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Parents, teachers press Apple Valley Unified on TK placement and how emergency COLA was spent
Summary
A parent raised immediate hardship after their 4‑year‑old was assigned to overflow TK at a different campus without transportation eligibility; a teacher asked the board for a professional audit into distribution of the state’s 8.2% emergency COLA for educators.
Two public commenters used the board’s public‑comment period to press the district on student placement and on teacher compensation.
Kevin Self, a father of two Apple Valley Unified students, told trustees his four‑year‑old had been reassigned into overflow transitional kindergarten at Rio Vista rather than the assigned Sitting Bow campus. He said the reassignment would force his family to manage different start times, leave his wife — a nurse — unable to get to work on time, and that TK students had been told they were ineligible for district transportation and for early‑morning services. Self said he had been told by enrollment staff that the district had limited options and asked the board for guidance, adding he might be forced to withdraw his children if a solution is not found.
Later in the same period, Debbie Rubio, who identified herself as a fully credentialed English teacher with 11 years in the district, asked the board where the state’s one‑time 8.2% emergency COLA designated for teacher salaries and health care had been allocated in Apple Valley Unified. Rubio compared Apple Valley’s payout and negotiated increases with neighboring districts, called for a professional outside audit of COLA distribution and alleged staff had unanswered questions about recent bargaining and pay decisions.
Board President Maria okara and Trustee Rick Ry responded that staff would follow up with the speakers; Ry said the district would seek to contact the parents and get answers. The superintendent offered to set up meetings with staff to review questions and parameters.
The board did not make an immediate policy change during public comment. Trustees and staff agreed to follow up with parents and to provide additional information on transportation and enrollment options where available.
