Community members urge reversal of staff nonrenewals; board approves administration recommendation in closed session

The Palmdale Aerospace Academy District Board of Directors voted unanimously in closed session to approve the administration’s recommendation to nonrenew multiple staff contracts after public comment speakers urged the board to reconsider.

During the meeting’s public-comment period, more than a half dozen employees, parents and community supporters spoke in favor of retaining staff members who had received nonrenewal notices. Speakers repeatedly pressed the board to weigh employees’ service and student impact before finalizing personnel decisions.

The public-comment period began after the board pulled the personnel report’s nonrenewal section from the consent agenda for separate consideration. Custodial staff and instructional aides described long service to the campus and warned of operational disruption if the nonrenewals were finalized. Joseline Gonzales, who identified herself as a custodian, said the board should consider “the value…