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Teachers, union reps urge district to complete needs assessments before spending $19M in community‑schools funds
Summary
Public commenters — including EMETA — told the board the district received $19,000,000 in community‑schools funding but has not carried out required comprehensive needs assessments and is at risk of allocating funds to pre‑existing priorities; callers also raised teacher workload and safety‑plan concerns.
Several members of the El Monte school community used the board's public‑comment time on Oct. 20 to press the district for transparency and proper procedures before allocating community‑schools funding.
Mary Esther Espinosa, speaking for EMETA, said the district has received $19,000,000 for community schools but has not completed the statutorily required comprehensive school needs and assets assessments. "It is our position, EMETA's position, that EMCSD has not conducted the proper comprehensive school and needs assessments at the district or site level, as it is required by EPCODE," Espinosa said, and argued that funds risk being used for pre‑existing district priorities rather than actions directed by a needs assessment and shared governance committee.
Union representatives and teachers also described growing workload pressures tied to multiple assessments, trainings and substitute coverage. Margarita Henderson said many teachers work unpaid hours outside the instructional day and noted recent overlapping testing and professional development that compressed time for administering CFAs and other measures.
Sabrina Cruz urged the district to finalize a workplace violence prevention plan (a state requirement as of July 2024) with annual trainings and an incident log that staff can review. Oscar Pinto, summarizing a recent community‑school meeting, said students and parents are engaged but voiced concerns about proposals to sub teachers out for multiple days; Pinto urged board members to attend upcoming site committee meetings (listed in public comment) to observe the planning process.
What the board said: The board listened and took no immediate action during public comment; staff acknowledged the community‑school committee work and scheduled committee meetings but no formal response to Espinosa’s specific EPCODE allegation appeared in the meeting record.
Next steps: EMETA said it has requested to negotiate parameters for community schools and noted only one prior meeting; public speakers encouraged board attendance at scheduled community‑school committee meetings so the board can observe site‑level engagement and needs‑assessment work.
