Board to re-vote on Cindy Estep-Tonan's job

More developments are unfolding in the case of Cindy Estep-Tonan, the longtime nurse for the Claremont Unified School District who was recently let go by the district.

According to Linda Hunt from the Superintendent's Office, who spoke with my colleague Landus Rigsby, the Board of Education will take a re-vote on Estep-Tonan's employment status on Thursday night at the Board Meeting. For more details on the whys and hows, we'll have a full story in Saturday's paper.

The School District has apparently changed the format of their Board meeting agendas after receiving some criticism from the public. During the last meeting, many people arriving at 7 p.m. wanted to speak on behalf of Estep-Tonan, but the Board had already voted earlier during closed session.

While the lack of clarity on the agenda certainly didn't help, it is standard protocol for public comment on closed session items to take place before the closed session.

Here's page one of the most recent agenda with the new format. Below that is page one of the November 19 Board meeting. It's nice to see that the School District is willing to make timely adjustments in reation to concerns brought forth by the public. Hopefully, it will help avoid any potential confusion in the future.

Those interested in commenting on Estep-Tonan at Thursday night's meeting should arrive by 6 p.m.

New superintendent of CUSD

Terry Nichols of the Duarte Unified School District, pictured above, will take over as the new superintendent of Claremont schools beginning July 1.

He was introduced and approved by unanimous vote at last night CUSD school board meeting.

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve this community and the school district of Claremont as the new superintendent,” Nichols said at the meeting. “I see children as the focus and if we keep that focus then we'll work our way through these tough times that we're in.”

Nichhols will replace outgoing Superintendent David Cash who accepted a position with the Clovis Unified School District earlier this year.

A complete report about the Board meeting will appear in tomorrow's issue of the COURIER.

David Cash moving on

Claremont Unified School District officials confirmed that Superintendent David Cash has accepted a position as the Superintendent of the Clovis Unified School District in central California.

According to this article in the Fresno Bee, Cash signed a 4-year contract effective July 1. Clovis Unified is significantly larger than Claremont, with 37,000 students compared to Claremont's 7000.

Cash will likely make some kind of announcement at tonight's School Board meeting. See Saturday's COURIER for a full story.