Colton Joint Unified board workshop narrows goals to five pillars, staff to draft objectives

Colton Joint Unified School District trustees held a special board workshop Oct. 1 to develop district priorities for 2025–26, concluding with five pillars and a set of staff follow-ups. Board President called the meeting to order and turned the session over to Dr. Miranda, who led a facilitated "keep/stop/continue" exercise to surface what the board wants to keep, stop and continue.

The board coalesced around five priority areas: student achievement; wellness and safety; fiscal responsibility; relationships (including parent engagement and community partnerships); and leadership development. "We're going to start with an activity called keep stop continue," Dr. Miranda told trustees as she introduced the exercise. Board members and small groups nominated items to "keep" (for example, CTE pathways and wellness centers), items to "stop" (including "accepting excuses for why we can't improve student achievement") and items to "continue" (early literacy programs and expansion of dual-immersion).

District staff read highlights against the five pillars. Tina (staff member) reported "an increase of approximately 5% in our graduation rate to 92%" and cited math gains "of two to four points." Staff also noted wellness centers at middle schools and a Golden Bell recognition for the district's mental-health program. On finance and operations, staff reported positive interim fiscal reports, a strong fund balance and visible facilities improvements tied to Measure BB implementation.

Trustees raised several areas of concern to be included in goal-setting. They flagged declining enrollment — noting some sites with roughly 300 students — and a structural deficit driven in part by the district's health-benefit costs. Board members urged clearer campus cleanliness standards and ongoing attention to staff mental wellness. "We need to address the deficit that we have coming this year," one trustee said during the fiscal discussion.

For next steps, the board asked cabinet to convert the pillars into concrete goals and objectives. Dr. Miranda instructed Frank and the cabinet to run a parallel exercise with the district management team, then reconcile results and return draft goals to the board in a few weeks. Dr. Miranda said assistant superintendents will be assigned to lead each pillar (Tina was named to lead student achievement; Frank to lead leadership development) so objectives cascade to principals and site leaders.

The board provided no formal votes or motions at the meeting. After the workshop and brief closing remarks, the president adjourned the special meeting.