Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Buena Vista Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Buena Vista teachers and students urge the board to preserve alternative high school amid proposed staff reductions
Summary
Multiple Buena Vista High School teachers and students told the Paramount Unified board that proposed staffing reductions and plan changes threaten the alternative high school's mission and student supports, urging the board to preserve staffing and independent-study flexibility.
Buena Vista teachers and students told the Paramount Unified School District board on May 13 that recent staffing decisions threaten programming and the school’s role as an alternative pathway for students needing individualized support.
Garrett Lippert, a Buena Vista teacher, said the campus has been treated like "an afterthought" and argued the district’s referral systems are broken, which he said has artificially depressed enrollment. "The enrollment problem is a fabricated crisis that can be remedied," Lippert said, urging the board to invite students to Buena Vista rather than discourage them.
Emily Martin, who teaches yearbook and 11th-grade English at Buena Vista, described the site as "a safe landing space" for students who struggle in larger schools and asked the board to "protect the flexibility, staffing, and individualized support systems that allow our students to reconnect with learning." She said the school’s work is about "Maslow before bloom," arguing that meeting students’ basic needs enables academic success.
Keelan Grace, another Buena Vista teacher, told the board that proposed reductions would cut "nearly one-third" of core teachers and strip the site of electives and ASB activities. "You are intentionally sabotaging the site," Grace said, adding that the changes risk destroying a community culture built to serve tier-3 students.
Vicki Zuniga, the district’s independent-study teacher, warned against converting independent study into a period-style class and stressed the specialized knowledge required to operate the program lawfully. She said independent study has supported hundreds of students over 11 years and urged the board to "preserve independent study in its current format, flexible, individualized, student-centered, and led by experienced staff."
Student speakers, including Adele Madrid, recounted how Buena Vista teachers helped them stay in school, urging the board to value the site’s teachers and culture.
The board’s public-comment rules state staff will follow up on public inquiries when contact information is provided; the meeting record shows staff invited commenters to submit contact information for follow-up.
