CUSD Awarded $26M from State of California

October 26, 2022 – At the Administrative Services/HR Subcommittee meeting, multiple topics for discussion were brought to the table by Clovis Unified’s Administrative Services and Human Resources Branches.

First, it was brought to the attention of attending board members Hugh Awtrey and Dr. Steven Fogg that CUSD was awarded a one time funding of $26 million dollars from the state of California.

Under the title, “Arts, Music and Instructional Materials One Time Grant”, the subcommittee now plans to look at multiple requests from different departments throughout CUSD and determine how they will spend those funds.

As of the moment, there are plenty of requests throughout the district that total more than the $26 million the district was awarded, and at a workshop that the district plans to hold on December 9th, the subcommittee plans to prioritize and process how they will spend those funds. The district has until the 2025-2026 school year to spend the full $26 million.

Speaking of the December 9th workshop, the subcommittee mentioned a few topics that will be discussed on this date that relate to funding throughout the district.

Topics included here will focus on the Clovis Budget review which includes staffing formulas, site discretionary allocations, special education, and the one time funding spoken about prior in the meeting.

Other topics relating to budgetary concerns within the district that will be spoken on at the workshop include the self insurance fund, a look into the state budget, and a budget timeline.

At one point during the subcommittee meeting, the new Terry Bradley Educational Center was brought up with information presented on the stretch of land that will contain the sewage for the site.

With approximately a five acre parcel that plans to be used as a tentative waste and well water storage, the plan is to utilize the property by being as close to the nearby Gould canal as possible.

The district has preliminary approval from the FID (Fresno Irrigation District) to dump excess affluent water into the canal, and hopes to use this land closer to the canal instead of further away. They would have to spend extra money to pump the water into the canal if they moved further away. .

Within the next five years, Clovis Unified will have opened four new schools. In 2024, they plan to open the Fowler/McKinley still unnamed school site, and in 2025 they will open the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades of the Terry Bradley Center.

In 2026, they plan to open another elementary school on Minnewawa avenue, and in 2027 the hope is that they will finish the second phase of the Bradley Center which would include grades up to 12th.

On December 6th, the school district plans to present scenarios for the new schools to the public in an open forum held at Clovis East High School. Here, the public will have the opportunity to speak to the school district about the new schools before anything is finalized on a February 15th, 2023 tentative CUSD school board meeting date.

The subcommittee then updated board members and the public on the new lighting that has been set up across Clovis Unified high schools and playing fields.

These eighty foot high light poles will illuminate fields for student-athletes as they plan to have games and practices later on in the evening or early in the mornings when sunlight is not readily available. As of now, the subcommittee mentioned that the lighting is only for student-athlete use.

It was briefly mentioned that 233 HVAC air conditioners were replaced or repaired throughout the district since the last time the subcommittee met. There are still around 133 HVAC air conditioning units that need repair or replacement throughout the district.

From a Human Resources background, a market study was completed and a link made available to all, which is a 300 page document with certain specific findings on a financial basis. The link is available on the CUSD Website under the search tab “Market Study”.

The meeting ended after it was made evident that a new feedback forum for all employees of CUSD was opened and will last until November 10th. The hope behind this feedback forum is that employees and the HR and Communication Departments of CUSD will use this as an opportunity for a “thought exchange” in which CUSD employees can express their thoughts on the school district in this new age of digital media.

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JT is a recent college grad with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He is mainly interested in sports and entertainment but covers a wide array of subjects. He currently writes for the Fresno State Baseball Dugout Club. JT looks forward to continuing his career at the Clovis Roundup and is excited to be working closely with a community that is very proud of its people.