Fallbrook Observer Vol. 3.39
Happy holidays. Next week we are taking our annual week off. We'll be back on New Year's Eve. Si tomas, no manejes.
Fallbrook Elementary School District Reorganizes
Ricardo Favela to Lead FUESD’s Vision as Governing Board President
from the FUESD website
The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District (FUESD) Governing Board concluded its December 11 Regular Meeting, unveiling a new organizational structure that promises a robust leadership framework for the upcoming year. In a collective decision reflective of their dedication to the community, the board members voted in favor of Ricardo Favela as the new Governing Board President. Suzanne Lundin was appointed Vice President, while Mary McBride will serve as Clerk, bringing together a team rich in experience, vision, and dedication.
Ricardo Favela, an esteemed figure in the Fallbrook community, steps into the role of Governing Board President, poised to lead the district with his remarkable leadership acumen and unwavering commitment to enhancing educational standards. As a native of Fallbrook, Favela boasts deep-seated connections and extensive engagement with the community spanning decades, characterized by his influential leadership and advocacy efforts. Favela’s passion for the district’s success is not only professional but also personal, with his three children actively enrolled in Fallbrook Schools. His profound dedication to fostering excellence in education aligns seamlessly with his personal investment in the future of the community’s youth.
Reflecting on his appointment, Ricardo Favela expressed, “I am very honored and excited to step into this role, especially at this moment. With our new superintendent and district leadership, there is renewed energy and focus on student achievement and success. We are already witnessing progress, and I am confident that we will continue to improve. I am proud to be part of such a dynamic team effort working to move our district forward together.”
Suzanne Lundin, stepping into the role of Vice President, offers invaluable expertise in strategic planning and organizational development, essential resources for the board’s success. Her extensive background in these areas ensures a robust framework for guiding the district towards its goals. Mary McBride, appointed as Clerk, brings a diverse educational journey to the board. With experience as a Spanish teacher, teacher’s aide, preschool teacher, and six years of devoted service as a classroom volunteer, McBride’s multifaceted involvement in education enriches the board’s perspective on student needs and community engagement.
FUESD Superintendent Monika Hazel shared her enthusiasm for the future of FUESD’s new leaders, stating, “With the appointments of Favela, Lundin, and McBride, I am confident in the capability of our new leadership team to steer FUESD towards continued success. Their collective experience and passion for education will undoubtedly make a positive impact on our students and community.”
The Governing Board’s next Regular Meeting will take place in the new year, scheduled for Thursday, January 18th at 6 pm.
Fallbrook Union High School Board Met
The Fallbrook Union High School Board met on December 13 at 6 pm.
There was an organizational meeting to begin. The same officers will continue: Jones as President, Caralampio as Vice President and Christiansen as Clerk.
There was recognition of the Advanced Culinary Arts which served the Board a meal during closed session (including pairings). The Board seemed very happy with their meal. President Jones commented that they used to get food from a local restaurant.
Next, the Warrior Marching Band and Choir performed.
There was a presentation about the Fall sports results: volleyball, girls field hockey. The football record was 5-7 in one of the toughest leagues in San Diego. For the 2nd season they were ranked in the top 30 in the San Diego Section. The cross country boys placed 4th in the Valley League. Girls cross country placed 3rd. Tennis was 7-10 overall. Waterpolo was mentioned. The average golf team GPA was 2.95. This was the lowest of all the sports teams reported on.
There was a report by the Superintendent about how students who are in danger of not graduating are being helped to improve their academics. This was requested by both Christiansen and Caralampio. The problem is observed in 9th and 10th grade. Jones said he attended the elementary district meeting and the 2 districts are working together.
The Board nominated Jones to be on the ballot again for the California School Board Association to represent district 17. The vote will take place with the rest of the Boards in District 17.
North County Fire Protection District Met Tuesday, December 12
The North County Fire Protection District (NCFPD) held its regular monthly meeting at the FPUD offices on December 12, 2023.
Retirement Recognition: Engineer Brent Itzaina was recognized for his retirement after 31 years of service.
Dozer Barn and Lease Agreement: The board approved a multi-year lease agreement with the California Department of Governmental Services (DGS). DGS will build at DGS cost, a $1M barn at NCFD Station #3, on Rainbow Valley Blvd, to house a firefighting bulldozer, truck and crew for CAL FIRE. DGS will then lease this space at STA #3 from NCFPD at $1,600 a month over multiple years. This is a better location to park and deploy the dozer currently at the CAL FIRE Rainbow Fire Center. Even in an emergency, the equipment has to move cautiously along the long, meandering Rainbow Heights roadway with steep grades and sharp turns. The NCFPD station on Rainbow Valley will allow quicker deployment.
Ambulance stationing at Vista Fire Department. The board approved extending an agreement to base a NCFPD ambulance at a Vista Fire station to respond to North County emergencies. Vista anticipates receiving one or two new ambulances in 2024. Extending this agreement helps fill the gap until the new ambulances are in service.
Additional ambulance crew hiring: The board approved staff developing a financial plan to support hiring 2 additional firefighter/paramedic positions. Staff will return to the board in 2024 with the developed plan which involves applying for a SAFER Grant from FEMA. SAFER is (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response).
Effective Response Force Standard: Chief McReynolds and Deputy Chief MacMillan presented a proposed Effective Response Standard to be used to evaluate NCFPD performance and to determine future requirements. The Standards are a complicated matrix of
a) Time for crew to depart station after alarm: 2 minutes or 120 seconds
b) Travel time standards to scene (variable, based on population density) 6.5 minutes or 360 seconds (in an urban area) for 1st crew to arrive.
c) Times for an effective response of additional crews to arrive on scene.
Maps plotting these response times over the greater Fallbrook area indicate the need for more stations in the future so that all areas will have effective coverage as population increases.
Chief McReynolds uses a complementary mix of performance standards, data gathering, and strategic planning for the fire district.
News You Can Use
From Everything Fallbrook: YAY! Free menstrual products at county bathrooms
“Clearly other people agree with me — the county was just awarded the 2023 California State Association of Counties Challenge award for the program that pays for this. From the county:
The County of San Diego identified this need, garnered input from community partners, and surveyed users across multiple County facilities. The County’s Health and Human Services’ Office of Strategy and Innovation led the pilot effort which crossed multiple County departments, including General Services and Public Health.
The Free for Menstrual Equity, or Free4Me pilot program, was launched May 28, 2021 in restrooms at 24 County-owned buildings and included the installation of 58 tampon and menstrual pad dispensers. The locations of the dispensers were featured on a website and shared with local period poverty advocates.
The pilot generated a lot of positive user feedback. Those who responded ranged in age from 18 to 63 years old and more than half said they had worried about paying for menstrual products in the previous year.
The pilot program, budgeted at $70,000, provided more than 277,500 menstrual products over its first two years.
The program is now expanding, with dispensers in all female and gender-neutral restrooms, along with one centrally located male restroom in each facility. More than 1,000 dispensers will be installed in over 300 County owned and leased facilities by May 2024.
If you’d like to see all 3 hours of the High School Board Meeting for Yourself
Temecula Valley USD Board Loses Conservative Majority
Temecula Valley Unified School District Trustee Danny Gonzalez resigned Friday.
from Patch.com
The 3rd right wing vote on the school board is gone.
“TEMECULA, CA — One year into his four-year term, Temecula Valley Unified School District Trustee Danny Gonzalez has called it quits.
Gonzalez, who represented Trustee Area 2, submitted his resignation letter Friday with an immediate departure, according to a statement from the Temecula Valley Unified School District.
"It has been a privilege to serve the Temecula community,” Gonzalez said in the letter.
The Press-Enterprise reported Gonzalez is moving to Texas.
Gonzalez's term was to expire in December 2026. The now four-member TVUSD governing board will consider making a provisional appointment to fill the vacant seat.”
The appointment process includes advertising the open seat to solicit eligible applicants from Trustee Area 2 (see a map here). Eligible applicants would be interviewed at a public board meeting, and the four TVUSD board trustees would vote on the selection of a provisional appointee, according to the district statement. The vacancy must be filled within 60 days.
The board has the option of holding a special election and letting the voters of Trustee Area 2 decide who should fill the vacancy, but the process would cost the district thousands of dollars.
The governing board is expected to take the matter up at its scheduled Dec. 18 meeting.
An effort has been underway by One Temecula Valley PAC to recall Gonzalez, as well as Trustees Dr. Joseph Komrosky and Jennifer Wiersma. The three were voted into office in November 2022. Their campaigns were backed by the Inland Empire Family PAC, which works "to stop the indoctrination of our children by placing candidates on school boards who will fight for Christian and conservative values."
Petition signatures for the recall were submitted to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters earlier this month but there was no word yet on the status. With Gonzalez gone, it's unclear where the recall effort will go.
Without Gonzalez, the TVUSD board no longer has a conservative majority. Gonzalez, Komrosky and Wiersma aligned on several controversial policies including firing the well-liked TVUSD Superintendent Dr. Jodi McClay; book banning; banning any mention of critical race theory; adopting a policy mandating that school officials notify parents/guardians if their children are transgender or gender-nonconforming; and banning flags that don't align with Christian ideals.
Those policies led to a lawsuit filed against the TVUSD Board of Trustees by a coalition of students, parents, teachers and a teachers’ union. The suit has garnered support from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The case is just one of several legal skirmishes the district has faced over the last year.
Trustees Allison Barclay and Steven Schwartz have pushed back against their colleagues but have been outnumbered.
We hope he feels more at home in the Lone Star State.
Students privacy rights vs. parental notifications — legally speaking, it's complicated
From KPBS
The Escondido Unified School Board has enforced the state policy of not sharing a student’s gender identity with parents but the 9th circuit has ruled against it, citing the 14th amendment.
Meanwhile, a North County Charter School has initiated a policy to inform parents of their children’s declared gender identity, flaunting the state law.
“It fundamentally is about who really the the child belongs to,” said Dean Broyles, a constitutional lawyer whose wife teaches at Classical (Acadamies, charter school system).
Broyles is part of the conservative National Center for Law & Policy that urged the Chino Valley Unified School District in Orange County to adopt its mandatory gender identity disclosure policy earlier this year.
“It's been our position that any policy that allows a school to keep secrets from the parents regarding their children violates the parental rights since protected by the U.S. Constitution,” Broyles said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution gives a lot of deference to parents regarding their children's upbringing, education and care. But under California’s Education Code, students have certain privacy rights.
“That is the crux of the issue — what is more superior, a child's right to privacy or a parent's right to know about their child's life?" said Jillian Duggan-Herd, a family law attorney.
She said with the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, it’s hard to fathom that a student’s privacy rights would be upheld by the court. The Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to have an abortion in the U.S. The Roe case hinged on a woman's right to privacy.
Next Week
Fallbrook Planning Group Meeting
When: December 18, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Where: Fallbrook Public Utility District 990 East Mission Road Fallbrook, CA 92028
The agenda has not been posted.