Alma Mejia-Garcia adjusted her collar and clipped on a mic as a spotlight shone on her face.
The 25-year educator was ready to talk about her new job as interim principal at Pueblo High School, after she was named at Tuesday night’s Governing Board meeting.
One of the Warriors’ assistant principals last year, Mejia-Garcia takes over for principal Frank Rosthenhausler who is on leave, as the district continues compiling a culture and climate report after some staff detailed a culture of sexism, preferential treatment and leadership failure.
The report was called for last spring after staff reached out to the TUSD Governing Board. The uncommon process of a culture inquiry at TUSD’s second-largest high school has consolidated voices across Pueblo’s campus to talk about intimidation and leadership. The district is working through the process, and Rosthenhausler is still under contract, TUSD says.
“Our team is very committed to letting the students know that we’re there for them, and that we believe in them, and we’re there to make things better. And, like any family, we have our challenges, and we have our disagreements, and if we truly believe in family, what it means is you stick together, and you go through it, and then you become better at the end of it,” Mejia-Garcia told Arizona Luminaria. “It’s acknowledging that as educators, our hearts are for the kids. We do it for the kids and that’s the best place to start. My message is going to be ‘let’s agree to move from the me to the we’ and we’re going to be better for it.”
Mejia-Garcia, a native of Nogales, Sonora, began her career over two decades ago as a Spanish teacher at San Miguel High School.
Hundreds of new teachers inducted
A year ago, Wendy Velasco had just moved to Tucson from the Philippines. She began her new job at TUSD as an exceptional education teacher at Kellond Elementary.
This summer, her world is again changing: She was reunited with her husband and daughter who arrived here in May. Next week, she begins teaching at Dietz K-8 and reflected on the transformation as one of about 255 teachers at TUSD’s new teacher induction this week.
“I’m looking forward to developing professionally and to learn more strategies, help my students and be effective and to help them succeed,” said Velasco, 53, who works for TUSD using a J-1 visa, a work and study exchange program.
Last school year, TUSD employed 171 international educators to help with a statewide teacher shortage. Velasco was one of 133 on J-1 visas, the district says.
The new teacher induction this week at Desert Diamond Casino on Old Nogales Highway focused on classroom management and curriculum development.
The teachers will also connect with one of the district’s 26 mentors who visit classrooms, collaborate on lesson plans and ideally, support teachers in advocating for themselves over the two-year program, said Tanya Schrantz, the teacher mentoring program coordinator, who has participated in the induction for the last 19 years.
“This helps with the foundation of their journey at TUSD. Some are brand new teachers, others have left and returned to the district. Our goal is to help teachers grow so they can support students,” Schrantz said.
Read the whiteboard
🗳️ Proposition 212 is the Protect Education Act: Last week, the Secretary of State’s office certified the signatures and made the Protect Education Act into Prop. 212, which will appear on ballots this November. The proposition aims to put guardrails on Empowerment Spending Accounts, including mandating fingerprint cards for educators and a $150,000 cap on families who use them. But HCR 2048, a last-minute effort by Republicans in the Arizona Legislature last month, attempted to invalidate Prop. 212. A Maricopa County judge is now hearing the case.
⚖️ A proposition targeting public employee unions is unconstitutional and cannot appear on the November ballot, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. The Republican-backed Proposition 143 grew out of a measure to protect Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program when it limited barring public schools from using taxpayer funds to support labor organizations. But the proposition included broader language prohibiting local and state governments (think police and fire unions) from negotiating with any labor organization over employment including wages, benefits or conditions.
“As educators, our working conditions are our students learning conditions, and we organize through our unions to advocate for the improvement of both,” said Tucson Education Association President Jim Byrne. “The reactionary agenda in this state and country is rich and rabid so we also wouldn’t be surprised to see someone finance an appeal to extend this process. Either way, we are prepared to organize our fight to win.”
🚨 The Peoria Unified School District added safety measures for students as the school year begins next week amid an ongoing police investigation.
🚌 If you need a closer bus route for your TUSD student, the district is ready to help and “we want students on our buses,” says Board Member Sadie Shaw. Call 520-225-6262 to make a plan.
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