by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education named the district’s teacher and classified staff member of the year at its February 20 meeting, and heard an update to its local control and accountability plan.

Teacher, classified staff of the year

The CUSD board and officials recognized Vista Del Valle Elementary School office manager Cyndi Leier as its 2025-26 classified staff member of the year.

“Our classified employee of the year recipient has served in CUSD in various capacities since 2002, including roles as a health services assistant before being promoted to school office manager in 2008,” said Rick Lopez, CUSD assistant superintendent, human resources. “Our honoree is appreciated by their colleagues not only for what she does as an employee, but also who she is as a person.”

Sumner Danbury Elementary School kindergarten teacher Denise Klinovsky, right, wipes away tears after being named 2025-26 CUSD Teacher of the Year. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Sumner Danbury Elementary School kindergarten teacher Denise Klinovsky was named teacher of the year.

“Our teacher of the year recipient began her service in CUSD in 1999, devoting herself to meeting the needs of her students, families and colleagues,” Lopez said in the buildup to the announcement. “One nominator had the following to say about our honoree: ‘She is an incredible teacher who exemplifies all of the CUSD core values. It has been inspiring to watch her grow and mature as a person and an educator over the years. She was one of the first Sumner teachers I collaborated with when Danbury joined Sumner.’”

Each honoree received a $500 check and a certificate of recognition.

LCAP update

Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Julie Olesniewicz and Assistant Superintendent, Business Services Desiree Reyes delivered a mid-year update on the school’s local control and accountability plan. The “LCAP” is a component of the local control funding formula which outlines annual goals for the district’s students.

One of the main talking points were updates to the district’s previously adopted 2024-25 budget.

“At the time that the 2024-2025 LCAP and budget were adopted, the state budget had not yet been finalized, and carryover amounts from the 23-24 school year were still undefined,” Reyes said. “Now with the completion of the district’s first interim reporting period, which serves as the first official revision to the adopted budget, we can provide an update on these financial adjustments.”

CUSD Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Julie Olesniewicz at the February 20 board meeting. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The revision incorporated updated state allocations and finalized carryover amounts, resulting in a $3.7 million increase in revenue and a $7.3 million increase in expenditures. Projected revenue for the 2024-25 budget had been $97,485,884. That figure was increased to $101,177,674. General fund expenditures had been projected at $102.4 million. That number rose to $109,648,146.

“Just a reminder: back in January, we shared with you the document that had all of our implementation plan, all of our actions, and where we were at with that,” Olesniewicz said. “So, what we’ve done now is we added a column that now has the new year expenditures.”

Olesniewicz’s presentation highlighted progressive metrics made on the LCAP’s 1, 2, 3 and 4 goals, all of which are tied to enhancing student learning, attendance, parental involvement, and bettering human and financial resources. “The 2024-25 school year has presented both celebrations and opportunities for improvement,” read the final slide of the presentation. 

The full text of the mid-year updates is at go.boarddocs.com/ca, find “Claremont,” click “enter public site,” “meetings,” and choose item 14.01 on the February 20 agenda.

The next meeting of the CUSD Board of Education is 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at Richard S. Kirkendall Education Center, 170 W. San Jose Ave., Claremont.