On the evening of November 13th, the CUSD Governing Board held a small, casual meeting that acted as an introductory board meeting for new Superintendent Dr. Corrine Folmer.
The meeting was guided by Peter Fagen from F3 Law. Fagen asked each board member to share what their reason was for wanting to become a member of the board. So, they went around the room and each member shared why they ran for the CUSD governing board.
The reasons for running varied from member to member. Reasons included feeling like they could bring a different perspective because they didn’t come from Clovis Unified, being a minority, being a woman, being from a working class family.
One member said that before running, they were approached by a former board member who was retiring and encouraged them to run. The member wanted to keep the traditions, to continue to have the district do what it has done, and to have it grow better.
Another member talked about their child having experienced another school district before attending school at Clovis Unified.
Before running for the board, the member had served on a school site council. The member said that CUSD was the best in the state of California, and that they want to work to preserve it.
A member talked about how because their kids attended CUSD, they wanted to be a part of enabling the district to stay excellent.
They were not the only member who joined because they wanted to be involved in the governing and decision making of the school district that their children attended.
One member emphasized how important it was to them to have transparency between the board and the public.
An in-depth discussion was had about the Brown Act, specifically in reference to communication between board members and how that relates to the public right to know.