Denair Unified School District’s finances are stronger than they have been in many years, the district’s Board of Trustees learned during its regular monthly meeting on Thursday.

Chief Business Official Daisy Swearingen provided an in-depth look at the district’s first interim budget report, which provides a mid-year update to the current fiscal year and a look ahead to the next two fiscal years. The first interim report for 2025-26 shows the financial shape of the district as of Oct. 31, 2025, and will be filed with the county superintendent of schools in the coming days.

“The budget looks good,” said Swearingen. “In fact, it’s the best it has looked in a long time, to put it as plainly as possible.”

Swearingen reported an estimated ending cash balance (combined general fund and charter fund) of $5.3 million for 2025-26, and $5.4 million for 2026-27. She did caution, however, that the Legislative Analyst’s Office has reported statewide growth may be volatile, creating uncertainty in multi-year projections.

“For the first time in quite a while, I’m going to go home and go to sleep without worrying about our budget,” said board member Ray Prock Jr. “This is great news.”

In other business, trustees unanimously agreed to greenlight the purchase of two new IC Bus CE Series school buses to replace two aging models in its four-bus fleet.

The new 76-passenger diesel-fuel models will cost $216,647.44 each, for a total expenditure of just over $433,000. That will be funded through the district’s Home-to-School transportation allocation, with limited impact to the general fund.

The board also voted unanimously to declare the old buses – a 1992 Blue Bird and a 2009 Blue Bird – as surplus items so they can be sold or auctioned for fair market value. The two remaining buses in the current fleet have five or six years of life remaining, according to Mark Hodges, Director of Facilities, Construction, Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation.

Currently, the state of California has no mandate for districts to convert to electric buses by a specified date. The district did explore electric buses, Hodges noted, but the cost per unit was more than double the diesel option. Additionally, the infrastructure required to install charging stations would cost well over $1 million. 

The new buses are expected to provide better fuel economy than the outgoing buses, which will bring additional savings to the district.

Also on Thursday, Superintendent Terry Metzger, Ed.D., presented data from the California School Dashboard, covering such categories as chronic absenteeism, suspension rate, graduation rate, college and career readiness, and English-learner progress. The DHS graduation rate was a robust 98.7 percent, up 2.5 percent from the previous report. DHS also saw its number for college and career readiness increase by nearly 17 percent.

Other highlights from Thursday’s meeting included:

• Board member Billy Myers was elected DUSD Board of Trustees president for 2026, while Andrea Bennett was elected clerk of the board. Metzger will continue to serve as the secretary of the board.

• Outgoing board president Ray Prock Jr. was honored for his most recent term and for his decade of overall service on the governing body. “This is the third time you served as president during my time here a superintendent,” said Metzger. “You’ve proven to be a good thought partner, and you care deeply about leading the board in its work.”

• The trustees discussed their membership on district committees, with Myers and Bennett agreeing to serve on the District Advisory Committee, Jason De Muro and Prock on the Facilities Committee, and De Muro on the District English Learner Advisory Committee, with an additional post on the DELAC to be filled on a rotating basis.

• Renee Hall, special-education teacher and a 2001 graduate of Denair High School, was named the Certificated Employee of the Month.

• Maing Panerio, Campus Supervisor, was named the Classified Employee of the Month.  Panerio was unable to attend Thursday’s meeting due the birth of his granddaughter earlier in the day.

• Special education teacher Bonnie Lundquist, who began working at DUSD in September 1997, was recognized during the meeting as she is set to retire mid-term. “I’ve enjoyed my time here at Denair Unified, and I thank each and every one of you,” she said.

Staff updates were provided by ELOP and Special Programs Manager Zenaida Moreno, Director of Elementary Education and DECA Principal Crystal Sousa, DCA Principal Jamie Pecot, DMS Principal Gabriela Sarmiento, and DHS Principal Breanne Aguilar:

• Moreno: ELOP attendance had reached 103 students in the mornings and 220 students in the afternoons. Additionally, Cruizin Critters recently paid a visit to the district, and the Denair Fire Department is slated for a visit to reinforce standard safety practices.

• Sousa: Perfect attendance figures rose for the third consecutive month. After 268 students had perfect attendance in October, that figure rose to 340 in November and stands at 410 for December.

• Pecot: DCA hosted its Cash for College workshop, with eight families attending and filling out the critical FAFSA form for federal student aid.

• Sarmiento: Denair Middle School’s seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball teams were competing for the conference championship on Thursday. Later in the evening, Sarmiento reported that both squads fell just short and finished in second place.

• Aguiar: Twenty-six girls and 22 boys are playing varsity and JV basketball, while 22 males are competing in varsity and JV basketball; 22 girls and 20 boys are playing varsity soccer, and 10 girls and 24 boys are competing in wrestling. Also, DHS will be hosting a youth basketball camp on Jan. 10, 2026, for students in grades 1-4 (9 to 11 a.m.) and 5-8 (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.). Cost is $35 per athlete, and a camp T-shirt is included. Registration closes Dec. 17.

Denair High’s run in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 7 playoffs may have come to an end Friday with a 41-0 loss to top-seeded Calaveras, but the setback doesn’t take away from the impressive season turned in by head coach Anthony Armas’ football team.

The No. 5 Coyotes (9-3) reached the semifinal round and finished with nine victories for the third time since 2018.

“I’m very proud of this team,” said Armas, who is 53-59 in 11 seasons as Denair’s head coach. “It was a heck of a season. 

Though the 2025 Coyotes fell short of the benchmarks established by the groundbreaking 2018 squad, they were able to accomplish something the state champions did not: winning a Southern League title. After a 24-23 overtime loss to Mariposa on Oct. 10, Denair persevered to gain a share of the conference banner with Mariposa and Stone Ridge Christian (Merced).

“That was very meaningful,” said Armas. “We’ve been chasing it for a while, and to be the first team to do it in 19 years means a lot. Last year, there was a two-way tie for the title, and this year there was a three-way tie, which goes to show how competitive the league is and how difficult it is to win that championship. It makes it that much more satisfying.”

The Coyotes’ explosive offense will lose 1,000-yard rusher Degan Butler to graduation, but quarterback Derek Potter, running backs Bryson Salazar (the team’s leading rusher) and Connor Hart, and top receiver Harlan Brown, will return to give the team a solid foundation in 2026. Additionally, two-way players John Wilmoth, Jude Moody, Victor Sarmiento, Noah Chavez, and Jose Mora will aid in the quest for back-to-back league crowns.

“We made it to the semifinals in a year when there were less playoff spots than in previous years, and the competition in our division may have been the toughest it’s been in some time,” Armas said of the D-7 bracket, which included 2024 state champ Summerville, as well as all three Southern League co-champs. “As a staff, we really enjoyed coaching these young men. This was a great group to be around.”

Making the 90-minute trip to Mariposa for the second time in five weeks, No. 5 Denair High avenged a regular-season loss to the fourth-seeded Grizzlies with a 33-28 triumph in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 7 playoffs.

The Coyotes will have to be road warriors once again this week when they make a similar trip to San Andreas, where they’ll take on top-seeded Calaveras at Frank Meyer Field. The Red Hawks advanced by topping No. 8 Le Grand, 33-6.

“It’s going to be a tough one,” said head coach Anthony Armas, who guided Denair to a state championship in 2019. “Watching them on film, they seem well-coached, physical, with a lot of size. They’re the one seed for a reason.”

On the other side of the bracket, No. 7 Linden, a 21-13 upset winner over second-seeded Stone Ridge Christian, will take on No. 3 seed and defending state champ Summerville, which cruised past No. 6 Rio Vista, 41-6.

Kickoff for each semifinal matchup is slated for 7 p.m.

Mariposa and Stone Ridge Christian each shared a piece of the Southern League title with Denair this season. The Coyotes defeated SRC 36-21 on Sept. 19 but fell 24-23 to Mariposa in overtime on Oct. 10.

Now, however, Denair is the sole Southern League team still competing for a championship.

“We talked a lot about second chances this week,” said Armas. “We wanted to make sure we capitalized on the opportunity. We didn’t think we played our best the first time around, and we were really looking forward to that second chance.”

The Coyotes’ three-pronged rushing attack was the key, with Bryson Salazar (134 yards), Degan Butler (117) and Connor Hart (95) combining for 346 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Hart also had a TD reception in the contest.

In the teams’ October matchup, Hart was injured in the first quarter and missed the remainder of that game. He was healthy for four quarters Friday night.

The Coyotes also limited the miscues this time around. After turning the ball over four times in October, they committed just one turnover in the rematch.

Armas doesn’t think another lengthy road trip will be a detriment for his squad.

“We’ve made trips this season to Summerville (Tuolumne), Pajaro Valley (Watsonville) and Mariposa twice,” Armas pointed out. “If we don’t know how to handle the travel by now, we never will.”

A DHS rooters’ bus will be making the trip to San Andreas, with only 15 more seats available. Interested students should pick up a permission slip in Mrs. Hilton’s classroom – Room 405 – during lunch. Once the permission slip is returned, a seat will be reserved, free of charge, though students eventually will have to verify their ticket purchase. Tickets are $13.60 for adults, $11.50 for seniors and members of the military, and $8.35 for students (prices include processing fees). Tickets must be purchased via the GoFan app.

The Denair Unified School District board of trustees received an update Thursday on current and upcoming districtwide infrastructure improvements, which include both Measure Z and non-Measure Z projects.

Measure Z is the $34.3 million bond initiative passed by voters in 2024 to support upgrades within the district, especially at the Denair Elementary Charter Academy and Denair High School campuses.

Daisy Swearingen, the district’s Chief Business Officer, updated board members Ray Prock Jr., Billy Meyers, Andrea Bennett, Jason De Muro, and Kathi Dunham-Filson on projects that are currently under way or soon to be started.

“We’ve been receiving routine progress reports,” said Swearingen. “Every single phase of the project, every detail, is being monitored to be sure that we have the best possible outcome. It’s going really well.”

At DHS, projects include the gymnasium roof and the baseball field fencing projects. At DECA, playground equipment is set to be replaced, a new kitchen and gym project is in the bidding stage, and the transitional-kindergarten and kindergarten inner-campus has been reconfigured to add an additional restroom. Also, upgrades to alarm and security systems have been completed and technology cabling is ongoing.

Phase One of the roofing project was wrapped up before the recent rainstorms hit the region.

“And for the first time in a long time we can say that there were no leaks,” Swearingen boasted.

Additional improvements will be rolled out in four phases over the next two school years, with some projects’ start dates dependent upon the completion of other projects.

Earlier in Thursday’s meeting, Director of Student Support Services Amanda Silva delivered a presentation on chronic absenteeism and discipline throughout the district. The California Department of Education defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent of instructional days during a school year.

DECA saw its chronic absenteeism rate drop from 27.9 percent in 2023 to 20.1 percent in 2024, while Denair Middle School and Denair High School dipped from 22.1 to 18.9 percent – an improvement of 3.2 percent. Meanwhile, disciplinary suspensions at DMS and DHS dropped from 12.4 percent in 2023 to a four-year low 6.8 percent in 2024. Data for 2025 is expected to be available for next month’s board meeting.

Other items included:

• The board of trustees unanimously approved the consent calendar, which paved the way for the Class of 2026 Grad Night trip to Disneyland, via Storer Coachways, in May.

• Melissa Oei, DMS campus supervisor, was recognized as the district’s Classified Employee of the Month for November: “She goes above and beyond to maintain the safety of our school campus,” said DMS Principal Gabriela Sarmiento. “When urgent concerns arise, she addresses them expeditiously and with good judgment, ensuring situations are handled quickly and appropriately.”

• Genesis Delgado, a transitional kindergarten teacher at DECA, was named the Certificated Employee of the Month for November: “I am so grateful that she’s a mentor to my daughter, who’s in the residency program,” said DECA Principal Crystal Sousa. “And, hopefully, next year she’ll be a teacher to my grandson. That’s how much respect and confidence I have in Ms. Delgado.”

• Clayton McDonald, the October Certificated Employee of the Month, was recognized Thursday as he could not attend last month’s rescheduled meeting.

The Sac-Joaquin Section playoff brackets have been announced, and Denair High School will see a familiar face in the opening round of the Division 7 playoffs.

The fifth-seeded Coyotes will take on No. 4 Mariposa, a rematch of their Oct. 10 encounter when the Grizzlies came away with a 24-23 overtime victory at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds.

Denair will make another 80-minute trip to Mariposa on Nov. 14. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

“We’re OK with our seeding and our first-round opponent,” said DHS head coach Anthony Armas. “We were ranked fifth by MaxPreps after Friday and we figured we’d stay there. We’re happy we get a second chance with Mariposa. Things didn’t go the way we would’ve liked in the first go ’round.”

The SJS adopted a new postseason format for football, taking MaxPreps’ top eight ranked teams in each division and placing them into a three-round postseason tournament. Meanwhile, the 9-16 teams in those rankings will be paired for a bowl game that will be their final action of the season, win or lose.

All bowl games will be played this Friday night, with the regular games kicking off the following week. While some playoff teams would rather maintain their momentum and roll straight into the playoffs instead of having a week off, Armas welcomes the rest.

“We’re OK with it,” said Armas. “At this point in the season, we’ll take any time we can get to get healthy and prepare.”

The Coyotes closed the regular season with a 59-34 win over a stubborn Waterford squad, improving their record to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the Southern League to secure a share of the conference title with Mariposa and Stone Ridge Christian (Merced).

Bryson Salazar rushed for 292 yards on 14 carries – a staggering 21 yards per attempt – and five touchdowns, while teammate Degan Butler (who owns the school’s single-game rushing record with 315 yards) had 105 yards and three TDs on 20 carries.