by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

The August 1 meeting of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education was the first of the 2024-2025 school year. Board members Richard O’Neill and Alex McDonald were absent.

New hires

The board voted to approve the hiring of two new employees and reassigned two other existing personnel.

Desiree Reyes was unanimously approved as assistant superintendent, business services, effective August 26, replacing Dinah Felix. Reyes’ annual salary is $221,379. Her contract is through June 30, 2027.

Katie Golas took over for Alicia King as the district’s health services coordinator and will be compensated $105,715. Golas, formerly a nurse at the Claremont Colleges, The Webb Schools, and CUSD, began July 1.

Erica Robledo joined CUSD as mental health coordinator effective Monday and will be paid $122,634. Robledo replaces the retiring Lisa Banks-Toma and joins from Walnut Valley Unified School District where she’s been since 2013.

Both Golas and Robledo are at-will employees according to CUSD spokesperson Elaine Kong, and as such do not have employment contracts.

The board also unanimously approved Brett O’Connor as interim director of CUSD’s child development program as it searches for a permanent replacement. O’Connor is expected to hold the role for about two months at $14,208 per month.

Katie Golas, left, is CUSD’s new health services coordinator and will be paid $105,715 per year. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Updated contracts, policies

The following policies and updates to employee compensation were ratified with a 3-0 vote:

• A new job description of “noon duty aide,” which sees employees “monitor and supervise students at mealtimes, recess, or other scheduled times to ensure their health and safety and exercise responsibility for their conduct,” according to the job description. The item was proposed “in support of the transition of these becoming permanent classified positions,” according to the meeting agenda.
• Seven tentative agreements to the collective bargaining agreement between Claremont Faculty Association and CUSD, which include, among others, a one-time off-schedule payment of 1% for all bargaining unit members and a commitment to collaborate on two memorandums of understanding: one to establish a task force to convene over the summer with the aim of addressing chronic absenteeism, and another to research and develop a 2025-2026 bell schedule at El Roble Intermediate prior to winter break, and commit to revisiting the contracted instructional minutes in 2024-2025 negotiations. Additional agreements can be found at cusd.claremont.edu/page/board-of-education. Click “Board Meeting Agenda” and August 1 meeting.

• A tentative agreement for a one-time off-schedule payment of 1% for management and confidential employeesbetween Claremont Management Association and CUSD.

• A salary schedule for unrepresented classified personnel which consolidated two existing unrepresented classified salary schedules and added a stipend for arts coach positions.

• A salary schedule for confidential staff. It was presented “to add the Longevity 30 step to the salary schedule, consistent with other employee groups,” according to the agenda.

• A salary schedule change for CUSD management, which saw a revision “to the number of work days by classification due to the Juneteenth Holiday and also to add the Longevity 30 step to the salary schedule,” the agenda item read.

• Board President Bob Fass read aloud the details of employment contract addendums for CUSD Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services, Julie Olesniewicz; CUSD Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources Rick Lopez; and CUSD Assistant Superintendent, Student Services Kevin Ward. Each were given three-year contract extensions through 2027, a one-time off-schedule compensation adjustment of 1%, and eligibility “to receive additional longevity increases of 3-1/2 % upon completion of ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, and thirty years of service to the Claremont Unified School District,” according to the agenda. Additional details on the addendums are listed on the agenda.

• Fass then read out the details for an addendum to Superintendent Jim Elsasser’s contract, which included a four-year extension ending June 30, 2028, and a similar 1% compensation adjustment.

Additional moves

The board:

• Approved a new “certification of signatures” document granting board of education members, the superintendent, and assistant superintendents authority to sign orders for salary or commercial payments, notices of employment, and contracts effective August 26.

• Agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Baldy View Regional Occupational Program for a joint powers authority for participation in the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant and K12 Strong Workforce Program Grant.

• Unanimously approved a joint Assembly Bills 1200 and 2756 report for the Claremont Faculty Association for the latest collective bargaining agreement.  AB 1200 requires school districts to make public disclosure of collective bargaining agreements. AB 2756 requires district administration to certify the district can meet its financial obligations under the proposed agreement.

• Approved the consent calendar with a minor revision. Superintendent Elsasser pulled item 17.06, vendor agreements, from the agenda to remove the Pali Institute reservation agreement from the list as it was previously approved during the board’s June 6 meeting.

The next school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 15, on the third floor of the Richard S. Kirkendall Education Center, 170 W. San Jose Ave., Claremont. Agendas are posted at cusd.claremont.edu.