by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Small business owner and political newcomer Mark Allen Reynoso, 35, is hoping to succeed Bob Fass as the Trustee Area 5 representative on Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education. Reynoso faces challenger Cheryl Fiello.

Reynoso, a fourth generation Claremonter, attended CUSD schools. He counts his experience as the founder of Left Coast Electric, and president of the Meadowood Homeowners Association Board, as reasons he’s suited for the role.

“I’ve gone through [CUSD] as a student and now have kids in it,” Reynoso said. His wife Natasha is a special education teacher with Pomona Unified School District and his father was a teacher at Mountain View School Districtin El Monte. Both helped shape Reynoso’s understanding of the needs of educators. His work with Left Coast Electric has also helped sharpen his skills in negotiating and understanding the sometimes complex language of government contracts.

His work as a youth sports coach is also a plus, Reynoso said.

“So, I get the kids,” he said. “I understand how to talk their language. I understand how to break it down for them on the very small scale. But then I also get the parents. All of those skills really allow me to bring a holistic view to the education board.”

Reynoso said declining enrollment is the biggest challenge facing the board.

In “2017-2018, Claremont used to be above 7,000 students,” he said. “Today they’re about 6,200 students. They don’t address the problem; you don’t hear from it on the board. No one talks about 360 reviews or exit reviews for individuals leaving the district. Less butts in the chairs, less revenue in the district, right?

“And there’s some correlations if you want to talk about compensation when it comes to our teachers. Teachers got a one percent raise last year. Who’s fighting for them? Nobody, right?” he said. “So we need to wholeheartedly put our best foot forward and if we don’t have the revenue to do that because our enrollment’s declining, we’re going to have some issues.”

Reynoso advocates for exit reviews of kids leaving the district.

“We need to understand, are they leaving it because Bonita Unified’s a better district that suits their needs better?” he said. “I mean, we have some programs that others don’t have in the area, like the IB program, middle years … we have some really, really good opportunities. Are we losing them to post-pandemic learning? Right? Different ideologies?”

“We are losing students to private schools,” he wrote in an email. “I’m aware of a local private school in Claremont with a waiting list. We need to find out the reasons for the students leaving CUSD. And I don’t think anyone can give you a clear answer.”

Reynoso said he also aims to address post-pandemic learning loss and safety.

He also said he’d like to show students alternatives to the college track, such as trade schools, in order to help them further their careers and lives.

Last year, a lawsuit was filed accusing CUSD of assault and battery, dangerous condition of public property, negligent supervision and negligent hiring, training, and retention. We asked him what new ideas he brings to the table to combat bullying.

“You didn’t really ask one of the big questions in the beginning: why are you running for school board?” Reynosa said his daughter was punched in the face by a boy at school last year. He and his wife spoke with the school’s principal, but “didn’t get a response that we felt comfortable with,” which prompted him to speak with CUSD Assistant Superintendent, Student Services, Kevin Ward.

“He kind of put my mind a little bit more at ease at what he was trying to do and investigate,” Reynoso said of Ward. What stuck with him about the incident is that he had to go to the district to address his concern.

“To me, it really starts with a culture about anti-bullying and safety. If you don’t have people buying into this culture then you’re never going to have 100% participation,” he wrote in an email. “Bullying doesn’t belong in school, period.”

Reynoso is hoping to address the culture of bullying.

“What’s important is really getting the staff behind it,” he said. “We need some more resources. I know resources cost money, but the reality is we need more proctors. We just need to have resources for kids to have outlets. … We need to look at different solutions by understanding the needs of each kid. It’s that important that every kid feels safe, secure, that they have a positive experience, because if you’re not having a positive experience, you’re a lot less likely to learn.”

Reynoso lauded the board for its unity.

“They’re definitely in unison,” he said. “It seems like a lot of the things they do, everything’s kind of 5-0,” referencing the board’s almost exclusive unanimous votes during meetings. “They’re very in sync with the directive, the way they’re going, which is great.”

He said he would like to see more discussion of the issues at the board level.

“I think that’s just the thing that might be missing today, is just asking those different questions and really diving a little bit deeper than just the surface,” he said. “Three out of the five are educators. I think it’s time to mix it up a little bit and ask questions and get a little bit deeper into understanding some of the topics … of declining enrollment, bullying, teacher compensation, long term goals of CUSD. Sometimes you need to also be not afraid to ask questions … and really understand some of those topics like, why are kids leaving the district? And really, really understand those things. Why are teachers only getting a one percent raise? Like, they could have dug into the reserves a little bit. You know inflation’s been really high. You got to figure some of those tougher issues out and that’s what I think they could do maybe a better job of.”

Mark Reynoso faces Cheryl Fiello November 5 in the race to represent Trustee Area 5 on Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education. Reynoso’s campaign website is reynoso4cusd.com.