At an Anaheim Union High School District board meeting, a representative for the California School Employees Association (CSEA) described the range of work district classified employees performed as the new school year began, saying many roles are essential to daily operations and student safety.

The CSEA representative told board members that classified staff handled enrollment, registration, health documentation and referrals, purchasing, accounting, information-technology support, human resources onboarding, payroll, translation and campus safety duties. "Classified employees are often said to be the backbone of a district," the representative said. "But that's not all that we are. We're also the voice answering the phone."

The speaker emphasized the scope of the classified workforce, citing more than 550 instructional assistants districtwide and saying about 400 of those assistants spend their entire workday directly with students in classrooms, hallways, lunch areas and restrooms. The representative said those assistants "support our students with the highest level of needs," and that when one is absent "their absence is keenly felt by both the staff and the students they support."

The presentation also listed specific duties by role: registrars and front-office staff helped families create parent portal accounts and confirm data online; health technicians, licensed vocational nurses and athletic trainers collected immunizations, physicals and medication orders and made referrals to clinics; purchasing staff filled orders for classroom furniture and supplies; network analysts and programmers maintained district internet and Wi-Fi; and payroll processed settlements and regular pay over the summer. Translators and language-assessment staff were credited with helping immigrant families place students in appropriate classes.

The remarks were given as public comment and informational testimony; no board action on staffing or budgetary changes was recorded in the transcript during that item. The CSEA representative asked the board to recognize the operational importance of classified employees and the impact when roles are vacant.

The board took no formal action on the remarks during this portion of the meeting.