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Parents, staff urge involvement in Paris High replacement as trustees approve consent items amid contract and grant questions
Summary
At the Perris Union High School District meeting trustees approved a long consent calendar but fielded public pleas to include staff, students and parents in selecting a Paris High principal and questions about using a CYBHI grant and a $58,850 painting contract; staff said they will follow up with details.
Members of the public and school staff told the Perris Union High School District board on Wednesday that they want input into the process to replace a departing principal at Paris High School and that the district should follow an interview process for the vacancy.
“Please go through the interview process and allow staff, students, and parents to be a part of choosing our next principal,” said Cynthia Avila Medina, who identified herself as the principal secretary at Paris High School.
Trustees approved the consent calendar after discussion. During that item several trustees raised procedural questions about contract handling and grant use. When a trustee asked who drafts and reviews contracts, Sabina Posa, the district’s director of purchasing, described the standard practice: her office or the vendor prepares contracts, appropriate departments vet scope of work and complex legal language is routed to the district’s legal counsel for review.
The board also discussed an item paid from the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) grant for implementation support with a vendor identified as Inflection. Staff said CYBHI funds qualify for the work and described a three-year implementation plan that will establish a multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) to align academic, behavioral and social-emotional supports. Staff committed to reporting back with specifics and performance metrics.
Trustees and members of the public questioned why some maintenance work was contracted out. For an exterior-hallway painting project (item 11.34) staff said the low bid was $58,850. They explained that large, campus-wide painting may be treated as public works; projects under the board-adopted procurement threshold (discussed as $75,000 in the meeting) can accept quotes, but public-works thresholds and state registration requirements for contractors (Department of Industrial Relations registration) are applied in vetting. Staff said multiple quotes were solicited and some bids were rejected because contractors were not properly registered.
The board approved the consent items and several action items later in the meeting. Trustees said they would follow up on requests for more detailed fiscal information about an interfund temporary loan item and on metrics for grant-funded programs.
The board’s discussion prompted staff to promise additional information and weekly updates where appropriate; members of the public who spoke said they hoped the district would closely involve site-based staff and families in hiring and program decisions.
