Woodland Hills starts new chapter with new leaders

support. The district has also worked with its school resource officers to “soften” their image in the hallways and “redefine” their role in the schools.

“The biggest thing that I think is going to help our situation, we’re going to improve our interactions, we’re going to improve our school climate, we’re going to make learning interesting, interactive and fun,” he said. “Hopefully that lends itself to better behavior, better attendance and better test results.”

At the elementary level, the district this year added 10 kindergarten and first-grade teachers, which will bring class sizes down to about 15 students per teacher, Mike Belmonte, school board vice president, said.

“That’s what has me super excited,” he said. “We’re going to give the kids a great foundation to get started. You don’t have to worry as much about class sizes that small.”

Adam Forgie, president of the Woodland Hills Education Association, met with his members last week and said “everyone is excited to get back to work.” They recently presented the school board with recommendations to improve work climate, although he said he could not elaborate on them because of a pending grievance.

He said the union has had limited interactions with Mr. Harris so far, but said he “seems like a great guy” and looks forward to working with him.

On Tuesday, Mr. Forgie spoke with staff and emphasized the importance of learning from the past, controlling the present and focusing on how they can impact students long term.

“We can’t forget what happened, we can’t forget all the students we’ve lost,” he said. “But now is the new day, and if we work hard at it, it’s going to work.”