South Whittier School District held their monthly board meeting on Tuesday, October 18, in the district board room.
The meeting was held both in-person and virtually via Zoom. This month the Board and attendees were able to hear about the Above & Beyond award recognition, the silver and bronze California PBIS Implementation awards, a presentation regarding the Lakeland/Laurel housing project, and the anti-fentanyl program.
Above & Beyond Award
South Whittier School District honored McKibben Secretary, Janet Romero, with the Above & Beyond award.
Ms. Romero was nominated by another peer from McKibben. They wrote how dedicated Romero is, and how great her impact is on the McKibben campus and to those around her.
Thank you, Ms. Romero!
2021-2022 Silver & Bronze California PBIS Implementation Awards
South Whittier School District has four elementary schools being recognized with the California PBIS Coalition Award.
Carmela Elementary, Lake Marie Elementary, and Loma Vista Elementary all received a Silver Medal award and Los Altos Elementary received a Bronze Medal award. These schools have been honored for implementing PBIS with fidelity to the national framework.
During the board meeting each school was honored with a plaque and will receive a banner to display at their school site. SWSD Superintendent, Dr. Gonzales, thanked teachers and staff for implementing PBIS so well into their schools. He shared, “In the end our kids reap all the benefit, so thank you teachers and staff very much.”
Lakeland/Laurel Housing Project
During the board meeting attendees were able to hear a presentation made by The Whole Child, Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles, and The Richman Group regarding a new housing development project that will be built on Lakeland and Laurel.
The development will consist of 40 interim housing units that will be overseen by The Whole Child. This section of the development will serve 40 families who are homeless or are at risk of being homeless.
There will also be 101 rental units, 51 unites for families, and 50 units for seniors. This section of the development will be managed by The Richman Group and will be affordable rental units. The rentals will include property management, a club house, resident manager,
Community building activities, and an on-site social service provider.
The last section of the development will be 18 housing units. This will be overseen by Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles. The homes will be for income qualified first-time home buyers. This will be section 8 housing and will include support, such as: homebuyer education, affordable home buying financing, down payment assistance, financial literacy, and post purchase education.
Their goal when designing this development was to show families a vision for what’s possible. Interim housing, a rental space, and eventually home ownership.
Anti-Fentanyl Program
The Board and attendees were able to hear a presentation from the District’s RN, Becky Barajas who presented an anti-fentanyl/opioid overdose program.
Ms. Barajas share what fentanyl is and the different forms it takes. She went on to share the jump in opioid related deaths in California in the past few years and specifically the opioid overdose in youth.
With these statistics in mind, the crisis response would be Naloxone(Narcan). She shared that staff will be educated on what an opioid overdose looks like and what they can do while they wait for the Narcan administration and medical services. Volunteer staff will be trained by a registered nurse on how to administer Narcan. Parents will also be receiving information regarding the fennel crisis.
The District will hold their next board meeting on Tuesday, November 15, in the district board room and via Zoom.