New Kids-First Board Majority Led by President Kelly Gonez Marks Generational and Social Justice Shift

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The election of Tanya Ortiz Franklin (left) crated a new kids-first board majority led by fellow Millenials Kelly Gonez, board president, and Nick Melvoin, vice president

The election of Tanya Ortiz Franklin (left) crated a new kids-first board majority led by fellow Millenials Kelly Gonez, board president, and Nick Melvoin, vice president

District 6 Board Member Kelly Gonez, a Millennial Latina mom of two young kids and former charter school teacher, was unanimously elected president of the LAUSD board Tuesday, marking a changing of the guard to a new kids-first board majority dominated by younger members focused on equity, as well as racial and social justice.

“This board must be relentlessly focused on student learning and work efficiently and urgently to meet the holistic needs of our kids and families,” said Gonez, who was the first in her family to graduate from college. “Equity and anti-racism ought to be the through thread.”

In the No. 2 leadership spot is fellow Millennial Board Member Nick Melvoin (BD4), who beat out District 5 Board Member Jackie Goldberg on a 4-3 vote for the Chair of the Committee of the Whole, who also serves as the vice president of the board. Both Gonez and Melvoin were elected in 2017, the last time the majority of board members were elected without the financial backing of United Teachers Los Angeles. 

Joining Gonez and Melvoin in the kids-first majority are veteran Board Member Monica Garcia (BD2) and newly elected District 7 Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin, who replaced retired Board President Richard Vladovic. 

Ortiz Franklin, the third Millennial on the board, was sworn in Tuesday by President Avenue Elementary first grader Caleb Ebo, a loud and clear indication of her commitment to put kids first. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond swore in the other returning board members who won reelection, all retired educators: Goldberg, George McKenna (BD1) and Scott Schmerelson (BD3).  

“The fact that the two youngest board members are in a leadership position is a significant generational shift,” Melvoin told Speak UP. “Kelly and I were more recently in classrooms, we have been aligned on what I would call a kids-first agenda. I think it’s exciting. Having a board president who is the first in her family to go to college and who looks like the students we serve, I know will be motivating to students.”

Ortiz Franklin immediately came out the gate with strength Tuesday to demand more details from LAUSD on its plan to reallocate $25 million of the school police budget to support Black students after the board delayed a discussion of the plan until Jan. 12. “We can no longer drag our feet,” Ortiz Franklin said. “On the 12th, we must have those details.” 

As board president, Gonez has not only pledged to prioritize students and racial justice, but she may also serve as an inspiration to many students who share a similar family background.

“I identify with the students we serve because my story is like many of theirs,” Gonez said. “I grew up the daughter of an immigrant mother from Peru...When I was young and we were struggling economically, my mom went back to school at the Pacoima Skills Center, and that forged a path for her and our family onto more stable ground. Watching my mom work on vocabulary flashcards every night at our kitchen table taught me that education is a lifelong endeavor and a gateway to opportunity. Her example put me on a path to be the first in my family to go to college and my family’s belief in my potential helped me to persevere even as I worked multiple jobs to pay my way through.”

Other developments at Tuesday’s meeting include:

  • The superintendent’s report on distance learning revealed that fewer than 2500 of the district’s highest-needs kids had received in-person tutoring before campuses completely shut down last week. This is despite the Los Angeles County Health Department giving its approval to serve a far higher number (25%) of high-needs students. And only 630 students with disabilities have received in-person assessments this school year. Melvoin expressed his disappointment that so few high-needs students were being assessed and properly supported.  

  • There was also more evidence of kids struggling to learn online. Allison Yoshimoto-Towery, LAUSD’s Chief Academic Officer, reported that the current uptick in Ds and Fs primarily affected “our highest need” low-income kids. It was this finding that compelled the district’s decision to delay giving any Fs, instead providing additional time to students to complete work.

  • There was some good news. LAUSD is reporting a positive financial certification, which means it is projecting the district will have the required fund balance this year as well as for the next two years. But this is tempered by a district-wide enrollment decline that Goldberg called “catastrophic.” LAUSD will not lose funding next year for enrollment loss, but the following year the full impact of the pandemic could hit the budget hard. Beutner also underscored the fiscal outlook does not factor in costs for mitigating learning loss such as summer school and mental health support. There is also uncertainty as to whether the district will be reimbursed for a variety of other COVID related expenditures, including the approximately $100 million they have spent to date on adult meals for Los Angeles families.

— Jenny Hontz and Leslee Komaiko