South LA holding its own forum for LA Unified superintendent input
Jose Lara, LA Unified teacher
As many as 200 parents, teachers and students are expected to attend a community forum, starting at 5 p.m. today at Santee High School, to provide input into the LAUSDsuperintendent search.
The meeting was scheduled to reach people that the organizers say weren’t included in the search firm’s recentcompilation profile from surveys and other community meetings.
Many of those expected to attend are in a “forgotten” part of south Los Angeles, said the meeting’s organizer, activist Jose Lara, who is also a member of the LA teachers union board. He described the area as an unusual section of the city because it’s where students attend a school in board member Mónica GarcÃa’s district but live in districts represented by Ref Rodriguezor Richard Vladovic.
“None of the input sessions have been held in this part of south LA, which is always ignored,” Lara said. “So we decided to host our own town hall.”
Staff members from Mónica Ratliff and Garcia’s offices plan to attend the meeting, gather the information and report the findings directly to the school board, which is hoping to hire a new superintendent before the end of the year.
“Mónica GarcÃa has taken a special interest in this school and the input from this area because she used to teach within walking distance of the school,” Lara said.
Lara said he invited members of the search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, but hasn’t heard if any plan to attend. The search firm said it was open to South LA holding its own forum for LA Unified superintendent input - LA School Report:
