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Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Board members are looking to make it harder to fire Superintendent Alex Cherniss and to hand oversight responsibility of their controversial Universal Sports Institute to a charter school two weeks after the November election.
Trustees will decide at their 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday, which can be livestreamed on the district’s website, if they will add a clause to the Cherniss’ contract that would require a supermajority of the board to fire the superintendent.
They will also hold a public hearing on whether they want the Orange County School of Computer Science, a charter school, to fully oversee and manage the district’s new Universal Sports Institute – a sports performance program and state of the art training facility for student athletes.
Some parents in the district are raising alarms that this is an effort by the current board majority to lock in Cherniss and the sports institute he pushed on creating before a new board majority takes its place.
Monday evening election results showed Tricia Quintero, a teacher, on track to join the Placentia-Yorba Linda school board ahead of Candidates Ryan James Miller and Nicolas Cardenas to replace current Trustee Shawn Youngblood.
Results also showed incumbents Leandra Blades, the current board president, and trustee Marilyn Anderson on track to be reelected.
Blades and the board have landed in the spotlight for a host of controversial policies in recent years, including banning critical race theory, adopting a parent notification policy, violating the state’s open meeting law and sparking concerns from parents about book bans.
Earlier this year, students raised concerns of mass firing of school administrators and principals in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District – something that Cherniss denied.
Quintero’s election could mark a shift in the school board’s dynamic and direction.
The current school board majority – Blades, Youngblood and Trustee Todd Frazier – voted in support of the parental notification policy and changes to their book selection policy.
Blades and Youngblood also voted in favor of the Critical Race Theory ban along with Anderson back in April 2022. Frazier, who was elected in November 2022, was vocally in support of the ban.
Quintero said she supports teaching historical events accurately.
“I can assure you that my two PYLUSD graduates were never taught this academic and legal framework. CRT is a graduate-level course at a university level. I support an accurate teaching of historical events,” Quintero said on her campaign website.
“Ensuring students and teachers can have open discussions is a crucial part of creating critical thinking skills.”
She also has raised concerns about the cost of the sports institute on her campaign website.
A Superintendent & A Sports Institute
Cherniss, who the current board hired to be the superintendent last year, has also faced criticism from some parents who argue the sports institute he pushed for is a waste of district funds.
An online petition calling for Cherniss to immediately resign has garnered 777 signatures as of Monday afternoon, citing in part the controversy over the Universal Sports Institute.
In the midst of this ongoing controversy, board members tonight are proposing to amend his contract to include a clause that would require a vote of four out of five board members to fire Cherniss – 80% of the board.
That clause would remain in effect until December 2026 – following the next election.
At tonight’s meetings, board members also have scheduled a public hearing about adding the Universal Sports Institute to OC School of Computer Science’s charter petition.
“As part of this revision, OCSCS will assume full oversight and management of the USI program, ensuring that students and families have access to a robust and flexible learning experience,” reads proposed changes to the charter’s petition.
Also on Tuesday’s school board agenda: adding two more meetings in December before Quintero joins the board.
Meanwhile, the public comments portion of the meeting is scheduled after the board votes on amending Cherniss’ contract and the Universal Sports Institute.
Gwen Buchanan contributed to the reporting in this article.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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