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Board approves parent-liaison MOU after hours of debate over funding and compliance
Summary
Trustees approved a memorandum of understanding to restore parent community liaisons, but not before lengthy debate about whether the job description was crafted to match available ELOP funding and whether the union's ratification should have preceded board action.
The Coachella Valley Unified School District board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding and an updated job description intended to restore parent community liaisons, after a contentious discussion about funding sources and compliance.
Trustee Joy Acuna (speaker 20) said she could not support the proposal in its current form. "It seems like a job in search of funding," Acuna said, raising concerns that the job description and the MOU were structured to fit after-school (ELOP) funding rather than being written from the position's core duties. She also asked whether CSEA had ratified the agreement; staff replied the union was attempting to ratify this week and the district placed the item on the agenda to permit board ratification pending union ratification.
District staff and supporters said the plan splits program time between general fund and ELOP and that the updated job description is intended to support attendance recovery and program enrollment, among other tasks. "The first two hours will actually be funded out of general fund, and then the remaining four hours will be funded out of ELOP," a staff representative said during the meeting.
Other trustees urged pragmatism and flexibility, describing ELOP as an allowable funding source for attendance-recovery and programmatic support under updated CDE guidance. Trustee Valerie Garcia and others said the community needs the liaisons restored even if a portion of their time is grant-funded. "Money is district money," a trustee said. "If this is the way we can do it, let's do it." The board called the question and the measure passed by majority vote; Trustee Acuna cast a recorded no vote and explained she was acting in good conscience.
The approved MOU requires follow-up clarifications in writing, including the site-level reporting structure and specific program duties. Staff told the board they will produce a written plan describing day-to-day duties, supervision (site principal vs. program coordinator) and how special-education needs will be supported when liaisons work with students who require accommodations.
The board's action restores the positions contingent on union ratification and on the district producing the written operational plan staff referenced during the discussion.
