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Trustees table community schools coordinator job description after questions about classification and grant compliance
Summary
The board tabled a proposed Student and Family Services site coordinator job description after trustees and union representatives raised concerns about classifying the position as classified supervisory rather than certificated and about grant budget alignment.
The board on Jan. 28 declined to approve the job description for a Student and Family Services site coordinator and instead directed administrators to return Feb. 11 with additional information after a lengthy discussion about job classification, grant compliance and budget alignment.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lopez presented the proposed coordinator job description, which the district said was written to implement obligations under the California Community Schools Partnership Program grant (CCSPP). The job description, as drafted, is for a classified supervisory (management) coordinator to support district sites and coordinate community-school functions.
Union leaders and some trustees urged caution. Laura Bolton, president of the employees’ union CUTA, told the board she had expected a classified coordinator at a significantly lower salary and that the district’s grant application had budgeted a lower annual amount for a coordinator role. Bolton told trustees: “I don’t believe that you should approve this” as presented and asked that bargaining-unit leaders be engaged on the details. She said the grant application showed a coordinator budget closer to a classified salary of approximately $65,000, while the proposed management/coordinator salary projection reflected statutory benefits and a five‑year projection that raised the five‑year cost.
Superintendent Davis and Assistant Superintendent Lopez explained the funding assumptions and said the higher figure on the board packet reflected step increases and statutory benefits over a five‑year projection; they also said the role requires flexibility to coordinate evening events and community partners, and that the grant language called for “a coordinator.” Trustees pressed for three specific follow-ups before they would approve the job description:
- A roster listing members of the district-level Guiding Coalition referenced in the grant application; trustees said they wanted documentation that community listening sessions and stakeholder input were part of the planning process.
- A copy of the grant application submitted to the state so trustees could confirm the form and line-item budget the district used to secure the CCSPP award.
- An analysis of the consequences of changing the classification of the coordinator to certificated (or certificated management) — including fiscal effects and any bargaining implications or risks to the grant award.
The motion to table the item to the Feb. 11 board meeting, with those three deliverables, passed on a 6-1 voice vote. Trustees said they were not opposed to community schools work but sought clearer documentation of budget, classification and stakeholder guidance before approving a new supervisory job description.
