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Parents, staff urge board to stem declining enrollment and invest in program equity at John Glenn

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board of Education · March 24, 2026
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Summary

Multiple public commenters and union representatives told trustees that declining enrollment threatens programs and urged investments in career pathways, facility equity and hiring to avoid outsourcing core maintenance functions.

Community members and employee representatives used public comment to press trustees on a steep enrollment decline at some campuses and to urge investments that could attract and retain students.

A Southeast Academy community speaker (Speaker 31) urged the board to invest in at least three new career-pathway programs with renovated labs at John Glenn, arguing that unique programs would help rebalance enrollment across district high schools. "We are literally just skin and bones," the speaker said, calling the loss of students a cycle that reduces courses and leads to more departures.

CSEA representative Martha Hategui (Speaker 9) raised staffing and outsourcing concerns, noting vacant coordinator roles for McKinney-Vento services and questioning recent outsourcing decisions for HVAC and maintenance work that the union says district staff previously performed. Hategui cited figures for John Glenn (about 653 students) and Southeast Academy (about 120 students) and urged the board to prioritize hiring paraeducators, carpenters and plumbers to reduce costly outsourcing.