001I'm ready. Good morning welcome. The time is now 10:03 a.m. on May 13th, 2026. I'm going to take roll. Ms. Newbell. Present. Dr. Rivas. Mr. Melvoin. >> Here. Ms. Grego, Ms. Gonez, Ms. Ortiz Franklin. Present. >> Or President Schmerelson. Present. >> Okay, we have a quorum. I'm going to go ahead and read through the purpose and authority of the closed session today. Then we will take public comment to item specific items, and then we will take general public comment. Under tab one, student discipline matters pursuant to education code 48918 CF. Tab two, personnel pursuant to government code section 54957, public employee discipline, dismissal, and release, superintendent's evaluation, and under the public employment are executive officer of the Board of Education and Inspector General. Under tab three, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation under government code
002section 54956.9D4. There are three cases under pending litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9D1, G A V L A U S D at all, Jane Doe V L A U S D at all, Jane Doe V L A U S D at all, and I R V L A U S D at all. I'll note that all of these case numbers are available on our website at boe.lausd.net. If you want to go look up the case numbers at the LA Superior Court website. Under tab four, conference with labor negotiators pursuant to government code section 54957.6. The negotiator is Dr. Murphy, and the employee organizations represented are Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, Teamsters 2010, California School Employees Association, Los Angeles County Building and Construction Trades Council, Los Angeles School Police Association, Los Angeles School Police Management
003Association, Service Employees International Union SEIU Local 99, Teamsters, United Teachers Los Angeles, and District Represented Employees and Contract Management Personnel. Uh Ms. Nivera Reed is the negotiator for unrepresented employees, executive officer of the Board of Education, and inspector general. Now I will go through uh public comment, item-specific public comment. There is no public comment for tab one, student discipline. Under tab two, personnel, there are three folks signed up to speak in person. Uh that's Danny Salas. Are you here? Danny Salas. Check online to see if Mr. Salas is on Zoom instead. Is that Danny? Okay, Danny's in the audience telling me he's going to be doing public comment in another section. I appreciate it, sir. I'm just repeating it so that we can have it uh for the record. All right, the next speaker is
004Monica Razzola. Are you here, Monica? I do not see you. And Lilia Garcia. Lil- Come on up, Ms. Garcia. You'll have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. Disculpe. Usted va a hablar en español? Okay. So, uh Ms. Garcia is going to speak in Spanish, so if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English, uh please put on these translation headsets that are being offered uh so you can experience simultaneous translation. Momento por favor. Okay, listos. Gracias. Very good morning to all the members of the board. I am Lilia Garcia, for more than 23 years working very proud for LA USD. I have been removed from the school and unfortunately I feel that it was a situation that was unjust. I have treated the children with respect. Parents, which is my job as a
005parent representative, as a community representative, and proudly I've defended the parents because without the parents we don't have children and without the children we don't have a check. That is very important. I motivate the children every morning to come to school and the children don't call me Miss Lily or Miss Garcia. They know me as hip hip hooray go to school. And it makes me very proud to be here in front of you today defending my job because I only do three things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Coming making families and children come and making the children come and trust in me in order to tell me, "My mother passed away in December." "Lilly, my daughter just committed suicide." "My grandmother just passed away on Friday." And very
006happily I go to the consulate to bring them resources to help the families. If you are pushing me away from the school, nor would I told the principal, "This is your decision because this is my blessing. I will go somewhere else because whoever If If a parent, you're green everywhere. Thank you for listening to me. All right, moving to tab four, conference with labor negotiators. The first in-person speaker is David Tokofsky. Are you here, sir? There he is, all the way in the back. Please come on up, Mr. Tokofsky. You'll have 2 minutes to speak once you begin, then and after Mr. Tokofsky, it is Mr. Juan Magandi. Thank you very much. I'm speaking on labor and the closed session today. Uh board members, on a four to three vote for your labor negotiators team,
007should never proceed. You need to have a unanimous eight people, the superintendent and seven, in order to have integrity. It means the person has confidence to be a senior manager, but it also indicates to you that you have a significant problem that you need to address. You have the May revision tonight and tomorrow. It's very optimistic. It's only the tax revenues from April and back for last year. You need to have an action plan the way the superintendent and the president did last week to go for the next two to four weeks as hard as you can on this money. It's not over until the governor sings and signs. Special ed money is crucial to this district. The Proposition 98 money will be back, and there's an opportunity to increase the cola. Remember, this does
008not include May's revenue, June, and the extensions to July, August, September, and October. Those are all monies for last year. Keep the pressure on at your committee of the whole next week, you should add the May revision to the subject. Welcome to the new IG that will be coming. The first thing the new IG ought to do is look at $2 billion of extended learning opportunity money that was spent in this district over the last four years. As you pursue revenue enhancement, E-rate money was the biggest gift that this governor ever gave to the people and students of of Los Angeles. And finally, as you come forward next month to authorize and approve your UTLA contract, your SEIU contract, and your all contract, which were negotiated and closed in in a way to avoid a
009strike and the loss of learning, I applaud you on that. But make sure you distinguish, board members, between the district represented people who are rank and file workers at low-income working-class folks from the senior elite people who should not be getting a 10 to 14% raise on top of $250,000. Thank you for your time. All right, the next speaker is Juan Jose Magandi. We'll get to you, Miss Arrazola. Momento por uh Mr. Magandi, primero, por favor. Okay, no. Mr. Thank you, Mr. Magandi. Okay, listos. Gracias. All the personnel, I love seeing how they just make their money so easy. It's full, right? Well, hello. I believe that after yesterday's junking issue, it seems like they will allow children's to change their sex uh coming to 12 years old, and also to practice something that was
010called family. This is called inclusion uh inside the exclusion. And it looks like the old people, we are retrogrades. And And I don't know what else we are because we are not working for a society that's being created uh knowing how we put the old people aside because we are part of that story. But we have an ex-superintendent that is is how much are you paying how much are they paying you Mr. Shade? $90? What was approved yesterday? Something that's called the big business of mental health and this has become the most used medicine that our family need but you guys are manipulating this in a dirty way. Thank you Ms. Griego. You are a proud person of how you what you are doing with our Latino people is a disaster. You're destroying what we
011had values which was our customs and not defending the major priority or well, I'm defending something that's called humanity and I don't think you understand that as of now because you come to comply with the a political agenda that's not helping the students of low income. How is it possible that a representative a community rep is almost crying because she's been helping, motivating, and giving students support for 25 years even with the Latino families and so that they can acquire and acquire their own personal success and you are telling us that we are doing things the wrong way. Thank you for your business because honestly, I want to tell you that you are an embarrassment for the Latinos that we try to better the conditions of the low income people and thank you. Have a
012good morning. >> Thank you for your time. All right, that concludes public comment items specific Oh, Monica Resola, please. Ms. Resola is going to speak in Spanish so if you'd like to use those continue to use those translation headsets, please please do so. Okay, listo. Gracias. Buenos dias, mi nombre es Good morning, my name is Monica Resola. I'm a mother of two students. Unfortunately, Ms. Rocío Rivas is not is not here at this moment. I wanted to tell her a couple of things but I'm upset because of what's happening at the schools and they're you and using this as a nocturnal center where they are putting the students to the men are dressing as women, the women as men. How embarrassing because our district is has to be used for the academics academic mathematics, science,
013history. There's so much to learn. It's an embarrassment that the children are telling the parents I'm going to stay I'm going to stay at school till 4:30 and what does the father think? Oh, oh, what a great job. You will just you will try to learn something else or a physical or music music class art? Well, no, it seems like this is a nocturnal center inside the school where the students stay there after school. What a dirty mind you have. And if there's so much love with the community for the gay community and there is no love for the students and people that are dying of cancer leukemia and if there's so much empathy with one thing or another thing, why don't you cut your hair so you can show how much love that you
014have you have for the people or the students that are dying the people that are dying. Or they're the ones who are going through cancer leukemia and every time they go through these therapies they're good for one thing but not for the others and you feel proud to carry your colorful flags and at the schools we shouldn't even be talking about nothing that has to do with religion nor if if they are certain gender or politics. The school is to focus on the academic side and this is why our students go there and then you're saying that students are going to school. How are they going to go to school if this is not a safe place? It's safe for you to support them in this way. What role are you playing in their lives?
015Thank you for your time. All right, we'll now do general public comment. I will call on the folks who are in person first and then I will transition to call on those who are signed up to speak remotely. So, the first speaker in the room is Maria Luisa Palma. And then after Ms. Palma is Isabel Gonzales and then Richelle Rios. School safety, also known as money for your friends. Who knew that in this mayoral race that the issue of homeless encampments, drug use, organized crime in our neighborhoods would become such a flashpoint? Anybody? To have even Ms. Nithya Raman admit that now she doesn't want to defund police. All of a sudden police is important to the city when there are votes concerned. My name is Maria Luisa Palma and as always I am here
016to discuss money and where is it being used and if it's effective or not effective. Tax, tax, tax revenue. You also had that other resolution on the agenda yesterday trying to extract more revenue from the state, meaning from our pockets, taxpayer pockets without ever coming clear about whether or not the funds were effective or not. Where is the accountability? Community-based safety. Now we're talking about in the city here, city police or school police. Constituents actually want true safety, not just counseling. Nobody says, really and truly nobody says, I want more mental health services in the school for my children. Parents don't say that naturally. It's because you asked them, Ms. Giego. You say, don't you want mental health? And they sit there and they go, well, yeah, of course. Sure, you're going to give me
017something free? I'll take it." But, that's not the same thing. Parents want their students to be safe. Clinics already exist if people want medical services. So, when parents, staff, principals dare to speak up and say anything against your political spiel that you bring here with tons of people that get brought here, what happens? Silencing. The parents are retaliated against in their schools. This is a racket, especially immigrant parents. You're driving a wedge between parents and the students, the citizens, the children of these of this district, of this city. You never say yesterday in all your mental health discussions. You never said helping children to become closer to their parents. You never say that. You are saying counselors FIRST. NO, PARENTS and families first, ALWAYS. THE STUDENTS, THE CHILDREN BELONG TO THEIR PARENTS, NOT TO YOU,
018MS. DE la Vega, not to you. Thank you for your time. Okay, the next speaker is Isabel Gonzales. Come on up. You'll have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. Isabel Gonzales. Please Please Please come on up. Come on up. You'll have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. As time goes by, parents have talked that are parents that are worried that are worried about the high numbers of violence at the schools. I've been I've been a witness that this is a worry of the parents. At my school, we have a charter school next to it that has been a huge problem for the parents, for the students, for the community, even for personnel. The problem of parking is there, violence is there, the problem of traffic and other issues that we have at this
019school is there. And it's gone to a point where school personnel has been obligated not to participate and place cones at the schools to avoid the congestion, parking, or traffic and the obstruction of the entrance of our students. Because the parents of this school have been very aggressive. They insult personnel, they don't follow the rules, they fight using verbal words. In fact, they've insulted school personnel. They're almost fighting. They've almost tried to run them over. Therefore, if they don't place the cones the way they used to do it before, the problems came back. My petition and what I ask is for please Carla, I want you to do something with the other public servants just like you that have to do with the city and come to an a point where it does this problem
020doesn't escalate so they don't run at someone over, they don't run a student, parent, or a personnel over. Our proposition is that the streets are closed during the beginning of the school day and after. A few years ago, a mother was ran over in front of her student. Unfortunately, she passed and we don't want that to happen again. Make use of the good relationship that we have with the mayors or the city people so that >> for your time. Should I continue? Okay. Thank you for your time. All right, the next speaker is Rochelle. Rochelle Rios? Hi, come on up. You have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. Good morning, Board President, Board Members, Interim Superintendent. My name is Rochelle Rios, Managing Director of Expand LA, a nonprofit intermediary representing a coalition of nearly
021500 youth serving organizations across LA County. I'm here today on behalf of nonprofit providers serving 10,000 of students primarily in the district's highest need communities. California made a historic investment in expanded learning through ELOP because lawmakers understood that students need more than the instructional day alone to thrive. ELOP was designed to provide universal access to safe enriching developmentally supportive programs beyond school hours, especially for working families and communities with the fewest resources. Community-based organizations were always intended to be central partners in that work. For decades, nonprofit providers have brought the relationship, youth development expertise, and community trust that make these programs successful. These organizations are not outside vendors. They're long-standing partners deeply rooted in the communities LAUSD serves. That is why getting implementation right matters so deeply. Today, there are two major concerns providers are
022facing. First, reimbursement structures and contract terms have not kept pace with actual program costs, workforce realities, or the operational demands of ELOP. The master contract was written decades ago. LAUSD receives nearly 491 million annually in ELOP funding plus ASES and 21st Century. Yet, many providers are struggling to sustain programs under rates that do not fully reflect the true cost of delivering compliant, high-quality programs. In addition, proposed cuts to enhancement funds will create deficits that programs cannot absorb. Second, providers are experiencing growing operational instability through abrupt policy shifts, inconsistent review processes, cease and desist actions, and new restrictions that are making it increasingly difficult to operate programs effectively. The stakes are high. For many families, these programs are essential. We're not here in opposition to the district. We are here because we believe deeply in the
023promise of YALP and want to be true thought partners in in building sustainable equitable expanded learning ecosystem. We're asking the board to restore enhancement funding and fully fund CBOs, fix the master contract, and ensure the fair treatment of organizations that have served communi- communities across the district um faithfully for decades. Thank you. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> Annette Toscano. Annette Toscano, come on down. You have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. And after Ms. Toscano is Jackie Cohen. Board members, um I yield my time to Mr. Donny Fa'aliliu. Uh good morning, board members. My name is Donny Fa'aliliu with the After-School All-Stars Los Angeles. I serve as the senior VP of leadership and community outreach. Uh been with this organization for over 22 years. We serve 4,441 students across 15 LAUSD
024sites in board districts 2 through 7, all in the highest needs communities. If enhancement funds are cut as proposed, we face a deficit we cannot absorb. We cannot operate at a loss. That means closures. We have been committed partners to this district for decades and do not deserve to be treated this way. After-School All-Stars was founded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the very ballot initiative that created After-School funding in California. This funding was built on the recognition that community-based organizations show up for students. YALP was created in direct recognition of that. During COVID, when schools were closed, it was CBOs that kept showing up, supporting students' social and emotional development when nothing else was functioning. Governor Newsom's uh recovery solution was expanded learning. And it was built on partnerships with the organizations in this
025room. These partnerships are strongly encouraged by CD as the intended delivery model. The question before this board is, what are LAUSD's priorities for 491 million in ELO P plus ASIS and 21st Century funds? Only 38% of ELO P is currently designated for the required programs. Meanwhile, Beyond the Bell's own programs run at the rates we are requesting. Our contract rates dates back decades and does not allow us to keep pace with those costs or with union wage standards. We are asking this board for three things. Re- restore enhancement funds. Fully fund a CBO to deliver the programs this law requires. Fix the master contract. It was written in 2009 and has not kept pace with ELO P on current costs. Stop the punitive of treatment of organizations that have served these communities faithfully for decades.
026We are not the problem. We are part of the solutions. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> The next speaker is Jackie Cohen. I yield to Lucy Herrera. Thank you. Good morning, board members. My name is Lucy Herrera and I am the executive director of Legacy LA. We serve over 800 students across Mendez High School and Wilson High School in some of LAUSD's highest need communities through expanded learning, mentorship, academic intervention, and leadership development programming. I also grew up in the same community we serve and I am a product of Legacy LA. If enhancement funding is cut as proposed, organizations like ours will face deficits we cannot absorb. Nonprofits cannot operate at a loss. These cuts will destabilize programs, reduce services, and in some case some cases force closures.
027Legacy LA staff are from these neighborhoods. Many staff, including myself, are alumni of our programs. We have spent decades building trust with youth and families who rely on us not only for enrichment, but for safety, mentorship, stability, transportation, meals, academic support, and opportunity. And the reality is if programs like ours disappear, there are no other providers waiting to step in. The highest need schools will be impacted first and hardest. Destabilizing community-based programs at the highest need schools in favor of optional activities that could be funded after requirements are met is a profound equity failure. The intent of this funding is to serve these children. This is exactly what we do. That is exactly what is at risk. We are asking this board for three things. Restore enhancement funding and fully fund CBOs to deliver the
028programs the law requires. Fix the master contract. It was written in 2009 and has not kept pace with ELO P or current costs. And stop the punitive treatment of organizations that have served these communities faithfully for decades. We are not the problem. We are part of the solution. Thank you. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> All right, Uriah Blackwell. Uriah, come on up. And then it's Louis Salas and then Genie Marroquin. I yield my time to Peter Strauss. All right, come on up, sir. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Peter Strauss. I'm the founder and executive director of Team Primetime. We currently have 14 locations serving 3,000 students in the West and North regions of LAUSD. I'm here specifically to talk about what ELO P has made possible for all the providers
029here, which is the ability to finally include students with special needs as equals at scale in afterschool programs. We're able to do so through our full inclusion sports program, the Primetime Games. I call your attention to this specific program because we're able to do so through ELOP and the cutting of ELOP funding threatens this very program. To put it in context, I refer back to the April 28th board meeting. Where if indeed there is a stated need more for more special education programming and if indeed there is the stated goal to improve social emotional competencies of LAUSD students by 2030, which this program has an evidence-based to do and if there is truly a desire to incorporate the out-of-school time into the regular day overall goal so that we can seamlessly work together to achieve
030the district's goals, then it makes sense that ELOP should be protected at all costs because it can help the district achieve those goals. All of the providers here have specialized programming that they are more than willing to work together with the other providers to help achieve these goals. I'm just speaking of the one that we are able to offer. So I know on behalf of the agencies that are here, we look forward to the opportunity to work together in support of the goals set forth by LAUSD and my ask is simply twofold. Number one that you please ease restrictions on field trips and interscholastic sports and two, that you include us as a thought partner. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Luis Salas. >> [applause] >> Good morning everyone. As you
031can see, we're in solidarity here with other providers. My name is Danny Salas, Chief Program Officer for Woodcraft Rangers and proud to serve over 10,000 students across all LAUSD districts. If it happen if it has been funds are cut as proposed, we face a deficit that we cannot absorb. We will definitely be at the loss. That means we'll see closures. We have been committed partners for decades across the district and we do not deserve to be um treated this way. Students who participate in after-school programs attend school more. This is not an assumption. It is what our program data shows. Attendance improves, behaviors improve, test scores follow. Woodcraft Rangers has served LAUSD for over six generations. 40% of our staff are alumni of our own programs and that is true across community-based organizations. We are
032committed to hiring from within the communities we serve and this is not something that a contractor or EdTech vendor can replicate. We also partner with 20 other LEAs across Southern California and every one of them fully fund these programs and many invest in uh staff across Southern California. Every one of them fully funds these programs and many invest in additional services like inclusion supports for students with special needs. Woodcraft Rangers serves Southeast Southeast Los Angeles communities that have historically the fewest resources and greatest need. The rate structure we operate under has not kept pace with actual cost. We cannot keep pace with the union wage standards at $8.55. We cannot absorb an enhancement fund cut. What other districts would expect its largest long-serving community partner to subsidize required programs when hundreds are of millions are
033designated uh for exactly this purpose. We partner with 20 other LEAs and no one of them have asked us to cut or operate at a deficit. Every one of them understands that the cost of delivery is the cost of delivery. We are asking for the board for three things: to restore enhancement funding, fully fund CBOs to deliver the programs that the law requires, to fix the master contract as it was written in 2009, and to keep pace with Y ELO-P current across. We believe in this work. I have been in this in this district partnering for 20 years and I'm proud of the work that we've all done. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Uh Genie Marroquin, Genie M, come on up. After Genie, it is uh Delana Walker. I will render
034my time to Chris Jefferson. Okay, please go ahead. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Chris Jefferson, the chief program officer for the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. Every day the YMCA serves thousands of LAUSD students across Los Angeles through expanded learning, but our partnership with this district goes far beyond just before and after school programs. When schools and communities need support, the YMCA shows up. We provide free summer memberships to every LAUSD student 12 to 18 years old through our Get Summer initiative because we believe that young people need a place to belong when they're out of school. We partner with LAUSD to host thousands of middle school and high school girls at Girls Empowerment Day because we believe that girls have a place at the table in sports. Through our Foster Youth initiative,
035every LAUSD student who is in the foster system gets free access to YMCA memberships and programs until their 26th birthday. Supporting our most vulnerable communities. We serve more than 50,000 LAUSD students during the school day in our play program, which fills in the gaps that physical education teachers who are not in school and not feel. During the wildfires that devastated communities across Los Angeles, the YMCA provided free child care to thousands of LAUSD students. And the averted And during the averted strike, the YMCA mobilized quickly to be able to prepare to receive students should they not be able to go to school. This is what partnership looks like. It's not a vendor, it's a partner. And um the YMCA and the other community-based organizations representing here today, we provide programs and services to school to
036the school and to this district beyond the after school care realm. We welcome accountability. We believe in transparency. We believe programs should demonstrate impacts, but right now, many long-standing community organizations are struggling under systems and processes that feel disconnected from reality. We're asking the board for three things: restore enhancement funding, and fully fund CBOs to deliver programs that the law requires. Uh take a look at the master contract that needs to be updated since 2009, and continue uh and stop the punitive treatment of organizations that have served this community. If we all work together, we can promote belonging, we can promote family, and we can uplift children in Los Angeles together. Thank you so much. All right, Anna Ortega. Anna Ortega, are you here? >> [clears throat] >> Anna Ortega. Uh Suani or Suani, are
037you here? Not here, thank you. All right, Armando Diaz. And after Diaz, it's De- Deja Cheatham. Come on down, you have 2 minutes to speak. Once you begin. Good morning, board members. My name is Armando Diaz. I'm the Chief Growth and Innovation Officer for Educare Foundation, which and a proud uh LAUSD alum and a parent as well. Um and through Educare, we serve over 25,000 students at over 43 plus high school campuses across LAUSD and all board districts, which we are very proud of that. We've been uh partnering with the district for many decades, and providing really good support. Um today, I'm going to speak about the high school youth, which that's part The high school programming is part of the ELOP uh dollars that you could actually spend on that. And the data for
038Educare students shows it. Um Educare students that are attending, this is from last school year, 2024-2025, that were re- frequent attenders attended 18.5 more days of regular school day amongst their peers that didn't attend after school programs. And the L pack for English language learners, they were at 18.7% higher than students that didn't attend. And this is true data coming out of the district report that's done every year through ERC consultants. So I'm hopefully that that data has been shared with you guys. And again, in terms of attempted credits, our students are at 96.9% receiving more credits than their peers as well. For older youth, as you can see, these programs go beyond just hanging out after school. It's real world programming that we provide, getting them college and career ready, and providing them opportunities
039for the workforce in the future. And as we know, families like myself choose a school in the district based on the what they have to offer. If there's a solid after school program, of course I'm going to select that school. And that really benefits the dwindling enrollment of the district with providing high quality programming like the rest of our partners do. And of course, on behalf of Educare, we thank you for the support, but again, ask you for the three things that our colleagues have said. Update the master contract, keep the enhancement dollars, and stop treating us in a period away. Thank you and I appreciate your time. Thank you for your time. Asia, are you here? Asia, all right. I'll call on the folks who are speaking remotely via Zoom. Let's see. Jamila, are
040you on the line? I see you're on the line. Please press star six to unmute yourself, and you have two minutes to speak once you begin. Jamila. Sorry, can you hear me? Yeah, please go ahead. Okay. Good morning, school board members. My My is Jamila Fontenot, and I'm here today to speak on an important issue that has concerned students, parents, and faculty members of the Virtual Academy. In 2017, Marisa Pena and Jesus Avila were were administrators at Southeast High School. They said junior girl came to them trusting them as adults and reported that she was raped by teacher. Instead of following protocol or informing or informing authorities of the accusation, Jesus and Marisa followed by locking her in a room for hours until she recounted the story. LISD had no contest to covering up these
041rapes. After this, they retaliated against the She wasn't even allowed to go to her own graduation. LISD made the allegations that they had to pay a settlement of 6.5 million to the former student who was abused and then followed by Marisa by Marisa and Jesus. LISD tried to write a strong statement to let me go, but they were then reinstated and have since promoted both of them. I hope that they will also pay for their taxes. LISD states that it wants its students to feel safe and respected in school. I think you all agree with that mission and have positive intentions. However, it is very questionable that these two administrators put no contest put no contest and were then promoted. Virtual Academy director Natasha Buck recently was questioned about this, and she stated that it
042wasn't her concern since it was 20 years ago. Is that appropriate for her to say? Is that right? As somebody who has a friend who was a victim of grooming, how is she as students supposed to feel to talk about her experience? How are other students not who may be survivors supposed to feel? You cannot openly claim to care about her or any other student when you allow people who openly cover up child abuse to continue to work in your district. Many students are scared to speak out about their experience already, and allowing these people to continue working in your district will further increase the fear in the students. Fear that they shouldn't have. I hope that you I hope that you take rapid action against all three of these individuals and provide and provide
043a quick a quick update. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. All right. Abigail de la Torre, are you I see you're signed up to speak remotely and you're online. Abigail, please press star six to unmute yourself, and you have two minutes to speak once you begin. Abigail. Good morning. My name is Abigail Dela Cruz. I am a high school student and a resident of the LAUSD district. After receiving information regarding a recent incident between an LAUSD student and Hisi Gulo, who is the administrator of operations for the LAUSD Virtual Academy, I feel compelled to share my concerns with you, the board. Recently, students and families were informed of a whistleblower video in which Hisi Gulo was questioned about the case in which he committed no contest after covering up the rape
044of a student at South East High School. The student asked for sex with him seeking to gain a better understanding of the case to ease concerns. However, Angulo really declined to speak on the matter and abruptly walked away. Angulo described this as a personal matter. Now, was it considered a personal matter for the girl who was sexually abused and then retaliated against by school administration? As stated in the LA Times, not only were the administrators who committed these crimes retained by LAUSD, they were promoted. That tells parents everything they need to know about LAUSD's abject failure to protect students from sexual predators. Now, according to the lawsuit against LAUSD and Angulo, both Angulo and Sotomayor held the criminal office for hours pressuring her to recant her story. They threatened her and kept her hostage. Hisi
045Angulo and Maria Sotomayor were then promoted. The student had come up with allegations of molestation, abuse, and rape. Angulo and Sotomayor tried to hide it, yet they are still working for LAUSD on my tax dollars. Latasha Butts was also involved in this and when questioned, she justified it by saying it was 20 years ago. Now, my question is, would she say the same thing about Sidney Chavez? LAUSD preaches inclusivity and protecting students. However, the message this sends is that there is inclusivity for predators like Hisi Angulo and Maria Sotomayor along with Latasha Butts who defended them. In recent news, the Department of Education has begun an investigation into LAUSD's response towards sexual misconduct against students. The Department of Education alleges that teachers are simply reassigned between schools instead of punished, again, allegedly. Now, we don't
046know if this is true, but it seems some of them are definitely promoted like Hisi Angulo and Maria and Maria Sotomayor. I am requesting that the school board re-evaluate these values and implement them equally. I ask that you as the school board recognize the egregious nature of the situation. Let's provide real punishment for Jesus Angulo, Maria Sotomayor, and Lakisha Buck. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Just a gentle reminder to our callers, sometimes it's better to speak a little bit more slowly so that the board can fully fully digest and hear what you're saying. Um the next speaker is Christopher Estella, are you on the line? Please press star six to unmute yourself, Christopher, and you have two minutes to speak once you begin. Uh hello, can you hear me? Yeah,
047we can. Please go ahead. Okay. Dear members of the school board, my name is Christopher Estella Torres. In the past, I have come to speak here about other less serious subjects. But this this is a very traumatizing subject today. It has been recently exposed that Jesus Angulo and Lakisha Buck were in charge of Virtual Academy. When questioned in public about the case of Angulo, who said no contest to fellow student reporters, or wake up students. Angulo allegedly was confronted while being visibly upset in the staff room. He said it was a a personal matter and walked away. Is student safety now a personal matter? Lakisha Buck was asked and her response was that was that it does not concern her since it was 20 years ago. How is this at all an appropriate response to
048student and family concerns with sexual abuse? When Ms. Buck was asked about Jesus Travis' allegations coming from 40 years ago, she had no answer and angrily hung up. Jesus Angulo was promoted after he said no contest, along with Maria Sotomayor. Both were administrators at Southeast High School at the time. Now, they make over $200,000 a year. They only got a slap on the wrist for the trauma they inflicted on a powerless and scared student. We are asking you that please, may you take action. Do something about Jesus Angulo and Maria Sotomayor. They shouldn't have even been allowed to be in LAUSD. Take action against Natasha Buck as well for her irresponsible answer. And we are hoping to hear from you as quickly as we did about Cesar Chavez in which LAUSD was properly proactive. Thank
049you for your time. Next caller is Chitra Jayaraman. Please press star six to unmute yourself. And you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin, Chitra. Oh, can you hear me? Yes, please go ahead. Yeah, good morning board. I'm Chitra Jayaraman and I'm a LAUSD parent. I'm here to express concerns regarding the September 2025 amendment to LAUSD bulletin 1055.2. And the retroactive weighting of community college courses beginning summer 2024. Starting for the class of 2026 impacting senior class rank. My concern is fairness. Students in the classes of 2026 through 2029 already made important academic decisions based on the policies that existed at the time. Some students pursued rigorous AP coursework while others took community college courses that now receive additional weighting after the fact. While I support expanding college access, retroactive policy changes should not
050disadvantage students who planned their schedules under a different system. Community college courses also vary widely in rigor. And without stronger safeguards, some less demanding courses may provide a greater class rank advantage than challenging AP courses within a school. We have already noted negative impacts on many students in the class of 2026. I respectfully propose that for the classes of 2027 through 2029, the transcripts include both the previous and revised class rank calculations. This would prevent negative impact students and also allow the district to evaluate the impact of the policy and refined safeguards before fully implementing the revised system for future classes. Without this change, class of 2027, 2028, and 2029 would be negatively impacted as we saw in the class of 2026. I thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Thank you for
051your time. Uh Thakur, you're the next speaker. Thakur, please press star six to unmute yourself and you have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. Thakur. And please remember, folks, to speak a little bit slowly. Can you hear me? Yes, please go ahead. Perfect. Thank you. Great morning, members of the board and Mr. Acting Superintendent. Um I'm here again today speak on the matter that I shared with you um yesterday, which is uh the about the case of Jesus Angulo and Maria Sotomayor, as well as uh the response by Latasha Buck. Um again, for context, in 2007, um a student um came to uh Jesus Angulo and Maria Sotomayor while they were principal and vice principal at Southeast High School seeking help. And she reported to them as trusted adults that she was raped by
052a teacher. Their response was not to help her, but to lock her in a room for hours until she recanted her story. They pled no contest to covering up this rape, yet are still retained and were then promoted by LAUSD. And today, they earn over $200,000 of our tax dollars, as well as your tax dollars since you pay taxes. Um now, we we question if this is first of all, why these individuals are still retained on the taxpayers' dime. And then, of course, recently, like some of my peers were mentioning, uh there was a whistleblower video in which Jesus Dula was questioned about this. And he stated that this was a personal matter. So, now, is student safety, the rape of a student, a personal matter? And then, LaTasha Buck was also questioned, and her
053response was uh that it she justified it by saying it was 20 years ago. And when asked, "What about Cesar Chavez?" LaTasha Buck had no response. So, we ask that you please, members of the board, consider, what if this was your child? Would you also say it was okay since it was 20 years ago? That it doesn't concern you? We ask that you please look into this case. These individuals, frankly, should resign and should not be working with LAUSD in the first place, but at the very least, our community deserves an apology for these irresponsible comments and their conduct. Thank you for your time. We ask for a quick update. Thank you for your time. The next speaker is Kim Richards. I see you're online with us. Kim Richards, please press star six to unmute
054yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Good morning. Thank you. Can you hear me? Perfectly. Please go ahead. Wonderful. My name is Kim Richards, and I am representing a collective of six Boys & Girls Clubs across Los Angeles that serve nearly 13,000 students across 44 LAUSD sites. And I'm here today with serious concerns. Community-based organizations are not vendors. We are trusted institutions rooted in neighborhoods built over decades. Collectively, nearly 75,000 students are enrolled in CBO-operated uh programs across more than 250 schools. And it's important to say this clearly. CBOs helped build expanded learning in California. We helped demonstrate its value and make investments like ELOP possible. But now, the very organizations that helped build this system are being asked to sustain it at rates that do not cover the cost. And
055here's the reality. We do not know how to meet attendance requirements or compliance standards or quality expectations at the rates that we are being offered because the math simply doesn't work. There's no version of this where 865 per student per day sustains safe, high-quality programming. Especially when we know it costs the district more than that to operate these programs itself. So, the question is very simple. If it costs LAUSD more to run these programs, why are community-based organizations expected to do it for less? That's not efficiency. That's shifting the burden. And our boards are asking, is this sustainable? Our donors are asking, why are they being asked to pay twice? Once through taxes and again through philanthropy. We don't have a good answer. And with the rising compliance pressure, there is no longer partnership um
056in this relationship. It's an institutional risk. And if these rates aren't increased, organizations will have to make hard decisions. And when that happens, students don't just lose programs. They lose trusted adults, safe places, and institutions that have held communities together for generations. We have been transparent. We have shared our data. We are asking for the same of the district. Where is the $491 million of the Y E L P funding going? And how is it reaching the intended students with mandated programs? We're at a breaking point. Thank you for your time. >> align the funding with Thank you for your time. Delana Walker, I see you're on the line. Please press star six to unmute yourself, and you'll have 2 minutes to speak once you begin. Delana Walker. Good morning. Can you hear me? Yes,
057we can. Please go ahead. Good morning, board members. Again, my name is Delana Walker, and I work at the Los Angeles Conservation Corps for 30 years, and the core has been a proud partner with LAUSD for more than 40. Today, we serve over 3,000 students across 22 schools in board districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, all located in some of the district's high need communities. I'm speaking on behalf of ELOP enhancement. If these funds are cut as proposed, we will face a deficit we simply cannot absorb. We cannot operate at a loss, and that means reduction in services for students and families who we deeply love and depend on us every single day. This is not just work for me personally. I'm born and raised in Los Angeles. I've attended only LAUSD schools,
058and I am a proud graduate of Garci High School. I grew up in this community. I have a deep connection for my city. Many of our LA Collaborative core staff also are LAUSD graduates who have returned to serve the same neighborhoods that raised them, who are now employed, mentoring young people, and pouring back into the next generation. That is what long-term community investment looks like for us. The organizations partnering with the Beyond the Bell branch are not vendors. I repeat, we are not vendors. We are neighbors. We are long-standing community partners with generational relationships within LAUSD. Many of the adults now entrusting us with their children after school were once our participants. The organizations who are sitting in front of you, the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Woodcraft, LA Legacy, who all spoke before me,
059each year advocate in Sacramento in support of bills that put students first. Parents don't simply enroll their children in our programs. They trust us every single day. Please don't confuse us with EdTech companies or contractors selling products. We are not them. We provide research All right, we have one caller left. Concerned parent, I do not see you online with us right now. Are you in the room, concerned parent? All right, that concludes general public comment. The time is now 10:55 and the board is going to recess into closed session. Is that correct? Yes. >> Okay.