Santa Ana Unified board meeting, Sep 22, 2026
4 h 48 min · 31 public speakers
This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 4 h 48 min.
- Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened
What happened at this meeting
Board approves resolution proclaiming October 2026 as LGBTQ+ History Month 4:07:35
- Several speakers at public comment addressed the Magnolia Science Academy charter renewal, with some asking the board not to renew it and others asking the board to partner with the school. 1:28:11
- The board heard a staff presentation on early literacy, in which a district staff member reported that the share of kindergarten through 3rd grade students at or above benchmark rose from 40% to 51% from the middle to the end of the year. 2:13:34
- Valerie Magdaleno asked the superintendent to bring back a recommendation on adjusting first-grade class sizes, and the superintendent said the district would bring back information on what that would cost. 3:14:12
- A motion carried with 4 yes votes and a trustee voting no, and the general obligation bond sale resolution carried with 5 yes votes. 4:18:11
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Item by item (15)
- Opening and closed session report 41:48
- Nutrition services recognition 44:00
- Superintendent and student board member reports 54:29
- A speaker giving the superintendent's report said that beginning in October all K-12 classrooms will have a dedicated 30-minute block of daily explicit foundational reading instruction. 56:43
- A speech and debate warm-up tournament was announced for September 26th, 2026, at Saddleback High School. 1:03:43
- A speaker said 61 students were placed in paid and unpaid internships this past June and that Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 7th. 1:05:02
- Labor partner updates 1:07:26
- Correspondence and public comment 1:14:37
- Alfonso Alvarez, Ed.D. acknowledged written correspondence on student privacy and public records redaction procedures and on autism education quality. 1:14:37
- Katelyn Brazer Aceves said speakers would have up to 1 minute based on the number of speakers, and a speaker at public comment said it was disrespectful to give speakers only one minute. 1:15:19
- Speakers at public comment also raised charter schools, the cancellation of soccer games at Carr Elementary and a resource listed on student ID cards. 1:26:10
- Board follow-up on public comment 1:58:40
- The superintendent said the board-adopted handbook reduces speaking time to a minute when there are 30 or more speakers, and apologized that this had not been communicated widely. 1:59:33
- In response to a question from Katelyn Brazer Aceves, the superintendent said the board cannot cut the microphone for hate speech and must allow speakers their allotted time. 2:01:58
- Early literacy presentation 2:11:19
- A district staff member reported that 3rd grade students meeting or exceeding the standard on the state assessment were projected at approximately 26.9% for 25-26, compared with approximately 24.9% in 24-25. 2:46:01
- One board member asked the superintendent to bring back a recommendation on first-grade class sizes and said a cap should be at least 22 students. 3:14:12
- The superintendent said low class size alone is not the answer and that the district must invest in building staff capacity, while two board members said they agreed smaller class sizes would help. 3:17:38
- Board bylaw on board policies 3:35:22
- Brenda Lebsack moved to keep language listing community expectations, staff recommendations and expected impact on student learning and well-being, which the revision had struck. 3:37:09
- One board member said the crossed-out language was based on California School Board Association recommendations, and another board member said they would be willing to support the motion. 3:40:07
- One board member said the addition of labor partner updates to the agenda was never discussed or voted on, and another board member said they had raised the idea with the superintendent and the board president. 3:48:05
- The motion carried on a 5 yes vote. 4:02:11
- Closed session bylaw and public hearings 4:02:43
- No board members spoke on the closed session bylaw revision for first reading. ~4:02:57
- A speaker from Magnolia Public Schools addressed the hearing on the Magnolia Science charter petition renewal and asked to continue the partnership with the district. 4:03:21
- No one addressed the board at the public hearing on the sufficiency of pupil textbooks and instructional materials for the 2026-2027 school year. 4:05:58
- Textbook sufficiency resolution 4:07:02
- LGBTQ+ History Month resolution 4:07:35
- One board member said they would vote no on the resolution, citing material from the bookmobile and resources with chat spaces with unvetted adults. 4:10:10
- A speaker said the book came from a city bookmobile and should not have been on an elementary campus. 4:11:37
- The motion carried with 4 yes votes and a trustee voting no. 4:21:11
- Purchasing thresholds and bond sale 4:21:17
- In response to a question from Alfonso Alvarez, Ed.D., a speaker said the annual micro purchase resolution changes the bid threshold to allow purchases from small local farmers. 4:21:37
- The board considered a resolution authorizing the sale of general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $100 million. 4:23:18
- Both resolutions carried on 5 yes votes. 4:23:04
- Social media and video game addiction litigation 4:24:22
- A speaker said the goal is for all Orange County districts to join and that the district would not pay legal fees, with the firm receiving 30% of any settlement. 4:25:38
- One board member said the effort could hold large companies accountable for their impact on student wellness. 4:29:26
- A motion to combine items 5 and 6 carried on a 5 yes vote, and the resolution carried on a 5 yes vote. 4:24:41
- Consent calendar 4:34:45
- Katelyn Brazer Aceves moved to extend the meeting to 11, received no second and kept the 10:30 end time. 4:34:45
- A staff member said a partnership with the Heritage Museum will provide internships for students in the construction pathway at Century High School. 4:37:18
- One board member said they would vote no on the item because of a board policy provision on sleeping quarters. 4:41:04
- The remainder of the consent calendar carried with 5 yes votes, and a later consent item carried with 4 yes votes and one board member voting no. 4:36:19
- Board member reports 4:41:32
- Brenda Lebsack said they sent a community member a picture taken in the union lobby but did not see the community member's post. 4:42:51
- Hector Bustos asked for board consensus to agendize a public discussion on district facility rentals. 4:44:14
- Katelyn Brazer Aceves said the next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 13th, 2026. 4:46:34
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
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Video: posted by the district as “September 22, 2026 SAUSD Regular Board Meeting”