Hart district to recognize staff members

Eighteen employees from each of the William S. Hart Union High School District schools and sites will be recognized as “Hart District Classified Employees of the Year” during the Hart Governing Board meeting tonight.

The annual program recognizes outstanding employees for their commitment and hard work. Staff at each site selected honorees based on their “exemplary service in promoting learning, respect, positive relationships, fairness and a safe environment.”

Student

Today’s meeting is also expected to include an introduction of the board’s newest member, Scott Watson.

As a senior at Saugus High School, Watson will serve as the non-voting member of the Governing Board during the 2017-18 school year.

Watson was elected to serve on the board by his peers on the Student Communications Council earlier this year.

He has been a member of the Saugus Associated Student Body for four years where he served as a class officer during his freshman and sophomore years, as ASB Executive Ambassador during his junior year and as ASB Executive Treasurer during his senior year.

According to the agenda item, Watson can be seen “walking around school with his transistor radio listening to oldies.” He also shares a profound quote every day with the class as a way to motivate others and teach leadership skills.

“Scott is a fantastic worker and dedicated to unifying all of the students at Saugus High School,” the agenda item read.

Charter school

On May 17, the Governing Board approved Mission View Charter School’s five-year charter renewal petition under the condition that it closed its four resource centers operating outside of the district’s boundaries.

Before an October 2016 ruling by the Third District Court of Appeal, the operation of these resource centers — located in Pacoima, Panorama City and San Fernando — was allowed under the Charter Schools Act.

However, after the court’s ruling in Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary, charter schools are no longer allowed to operate a resource center outside of their chartering district’s boundaries within the same county as the district.

In response to this ruling, the State Board of Education created a waiver policy to allow charter schools to continue their resource center locations until June 30, 2018. This Education Code waiver will give them time to come into compliance with the new Charter Schools Act location requirement.

Mission View applied for this waiver and was approved by the State Board of Education around July 12 or July 13.

However, around the same time on July 13, the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District approved a material revision for Assurance Learning Academy Charter School that added the four Mission View resource centers to its oversight responsibility.

Because of this, the Hart district “no longer maintainers any obligation to oversee the four resource centers.” The resource centers will now be reviewed under the oversight and responsibility of Agua Dulce.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Governing Board members are expected to review a letter reaffirming this fact from Bill Toomey, Chief Academic Officer of Assurance Charter Schools.

It is also expected to review a letter from the Hart district asking Mission View’s representatives to complete final items to ensure that the oversight and responsibility transfers completely to Assurance and to Agua Dulce.

These include: asking for confirmation of four resource center transfer, asking Mission View Board to adopt resolution of transfer and remove district responsibility, and signing and returning a copy of the letter to the district.

Editor’s Note: The Hart District Classified Employees of the Year for 2017-18 include A. Kane Crawford, campus supervisor at Academy of the Canyons, Tina Cermeno, human resource analyst at the Administrative Center, Joy Williams, registrar at Arroyo Seco Junior High School, Ociel Cervantes-Ceja, custodian at Bowman High School, Alfonso Torres, maintenance custodian at Canyon High School, Jeanine Katz, career transition advisor at Career Visions Center, Jennifer McCool, instructional assistant at Golden Valley High School, Cyndi Trudeau, school office manager at Hart High School, Catharine Ohlsen, instructional assistant at

La Mesa Junior High School, Salvador Berumen, information technology specialist at Placerita Junior High School, Ruben Lopez, plant manager at Rancho Pico Junior High School, Claudia Valencia, instructional assistant at Rio Norte Junior High School, Sabina Kosek, office assistant at Saugus High School, Linda Dunn, instructional assistant at Sequoia Charter School, Faisal Qazi, information technology specialist at Sierra Vista Junior High School, Matthew Tapia, instructional assistant at TLC, Delinda Abbott, registrar at Valencia High School, and Linda Pfaucht, secretary at West Ranch High School.