Simi Valley Unified board appoints Jennifer Urie as assistant principal, approves curriculum and fiscal items

The Simi Valley Unified School District Board of Education on Oct. 19 appointed Jennifer Urie as an assistant principal and approved a slate of routine curriculum and fiscal items in unanimous votes.

The board voted 5-0 to appoint Jennifer Urie as assistant principal at Sinaloa Middle School. After the appointment Urie thanked the board and district leaders, saying, "Well, first of all, I wanna thank the school board for offering me this position and, agreeing to give it to me. Thank you so much. I'm extremely happy working at Sinaloa Middle School and the staff has been very welcoming." (Jennifer Urie)

The appointment followed the board's report out from closed session, which recorded multiple confidential student-matter motions that the board said it approved by five-zero votes.

In the meeting's action calendar the board adopted the annual sufficiency of instructional materials report required by the Education Code and approved use of pupil-textbook and instructional-material funds to ensure students have the adopted curriculum and adapted materials at elementary, middle and high school levels. District staff told the board that one-to-one device access (Chromebooks) is included in that effort.

Other approved items included adoption of the AP chemistry curriculum; approval of a district standard for a campus-wide notification system; an appropriation limitation calculation for the 202021 year; acceptance of unaudited actual financial statements for 202021; authorization to purchase pilot student computer devices with Measure X funds; designation of procurement specifications for Simi Valley High School roof materials; and adoption of a resolution to implement a self-insured Schools of California health plan. Each action was moved, seconded and passed on recorded roll-call votes.

Superintendent Dr. Kaplinsky used his update to thank staff, students and parents for the first six weeks of the school year and noted the district is not yet "back to normal" but is seeing many positive developments: "So much good is happening. Our staffs at our schools are working extremely hard to, to give as much normalcy to our students on our campuses daily as they can." (Dr. Kaplinsky)

Votes at a glance
- Appointment of Jennifer Urie, assistant principal, Sinaloa Middle School: motion passed (5-0).
- Resolution: Sufficiency of instructional materials (annual): adopted (roll call recorded).
- Approval: Use of pupil-textbook/instructional materials funds: adopted (roll call recorded).
- Adoption: AP chemistry curriculum: adopted (roll call recorded).
- Approval: District standard for campus-wide notification system: adopted (roll call recorded).
- Adoption: Appropriation limitation calculation (202021): adopted (roll call recorded).
- Acceptance: Unaudited actual financial statements (202021): adopted (roll call recorded).
- Approval: Purchase of pilot student devices through Measure X funding: adopted (roll call recorded).
- Resolution: Simi Valley High School roof materials procurement designation: adopted (roll call recorded).
- Resolution: Implementation of self-insured Schools of California health plans: adopted (roll call recorded).

Why it matters
The annual sufficiency and fund-use approvals are routine but legally required checks that affirm the district is providing adopted curriculum and materials to students. The roster of fiscal and procurement approvals moves several facilities, device and health-insurance measures forward and authorizes related spending or procurement steps.

The board did not receive public comments on the instructional-material hearings; trustees used their communications time to report school visits, community events and to thank staff and volunteers.

Next steps
Board members noted several first-read policy items will return for subsequent consideration and the board set the next regular meeting for Oct. 19, 2021, at 5 p.m. (location TBD).