On June 6, the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) Board of Trustees examined a provisional appointment for the late Trustee Anna Piercy’s seat, reviewed upcoming budgets and the LCAP, and voted on raises and contract extensions, extending Superintendent Michael Matsuda’s contract to 2028.
Following the passing of Trustee Piercy, who represented Area 5 of the AUHSD, the Board examined the provisional appointment process for the vacant seat. Candidates Stephen Blount, Sheila Hart, and Ron Hoshi will be interviewed on June 11, and the Board will appoint one of these candidates to the Board of Trustees on June 13. Because these candidates are finishing Trustee Piercy’s term, they will run for reelection in Area 5 on Nov. 5. At the meeting, community members advocated on their stances.
“[Area 5 contains] Cypress, a unique area in our district. [Ron Hoshi] knows Cypress residents as a principal, teacher, and business owner,” Walker Junior High School teacher Kenna Russell, who is also Trustee Piercy’s daughter, said. “He knows the district as a teacher, administrator, and head of the ambassador program. We need representation that knows all of the different sides of the AUHSD, and I do believe that is [Hoshi].”
Other community members believed this appointment created an opportunity to make reforms to the Board of Trustees.
“My biggest thing is the school board is there for the people. That is the taxpayer’s chair, the seat of the people. We need a candidate who is going to stand up here and advocate for the community, and I really hope one of you does,” Anaheim High School alumnus Andrew Campuzano said.
Later in the meeting, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to extend Superintendent Matsuda’s contract an additional year, ending on June 30, 2028. During public comment, AUHSD parent Germaine Newmann-Chau expressed concerns about extending the employment contract.
“His contract is currently up in 2027. That is a great [amount of] time to spend working on our district,” Newmann-Chau said. We just saw this reckless waste of time and money caused by Mr. Matsuda’s leadership with our teacher layoffs this spring. We cannot wait four years and see where this is at [with the contract extension]. We need changes now. We can’t give you rewards today without results.”
The Board of Trustees also voted to extend the contracts of Assistant Superintendents and District Counsel by an additional year and raise their salaries by 4.5%. The Board also voted to give themselves a 4.5% raise; this vote was 3-0, with Trustee Katherine Smith abstaining.
Assistant Superintendent of Business Dr. Nancy Nien prepared and presented an overview of budget costs over the next few school years, as well as necessary cuts.
“We did have to cut some of the site money. That was the last thing we wanted to do but to balance the budget, we had to look into every line of the budget to figure out if there was anything else we [could] take. We need to make sure we can take care of our people [and] students [first],” Dr. Nien said.
Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Jaron Fried presented the LCAP for Board review, which provided reliable statistics about students. Dr. Fried said he believed the process amplified student voices and civic engagement, as well as helped the Board utilize street data to better understand and support students, such as public transit routes to support homeless students. The Board will vote on the LCAP recommendations at the June 13 board meeting and plans to collaborate with community leaders to make upcoming changes more transparent for the AUHSD community.
“We can begin these conversations in August about setting up a transparent and collaborative structure with the Board, Cabinet, ASTA leadership, leadership of other associations, as well as parents and community members,” said ASTA President Geoff Morganstern. “We haven’t done this before, so I don’t know what it’s going to look like [yet]. I think we should all be thinking about that, so we can begin that work immediately.”
