8 students' devices to be "turned off and not visible during the school day," and grades 9–12 devices "turned off during instructional time," with exceptions for emergencies, teacher or administrator permission, a physician's note, and an IEP or 504 plan 33.

Two changes dominated the discussion. The first was replacing "turned off" with airplane mode, so that background services keep running — location services stay on, and an alarm or a reminder to see the nurse or take medication still works 34. The second was striking the word "possessing" from the policy's exceptions, on the reasoning that possession was never what the policy prohibits 35. Adding tablets to the covered devices was raised as well 36.

The version that now stands in the district's policy manual carries those corrections through: it covers a device "such as a cell phone, smartwatch, or tablet," requires devices to be "placed on a silent setting and not visible" rather than turned off, allows a smartwatch if the phone it is paired with is in airplane or school mode, and provides that a student "shall not be prohibited from using a device" in the listed circumstances 37.

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📋 Board Policy 5010 — discussion, no action

The last item of the open session was a board discussion of Board Policy 5010, Notification. The minutes describe it without naming individual members: some expressed support for the policy, "highlighting the importance of notifying parents when students request changes to their records," and others raised concerns about its implications; some emphasized that the policy is constitutional under FERPA and implemented in other districts, while others noted the need for clarity on specific language and application. The board agreed to review the policy further and to wait for feedback from the Office of the Attorney General before taking further action 9. Under the board's governance handbook, "Any Board member may request that a matter within the jurisdiction of the Board be placed on the agenda of a regular meeting," in writing to the board president and superintendent 38.

The Attorney General's involvement predates this meeting. Community Forward Redlands reported in July 2025 that the California Attorney General's Office was "currently reviewing the draft Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 5010 (Notifications), as well as AR 5145.3 (Nondiscrimination/Harassment)", and reported that California's Assembly Bill 1955, the SAFETY Act, bars school districts from adopting policies that require staff to disclose information about a student's sexual orientation or gender identity to parents 39.

Speakers divided sharply. Dale Broome urged the board to adopt a parental notification policy, arguing that parents should be notified of any change to student records including gender transitions 25; later in the evening he raised the graphic novel Gender Queer at Redlands High School and called for an investigation into how it was approved 40. Joshua Hall supported notification but said it was insufficient on its own 25, and in the second comment period expressed strong opposition to Gay-Straight Alliances in schools, claiming they are misused as spaces for adult sexual predators 40. Peter Hall argued that community members advocating against book and curriculum removals misrepresent their intentions 29. Rebekah Acosta said forced outings and book bans are illegal in California and could increase the district's legal liability, diverting money — she cited roughly $8 million a year in insurance premiums — away from students 41. Tim Ormsby defended Gender Queer's literary value, likening it to poetry, acknowledged the difficulty of the evening's votes, and urged the board to focus on its finances 42. Michael Paisner used the second period to describe Together for Redlands as a nonpartisan grassroots watchdog that publicly discloses its donors 40, and Valerie Taber asked what the district is doing to protect families beyond campus, citing an incident involving ICE at a school 41.

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Other business

• Consent calendars. Business Services items 13.a through 13.i 43, Educational Services action items 16.a through 16.f 44, and Human Resources consent items 17.a through 17.c 2 were approved. They included a crossing guard services agreement and notices of completion for roofing at Arroyo Verde, Bryn Mawr, McKinley and Redlands East Valley 45, a change order for the Orangewood High School restroom expansion, and the quarterly Williams settlement complaint report 46.
• Clerk of the Board. The consent calendar designated Melissa Ayala-Quintero to certify and attest board actions as Clerk of the Board, removing former clerk Jeannette Wilson from that role, effective December 9, 2025 46, as part of the Business Services consent calendar 43.
• Student discipline. Four readmissions following expulsion and two stipulated expulsions were approved within the Educational Services action items 44.
• Policy and calendar. The revision of Board Policy 6179, Supplemental Instruction, passed its second reading 8, and the 2027–28 student attendance calendar passed its second and final reading 4.
• Closed session. The board approved the superintendent's recommendation to appoint Shannon Robin-Nelson as Accounting & Payroll Manager, effective to be determined, at Step 5 47 48.
• Student highlight. President Rendler introduced Tyler Kalanjian, Zackary Lewis and Michael Stodelle of Redlands East Valley High School, recognized for a project using heated sand to store and generate electricity at the 2025 International Science and Engineering Fair in Columbus, Ohio, which earned them awards including full-ride scholarships to Arizona State University 49.
• Reports. Student trustee Aubrey Schan reported on Academic Decathlon, athletics and upcoming school events 20. Jeannette Wilson reported a Compact mixer on February 11 43. Superintendent Juan J. Cabral pointed community members to the Financial Transparency tab on the district website, which holds the financial documents presented to the board, superintendent and cabinet contracts, and collective bargaining agreements 43.

In board comments, Jeannette Wilson thanked cabinet and school staff for work to stabilize the district; Candy Olson commended Principal Cullen at Redlands High and Officer Casey for addressing bullying, fights, vaping and drugs; and Melissa Ayala-Quintero acknowledged that cuts were necessary while describing the harm they do, and urged families to help raise attendance, which she said could generate millions for the district 42. Patty Holohan thanked those who attended and congratulated students who received superintendent's awards, and Michele Rendler thanked the community for its emails and budget suggestions and highlighted recent student achievements 9.

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This summary was written from the district's own agenda, agenda packet, unsigned minutes and meeting recording for the January 27, 2026 Redlands Unified School District Board of Education meeting, together with the outside coverage cited above. This site is not affiliated with or operated by Redlands Unified School District.