By Alex Schorr
Photo,Left to Right: Dr. Gary Woods (President, Area 3 Trustee), Robert Shield (Vice President, Area 4 Trustee), Scott Eckert (Clerk, Area 2 Trustee), Jim Kelly (Member, Area 5 Trustee), and Chris Fite (Member, Area 1 Trustee).
February 9, 2025 (El Cajon) – Teachers, parents, and community members leveled sharp criticism of the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) board of trustees during a special budget workshop meeting on February 6. Numerous speakers objected to the board’s creation of a costly new chief of staff position and waiving of board policies to do so, after the board majority earlier voted to lay off numerous employees, including many teachers.
The first quarter of the meeting was dedicated to the Governing Board Budget. This involved showing where school funding comes from (sales tax, corporation tax, and personal income tax). California Governor Gavin Newsom developed a state budget while the district simultaneously project
ts its own. In May, the Governor’s budget will be reviewed again, while the district budget will be adjusted and adopted sometime in June.
The Governor's proposed budget includes an education budget that invests in core instruction and learning. It also provides continuation for and protection of Proposition 98, which gives mandatory minimum funding for schools while eliminating “one-time funding.” Additionally, one-time funding was illustrated as having an impact on CTE program services, mental health, and chromebooks.
Photo, right: Deputy Superintendent of Business, Pearl Lizuka, introducing the Education Budget for GUHSD and the necessity of Proposition 98.
A staffer’s presentation at theGUHSD workshop illustrated that the greatest risk to Proposition 98 is declining enrollment. The presentation referenced the Local Funding Control Formula (LCFF), which revolves around the use of a Base Grant per ADA, stating that all English learning programs would be provided a 20% cut in funding. In addition to the GUHSD budget, a number of concerns could impact the state budget,including anxiety over stock market vulnerability, elevated interest rates, delayed tax deadlines, and federal policies centered on harsh immigration enforcement.
The podium was opened to public comment before the Board voted on agenda item D1, approval of a new job description for Chief of Staff, and D2, which waives board policies that allows them to accomplish D1.
James Messina, President of Grossmont Education Association (GEA), the district’s teacher’s union, asked, “What are we doing here?” He listed all laws and policies being broken if the Board voted to approve D1 and D2. He mentioned that the new position, if created or hired at all, is something that the Superintendent should be concerned with, not the Board members. Messina continued, stating that GUHSD used to be the envy of the county and that the board was ruining their reputation.
Additionally, Messina stated his concerns in a letter to GEA: “As GEA President, I would hope GUHSD would want to get the best possible candidate for this position, but it seemed more important to fill this position as soon as possible. This position was not flown in EdJoin for prospective applicants to see, [therefore] no applications to screen. GUHSD did not create a hiring panel for introduction level interviews. Finalists were not sent to the Superintendent for 2nd/3rd interviews. All of these steps were skipped and the Governing Board just appointed an employee for the new position. These actions of the Governing Board remove all transparency, go against past practice, GUHSD Governing Board bylaws, and GUHSD Board policies (BB 9900, BP4311).”
Other speakers included parents, teachers and community members stressing a lack of support and that in spite of this, the Board wants to add a new salaried position, which the governing board members have appointed all by themselves without going through the process of vetting, interviews, or the proper hiring processes.
Matthew Norris emphasized an undermining of trust, with Gavin Preston stating that the governing board members manufactured an emergency. Bonnie Price said the board trustees are degrading the quality of education in her district. It was emphasized that the most important job of the board is to annually assess how to make education better for the students, and that it was not clear how this new Chief of Staff position would do this.
Speakers from Monte Vista and Granite Hills high schools illustrated that the Board fired a number of people last year including at least ten teachers, stating that the budget required it. Yet suddenly this year, the Board acquires the money to hire a Chief of Staff who is essentially taking on the role of the fired individuals.
Multiple speakers accused board members of either sidestepping the legal process or downright ignoring it. These speakers brought attention to the fact that this would unnecessarily cost money and public trust.
Only two board members addressed concerns raised by speakers.
Trustee Jim Kelly gave this response. “I'm sure everyone’s minds are made up, and speaking as a 32 year board member, I can tell that this position is needed,” he stated. He indicated that the GUHSD bureaucracy needs to have better communications with the public: “the administration does a really good job at looking after itself, protecting itself, and filtering information that goes into the board,” adding that sometimes the board learns information later that might have resulted in a different decision if known earlier. “We come for one meeting a month, normally...and we’re flying blind,” he asserted, adding, “I have seen sometimes people come up to me saying they are afraid to talk to board members.”
Trustee Chris Fite said hiring the Chief of Staff in this manner would undermine the public trust. We don’t need this position,” said Fite,”and this is not the way we should be doing business.”
In the end, Dr. Gary Woods (President, Area 3), Robert Shield (Vice President, Area 4), Jim Kelly (Area 5 Trustee), and Scott Eckert (Clerk, Area 2) voted in favor of the new Chief of Staff Position, with Chris Fite, (Trustee, Area 1) voting no.