Rim Community,

Funding for school districts is in jeopardy and we are asking for your help in our battle. While the state is trying to determine how much funding will be cut to education, we are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. As part of our ongoing effort, your school board members have sent a letter to our elected officials asking them to protect funding for school districts like ours. Aside from funding, we also raise critically important concerns we would like addressed before the new school year. Read the full letter below to see each issue we ask our State Assemblymember and State Senator to address.

We are doing everything we can to make our little district’s voice heard and you can help us with that effort.

At this time, we are expecting a $11.4 million cut to our school district’s funding over the next three years. To put this in perspective, that is over 35% of last year’s total district budget. Over the last several years, budgetary issues have already stretched many California school districts to their breaking point.

We cannot allow our schools to be so mistreated with more funding cuts. Our legislators need to know that this is not the time to divert funding away from our public education system; instead, public education needs a reinvestment from our legislators, so we can continue to provide high quality education for our students.

Appropriate funding will allow us to support our teachers and staff as they should be supported; it will lead to new and improved learning opportunities for our students; thus allowing us to better prepare our youth for life beyond high school. Most importantly, this investment will allow us, as a community, to prioritize what is so important: Our next generation of leaders.

Your trustees are asking community members for three things:

• Please ask our legislators to protect and increase school funding. We are attaching advocacy letters below if you wish to use them.
• Please give us your trust and support while allowing our district the opportunity to teach your children in the coming school year.
• Please be patient and feel comfortable actively engaging with our board members. We are here for you.

Below is a link to our Community Advocacy Letter.

Thank You,
Rim of the World Unified School District Board of Trustees 

Our Rim of the World Unified School District Superintendent, Michelle Murphy, has recently formed the Superintendent Media Committee with the purpose of bringing information about matters impacting our students and schools to the community through various outlets. The committee, which includes the Superintendent and two School Board Trustees, will be writing monthly articles for publication and overseeing Time with Trustee’s Community Meetings. This month we are excited to introduce our current School Board Trustees and provide the schedule for our upcoming community meetings.

Cindy Gardner (Board Member) Ms. Gardner is a graduate of the University of Southern California and co-owner, with her husband, of a special makeup effects company. She moved to Lake Arrowhead in 1994 and all three of her children attended ROWUSD schools K-12. She has been involved with our local PTA’s for the last 21 years. Cindy has severed on many educational committees and boards, most recently as the secretary of the San Bernardino County School Boards Association Executive Committee and East Valley Region representative to the San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools (SANDABS), a legislative committee allowing her to advocate for our district at the state and federal levels of government.

Dr. Natalie Lindemann (Board Clerk) Dr. Lindemann is a LAE, MPH and Rim High School graduate. She is now a Rim parent and volunteer, actively involved with LAE PTA and the current Mountain Area Council PTA President. Her family moved to Lake Arrowhead when she was a child to support her successful figure skating career. She has a Doctorate in Forensic Psychology with a private psychotherapy practice in Lake Arrowhead and contracts with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Natalie’s two young children attend LAE and her husband, Coach Mike, is the Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at Rim High School. She feels it is important for our leaders to have their feet on the ground, actively working for the best interest of our students and staff.

Dr. Leslie Bramson (Board Member) Dr. Bramson has raised four successful children and has lived in Crestline for 33 years; before that living in Lake Arrowhead and Twin Peaks. She has a Doctorate in Public Health Education, is a Registered Nurse, a Certified Health Education Specialist, has a Master’s degree in Global Health (Humanitarian Aide), and is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant. Leslie states that because of negative experiences earlier in her own education she is a devoted supporter of students’ needs and feels our students’ education is her ultimate goal for our children on the mountain.

Jordana Ridland (Board Member) Ms. Ridland is a local small business owner of Double Dog Ranch, a cage-free dog boarding facility located in Crestline. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and Minor in Psychology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She has a Single Subject Teaching Credential from the University of Redlands, and master’s in educational technology from Azusa Pacific University. Dana is a former Rim High School math teacher and ETS

educational consultant, math specialist, who has also worked in the corporate world as both a Project Manager and Technical Manager for Fortune 200 companies, Avery Dennison and R.R. Donnelley and Sons. Dana and her husband, Mike, are proud parents of Paulina, who is currently studying Mechanical Engineering at Caltech, and Harrison, who is attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as an Economics Major.

Jordan Zarate (Board President) Mr. Zarate is the CEO of Digital Mountaineers, has a background in web accessibility and ADA web compliance. As the youngest board member at Rim of the World Unified, Jordan also serves on the board of the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce. Jordan is a community-minded entrepreneur who prioritizes making a positive impact in business as well as in his personal life.

As mentioned, in addition to providing information about current matters facing our district we felt it important to create a forum where community members can ask questions and give their insights. Accordingly, we would like to introduce our Time with Trustee’s Community Meetings. These meetings will be informal gatherings around the mountain where school board members will be present. Our School Board values the opinions and ideas of our community members; students, parents, teachers, employees, volunteers, business owners and residents and welcomes you to attend. The current meeting schedule is as follows: November 7 – 7:00 am to 8:00 am at Higher Grounds in Crestline, November 12 – 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Tea and Coffee Exchange in Lake Arrowhead, and November 20 – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Neo’s Pizza in Running Springs. We look forward to strengthening our connection with those we represent.

Respectfully,

Rim of the World Unified School District Board of Education