On Thursday, December 14th, the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board decided to rescind its policy (passed unanimously 5-0 by the same board in January) of rotating board Presidents annually. The decision makes it possible for current board President, Sonja Shaw, to serve as President another year, rather than promote current Vice President Jon Monroe to the position. The vote to reinstall Shaw, rather than rotating leadership, passed with the support of three board members (Shaw, Andrew Cruz, and James Na), while the two other board members (Monroe and Don Bridge) abstained.
The change in rules to reverse the unanimous January decision was initially attempted to be slipped through in the consent agenda but was pulled from the consent agenda and ended with the 3-0 with 2 abstentions roll call vote.
The Vice President who would’ve advanced to the presidency, Jon Monroe, recently voted against the board’s book ban policy, raising questions about the decision to circumvent his advancement and continue with the current board president. The decision dilutes the representation of constituents in the other member districts by preventing them from ascending to the board’s leadership position.
Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) is one of many school boards across the country that has descended into a divisive carnival-like atmosphere under the board’s current composition. Many boards that had members up in 2023, saw divisive right-wing board members soundly defeated, as voters rejected bombastic partisans in favor of restoring dignity and purpose to local school boards.
The candidate in this cycle who can best repair the damage and restore full representation, transparency, and decency to the CVUSD Board is Bobby Omari. Omari is a pragmatic leader and product of Chino Valley who will put school children and teachers first and return the school board to being a properly functioning governing body, rather than a capricious board that seeks attention over consensus, and power and control over sound policy.
To help Bobby Omari unseat one of the three mercurial autocrats on the CVUSD Board, you can contribute here, and help Bobby reinvest into supporting public education and put education back into focus for the governing board instead of drama, divisiveness, and lawsuits that reduce resources at CVUSD.
bobbyomari.com