By Mary-Justine Lanyon
At their June 26 meeting, the Rim of the World Unified School District board of trustees unanimously approved a contract with tBP Architecture for improvement projects that will be funded by Measure E.
Gary Moon, representing the architectural firm, attended the meeting by Zoom. “It’s amazing you passed Measure E,” Moon told the trustees. “Congratulations to you and the community. We are looking forward to starting the planning process.
“It seems to take a little while to get moving,” Moon added, “but we’re all great stewards of the bond money. There are some projects we’ll be able to start quickly.”
Jenny Haberlin, the district’s chief business official, described the process by which tBP Architecture was chosen. After issuing a request for proposals, the district received 12; they interviewed five firms. “We are pleased with our selection,” Haberlin said. “We are excited to start teaming up with tBP on the scope and planning of the project – to start putting community dollars in place for school improvements.”
Haberlin added she had had a meeting that day about bond sales and their timing.
Trustee Cindy Gardner said they will start looking at projects per their master facilities plan. “We will set a priority list of what and when to do projects.”
Moon agreed: “The first thing is to come up with a list of projects. This is a challenging time in terms of what schools cost.”
The trustees also unanimously approved an extended contract for superintendent Dr. Paul Sevillano. His contract will now expire on June 30, 2029, ensuring continued district leadership stability.
A $97,817 contract for the California Adult Education Program was also unanimously approved. That contract is being funded by the Inland Adult Education Consortium. Gardner asked if the district will get money every year to continue paying for the program.
“A block grant is being given to all eligible districts for the years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027,” Dr. Sevillano said. “As the program expands, the amount could increase based on enrollment numbers.”
The Rim district has already issued a preliminary invitation for folks to sign up. The ESL (English as a second language) program was to start in January but has been moved up to August due to the need; 25 people had already signed up.
The district is seeking students who did not meet graduation requirements from 2012 on to enroll in the program and get their GED. Dr. Sevillano said they have a list of those students; Jeremy Montiel, the continuing education administrator, will be contacting them.
A proposal from MGT Impact Solutions for $69,744 to conduct an organizational study of the maintenance, operations and transportation department was also unanimously approved. This study, Gardner noted, will look at bus routes to see if “we can be more efficient, more effective.”
“We are excited,” Haberlin said. “One of their team members is a Rim grad who has lived on the mountain 30 years.”
“The purpose of the study,” Dr. Sevillano added, “is to be more cost effective in using our resources. We will discuss options when we receive the results of the study.”
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