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Board approves consent items, grants and facility actions; appoints district safety manager
Summary
The SAUSD board approved multiple consent and action items including grant listings, a $200,000 mental‑health contractor arrangement, regional community‑schools grant extensions, the appointment of a district safety and compliance manager, and several facilities bid rejections to be rebid.
At its May 5 meeting the Santa Ana Unified School District Board approved a series of consent and action items including grant awards, personnel appointments and facilities actions.
Clerk Quiros reported the board voted 4‑0 in closed session to appoint La Sara Pita to the position described as "manager, district safety programs and compliance," with Dr. Alvarez absent from the vote. The board later confirmed a public vote on several consent items including a listing of agreements for the 2026–27 school year and a ratification of grant award applications for the 2025–26 year. Several items were pulled for discussion prior to approval.
Trustees approved Item 10.2 (extended field trips) after a discussion about overnight rooming policy and a trustee dissent; the superintendent's team clarified that state law permits students to room according to their gender identity and that student confidentiality restricts disclosure of a student's gender identity to parents in many situations. Item 10.3, acceptance of the City of Santa Ana graffiti arts grant, passed after questions about content and requests for documentation of mural placements; the city awarded another $100,000 to support student murals and related programming.
The board accepted notifications of state grants extending community‑schools funding for four cohort sites (Pio Pico, Garfield, Monte Vista and Washington) and accepted Expanded Learning award notifications, with staff noting checkpoints and progress reviews required by the state. Board members asked for more detailed briefings on the grant compliance checkpoints and how the funds are used.
On staffing and labor matters the board adopted a declaration of need for fully qualified educators for 2026–27 and approved a memorandum of understanding with CSEA chapter 41 on classified work calendars. Trustees also adopted several ceremonial resolutions recognizing teacher/support staff appreciation, school nurses week and National Mental Health Awareness Month.
Facilities actions included authorization to reject and rebid synthetic turf replacement bids at Willard Intermediate, Saddleback High and Santa Ana High School; the board approved rebidding those projects to seek improved responses.
Votes were typically unanimous with President and most trustees supporting the recommendations; multiple motions were recorded as carrying with Dr. Alvarez absent.
