East Whittier board reports closed‑session approval of multiple principal and assistant‑principal assignments

The East Whittier City School District Board of Education reported out from closed session that it approved several administrator assignments for the 2025–26 school year, including promotions and removals of interim titles.

According to the report out, Jennifer Lopez, currently assistant principal at Granada Middle School, was approved as principal at La Colima. Gabriela Aldana, described as the district’s director of secondary education and former principal at East Whittier, was approved as principal at Ceres Elementary following Julie Gonzales’ departure to a director position in Fullerton Joint. With Aldana’s new placement, the board removed the “interim” title from Peter Moore and approved him as the official principal at East Whittier Middle School. Veronica Ruiz’s interim title was also removed and she will serve as assistant principal at East Woodard Middle School.

The board announcement stated the assignments were approved during closed session; no public roll‑call vote was recorded in the report out. The district provided the names and current roles for those moving into new assignments but did not disclose salary changes or effective start dates in the public report.

Board members later congratulated the newly placed administrators during the open session and recognized them along with other staff at the meeting.

The superintendent made the report out at the start of the meeting; the board did not provide additional documentation on recruitment or evaluation criteria in the public session.