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Board recognizes student leaders and staff; public comments highlight PTA fundraising and teacher response to fires
Summary
The board honored a student voice leader and several staff members, recognized a chess program founder, and heard public commenters praise strong PTA support and teacher outreach during recent wildfire closures and outages.
The Yucaipa‑Calimesa Joint Unified School District board opened its Oct. 8 meeting with a series of recognitions and public comments that highlighted student leadership, staff service and community fundraising.
Board and cabinet introduced Brady May, a senior selected as the district student voice leader, who said she will visit campuses districtwide to collect student testimony about how to improve learning environments. The board also presented a "Making a Difference" award to Mr. Tony for creating a youth chess federation that began at Calimesa, expanded through summer programs and involved staff and students; the presenter said the district will help scale the program with districtwide tournaments.
The board thanked payroll employees Melissa Snow and Hannah and members of the HR team (Jesse Wills, Helica Sha and Jill Cadon) for their work. Several board members praised staff who worked long hours during recent wildfire closures and an internet outage.
During public comment, Michelle Dawson, a TK teacher at Dunlap Elementary, described a resurgence in parent engagement and said the school’s PTA raised more than $15,000 at a recent Color Run; she noted the school keeps only a portion of the gross after vendor fees and detailed planned activities including a trunk‑or‑treat and a new house system. Don Madrid, another public commenter, praised educators for classroom projects, a gardening grant at Valley Elementary and teacher outreach during fire evacuations; he said teachers contacted families and provided shelter and meals where needed.
Board members reiterated appreciation for frontline staff and for city, county and fire partners who assisted during closures. A trustee announced a forthcoming change in trustee area residency and introduced Regina Cruz, who is running for the open trustee seat.
The recognitions and public comments preceded the board’s action items, which included routine approvals and the technology procurements that responded to recent outages.
