Board is finally able to move ahead

It’s 2021, a brand-new year and for a few months now, the Antelope Valley Union High School District Board has had a new member. However, that hasn’t stopped the “terrible twosome,” Victoria Ruffin and Amanda Parrell, from making a point through their votes.

The Board made little to no progress after former Board president Robert Davis resigned, leaving Ruffin, Parrell, Jill McGrady and John Rush to handle the duties of approving contracts and various other tasks.

Ruffin and Parrell always voted against whatever McGrady and Rush voted for and vice versa, which meant there was no progress. Frequently, Ruffin’s and Parrell’s votes made absolutely no sense and appeared to be out of pure spite and malice.

But alas, the tables have turned and things seem to be moving along. In fact, the Board was able to approve a one-year contract for bilingual radio show Café con Leche, hosted by Lilia Galindo. It was approved in December, six months after Ruffin and Parrell voted to end it. Prior to the contract being cut, Café con Leche had worked with the District for almost 10 years.

Ruffin objected to the contract because Board President Jill Mc

After months of stalled progress because of two Board members, the AVUHSD is finally able to make some progress

Grady and Clerk Donita Winn were guests on the program during the campaign for office. All of the candidates were invited to appear on the program. McGrady and Winn accepted the invitation.

“This is an example of a quid pro quo and now we’re hiring her on as a vendor,” Ruffin said, adding state code would prohibit them from voting on the contract because of an alleged financial interest.

The District’s attorney was consulted and said, “The government code section that Dr. Ruffin is citing just doesn’t apply to this situation,”

With that, the $14,000 contract was approved and is good from Dec. 11 to Dec. 11, 2021, with an option to extend annually by mutual agreement and upon Board approval for up to five years. The contract includes radio interviews, District English Learner Advisory Committee meetings and other events.

It’s about time the Board is able to begin handling its business instead of wasting time during each meeting, bickering back and forth. Now Ruffin and Parrell understand what it’s like to be on the other side — not that it matters because they never had the District’s best interest at heart anyway, that was evident in how they voted on important issues.

The voters had their say in November and decided they were tired of Ruffin’s and Parrell’s antics. They elected Donita Winn, who is more than qualified to fill her Board seat and actually cares about the District. We are eager to see the progress the District makes in the coming months.