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Teachers, parents and union leaders urge board to keep counselors and to grant emotional‑support‑animal accommodation
Summary
Public commenters urged the board to allow a teacher's emotional support animal, to reinstate or retain specific Montgomery High administrators, and to reverse an involuntary counselor transfer, arguing the staff are critical to student well‑being during consolidations and campus changes.
Several public commenters at the May 28 meeting urged the board to reconsider personnel moves and to grant an emotional‑support‑animal accommodation for a teacher.
Jennifer Yukin, a first‑grade teacher at Biella Elementary, asked the board to "please make an exception to the emotional support animal board policy on my behalf," saying the animal is necessary for her to continue working with students. "I absolutely love being a teacher," Yukin said, noting nine years with Santa Rosa City Schools and awards including Sonoma County Teacher of the Year 2024.
Catherine Howell, president of the Santa Rosa Teachers Association, spoke in support of Yukin and asked the board to consider a waiver while conducting periodic check‑ins: "SRTA supports asking for this waiver. We hope that you will be able to give it to her, and we would also support periodic check ins."
Several commenters advocated that the board keep Mercedes Thompson on staff at Montgomery High and raised concern about an involuntary transfer of counselor Melissa Baker. Montgomery teachers and parents described Thompson as providing day‑to‑day stability for a campus that has faced consolidation and personnel turnover. Teacher Kristen Reed said Thompson "has been busting her tail to do everything she can for our school" and urged the board to "bring her back next year." Another speaker, Cara Fitchitt, asked the board to reexamine Baker's transfer because a counseling vacancy at Montgomery had reopened and Baker was qualified for that role.
Trustees did not take public‑comment actions on personnel matters during open session; personnel matters regarding public employees were on the meeting's closed‑session agenda. The board later reported closed‑session readmission votes but did not disclose other closed‑session personnel outcomes in open session.
