The Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) Board of Trustees reconvened on Thursday, March 12, for their monthly regular meeting. Prior to the meeting, a closed session was held to discuss public employee releases, resignations, discipline, dismissals, and reassignments. As the meeting returned to open session, President Cavanaugh announced that further closed-session discussion of the item would take place after the meeting.
The open session then moved on to a board recognition presentation congratulating the Classified Employees of the Year 2025: Daniela Luppi, Coronado High School; Dana Kane, Silver Strand Elementary; Eileen Rodriguez- Troestch, Village Elementary; Rachel Lozano, Maintenance and Operations; Spencer Smith, Information Technology; Abraham Contreras, District Office; and Megan Pettit, Coronado Middle School and District Classified Employee of the Year.
A consolidated motion for the consent calendar then passed, followed by Superintendent Mueller’s updates, which normally happen toward the end of the meeting but were pushed earlier for this evening, as this was a major discussion topic. Mueller’s report focused entirely on the consideration of a revision to the current CUSD cell phone policy. You can read more about this discussion in the separate article on that item.
Moving forward, an action item to authorize a Positive District Certification of the second interim budget for the period ending on January 31, 2026, was presented. Prior to action being taken, Deputy Superintendent Salamanca briefly overviewed a summary of fund changes and the Governor’s proposed budget updates as of January. CUSD has incorporated all of this information into its multi-year projections.
With these projected changes, CUSD will still meet Basic Aid requirements on time and maintain the state-required minimum reserve funds. Projections show approximately $10 million in increased, ongoing funding once CUSD reaches Basic Aid. With the district’s current structural deficit (projected at $9 million by 2026-2027), almost all new money will be accounted for and spent. While the district will meet the minimum reserve percentage (3%), they have a goal of reaching a “best practice” percentage of 17% (which would be $9.7 million in reserve). When this goal will be reached is unknown, and staff will have a better grasp on that answer after year one of Basic Aid. Trustees voted unanimously to approve the positive certification.
After a first read of this item at last month’s meeting, the board took action to unanimously approve revisions to board policies and administrative regulations. The final action item of the evening saw the board authorize entering into an agreement with the Small School Districts’ Association (SSDA) for 2026-2027 membership and managed board policy services. According to the report, SSDA is the state’s leading advocate for districts with enrollments under 5,000. For the 2026-2027 school year, SSDA has launched an upgraded Managed Board Policy Program. The new program is a “turnkey” service where SSDA and their legal partners (Edwards, Stevens & Tucker LLP) directly manage the customization and maintenance of the District’s policy manual to ensure alignment with 2026 legislative changes. This membership would replace the district’s California School Boards Association (CSBA) membership and eliminate hundreds of unnecessary policies for the district. After a brief discussion, Trustees unanimously approved the agreement.
The meeting then moved on to reports, starting with the monthly ACT report from President Jennifer Landry. Her presentation focused on the different ways ACT members earn and use their higher-education degrees (Master’s and beyond). Student Boardmember Haissam Kouli then presented his monthly report, listing current and future events at each school site.
Deputy Superintendent Salamanca then presented his monthly updates. CUSD Departments have continued to provide supports and services to students and staff at all sites. These reports include monthly highlights and updates to keep all CUSD shareholders engaged and informed. This specific report focused on a Facilitron overview and updates.
Facilitron is a cloud-based facility management platform used by school districts, municipalities, and private organizations to manage facility scheduling, rentals, maintenance work orders, and user access. The district and Facilitron abide by state laws regarding priority and scheduling, meaning that school-related activities will always take precedence over non-school activities. As Trustees had already had an opportunity to review this report, Salamanca briefly overviewed the rates, revenues, and other data related to the use of Facilitron. His entire presentation can be found on the district’s website.
After a brief discussion, Trustees received a first read of the adoption of the Next Gen Personal Finance Curriculum. In 2024, Assembly Bill (AB) 2927 passed in California, establishing a high school graduation requirement that all students complete a one-semester personal finance course, beginning with the graduating class of 2030-31. As this was a first read, the item will be brought back for action at next month’s meeting.
Trustees and Superintendent Mueller then each took a moment to discuss their recent school site visits and extra curricular involvelent. This included sporting matches, teacher meetings, class visits, pep rallies, and more. While discussing future agendas, Student Boardmember Kouli requested the board to adopt a second student board representative in the future, rather than just one at a time. He believes this could broaden the diversity of student opinions represented on the board. A discussion on this possibility was added to next month’s meeting agenda.
With that, the meeting moved to a close. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, April 16.
VOL. 116, NO. 12 – Mar. 25, 2026