Your guide to the LAUSD District 5 school board primary election

Four candidates are running for the District 5 seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, vying to replace the retiring Jackie Goldberg, a veteran state lawmaker, City Council member and current board president.

The seven-member school board sets policy for the nation’s second-largest school district, which educates about 420,000 students and employs some 74,000 teachers, administrators and other staff. The school board is accountable for the district’s annual general fund budget of about $10 billion, and is responsible for hiring and evaluating the superintendent.

District 5 comprises most of the northeastern portion of Los Angeles, including Eagle Rock, Glassell Park and Echo Park. To the southeast, it includes the cities of Huntington Park, Maywood and South Gate. The school board races are nonpartisan.

As of Feb. 23, candidate Graciela Ortiz had been removed from her job as an L.A. Unified counseling administrator pending a confidential investigation, school district officials confirmed.

The investigation was launched after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging Ortiz and a political ally are liable for the actions of a campaign worker, who pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with an underage volunteer. Both the perpetrator and victim were involved in campaign work in 2021 for Ortiz and Efren Martinez, according to the suit, filed Jan. 9 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Ortiz has declined to discuss the matter.

If no one wins more than 50% of votes on March 5, the top two candidates will compete in a November runoff election.

The Times asked each candidate questions about their priorities, their opinion of L.A. Unified Supt. Alberto Carvalho, Goldberg’s work in District 5, charter schools and school police.

They were asked to comment specifically on the district’s new, more restrictive policies on sharing campuses with charter schools, and on whether they favor eliminating school police or restricting officers’ presence.

Their answers are below, summarized or lightly edited for length or clarity.

Fidencio Gallardo

Age: 56

Occupation: Senior aide to District 5 school board member Jackie Goldberg, as well as a Cal State L.A. adjunct professor and Bell City Council member.

Political party: Democratic Party

Experience: High school English teacher for nearly 20 years, except for three years spent as an assistant principal. Joined the Bell City Council in March 2015. If Gallardo wins a school board seat, he will vacate the City Council.

Priorities: Improving student learning by reducing class size in all grade levels; making schools safer, cleaner, and greener through programs such as sustainable gardens and energy conservation; and increasing the district’s investment in schools with wide-ranging services for families.

The superintendent: “While he brings much experience in education and fresh ideas, he could do a better job working collaboratively with labor partners, school board members, and community groups,” Gallardo said of Carvalho. “In terms of his management style, I believe he can do more to improve communication within our schools.”

The incumbent: “I want to continue Jackie Goldberg’s work on greening and sustainability, on holding charter schools to higher accountability, and her work supporting diversity and LGBTQ communities in our schools,” he said. “I would also work to improve on ensuring school safety for all students, and making sure that parents feel collaborated with.”

Charter schools: Sharing campuses with charters “adversely impacts some of our most vulnerable students,” Gallardo said. “We must not undermine our district-led initiatives like Priority Schools, Black Student Achievement Plan schools and Community Schools.” Decisions about how campuses are shared, he said, “must be transparent and based on a set of guidelines that take more into consideration than where the charter wants to be.”

School police: In addition to robust and fully implemented restorative justice programs, well-trained school climate advocates and safe-passage programs for all schools, Gallardo said, each school community is unique and should be able to “decide on additional safety features,” including “the positioning of school police outside of a school campus and regular patrolling in the school’s vicinity.” He is against permanently assigning school police officers on a campus but also against eliminating the school district’s Police Department.

Quote: “At times we may focus too much on testing instead of engaging their human potential, and we are all more than just our scores.”

Website: gallardoforschoolboard.com

Victorio Gutierrez

Age: 63

Occupation: Retired LAUSD principal

Political party: Democratic Party

Experience: Attended L.A. Unified schools through high school, sent his children to district schools, and worked 37 years in the district, as a teacher, dean, assistant principal and principal. Gutierrez was active in the teachers union and the union for administrators, depending on his role, and is a father of six.

Priorities: Gutierrez said the district’s achievement rates were those of a “failing system,” even before the pandemic made things worse. While “COVID-19 post-traumatic stress disorder” must be dealt with, he said, he doesn’t favor academic standards that are “creating a culture of mediocrity,” saying “the kids know that whether they try or not, they’re going to pass. The graduation rate went up, but not the learning.” He added that he’d also focus on money that he says is being wasted on a top-heavy bureaucracy, overtime pay abuse, and moving quickly from one curriculum to another, which results in throwing out costly unused materials.

The superintendent: “I have never interacted with him and I don’t want to base my evaluation on chismes,” he said, using a Spanish word for gossip.

The incumbent: Goldberg “has always been a community activist and always had the unions’ back. To me, she’s always been very supportive. I really like her a lot,” Gutierrez said. “But you depend on the people below you. She was not able to fully visit all the schools and not able to understand the specific needs of all the communities.”

Charter schools: “Sometimes charters don’t take full responsibility” for what happens on a shared campus, he said, but added that as a principal, he was never against sharing space “because sometimes it enriches the entire culture of the school if you know how to work it.” He added that “the best way to minimize having to share space at any learning facility is to reduce class sizes at all levels,” with middle and high school classes never larger that 25 students to one teacher.

School police: “We have had some excellent police officers, always talking to kids, and they knew them. The officers were trusted. But each community has to come together with parents, activists, students,” Gutierrez said. While police have a role to play, he added, the police budget needs to be kept as low as reasonably possible given other needs.

Quote: “The biggest challenge for anyone running for this office is to remind the adults that it’s about putting students’ needs first. We need to fulfill the promise that every student will be college- and career-ready.”

Website: victorioforschoolboard.com

Karla Griego

Age: 51

Occupation: Community Schools coordinator at McAlister High School, in charge of organizing student and family services and participation.

Political party: Democratic Party

Experience: Became an L.A. Unified teacher in 2001. Her various roles included teaching students with disabilities, English learner coordinator, and resource specialist to support teachers and students with special needs. Griego also served on the board of directors for United Teachers Los Angeles and was involved in the union-allied coalition Reclaim Our Schools L.A. She is the mother of three children — two in college, one in high school.

Priorities: Supporting the whole child, including mental health and social and emotional needs. Reducing district-mandated testing to allow for more learning time. Enriching curriculum, for example with more electives and career pathways. Increasing support for students with special needs. Improving fiscal transparency and accountability for the superintendent and charter schools. Expanding community schools, the Black Student Achievement Plan and safe passages to and from campuses.

The superintendent: Supt. Carvalho “has made decisions that have excluded stakeholder input,” Griego said, and “needs to prioritize parent, student and educator voices and create a harassment-free LAUSD.” She cited an incident at Saticoy Elementary in which a teacher’s “transgender flag was burned, followed by intimidating emails and threats.” In addition, she said, “all workers need to be protected from rogue supervisors that seek to deter employees from exercising their right to protest” and file grievances over misconduct or inappropriate working conditions.

The incumbent: Goldberg “has been a trail-blazing elected official for years, a public ed champion who recently co-authored a resolution that will create transparency” when campuses are required to share space with charter schools, said Griego, adding: “I admire that she has been a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community for years.”

Charter schools: They “need to have more accountability and transparency,” she said. “I support the current board’s recent motion to study the process and effects” of sharing LAUSD campuses with charter schools, with the goal of limiting the placement of charters at designated community schools or schools with a Black Student Achievement Plan program.

School police: “When there is imminent danger on campus, as we have tragically seen in the past 30 years, school police have not been able to intervene. In fact, it is school personnel who have done everything possible to limit the tragedies,” Griego said. She noted that students themselves have helped curtail tragedies by reporting knowledge of potential danger to teachers and counselors they trust, leading to investigations after administrators and the district are informed. “This has been the protocol at my daughter’s school this year. There has been no need for police to come on campus for the issues that have arisen,” she said. “If there is a reasonable threat, then police should be called.”

Quote: Except at “transparent and democratic” community schools, “LAUSD budgets are incomprehensible. They are presented in big binders, allocations of programs and services are disbursed through various lines that make it difficult for people to track where monies are spent. They are also presented in a rushed manner, making it difficult to process and assess the needs. There is also no space for stakeholder input.”

Website: karlagriegoforschoolboard.com

Graciela “Grace” Ortiz

Age: 43

Occupation: Pupil services and attendance administrator for L.A. Unified and a member of the Huntington Park City Council.

Political party: Democratic Party

Experience: Worked as an L.A. Unified pupil services and attendance counselor from 2006 to 2021; elected to the Huntington Park City Council in 2015. Has also served as Hub Cities Workforce Development chair and board member, and as a state and county Democratic Party delegate. Grew up attending local schools, and as a UCLA student established a chapter of Hermanas Unidas, which focuses on empowering women, predominantly Chicanas and other Latinas, to ensure graduation.

Priorities: Having fully funded schools, which would allow the filling of all vacant positions and ensure staffing of campus aides, building and grounds workers, special-education assistants, bus drivers and community representatives. Reducing class sizes in all grade levels. Adding after-school programs.

The superintendent: “I appreciate Supt. Carvalho’s efforts in working with pupil services and attendance to address the importance of breaking down barriers that are impeding our students from attending school regularly.”

The incumbent: Goldberg “was not able to dedicate the time and effort to really understand the needs of board District 5 communities,” Ortiz said, noting that communities throughout LAUSD vary greatly, giving the example of Cudahy’s needs compared with those of Eagle Rock or South LA. The incumbent did bring “past knowledge to the board as she was a board member decades ago,” the candidate said. “However, our educational system needs drastic and innovative changes now.”

Charter schools: Ortiz said it was premature to assess the pending restrictions that would limit the opportunities for charters to share campuses with district-run schools, as the new rules are still under development.

School police: “LAUSD must have their own school Police Department that is responsible for keeping our students, employees and school surroundings safe,” she said. “School police officers do not need to be on campus at all times, but patrolling outside our schools is important for response time and knowledge of our school system and students.”

Quote: “LAUSD is the second-largest school district with many diverse communities who are willing to work with the education system.”

Website: gracielaortiz.com