PALMDALE- Palmdale School District Board President Maria Molina has announced that she will be retiring from the board on May 7. The change comes from the desire to avoid any conflict of interest.
“The board will soon be making important decisions about funding and the hiring of new teachers,” explained Molina. “It would be a conflict of interest for me to help decide how many new teachers the district hires when I myself am trying to get hired as a new teacher, and that’s not how we operate.”
The board will select a new president at their public meeting on May 6. On May 7, Palmdale School District will advertise the vacancy and accept applications to fill Molina’s position.
“The Los Angeles County Office of Education recommended we fill the vacancy by appointment since Mrs. Molina has less than two years left in her term,” explained Interim Superintendent Pauline Winbush. “Their reasoning is that anything less than two years does not justify the immense cost that a special election would impose on our district.”
A new board member will be selected at a special board meeting on May 30, where the board will interview and discuss the applicants, then accept a motion and vote to appoint one of them to the board.
The public still has the ultimate decision in matter, as the appointment can be contested and a special election ordered if more than 1.5% of Palmdale School District voters sign a petition requesting a special election.
Molina has served on the Palmdale School District Board of Trustees since November 2011. She worked as an instructional aide and teacher at Palmdale School District for 11 years before joining Keppel School District as an instructional coach in 2006.
Molina will also be resigning her position at Keppel to pursue her desire to return to the Palmdale School District as a teacher.
AV Dreamer says
Ms. Molina has been an example of true leadership, placing students and community concerns first even when it might have been unpopular to do so. Even through the rockiest periods of her term, she remained steadfast in her principles.
What is the Board’s loss will (hopefully) be the gain of many children and families in the Palmdale School District.