Laura Bachrach - 20th year as an educator, 10th year at Pali. Loves the school, passionate about teaching and guiding students and shaping their futures. Shocked by the board communication and questions if this is how they feel about all the efforts teachers went to after the fire and how they pivoted and were flexible and had to go through so much to get to sears and then back to Pali. Criticizes the cancellation of negotiation sessions and failure to give a cost of living increase. Very hurt by the statement and its impact on teachers. 

Steve Klima - Teacher and UTLA rep. The board message tanked teacher morale. Hostility and misinformation. Didn't mention the board's 1.5% offer only the double digit ask from the union. Believes budget problems are result of mismanagement of hold harmless money. Should not be spread over 3 years. Says we have higher enrollment, more hold harmless money expected. False claims of school poverty. Give teachers fair compensation. 

Steve Burr - Alum and long time teacher. He cares deeply about the school and its students. When the school became a charter there was a culture of collaboration that created the school it became. Now teacher morale is at an all time low. Difficult transitions out to sears and back to Pali. The school says it appreciates teachers but the offer doesn't support that. We are dealing with difficult classroom conditions. Generational transition at the school. Veteran teachers are retiring. We are not just filling vacancies when they go but losing institutional knowledge and dedication to the school.  

John Rauschuber - Teacher. 2003 as union cochair he led the effort to make this a charter school. This board and admin would not hold their current roles without the teacher efforts to make this charter. Over the last decade the collaboration and relationship has weakened and the school has declined. Poor communication and poor admin management decision-making. They just get one way messages instead of dialogue. The board statement was inflammatory. The management refuses to engage productively. Board is complicit or ignorant. Please restore the spirit and passion of the charter. 

Nick Albonico - Teacher. However the contract dispute is resolved, the administration needs to do something to repair the damaged relationship with faculty. Don't take us for granted. We go above and beyond what is expected.

Yash Pujara - Teacher. attended the goal setting retreat and participated in the communication sessions. He wants to call out two quotes from the board statement. One statement re teacher recommendation letters that referred to the whole board and not the subset that signed the letter. Statements from a vague subset of the board don't lead to resolution. There's a second issue re the reserve fund. Confusion about financial statement clarity. Budget committee apparently brushed off that request. We need that to show we are negotiating in good faith. Hopes we can repair the broken relationship with the school.

Justin Knoll - Teacher. At board retreat talked about Pali's lack of vision over the last decade and how the school has slipped in state and national rankings. So no surprise we are back here with no progress. Even ignoring scheduling issues, supply issues, class sizes, contract negotiations. All are symptoms of bigger issues at the school. The statement from the school was blaming things. Didn't take responsiblity. Lack of vision and lack of competence. Failed to fill 9 teaching positions. Failed to organize for the increase in student enrollment. 

David Carini - History teacher. Was appalled by the message to families. Found it to be an attack on teachers. We are the ones connecting with students every day and investing in their futures. Admin and management goals should be the same. Decline of community at Pali. This division started way before this year. Commends the board and admin for quickly finding solution to fire. But expresses deep frustration with the circumstances teachers are in. 

Randy Tenansnow on behalf of Michael Friedman - Confusion about what happens to public comment after a meeting. Is the purpose of public comment just to say it exists? It should be a first step in dealing with issues. We have too many administrators for our size school. We can redistribute resources better. Need better teamwork between admin and teachers like we used to have at Pali. Suggestions re use of AI and for admins to teach a course each year in the departments they oversee. Admins to write recs. Stull evaluations for admins. 

Stephen Berger - English teacher - Wants to know if the board thinks things are good enough for them and for the students and community. We are still being asked to be patient about class sizes, heat, copy machines, without progress. Need better communication. Need the board to address issues explicitly and give answers to these questions. 

Bardia Bakhtari - parent of senior and grad. Here to stand with our teachers. Parents don't know the magic number for the bargaining table. But we know that our teachers deserve more. Both financially and re class sizes and resources. We have been through major challenges and don't want to go through them again. Happy the rec letter issue has been resolved but the bigger issues have not. This is a hard time for seniors especially and they don't deserve to feel the anxiety of an unresolved labor dispute. We know there's a big gap between the two sides and that's why we need the board to urgently find a solution and a fair agreement that recognizes what teachers bring to the school. 

Rob King - 31 year teacher at Pali. Has written 956 letters of recommendation for Pali students to date. Came last month to beg the board to come to a fair contract with teachers. Have had canceled negotiation meetings and an insulting and inflammatory letter. Has had conversations with members of the board asking how we can get back to the school we had so much pride in. Not sending out letters like that is a great place to start. Begging you to come back to the table and find a way to get a fair contract out there. Make this a great year, and this is his final year at Pali. 

Alex Van Name - Teacher. In a demoralizing environment the lowball offer was the cherry on top. Frustrated by continual changes to his class rosters. Handing out flyers this morning felt demeaning. Working conditions have been terrible for student learning. Heat, crowding. Teachers and students deserve better. During Professional Development days the systems are not efficient or effective. Little regard to work flow that teachers need to follow. Problems with purchasing and orders. 

Catherine Elsworth - Senior parent. Teachers have been hear for decades and are passionate and dedicated. Yet they endure some of the toughest challenges including displacement, loss, teaching traumatized kids. It's a huge feat for them to give our kids their best while dealing with their own challenges. Lots of challenges because of AI, tech, crowding, heat. They are doing all they can to help our kids and keep them actually learning. Teachers overloaded with too many kids in the classrooms. They deserve a fair pay adjustment to reflect everything they are doing. We need to focus on the future and creating the best possible learning environment.

Donna Clark - Senior parent. This school has been a dream for them, her husband is an alumni. Her daughter loves the school and her teachers. Wants the board to do the write thing, teachers deserve more. Please support them so they can support our kids.

Erika Feresten - Parent of a junior and son who graduated last year. Here because she loves this school. She is not here against the board but is here in full support of the teachers. The fire made it absolutely clear that Pali High is not this building or this land, it is these teachers who carried us through the fires, through sears and back again. They are the heart of the community. Budgets are values. It is disheartened to see where the priorities are placed in this budget. She works very hard raising money as part of booster. This is the priority they want as parents. Want to know the teachers are taken care of and whatever the booster does is on top. Repair can be made with a transparent budget and fair negotiations. 

Rose Boulos - Parent of 2 seniors. Supports both teachers and the board and wants us to work together to come up with a reasonable solution because it is affecting our students and it should not have happened. What is being asked and offered is part of negotiating. Find a middle ground. Senior class concerns. You have this new IB program and new AP classes for 9th graders. School is spending alot of money on new students instead of spending on seniors. Too many kids in classes. There are kids without desks. 39 kids in AP Literature. Her kids stayed with Pali and deserve money to be spent on them before them leave and not just 9th graders. Focus on the kids who stayed with the school when we were at sears with no doors. Back to school night the admin said class sizes would be fixed and it still hasn't happened. 

Pinky Campbell - Parent of a senior. So much pressure on seniors. This is the last thing they should be thinking about. Cost of getting a coffee has gone up so much, what do you expect from teachers? Everyone has to work together. Not happy about the letter. 

Kevin Kung - teacher. Not part of negotiations. Wants things settled quickly. Last two years the teachers got very small raises, 1.3 and 0.5 percent. It's not keeping up with inflation.

Dick Held - president of booster club. Since 1999. His daughter was a student here. The money the booster club raised in 2025, over 200k went a long way to making Pali one of the best schools in LA. We have a booster meeting tonight. Grant requests over $30k. Would like to thank the administration for supporting their endeavors since 1960. It's painful to see both sides not coming to an agreement. Ask that the board be reasonable and make a fair deal. Both sides in a good deal have to walk away feeling like they accomplished their goals. They want to help the teachers and admin if they need funds to make things more dynamic. 

Alana Katz - parent. Moved here a few years ago from NYC. They chose Pali because of the reputation and were not disappointed. Teachers have had tremendous impacts on her kids. Mr. Albonico and Mr. Pujara and others have gone above and beyond to support her daughter. Teachers deserve everything they ask for and they deserve normal class sizes and temperature control. Hopes that you can come to an agreement. 

Charlotte Kamdar - Second generation Pali student. Spoke last month about how teachers are the hearbeat of the school. Why is the administration choosing to protect a hypothetical future on paper instead of focusing on the kids in front of them now. The letter caused widespread panic and felt like an attempt to turn families against the teachers that stood behind us. What are the priorities. Why are we sitting in packed classrooms. Why are emergency funds being banked. Of course she cares about the future of the school, she has younger siblings. But protecting Pali's future doesn't mean hoarding cash. The future depends on the teachers. Stop prioritizing numbers over teachers and students.

Hylan Hubbard - Parent. He is here because of the teachers. They came to Pali for the teachers. He commends their commitment and staying even through zoom time. Every parent saw through the letter. Lip service to teachers. Our kids spend more of their day with the teachers than their parents. He trusts them with his children. Nothing more important in our lives as parents than our children. And he needs the teachers to be happy and comfortable to do that. It's not an easy thing to resolve. 

Anonymous - I am curious as to why our Director of Human Resources is being paid to lead HR, but also requires the aid of a consulting agency (Return2Work Partners) when it comes to all things pertaining to leaves, FMLA, and accommodations needed for chronic or acute conditions. If the Director lacks experience in this area, isn't there a training program she could have participated in in order to carry out these components of her job? Why is the District paying for a consulting agency and what is this costing the District each year?

Jane Curren - I teach honors and AP chemistry this year. I love being a high school teacher. It brings me a since of accomplishment to help students who are struggling understand concepts that seem difficult. I have in years past felt that I could really help my students. This year, I am struggling to support my students due to large class sizes. I have 38 students in each of my honor’s chemistry classes. This makes it difficult to give my struggling students the one-on-one instruction they need to stay caught up. This large number of students also means that I have nine lab groups of four to five students. The large number of groups makes it difficult to monitor what all the groups are doing. It also means about half of the groups don’t sit near an electrical outlet. This makes doing labs difficult. I will have to scale back some of the labs in honors chemistry this year. 
My AP chemistry class this year does have reasonable class sizes (32 each); however, the students have not been provided with a digital textbook, we just have a class set of hard copies. I put in an order in the Spring for digital books. The day before school started I went to link the textbook to my Schoology course, but it was not available (I was only had access to my Schoology course for this class the Monday before school started). I spent countless hours trying to contact the textbook company to find out why the digital books weren’t linking to my class. After a week of that struggle, I finally learned that the school never purchased the textbooks. I let admin know and it was my understanding that the textbooks would be ordered. It is now a month later and still no textbook. Despite reaching out to admin multiple times to find out the status of the textbook, I still have no idea when it will be purchased. As a result of not having the textbook and the resources that come with it, I am spending hours finding and putting together material for this class. This is my first year teaching the class, which makes this especially difficult. My students are amazing hard-working students who go above and beyond to learn the material. It breaks my heart that they don’t have something as basic as a textbook to help them. I feel absolutely exhausted at the end of each day. I also feel tremendous disappointment because after all our students have been through, they absolutely deserve better. SOS. Please help. At least with the textbook.

Friedman, Michael - I am not the only person who has trouble understanding what happens to public comments after being shared to this board. It’s understood why the Board does not respond to them at the same meeting, but they could easily become an agendized topic for the next meeting. In any case, is the purpose of public comments simply to say they exist and check it off the board’s agenda? It’s a first step, and in many cases far from the finish line. Undealt with issues resurface eventually. Over the past 20 years this school has become disproportionate in the amount of admin compared to LAUSD high schools of similar size. Not all these admin positions need to be administrators. There are countless ways and personnel that exist to reassign and redistribute responsibilities leading to hundreds of thousands of dollars saved, greater usage of educational and PALI specific knowledge and experience than at present, and actual teamwork between faculty and administration of parallels that used to exist here at PALI. It has and will continue to be suggested to this board that parts of administrative and operational tasks, responsibilities, and communications will greatly improve through the assistance of AI. It also is suggested that all administrators including the executive director teach 1 course each semester within 1 of the departments they oversee. An added bonus for PALI would be that administrators would know some students and be asked to write letters of recommendations, assuming they make good teachers and can build a positive relationship with students. Admin should be subject to the same STULL evaluation as any faculty, only the STULL would be performed by the department chair(s) instead of an administrator. Being too busy to teach is an excuse, workloads must be redesigned to facilitate this. Part of that would include administrative supervision from all administrators during nutrition and lunch. This was happening when I started at PALI. The FISH BOWL, otherwise known as the admin meeting room needs to be empty during those times expect for actual emergencies. If what’s best for the students is truly the objective, this can and needs to happen.

 

Ashly Stohl -It is my understanding that the school was given a 4.5% cost of living increase to be passed along to the teachers. In the past, these cost of living increases have been passed directly on to the teachers, so why is that not the case now? The teachers should receive the entire 4.5% increase for a number of reasons, including 1. Our beloved teachers are among the lowest paid public school teachers in LAUSD 2. They are teaching in uncooled, overcrowded classrooms, with up to 40 students, 3. We were given the money for them, so give it to them and 4. They have been nothing short of heroic in keeping our kids going since the fire. Some of them lost their own homes, some drove over an hour to Sears, and all of them showed up every day eager to teach our kids. We owe them so much more than a 4.5% raise, but at the very least, we owe them that. This is embarrassing that they're being nickle and dimed over this cost of living raise, when they are paying $6.50 a gallon for gas to drive to school. Pay up, Pali.

Dr. Woodward - I’m not sure if you remember me. I attended the annual goal setting retreat on Saturday and made a public comment about my over crowded classroom sizes. My name is Dr. Woodward and I teach both honor’s biology and honor’s neuroscience. Unfortunately, my class sizes are way to crowded for a science laboratory classroom. If you remove eight students from my class periods 1, 3, 5, 6 and place these students into my empty period 4 classroom this would create a manageable class size of 32 – 33 students for an appropriate science laboratory classroom. 
During the goal setting retreat I was with the academic achievement group. There is definitely a great deal of research that supports large class sizes have a negative impact on academic achievement. 
I think it would be prudent for the board of trustees to add and prioritize an agenda item and goal to reduce all science classrooms sizes to between 32 – 33 students per class regardless of classroom square footage. 
California pays $27, 418 per student when accounting for all founding sources (state, local, and federal). There is also money in the general fund that could be allocated to a 4th period auxiliary honor’s biology class. There is even an empty science classroom here on campus which could be used to place a new science teacher in. 
Top Ten Reasons to Reduce Class Sizes Here at Pali
1. More students mean less one-on-one time with students.
2. Grading is too heavy for meaningful assignments and feedback.
3. Test scores for large classes are lower on average. (See the STAR Project.)
4. Behavior issues increase with large class sizes.
5. The increased number of students impacts student’s emotional energy and mental health.
6. Large class sizes often make good discussions difficult.
7. Student progress becomes low priority with large class sizes.
8. More students often means less flexibility with curriculum implementation.
9. Students from large class sizes tend not to be very focused.
10. The chaos of large class sizes is a bad learning environment which is not compatible with learning complex and often challenging concepts. 

Please invest in our students and the quality of their education.
In addition, I do not think that people should be posting comments anonymously. If someone has something meaningful to say, I believe that they should be recognized.
 

Steven Burr - 

My name is Steven Burr. I'm a Pali alum, Class of 1988, a Pali parent whose daughter graduated in 2024, and I've taught here since 1997. Pali has been part of my life for almost four decades. I've loved my time as a teacher here and the impact I've been fortunate enough to make on generations of Pali students.
You've already heard compelling comments from my colleagues about compensation and large class sizes. I want to focus on what those issues mean for Pali's future.
When Pali became a fiscally independent charter, teachers played an important role in building the school and shaping its direction. That collaboration helped create the Pali that many of us have spent our careers supporting.
Today, teacher morale is the lowest I've seen in nearly 30 years of teaching here. Over the past 18 months, we've taught online, built classrooms in a department store, and transitioned back to Pali. Throughout that time, we've repeatedly been told how much our work and commitment are appreciated. Yet after everything teachers have done, the initial salary offer was 1.5 percent. It's difficult to reconcile those expressions of appreciation with that offer.
And compensation isn't the only issue. We're teaching larger classes and dealing with difficult working conditions. My classroom is one of the hottest on campus, and trying to teach and learn in that environment day after day takes a toll on both teachers and students.
This particularly concerns me because Pali is going through a generational transition.
In our 2019 staff survey, almost half of respondents had already worked at Pali for more than ten years. Many of those veteran teachers have since retired, and many more will retire over the next several years.
When they leave, we're not simply filling vacancies. We're replacing decades of experience, institutional knowledge, mentoring, leadership, and commitment to this school.
And the teachers replacing them will be making a different calculation. They won't receive the lifetime retiree health benefit available to qualifying longtime employees, while our union's current comparison shows Pali's starting salary is nearly 10 percent below Granada Hills.
So I hope the Board looks beyond this year's negotiations and asks a longer-term question: Are our compensation, class sizes, working conditions, and teacher voice creating a Pali where the next generation of great teachers will want to come, stay, and build their careers?
Because ultimately, the decisions we're making today will determine the quality of Pali we're handing to the next generation of students.

Anonymous for fear of retaliation - I have been at Pali for over 10 years. I continue to be disappointed with the leadership of this school. Most of the materials that I have are bought from parent donations. The school has had 9 months to get the copiers online and still has not. Teachers are being asked to do more with less and for less compensation. Instructions come to us in convoluted emails and when we ask for clarification there is no response.

Kevin Kung - In 2024–2025, Pali teachers received a mere 0.5% pay raise, followed by just 1.30% in 2025–2026. Neither increase came close to matching inflation, leaving us as the lowest-paid independent charter teachers in Los Angeles. This financial strain follows one of our most challenging school years, during which teachers navigated the disruptions of the Palisades fire. While the community generously thanked us for keeping our students safe and supported, the school administration has failed to show that same level of care. The pay is not only demoralizing but makes it more difficult for teachers to start or continue to teach at Pali. We are paying more in gas to commute to a school with traffic when we could teach near our homes and be paid more and given more respect. Please quickly negotiate a contract that is fair to teachers.

Anonymous - Dear Board, Administration, Teachers, Staff, Students, and Pali Families,

Our community has been through a great deal, and I believe we have a powerful opportunity to come together and rebuild stronger than ever.
Current negotiations present a chance to reach a constructive, mutually beneficial agreement; one that fairly compensates our dedicated teachers with at least a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) while remaining fiscally responsible and maintaining a balanced budget.
During the last board meeting, the vast majority of teacher comments focused on improving educational excellence and day-to-day working conditions, including facilities, classroom supplies, class scheduling, and overall support. We deeply appreciate the ongoing efforts of the board and administration to address these issues as promptly as possible, and we ask that restoring and improving core school operations continue to remain a top priority.
As teachers, we want to be active partners in this process. Please let us know how we can assist, perhaps through a survey to identify remaining operational needs, priorities, and unresolved items.
On a personal note, I would be lying if I said the recent letter from leadership didn't weigh heavily on my heart. But rather than let it divide us, I hope this moment allows us to examine the root causes of our challenges, do the hard work needed to reach an agreement, and focus on continuing to improve our school's day-to-day functionality and academic excellence.
Thank you for your leadership and dedication to our school

Anonymous - The division between teachers and admin is TOO big. No real issues will be resolved until this divide is bridged. We all want what is best for the students. If we do not resolve this tension, we will never be successful. I think admin should look into hiring someone who can do team building training or whatever in order to make this place run functionally. We don't have to hate each other, it's not like this everywhere.

Anonymous -I want to shout out Josh Wilson and Joe Clausi for their professionalism and competence. They treat us teachers like humans. They are even tempered and never lose their cool. They are a great addition to the Pali team and EVERYONE who has come into contact with them loves them.

Keith Pearson - Spanish Teacher

I’m speaking as someone who has found a professional home and is increasingly unsure whether I can build a sustainable life around it. I have been teaching for more than 15 years—in public schools, private schools, Catholic schools, and abroad. I have an undergraduate degree in Spanish and two master’s degrees. I studied abroad, lived abroad, and spent years deliberately improving both my Spanish and the way I teach it.
When I came to Pali, despite that education and experience, I essentially started at the bottom of the salary schedule. I accepted that because I had found somewhere I genuinely wanted to build something. I thought I could tread water for a few years and eventually catch up.
But eventually, treading water becomes drowning.
When I walk onto the Pali campus, I smile. Most days between 6- 6:30. I am grateful to be there. I work in an extraordinary language department with colleagues who constantly make me better. I would never claim to be the strongest teacher among them. But I can say with confidence that my students matter enormously to me. I show up, I care, I reflect, and after more than 15 years, I am still trying to get better at this work.
Then I go home and face a completely different equation.
I live alone in a small apartment and on a single income. I have to decide which bills get paid now and which can wait. I have received financial help. I supplement my teaching income through private Spanish tutoring and by driving for Uber and DoorDash. Even that becomes another calculation: tutoring extends the work I already do all day, and an hour of tutoring rarely requires only an hour of my time. Some weeks I have to decide whether to tutor, drive after school, or preserve those evenings and give up part of Saturday and Sunday instead.
Those are not really choices between working and not working. They are choices about which part of the remaining week I can give up to make the numbers work.
I also carry substantial student-loan debt from the education I pursued to build this career. Every month when my paycheck arrives, instead of feeling financial stability, I feel a pit in my stomach about whether I can keep all of these obligations afloat. There is a painful irony in having invested so heavily in becoming an experienced professional, only to reach this stage of my career and still experience payday as a source of anxiety rather than security.
My immediate family lives out of state, and most of the friends who have known me for decades live across the country. For nearly five years, I have built my life here, away from much of my support system, because I found a school community where I feel that I belong.
But a school cannot be the only part of a person’s life that works.
And this is about more than salary. It is arriving early and losing valuable time to a printer or copier because students need materials. It is buying things myself, creating workarounds, planning, grading, contacting families, and bringing work home. When basic systems fail, teachers absorb the difference—in time, money, energy, or all three.
As I get older, I am also confronting something I could ignore more easily when I was younger: this pace has a physical cost. The combination of long hours, financial stress, additional work outside of school, and difficult working conditions has begun to affect my health in ways that are real enough that I can no longer simply push through them.
And yet, I am not looking for ways to give less to this school. This year alone, students have already asked me to sponsor three different clubs. I was genuinely thrilled to be asked, and I would love to say yes. But when I also have to consider tutoring, additional work, and protecting my health, even saying yes to students becomes a financial and personal calculation.
That may be the hardest irony in all of this: I am trying to find a way to give more of myself to Pali, not less.
I am not asking to become wealthy from teaching. I chose this profession knowing that would not happen. I am asking something much more basic: can an experienced teacher commit deeply to a school community and still build a stable life around the work?
Schools can replace a name on a master schedule. What is harder to replace are relationships, experience, institutional knowledge, continuity with families, and years invested in becoming better at serving a particular community.
The issue is not whether I value this school enough to remain. I do. The question is whether the life surrounding the job can remain sustainable enough to make that possible.
And if teachers who care deeply about staying eventually cannot make that equation work, that is not simply a personal financial problem. It is a retention problem for all of us.
 

Anonymous Teacher - One reason morale is so low, entirely separate from salary or contract issues, is that teachers do not appear to have an objective Human Resources point of contact. Dr. Monahan has decades-long relationships with both Amie Whiteley and Diana Kim through LAUSD, which raises obvious concerns about impartiality. As a result, when teachers bring important and legitimate concerns to HR, those reports are reportedly being dismissed as “administrator harassment.” How are teachers actually supposed to report serious concerns to someone who can evaluate them fairly and without an apparent conflict of interest, short of taking them directly to Dr. Magee or the Board? This bias is unacceptable.

Anonymous - The school says its mission is “student-first” and that decisions are made in the best interests of students. If that is truly the guiding principle, then why are classrooms packed beyond the gills this year? Department chairs warned that this would happen. Their concerns were raised, yet apparently invalidated and ignored. Now, eleventh- and twelfth-grade classes are permitted to have 40 students. Forty. Even more concerning, some collaborative special education classes—specifically designed to have smaller class sizes and the support of two credentialed teachers—are also exceeding their intended numbers. Some classrooms can barely accommodate the additional desks and furniture. Students are being packed into rooms that may very well raise fire-code concerns and, at a minimum, make an already demanding learning environment uncomfortable and difficult to navigate.
And how does this square with declining test scores? When a classroom that once held 27–30 students is suddenly filled with 40, that means more than ten additional students competing for the same teacher’s attention. It means less opportunity for one-on-one instruction, fewer individualized comments and meaningful feedback on writing assignments, less ability to identify and address individual learning gaps, and, ultimately, a more watered-down educational experience. Pali says it wants to grow attendance. But growth without the infrastructure to support it comes at a cost, and that cost is being paid by students and teachers in the classroom.
Pali is supposed to stand for excellence in education. Cramming 40 students into classrooms designed for significantly fewer, despite warnings from department chairs, is difficult to reconcile with that stated mission. This is not what a student-first approach looks like.
 

Anonymous Educator - It is unprofessional and, frankly, unacceptable for teachers to repeatedly email administrators and receive no response. None. Teachers can send multiple emails—sometimes about the same issue—and receive absolutely no acknowledgment. Again: zero response.
And these are not trivial matters. Many of these emails concern time-sensitive student issues where a prompt response is essential. Teachers are expected to respond to emails in a timely and professional manner, so why does that same standard apparently not apply to the administrators responsible for supporting them - particularly when many administrators now have multiple contracted, non-Pali employee assistants?
Teachers should not have to chase administrators repeatedly just to get an acknowledgment, let alone an answer. Being consistently ignored is demoralizing and leaves teachers feeling professionally unsupported and, quite literally, unheard.
But the consequences extend beyond teacher morale. When a student issue is time-sensitive and an administrator simply does not respond, it is the student who ultimately bears the cost.
If teachers are expected to communicate promptly and professionally because it serves the best interests of students, shouldn’t administrators be held to that same standard?
 

Anonymous - This year, teachers were offered 4 fewer hours for summer school than in past years. Because all testing was proctored through Zoom, teachers were on camera Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-12:30, working with students during the entire time and running any Zoom meeting report will prove this to be true.  In previous years, the school provided 4 additional hours a week to write intervention emails to students and families, input and post grades, and set up Schoology pages. To meet their professional obligations and provide students with their needs, all teachers working summer school this year worked an additional 4 hours a week beyond what they were paid. Pali’s biggest focus these days seems to be not on its students or staff, but simply cutting money wherever they can. It is unfair and unethical to expect teachers to work a total of 20 additional summer hours without pay and no responses - from multiple teachers to HR - were ever responded to about this matter.
 

Anonymous - No teacher has yet received any insurance compensation for personal items lost in the fire, despite the fact that every teacher spent more than three hours last year meticulously documenting the contents of their classrooms on detailed spreadsheets. Those spreadsheets were submitted, and then—nothing. No follow-up, no explanation, and no acknowledgment of the considerable personal time teachers spent compiling them. Perhaps compensation is still forthcoming, but the lack of communication is itself troubling.
The larger issue, however, is what has happened in the meantime. Many of the classrooms that are now functioning, and, in some cases, well stocked, were rebuilt through the generosity of strangers, including some members of this very Board, and through crowdsourcing platforms such as DonorsChoose. The school itself has provided remarkably little beyond an air purifier and, more recently, a Raptor Alert badge, essentially a Life Alert button for emergencies.
Our fantastic librarian has worked tirelessly to rally donations, funds, and supplies for teachers, and that generosity is genuinely appreciated. But let’s be clear about what this means: if platforms like DonorsChoose did not exist, Pali students would have little to no classroom supplies right now. It has become shamefully normalized for Pali teachers to turn to the internet to essentially “beg” for basic classroom supplies—not only to replace items lost in the fire, but to furnish functioning classrooms in the first place. That should not be the model for a school that claims to prioritize its students and educational excellence.

Steve Klima - First of all, I want to state that the BOT’s Parent Square message sent last week did something that I didn’t think I could ever see, you tanked teacher morale even more that it was before! The hostility and the misinformation in that letter was appalling. The fact that you were so cowardly to not even mention your 1.5% offer while lambasting UTLA’s “double digit request” was ridiculous. Secondly, I want to reiterate that any budget shortfall we are claiming this year is due to the mismanagement of “hold harmless” monies from the state. The state offers hold harmless monies to make schools “whole” after a natural disaster. Pali’s budget committee and BOT has decided to spread this year’s hold harmless money, over $10 million, over the course of three years, however, this is short-sighted. If I was a parent of a Senior who has to deal with large class sizes and no textbooks, I would be furious that the school has decided that my child doesn’t matter. Finally, Pali’s claim of poverty is not verified in its books. We are showing an additional $7 million dollars going into our coffers at the end of next year. We also may get as much as another $7 million in hold harmless money next year. Our enrollment is higher than expected this year, and without this ridiculous standoff with teachers right now, it could go higher. I have been involved in charter school budgets for close to 20 years, and I have never seen Pali’s books look so good. Fear-mongering about poverty is not something that is shown in Pali’s financials. Do what is right and give teachers a fair contract!
 

Must remain anonymous - retribution is alive here - It is almost October and still no copy machine. We need answers. WHY? This is completely irresponsible and those in charge need to be help accountable. Asking teachers to prepare 3 days in advance when we, as professional guide our teaching based on the students is a reflection of how little those in charge knowing about what it means to be a teacher. We don't dictate what and how we teach. Students do.

Marie Arce of Charter Impact. Report stands as submitted. 

• Because it's from July does not include any enrollment or ADA updates. So not much change from the 45 day revised budget. 
• Marie explained reasoning for Super COLA funding increase relating to pregnancy leave. 
• Discussion of Restricted Revenue tied to specific expenditures. 
• Minh Ha - If we use restricted funds from Special Ed or PD block grants does that free up money from general grant that would be used on PD and Special Ed? Marie says it depends on what it is spent for. Some of it can be used for general increased costs. It may free up general funds. 
• Expenses - Not much change because it's July. There will be more changes in future presentations. 
• Fund Balance - projected to increase to $14.2. Fund balance and net assets are now broken out into restricted and unrestricted portions to provide greater context than what was provided in the past. 
• Cash balance also broken out to show restricted and unrestricted cash.

Steve Klima  addressed the board in his capacity as UTLA representative per the bylaws. 

• Question about how ADA numbers are being formulated and what numbers they are using. and about the Super COLA and the 4.3% not being something we should look to for raises or teachers not deserving it? Marie - she commented only on the intended uses expressed in the governor's budget, not anything to do with staff salaries. 
• What is the actual number multiplied by 2402 for our budget? Marie - ADA is based on anticipated number of students times anticipated students actually showing up. We have assumed 93% based on prior years. Steve - Since there is a hold harmless what number is used? Marie it's based on difference against 24-25 year. This is not a calculation we do ourselves. ADA is not calculated based on state, hold harmless is separate. Steve - projected budget is based on 2402 students. Marie says student support discretionary block grant is calculated differently, each state funding type is calculated differently and based on a different year. Steve says there has to be a number that 2402 was multiplied by to come up with the state funding number.
• Minh Ha - are you talking about the $30.7 million in state aid? Yes. He's asking about LCFF funding per pupil. 
• Steve asks what is the current ADA per student in state of CA? Marie does not know that data for CA. Steve says what he sees online is higher than the number Marie is using. Marie says she is going off of the LCFF calculator that was released in June. It's all state mandated. 

We will have more specific data in the upcoming reports to get to actuals since July doesn't reflect actual students, etc.

Report re Arts and Music Funding and how it was spent. 

The report will be completed this fall. 

Alexis - this was the transfer to move the funds into the true trust. 

Amir - Alexis, Dr Magee and Negeen as secretary are all trustees. 

This was already voted on previously and they just completed the transfer now. 

3 proposals were brought to budget and finance committee.

The committee chose Merrill Lynch over Cathay Bank and Hanmi Bank. 

• Budget committee reviewed and provided notes. Alexis wanted to present the same version here before incorporating their notes to see if the board has any comments or questions about the working draft. 
• Minh Ha -Section 13.1 re gifts and donations there's a blank that should be filled in. Jane says it's still in draft form that's why it hasn't been completed. 
• Alexis says the next version will have ASB and other separate fundraising items pulled out. 
• She would like to finalize this by the next meeting. Want to show progress as this was flagged by the oversight auditor. Board members can provide notes directly to Alexis to take back to the committee. 
• Legal counsel will review as well. 

Mr. Clausi is not present to explain the MOU.

Dr. Magee - we have one student in foster care who qualifies for transportation assistance under this agreement.

Amie Whitely - if we don't enter the agreement we will be 100% responsible for the cost.

This provides for partial reimbursement. 

Jackson Richmond

• The situation with teachers has spilled over onto students. Teachers are not sponsoring clubs anymore. Leadership can't do their jobs. Teachers are closing their doors at lunch and nutrition, it makes it hard for students to get help. Teachers are also not coming in before school or staying after school. Students have no control over any of it but they are being negatively impacted. 
• Football game Friday. October 2nd Wild West Football. College Fair September 29th. Freshmen workshop the same night.
• Homecoming theme will be La La Land. Ticket sales starting soon. Will be playing Venice for homecoming. 

Negeen Ben-Cohen - Extreme frustration among parents and students regarding the master schedule and class sizes. Overcrowding and schedule changes were not addressed in a timely manner. Kids getting moved around 5 weeks into the semester is disruptive. We still have overcrowding and insufficient desks in classes. Also a great deal of frustration regarding lack of preparation for the heat wave. Senior families also very upset about the situation involving withholding of college recommendation letters. Pemra reiterated the issues regarding overcrowding and heat. 

Ed - asks if all the non-interested parties support the statement that was sent out on their behalf. Pemra says she did not receive a copy of it before it was sent. 

Fati - Community members are organizing second annual Longest Table event October 4 in Huntington Palisades. Open to everyone who works or lives or is planning to come back to the Palisades. 

Andy is absent and no report submitted. 

Jeff - got feedback about back to school night from parents. Mixed positive and negative. 

Maggie - 

• Faculty would like to thank booster for sandwiches at back to school night and regular funding of donors choose matching donations. 
• Regarding the letter that was sent out - does not think every lawyer would agree re this interpretation of the Brown Act. Could have called a meeting and then gone into closed sessions. Why is negotiation committee putting out a statement anyway. Speaking on behalf of countless faculty who were very upset that this is how they are seen. Also upset that it said the board considers when it's not really from the board and she is also a parent on the board. Would like to bring Greta Proctor as a trusted source to see what she thinks of it. She is not convinced it was handled how it should have been as we are directed to act as a public board. 
• We are still without onsite copy machines that can do more than a page at a time. Ordering supplies and instructional materials is cumbersome and impacting teaching.
• Class sizes are still enormous. Students are still changing classes even though progress 1 is due next week. Special schedules keep disrupting learning. We should move NWEA testing to October next year.
• Concerns about safety protocol technology that teachers are supposed to wear. 

Report stands as submitted except for a typo in the second paragraph.

Ed - prior report mentioned teachers that had been over compensated. Would like some more color and details. 

Martha - the changeover this summer for the payroll system showed a few people overcompensated for multiple years. And some others moved up a step to a higher pay scale incorrectly. They prioritize addressing underpayment issues before overpayments. They are still working on the overpayments because they have to meet with each person to work out a payment plan. It's about 14 people. Some overpaid for just one month, a couple for longer term. 

Minh Ha - Were all underpaid employees compensated properly now? Martha says yes. She says Virtual Academy stipends did not go out in June, they just audited it and those people received an email and will receive their payments on the 25th.  That should be the last item for underpayments. 

Minh Ha - summer school problems resolved? Martha says yes. 

Ed asks if Martha is included as a signatory to the letter? She says she read the letter and considers herself a member of the administration. 

Report stands as submitted.

• Ed - report did not make mention of the new check-in system technology from Raptor. Rafael says the communication was not clear they are working on a better explanation. Rafael says it will allow segregation of a disaster and help with communication in emergencies like a disaster or criminal act on campus. Did Rafael see the video that was shown to students because it did not seem appropriate. Rafael said they specifically made it and showed it to teachers in case there was an adult victim so the kids would know what to do. It's a technology that teachers are supposed to wear and activate in emergency situations. It's like a lanyard. Ed wants to know if Rafael consulted with other schools using the tech? Rafael says yes.

AC Units and HVAC Project

• Minh Ha - please update about the ac units because what was in the last report to the board is not what's actually in classrooms. Rafael says every class that lost AC due to the fire has had it replaced. Additional units and fans have been requested and asked to be covered by insurance. Not all classrooms had AC prior to the fires. She says there are classrooms that did have units previously and do not now. When Rafael says we replaced AC units from before the fire, that's the ones that the school had a record of purchasing in the past. If someone else had purchased it and had it in a classroom before the fire the school didn't have a record of it. 
• Pemra - parents had wanted to jump in and help purchase units for classrooms. Back to school night was very difficult even for a short time. There was a fundraising effort established for this. What happened with these funds? Rafael says he did not receive any funds or details from this fundraising. Only one faculty member reached out and said some parents were going to deliver some fans for that teacher. The fundraising group should contact him to discuss what specs, where to purchase, how much funding available. Pemra says there was communication saying this has to go through the school to make sure the right things are purchased so where is the disconnect?
• Maggie - that money was supposed to go to the pali fund and there was a checkbox that it was for AC. So the assumption was that Rene or whoever is in charge of that account would communicate with you so it would be helpful if Rafael can reach out to her. We don't know what weather to expect in the coming weeks or next year so we need to address this. 
• Rafael - HVAC project is starting in November. They have not advised when machines will be going in. 18 month process.
• Maggie - we are losing instruction, kids are learning less in the heat. They cannot concentrate in the heat. 
• Rafael is going to include this in his budget for next year. He says they were planning for the heat, but the problem came from dealing with insurance to provide replacement units and also because of our facilities team was overextended. 
• Pam - the fundraising link was part of Ed Fund and we can put the info out tonight or tomorrow. 

Rafael says the school is already preparing for the Super El Nino. 

Minh Ha - Evacuation drill tomorrow. She can't find the video on schoology it's only pdfs. Rafael says he was able to access it on his computer.

Report stands as submitted.

Ed - thank you for the copier update. Why are we still a few weeks out? Jeff says he is working with vendors and it's issues of bandwith and human capital.  Working on repairing existing machines. Not planning on new machines until next year. 

Rene Rodman

• PCHS fund - We started later this year because school started a week later. Parents have really stepped up, volunteering, donating. We are around $74,000.
• Couple of small grants in process.
• Driveway days is coming up with parents and students volunteering. Also have a family sponsoring matching funds. 
• If we know of families or family foundations that might offer matching funds please let her know.
• Collaborating with the other impacted local schools. Trying to do driveway days on the same days. Trying to help those schools too because they are the Pali pipeline especially Paul Revere.
• Working on fundraising policy revisions over the next few months to make sure to cover all the bases and fine tune it all especially the ASB piece of it.
• Additional allocations for fire relief fundraising - Working with Sara and Dr. Magee to get the remaining funds allocated. 
• Classroom supply drive and schoolwide purchases of paper and Samsung screen supports. 
• Fati - do we do alumni giving campaigns? Rene says there was an alumni class that donated after the fire. She says it's hard to reach them. We don't have a solid online community of alumni. She says it's most impactful in reunion years. Would be good to have reunion organizers connect with development office. 
• Negeen- what about grandparents? Rene says that outreach has been more through team fundraisers such as snapraise. Might be something we can work on messaging for. 
• Negeen - why are teams still using snapraise if they take such a big 20% cut? Some teams like it because it's viral. Looking at setting up givebutter for the teams to avoid fees and use that for the family donations and then use snapraise for outreach to larger community.
• Minh Ha - what about the separate fund for AC units? Rene says it's around $1500 now and she has to get those funds transferred over to make purchases. 

• We are dealing with a lot of uncertainties as a community. We don't know when the neighborhood will recover and more families will be here. We don't have metrics to measure recovery progress and how it will impact our school.
• Board goal setting retreat Saturday was a positive opportunity to hear from stakeholders
• AAC action plan - Survey from last year, working with departments to create plans and goals and objectives. It opens classroom doors and more engagement between admin and faculty to improve student experience and collaborate. Working together to raise level of academic achievement. Thank you to survey committee for the time they put in last year for this process. 
• Admin team working on their own action plan based on feedback from surveys. Working on setting performance metrics for all of this so we can actually measure progress. 
• Choir gave a fabulous performance. 
• Prospective parent tours are very encouraging. Enrollment is important for the vitality of our school. School is great because we have great teachers but also because we have wonderful kids from all over the city who choose to travel to Pali. 
• We have survived too much to let ourselves be fractured and divided now. If the letter was hurtful or discouraging please know that was not how it was intended. I know our teachers and how hard you work and how much you value the school and we just need to work together to figure out how to get to a good outcome. We are all working hard for the same things. 
• Maggie - were kids turned away from enrolling at Pali? Pam says no. Maggie says there was talk about turning away kids because classes were too big. Pam and Amie say that's not correct. We even took 4 more kids today. We fluctuated a lot, went down 100. We didn't turn anyone away but we know there's imbalances between grades and 9th grade is very big this year. Maggie says the future of the school will hinge on enrollment as population declines and there's more competition for kids. 
• Ed - COVID outbreak last week. Concerns from faculty about communications about it. There are privacy concerns about disclosure but can we do better with communication? Pam says from her understanding it was limited to a small group of students and things have been pretty normal otherwise. Was concentrated to the football team. She says they can discuss communication but also don't want to create a panic. 
• Ed - why did we put a letter about bargaining on parent square? Pam says there were a lot of requests for communication and that is the avenue of communication to parents. Same question directed to Amir - this is the communication platform and we believe that was the right forum to them to direct info to the community. Ed - can teachers use parent square to communicate to parents about their side of bargaining? Dr. Magee says no.  

Report stands as submitted. Randy Tenansnow and Michael Friedman

• They would like a directive from the board about what to do this year once they review the action plans from the department chairs. 
• Board retreat identified new academic goals for the AAC and school for this year. 
• The committee officers would like to meet with board members to incorporate these goals into the agenda for their next meeting.
• The committee met last week to select members and officers. 
• Michael says he and Mr. Burr would be happy to help with master schedule issues we are seeing.
• Diana Kim - are there too many faculty members on the committee? Michael and Minh Ha say there's no maximum number of faculty, they just have to be in the majority.
• New committee members - Yash Pujara, Scarlet Carpenter (Just name change), Ellen Unt and Jane Curren.
• Discussion about composition of committee and number of ASB representatives.  

Sara - report stands as submitted. 

• Minh Ha would like to be added as being present in the minutes from the last meeting. 
• Discussion about how to encourage parent and community participation. Discussion of changes in the rules and maybe we can revisit this topic with Greta Proctor to see if we should try it. 
• Negeen says the time of committee meetings for budget and for AAC and lack of digital participation options are barriers to participation. 
• Amir can send something on parent square to invite more participation.
• Questions about recording of zoom meetings and issues about retention of public record and about official meeting locations if we allow zoom for members of the community. 
• Jeff says there are rules that can interrupt meetings because of technology glitches if we allow members of public to join via zoom. 

Randy Tenansnow - 

• State of CA approved VA as a course based independent study program. Had to submit information about courses, instructional minutes, correspondence to platforms like UC Scout or Apex. This has to be submitted to the board and be on the record. 
• We have fewer students in VA this year. This is largely because we have switched to in person testing. This has upset a significant number of students who have moved to other online platforms. We are not upset to have them leave given concerns of cheating with remote assessments. The teachers are frequently available for testing opportunities to accommodate the students. We have a few students who are physically unable to come in person due to serious illness or otherwise so they are tested on zoom. The in-person tests are weighted more heavily than other assessments and assignments to deter cheating. This is a new system so we are working out the bumps. 
• Minh Ha - who chose the platform? Randy - Almost all teachers were able to choose the platform for their courses. There were a few options. One option was more compatible with schoology so some teachers preferred that, while others found the curriculum on other platforms to be preferable.  
• Minh Ha - Question about passing grades noted on the materials. These should be updated to say A-C grades are passing, not D.  Question about reference to calculus PLC - she says there is no PLC she is the only teacher this year so it should not refer to a PLC. There is one teacher Ms. Krieger for these classes on VA and they are following different curriculum and platform than what Minh Ha does and there is no collaboration between them.  
• Minh Ha - reference to PLC common assessment - It should not appear like this in Performance Matters because they are not the same for VA as in person. 
• Randy shared these materials with all the VA teachers and they should have given their input and made these corrections.
• Maggie, Minh Ha and Randy - Discussion about consistency of rigor and curriculum between in person and VA.  Department chairs can review and weigh in. Unclear when they can do this if they don't have a common conference period. 

Karen Ellis - 

• Pali had some outstanding outcomes last year, so great for the kids who had been through so much in the last 2 years of school. She doesn't think college readers felt bad for them, she thinks they showed their depth of character and experience in their essays.
• AP scores - 18 of our classes scored 90% or above. 6 scored at least 80% or above. Only 3 courses below 80%. This validates how hard our teachers and students were working in these classes.
• High rate of matriculation to 4 year colleges. 
• We see a high number of A and B students who will go to SMC if they don't get into UCLA or Berkeley rather than explore other options. 
• IB outreach. We have 9 different IB classes right now in different subject areas. Opportunities for engagement and involvement.
• Admission reported data - These are more representative than the matriculation data. 
• We are optimistic for this year. 
• Have a new essay coach starting on Friday. Have another one returning as well. They have appointment slots to go over their essays with the students. 
• October 17 PSAT for juniors. This is the qualifying test for National Merit Scholarship. 
• Lots of students still not doing the SAT/ACT testing, many schools are still test optional. UCs will meet next year to reevaluate whether to bring back testing. 
• College Fair next Tuesday. Over 70 colleges coming. 
• Parents asking for registration confirmation via the google links for the PSAT so she is working on that.
• Minh Ha - questions about details in the online school profile. Says we offer Acadec as a class. Do we still offer it? Yes. English 9 should be updated to Honors English 9. Asterisk next to Chemistry and asterisk for IB options are confusing. Have references to Math Analysis class should be updated to only Precalculus. AP scores breakdown there's N/A for chemistry if no kids took it we should remove that to avoid confusion. We didn't offer AP chemistry last year. Karen says she will consider it but may prefer to leave it so that class is not accidentally omitted in the future. 
• Minh Ha - Does every IB class earn 0.025 GPA boost? Yes. So it's equivalent to AP classes point-wise. Maggie says IB classes are more rigorous than regular classes. 
• Ed- we should advertise our AP pass rates better to prospective families for recruiting and also to current families to celebrate our kids' successes. 

Nothing to report. Will have 3 new teachers to approve next month.

This is an overview and refresh

Thank you to everyone who participated on Saturday at the goal setting retreat.

Next regular meeting October 20 at 5 pm.