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Board adds litigation item, later agrees to provide independent counsel for Board President Serrano and subpoenaed employees
Summary
After adding an emergent closed‑session litigation item, the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District board reconvened and reported it would tender independent legal representation to Board President Serrano and independent counsel for subpoenaed employees; contracts will return to the board for approval.
The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District board voted to add an emergency closed‑session litigation matter related to Los Angeles Superior Court case no. 25PSRO00614 and, after closed session, reported that the district will provide independent legal representation for Board President Serrano and independent counsel for subpoenaed employees.
At the start of the meeting the superintendent and legal counsel asked the board to add the litigation item under Government Code provisions allowing subsequent‑need additions when immediate action is required. Trustees moved and the board approved adding the item by roll call (5–0). The board then adjourned to closed session under the cited legal authorities.
When the meeting reconvened at 8:18 p.m., Norma Caparo reported the board had been briefed on the new case. By majority consensus — with Trustee Loera recorded as voting no on that specific point — the district agreed to tender independent legal representation to Board President Serrano with a reservation of rights. By unanimous consensus the district agreed to provide independent counsel to subpoenaed district employees and officers, also with a reservation of rights. Caparo said contracts with proposed law firms will be brought back to the board for consideration and approval at a future meeting.
The motions and subsequent consensus do not, by themselves, disclose the underlying allegations in the case. The board’s public statement limited the report to the procedural actions taken in closed session and to the requirement that any law‑firm contracts be returned for formal approval on the public agenda.
The addition of the litigation item was made under the district’s representation of an imminent court hearing, and trustees explicitly cited the relevant Government Code provisions when moving the matter onto the closed‑session calendar. The board did not take a public vote on the litigation merits; it reported only the staffing of counsel and the planned administrative steps.
Next steps: the board will receive and consider any law‑firm contracts in a future open meeting. The district has not released additional documents about the case in the public session.
