The Cloverdale Unified School District (CUSD) Board of Trustees is meeting this week on Feb. 17 for its regularly scheduled board meeting. In addition to the regular updates provided to the board at every meeting — including district reopening and Measure H — the board will also be reviewing and discussing a facilities report and summer maintenance projects, holding a public hearing for the district’s contract negotiations with the California School Employees Association, considering revising board policy around interdistrict attendance, as well as considering temporarily changing the rules around high school graduation requirements.
The meeting is being held virtually over Zoom, and will begin at 6 p.m. For Zoom attendance information, click here.
Regular updates
At every school board meeting, the board receives updates from Superintendent Betha MacClain about the district’s reopening status and any changes made to the district’s reopening plan. In an interview with the Reveille, MacClain said that her update would discuss some of the district’s barriers when it comes to getting a waiver to reopen K-6 classrooms in the purple tier, as well as discuss a more detailed reopening timeline.
Additionally, the board will receive its regular update on Measure H projects.
Looking at facilities
The district’s director of maintenance, operations and transportation, Rick Scaramella, will be giving a presentation about district facilities, including current, completed and future maintenance projects. Scaramella will also be outlining summer maintenance projects.
According to the board agenda packet, Scaramella will be basing his presentation around a three-year plan that covers 2018-2021.
Interdistrict attendance
Currently, parents wanting to transfer their kids out of the district under the interdistrict transfer program must meet with the CUSD superintendent and, if the district denies the transfer, the district needs to clearly define why the transfer was denied.
According to the proposal being presented on Wednesday, the board will be considering revising the board policy on interdistrict transfers that states that a transfer request can be denied after 5% of students transfer out of the district based on the average daily attendance (ADA) reported for the preceding year.
Additionally, a separate board policy would give district residency to students based on their parents employment within district boundaries under the Allen Bill, which states that school districts can deem a student to have residency requirements for school attendance if the student has at least one parent or guardian physically employed within the boundaries of the district.
Graduation requirements
During the board’s January meeting, Cloverdale High School Principal Christopher Meredith gave a presentation about the increasing number of Cloverdale seniors who aren’t meeting the credit requirements needed to graduate. In an effort to try and support students who are struggling to graduate due to the impacts of distance learning and COVID-19, Meredith is proposing creating individualized graduation plans so that seniors can earn a diploma on a more customized path.
The board will be considering revising board policy on high school graduation requirements for the 2020-21 school year.
Public comments
People who want to make a public comment during the school board need to submit a request prior to the start of the meeting. The new public comment process, first implemented during the board’s January meeting, is as follows:
“Public comments will only be taken during the designated time, if you wish to address the board regarding closed or open session agenda items or items not on the agenda, please email Kathleen Bunting at [email protected] by 4 p.m. the day of the meeting. The subject line should read, “Public Comment for the February 17, 2021 Board Meeting” and within the body of the email please list your full first and last name, and what you would like to comment on: closed session items, items not on the agenda or the title of the open session agenda item. During public comment on the requested item, attendees will be called upon, their microphone unmuted, and allowed to make their statement for up to three minutes. At the end of the three minutes, the attendee’s microphone will be muted and the next participant will be called upon.”
