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Blue Ridge school board honors students and staff, approves hires and schedules teacher-retention study
Summary
The Blue Ridge Unified School District board approved several personnel hires and contracts by voice vote, announced staff promotions and retirements, set an April 22 work study on teacher retention and highlighted an April 4 district safety training; no public comments were recorded.
The Blue Ridge Unified School District No. 32 governing board opened its meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Bridget Wood and then recognized students and staff before moving to routine business.
Dr. Wright and Mr. Grace presented three students of the month: Kyler Watson at Blue Ridge Elementary, Erwin Alake at the junior high and Owen Larson at the high school. School leaders praised the students’ conduct and accomplishments; Mr. Grace described Larson’s 4.42 weighted GPA and participation in honors, AP and dual-enrollment courses, athletics and extracurricular arts.
The board also named teachers of the month. Mr. Grace recounted Kaylee Espinosa’s (transcript spells Kaley/Kaylee in places) route from student teacher to kindergarten teacher and noted she will transition back into special education next year. Mr. Van Atten was recognized for engaging eighth-grade science instruction and strong communication with parents.
On motions and votes, the board approved the consent agenda items 2.1–2.4 by voice vote (motion moved by Margaret; second from Michael). The board then approved the hire of Holly Brown, Bella Scott, Salvador Chavez and Alicia Ramirez, and voted to distribute teacher and counselor contracts for the 2025–26 school year (contracts to be issued March 24 and returned in April). All were recorded as voice votes with unanimous “aye” responses; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally.
Dr. Wright gave staffing and transition updates: Justin Bernardino will serve as transportation supervisor; Mike Bosley will replace the retiring Steve Murphy as maintenance supervisor effective July 30, 2025; and Courtney Hoffmeier will begin as the district’s new business manager on June 1. The board announced interviews for junior high and high school principal candidates on March 29, with recommendations and decisions expected in early April.
The board scheduled a public work study session on teacher retention for April 22, proposing a 5 p.m. start to allow staff and community members to attend; Dr. Wright said staff will prepare data and be ready to answer questions but emphasized that no votes occur during a work study session.
Dr. Wright also announced a district-wide safety training on April 4 to be held at a donated church facility; new employees must attend, and those already trained may assist with an overlapping track meet. The meeting closed without any recorded public comments; the next regular board meeting was announced for April 8.
Voice votes and motions were described in the meeting transcript, but the official minutes or a roll-call tally should be consulted for exact vote counts and formal mover/second attributions.
