Parents and students urge board not to close Caesar Chavez middle grades; Victor Bower community alarms over clerk reduction

Parents, students and staff pleaded with the Corona‑Norco Unified board on May 5 to preserve middle‑grade continuity at Caesar Chavez Academy and to restore full clerical coverage at Victor Bower Elementary.

Several speakers described their children’s reliance on the TK–8 structure at Caesar Chavez Academy, saying continuity through eighth grade supports language immersion, leadership development and academic growth. Fifth‑grade student Akot and parent Israel Gonzalez both asked the board not to close the seventh and eighth grades, arguing that dismantling the TK–8 model would remove important relationships and supports and could push students into much larger, less personal intermediate campuses.

Community members also called attention to a district staffing decision that reduces front‑office clerk coverage at Victor Bower to 3.5 hours per day under a base staffing model. Parents and a school secretary described the school’s medically fragile population, recent emergency (911) incidents and an existing court‑issued restraining order tied to district safety concerns; they said removing a full‑time, experienced clerk would increase safety risks and reduce campus‑level institutional knowledge.

Superintendent remarks at the meeting reiterated that proposed school reorganizations (Travis/Home Gardens/Chavez) are at an early stage of a process and not a final decision for the next school year; the district said it will review public input. On the clerk staffing point, HR and site staff described a base staffing formula tied to enrollment that produced the staffing recommendation; parents asked for reconsideration and increased transparency.

What happens next: the superintendent said the district will review the community input, return to the board with recommendations at the appropriate point in the process, and that no final votes on closures were taken at the meeting.