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Visalia Unified board meeting, Aug 18, 2026

1 h 59 min · 5 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 59 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Visalia Unified board approves $93,000 organizational review contract on 5⁠-⁠1 vote 1:00:49

  • The board approved a contract for a comprehensive organizational review by School Services of California on a 5 yes, 1 no and 1 absent vote after Kenneth Dejonge pulled the item from the consent agenda. ~1:00:02
  • One board member said the review should be done internally and said they would vote no, while two other board members each said they would vote yes. ~1:06:21
  • The chief business officer presented the 45-day budget revision as an information item, showing a revised 2026⁠-⁠27 unrestricted deficit of $7.2 million. 1:39:37
  • The board also approved an architectural agreement for a Goshen Elementary modular project by 6 yes and 1 absent. 1:55:58

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Item by item (15)
  1. Opening, closed session report and agenda 0:00
    • Randy Villegas Ph.D. led the Pledge of Allegiance. 2:39
    • The board adopted the meeting agenda, 6 yes and 1 absent. ~5:54
  2. Installation of student board representatives 6:09
    • The deputy superintendent said six student board representatives would be installed for the 2026⁠-⁠2027 school year. 6:09
    • The deputy superintendent administered the oath and said the student representatives also meet monthly to give feedback on campus matters. 7:31
  3. Spotlight on district summer activities 12:01
    • The superintendent said nearly 130 students took part in summer internships with industry partners. 12:12
    • The superintendent said summer school students achieved 1,900 credit recovery and 4,017 acceleration course semester completions. 12:12
    • The superintendent said teams deep cleaned over 1,600 classrooms and nutritional services served over 67,000 meals through summer programs. 15:19
  4. District annual report on strategic plan 22:16
    • The deputy superintendent said the five-year strategic plan has 65 items broken into 3 themes. 22:29
    • The deputy superintendent said the full annual report would be published at the end of the month, with year 1 data coming in December. 25:06
    • The deputy superintendent said the college and career readiness baseline of 44% grew 11% to 55% in year 0. 34:18
  5. Student matriculation to College of the Sequoias 38:17
    • The superintendent and president of College of Sequoias presented data on former and current Visalia Unified students at the college. 38:17
  6. General public comment 46:48
    • A speaker at public comment asked the board to seek out efficacy data when renewing programs and resources. 47:53
    • Speakers at public comment asked the district to install cameras in special needs self-contained classrooms and noted the topic was set for the 28th. 49:31
    • A speaker at public comment presented a petition asking for a parking lot, drop-off and cafeteria at Washington Elementary School. 55:20
  7. Consent agenda 59:49
    • Kenneth Dejonge asked to pull an item from the consent agenda. 59:49
    • The board approved the remaining consent items, 6 yes and 1 absent. 1:00:37
  8. Outside organizational review contract 1:00:44
    • One board member said the contract with School Services of California would cost $93,000 plus expenses and said the review should be done internally. 1:00:49
    • A district staff member said the firm would benchmark the district against districts of similar size and that the review responded to board requests for an organizational audit. 1:02:42
    • One board member said they were all in favor, and another board member said they would vote yes and hoped the study would address minimum spending on classroom salaries. 1:04:27
    • The motion carried, 5 yes, 1 no and 1 absent. 1:10:42
  9. Student representative report 1:10:49
    • A student representative reported on back-to-school orientations, rallies and leadership camps at district high schools. 1:11:03
  10. Board member reports 1:18:56
    • Paul Belt thanked the Visalia Rotary Foundation for a gift of $120,000 to assist in tech upgrades for the Rotary Theater. 1:19:51
    • Randy Villegas Ph.D. described visiting Crowley Elementary on the first day of school. 1:30:12
    • Joy M. Naylor said they attended the back-to-school resource event and thanked community members who took part. 1:30:58
  11. Superintendent report 1:35:08
    • The superintendent said a ribbon cutting at Houston Elementary would be held Thursday at 3:45. 1:36:03
    • The superintendent said all 4 comprehensive high schools would play girls flag football against each other on September 15th and that the State of the District would be held in October at Valley Oak. 1:36:57
  12. 45-day budget revision 1:39:17
    • The chief business officer said the state budget included a 4.31% ongoing increase to the local control funding formula. 1:39:17
    • The chief business officer said the revised budget still showed a deficit of $7.2 million, and the multi-year projection reduced that deficit to about $1 million. 1:39:17
    • Paul Belt asked what percentage of the budget comes from lottery funds, and a staff member said a little over 1%. 1:47:01
  13. Fund 210 budget resolution 1:48:29
    • A staff member said the Fund 210 building fund was inadvertently omitted from the adopted budget packet and the resolution would incorporate it. 1:48:46
    • The motion carried, 6 yes and 1 absent. 1:50:03
  14. Goshen Elementary modular classroom architect agreement 1:50:15
    • A staff member recommended an architectural services agreement with Fork Creeks Inc. to replace a building constructed in 1971 whose wood foundation had deteriorated. 1:50:24
    • The staff member said 3 classroom spaces and a temporary portable would be replaced with a 4-classroom modular wing. 1:51:34
    • Paul Belt asked whether the board was approving only architectural plans, and a staff member said the architect would draw plans before the project went out to bid. 1:55:45
    • The motion carried, 6 yes and 1 absent. 1:56:24
  15. Speech-language pathologist variable term waiver 1:56:33
    • A presenter requested a variable term waiver for a speech-language pathologist to pursue a credential while working in the district. 1:56:46
    • A speaker said bringing on permanent speech-language pathologists reduces the need for contracted staff who provide virtual services. 1:57:25
    • The board approved the waiver request and the warrant list, each 6 yes and 1 absent. 1:58:01

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

What was said

What board members said, in order

I, in looking at this, I also want to make sure that there is, uh, specific attention to detail in regards to something that we brought up at a A few board meetings ago, which is the minimum amount spent on salaries and how we— on classroom salaries in particular, and how we have continuously sought waivers for that.Randy Villegas · BOARD MEMBER1:09:20
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Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Visalia USD Board of Education Meeting - August 18, 2026”