Atascadero High School CIF wrestling champs recognized

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Trustees met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, March 5, at 7 p.m. 

Near the beginning of the meeting, three of Atascadero High School’s (AHS) wrestlers were recognized by their coach, Dan Loney, for their CIF standings at the end of the wrestling season. 

“It’s been a privilege to coach these athletes and to stand up here and recognize them,” he said. “Most schools are lucky enough to get one wrestler to State. We were privileged enough to get three, and it just shows their hard work and dedication that they put into the sport. This sport is just not a seasonal sport; it’s a year-round sport. It has to be done and worked on all year, and [they have to] really put in a lot of effort. So without further ado, we’re going to recognize these student-athletes.”

Senior Kodie Cooks had a record of 21-12, ended third place in CIF, eighth in Masters, and was a CIF qualifier. Junior Skylar Pisor went 35-12, placed third in CIF, fourth in Masters, and was AHS’s girls state qualifier. Junior Kaden Pryor went 31-9, is a two-time CIF Division 3 champion, placed eighth in Masters, and was also a state qualifier.

The minutes from the Feb. 20 meeting and the Consent Agenda both passed unanimously.

Director of Support Services Brent Lloyd gave the board an information-only presentation on the District Preventative and Deferred Maintenance Program. 

Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Jackie Martin addressed the trustee board on the Transfer of San Luis Obispo County Office of Education Buildings from their ownership to the AUSD’s ownership. 

“We’re the primary people in those facilities. There are some other folks in there, but we’re the primary users and, so it has been requested that we transfer ownership. It is our property. It’s just the building shells, so this transfer would be at no cost,” stated Martin.

The motion passed unanimously that Martin will sign a quick claim release of liability to transfer ownership of those buildings from the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education into AUSD’s hands.

Martin also brought the board Resolution #16-23-24 Positive Certification 2023-2024 Second Interim Budget for the reporting period ending on Jan. 31, 2024. The board passed the first interim was what the AUSD knew as of Oct. 31, 2023. She went over the biggest changes since then.

Those changes are enrollment and P-1 attendance. Martin also commented on the governor’s recent release of a proposed budget, which means the district now knows what to prepare for in the 24/25 school year.

“At the last board meeting, the board did approve the Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant that we could expand for our curriculum adoptions. We’re projecting around a million dollars maybe this year if it’s received by the end of June and then another half-a-million or so next year for much-needed adoptions,” said Martin. 

The district will go from a 3.94 percent COLA to a 0.74 COLA, which will result in a $1.5 million reduction in projected revenues for AUSD.

“We’re going to do our best to try to react now because that’s why you do a multi-year,” Martin said. “If it looks like things are starting to slide and not look so good, you try to everything you can as early as possible so you kind of level that out. So by the time you get to year three, you’ve already probably got most of it corrected, and you don’t have to make a sudden hard decision. So, we’re going to continue to watch. What I can tell you is we’re solvent, we’re well above our three percent, even projecting out to 26/27 with the strategies we have in place, but it’s early. We’re still going to be making a lot of changes to 24/25, 25/26, 26/27 as we go along and things change.”

The motion passed, stating that the district meets this year’s financial requirements and will be above minimum reserves for two years for a positive certification.

The next regularly scheduled AUSD Board of Trustees meeting will be on Tuesday, March 19, at 7 p.m.