Town Meeting Examines Local School Issues

In an unusual “town hall” meeting to hear community concerns, about 200 parents, teachers and students met with the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education in a first-of-its kind workshop format in San Fernando.

Rather than sit through three hours of discussion on education issues, participants at Thursday’s meeting at San Fernando Elementary School were allowed to choose from six one-hour, bilingual workshops that allowed them to question administrators on specific issues.

Leticia Quezada, the board’s chairwoman, said the format was chosen by a committee of teachers, students, parents and principals.

“I wanted to hear from them what kind of meetings were appropriate for the community,” said Quezada, who represents the eastern San Fernando Valley area on the board. “They came back and told me that of the meetings held in this community, they like to have the small group sessions.”

The bilingual workshops, conducted in classrooms, focused on the district’s high school complex-cluster transition, the LEARN programs, school safety, parent participation, reconfiguration and the bilingual master plan.

The workshops were followed by a two-hour session in the cafeteria where participants reported their findings from the workshop and the public was invited to ask other questions.

Although most of the reports revealed little about what occurred in the workshops, the public speaking session did reveal several community concerns.

Most touching was a plea by 15-year-old Carmen Padilla of Sun Valley, who asked the board not to cut funding from the IMPACT program at her high school.

“If this program did not exist, we would not have a place to turn to,” said Carmen, who voluntarily entered the peer support group because of troubles at home.

Reaction to the format was mixed. A few parents were unhappy that they could not attend all the workshops.

“I got the impression that we were going to hear all the issues here in the cafeteria,” said Elaine Hernandez, 35, who attended the safety workshop. “I wanted to listen to what everybody had to say.”

Della Niblett, also a parent of a child at the school, disagreed.

“I believe that those that have an interest in one thing were able to clarify it in a smaller setting,” she said.

Most participants were happy that the board members came to their neighborhood to hear their concerns.

The meeting was the sixth and final meeting held by the board to hear the concerns of Valley residents this year.

“I watch you on TV often and its really amazing to see you all here,” said Jamie Serrano, 34, of San Fernando. “This is the way it should happen.”