24 Dec New WCCUSD Board Votes to Rebuild Stege Elementary

Leslie Reckler, center, was chosen Dec. 18 over Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, center right, to replace Jamela Smith-Folds, top right, as West Contra Costa school board president. Cinthia Hernandez, bottom, was one of two new members sworn in. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Newly elected West Contra Costa Unified School Board members were sworn in by West County leaders in the last meeting of the year and immediately shook things up.

Returning Area 1 member Jamela Smith-Folds and the new Area 3 member Cinthia Hernandez and Area 2 member Guadalupe Enllana took their seats and, alongside other members, unanimously funded a complete rebuild of Stege Elementary School and appointed new leadership at Wednesday’s meeting.

“There’s a reality we must acknowledge: Our district faces immense fiscal challenges and there are schools like Stege where students have been subjected to unsafe and unfair conditions for far too long,” said Enllana. “We will confront these issues with determination, compassion and relentless strive to do what is right for our children.”

The funding for a complete rebuild of Stege Elementary, which is estimated to cost a total of $61 million, comes months after the campus was closed and students were relocated because of environmental hazards in the building. It’s an $18 million increase from the original modernization project.

Other officials, including San Pablo mayor Arturo Cruz, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s office and Contra Costa County’s Board of Supervisors District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, also spoke in support of the complete rebuild of Stege.

“We know that our Stege stars are the heartbeat of our community who deserve a school campus that communicates our unflinching belief in their high potential,” Liz Sanders, director of communications for the state department of education and WCCUSD’s former spokesperson, speaking on behalf of Thurmond.

Stege Elementary is WCCUSD’s oldest school, having been built in 1943, and home to the largest percentage of Black students in the district. Community members have long pushed for fixes to the site only to have various other schools — including John F. Kennedy High, Richmond High and Lake Elementary schools — prioritized instead.

The board expects the rebuild “will be equitable to previous rebuilds of other elementary schools like Lake Elementary School or Michelle Obama Elementary School,” according to a resolution passed in support of the rebuild.

Project savings, including those leftover from Lake Elementary’s rebuild, bond program savings and funding for transitional kindergarten facilities will be used to fund the additional cost for the rebuild.

The board also asks that the process include listening sessions, surveys and focus groups to engage community members and solicit their feedback on the project.

A projected timeline for the project shows that the new Stege Elementary campus could be occupied by students and staff in the fall of 2027.

“I want to encourage everyone, not just those in Stege: The fight is not over. We need to see you show up at the planning meetings and everything that happens throughout the process,” said Golddie Williams, “so we can all be a part of it, and those students know their community supports them.”

Board leadership changes

Board members Leslie Reckler and Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy both sought the board president position for the 2025 year, but the board’s newest members rejected his bid in favor of Reckler.

Reckler, who was censured by the board for allegations of conflict of interest in January, takes over for Smith-Folds who’s been in the role throughout 2024. The state Fair Political Practices Commission rejected a complaint the district filed regarding the allegations against Reckler, according to the agency.

Smith-Folds first nominated Gonzalez-Hoy to the position, but the motion failed to pass, with only Smith-Folds and Gonzalez-Hoy voting in favor. (Student trustees Jorge Espinoza Jr. and Lucas Wilson also voted in favor, but votes by student trustees are honorary and do not sway the total one way or another.)

Reckler made her case to the board by reading from the governance handbook that dictated guidelines for selecting leadership, saying she had never served in the position, as Gonzalez-Hoy had in 2023.

“I think this is an election about change,” said Reckler. “We have new members on the board; we’re starting fresh and new.”

Reckler’s votes have often been the opposite of the board’s direction during controversial moves, including in rejecting her censure, which then-Area 3 member Mister Phillips also voted against, rejecting the reassignment of Pinole Valley High School’s then-principal and calls to better define accountability in the district’s anti-racist push.

Gonzalez-Hoy recognized the division on the board and also highlighted change.

“My hope is that this year is new,” he said. “I emailed the whole board this morning, sharing that, my hope with this change of two new members, that it would lead to us to work in collaboration.”

Smith-Folds said Gonzalez-Hoy had “been steadfast in the ability to take this district and the board in the right direction.”

Ultimately, board members voted 3-2 to appoint Reckler to the position. Smith-Folds and Gonzalez-Hoy voted against her appointment.

Following Reckler’s appointment, Gonzalez-Hoy wrote in a Facebook post on Friday that he had “a lot” of concerns with the decision but, like any change, said there will be opportunities.

He especially wondered “what it means for our anti racist agenda which our previous president focused on and that we continue to violate our own procedures.”

“I ask everyone to continue to stay involved and that we work together to make our schools better no matter who is in what position,” he wrote.

Board policy says that the board president will be replaced by the clerk of the board typically and is a member who has not served in office, “unless all the Board’s members elected at the same time have previously served in office.”

But straying from the process does not violate the policy as the board “has the ultimate discretion to elect or not elect any Board member for office,” according to that policy. 

Board members also chose Enllana to serve as clerk for the next year under Reckler.

Enllana, who was sworn in by former Richmond City Council member and current Contra Costa Community College District Board member John Marquez, comes to the board after defeating Otheree Christian in the November election.

Smith-Folds and Hernandez also began their terms Wednesday, being sworn in by El Cerrito Mayor Carolyn Wysinger and Richmond Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez, respectively.

Smith-Folds, noting she was only the third Black woman to serve on the board and the first to be reelected, ran uncontested in November’s election and has been a leader in the district’s anti-racist push. She was among the Black and Brown board members who were the targets of racist threats or remarks early this year.

“I know that she will do everything in her power to continue moving this district towards excellence,” said Irish Folds, Smith-Folds’ daughter. “She has persevered because she knows this role is not about her, it’s about the students.”

Hernandez also ran uncontested and took over Phillips’ seat.

“This moment represents not just my journey but the collective efforts of our community to prioritize educational equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all students,” she wrote ahead of her swearing-in.

The next West Contra Costa school board meeting is on Jan. 8, 2025.