SILENCING PARENTS

School Board President Responds To Criticism

Kelly Gonez says that parents have enough of a voice while defending her decision to prevent the LAUSD Parent Engagement Committee from meeting.

“We have heard from parents more frequently this year than in the past, due to the intentional inclusion of our standing parent committees in our regular Board meetings.”

- LAUSD Board President Kelly Gonez

Stakeholders from throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have been contacting Board President Kelly Gonez to express their disapproval with her decision to keep the Parent Committee silenced. One of them received a response from Gonez and posted it on the Parents Supporting Teachers Facebook Page. Her explanation for reneging on the plan to allow the committee to begin meeting again last month was less than honest as was her explanation of her role in the hiring of Superintendent Austin Beutner:

“Thank you for your note. The pause on committees, besides the Special Education Committee, is based on the feedback of the Board during a public meeting earlier this year.”- Kelly Gonez

At the meeting that Gonez references, Board Members Scott Schmerelson, Jackie Goldberg, and George McKenna all expressed support for restarting the Parent Engagement Committee. The three board members elected with the support of the charter school industry, Nick Melvoin, Monica Garcia, and Tanya Ortiz-Franklin, were in favor of preventing this committee from holding meetings. That left Gonez as the tie-breaking vote. As a fellow beneficiary of charter industry funding, she sided with the block that seeks to prevent parent engagement.

It should also be noted that as Board President, Gonez has the sole authority over the establishment of committees. She alone is ultimately responsible for not allowing the Parent Engagement Committee from meeting.

“We have heard from parents more frequently this year than in the past, due to the intentional inclusion of our standing parent…