Sara Pelly and Stephen Glass were chosen as the new Orange Unified School District trustees to fill the seats left vacant in the wake of a successful recall effort earlier this year.
OUSD trustees unanimously chose both Glass and Pelly Thursday evening, May 2, during a special board meeting after hearing from more than a dozen applicants. Trustees pointed to both of their backgrounds in education as why they were chosen for the positions.
Pelly, a recently retired principal in the district, was picked by OUSD trustees to fill the Area 4 seat. She has lived in the district for more than 35 years, she said, and most recently served as the principal at Fletcher Academy.
Parent involvement, Pelly told board members Thursday, is “crucial to the success of every child.”
“I have always felt the responsibility to advocate for students and families who are fearful or feel like they do not have a voice,” Pelly said. “Our school is a place where everyone should feel welcomed, and as a board trustee, I’ll make sure all parents feel heard and safe.”
From her application, Pelly said OUSD needs to improve efforts to “close the achievement gap.”
“Although OUSD has seen an increase in student achievement, there has not been the consistency needed to close the achievement gap,” she said. “Systems must be put in place in all district schools, along with accountability for implementation and success. Resources must be allocated with the intention of closing the gap.”
Pelly helped start the Mandarin immersion program at Fletcher, trustees said, and was an active member of various OUSD educational committees.
“Her understanding of marginalized communities helps her understand a lot of our students in our district, which was important to me,” Trustee Andrea Yamasaki said. “She will advocate for those who do not have a voice.
Glass, a resident in the district for 12 years, was selected to fill the Trustee Area 7 seat.
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Glass serves as a faculty member at Cal State Long Beach and has a long history in education around California. He worked as a principal at West Covina High and Compton High schools as well as an assistant principal at Buena Park High and Cerritos High schools.
Improving reading and math scores, especially across lower grade levels, is where OUSD most needs to improve, Glass said.
“These subjects are critical foundations for academic success,” Glass said. “This includes specialized interventions and resources to support students who are multilingual learners, students with disabilities and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Trustee Kris Erickson said Glass has an “impressive background and education.”
“He has touched almost every single aspect of education that you can,” Erickson said. “If I had to write a resume for a board member, it would probably look like your resume, because he fits everything.”
Pelly and Glass will be sworn in during OUSD’s regular board meeting on Thursday, May 9.
Both could also be on the upcoming November election ballots. The soon-to-be trustees can run for the seats, and if elected, their terms would last through 2026.
If they are not chosen by voters or if they do not decide to run, the appointed trustees would only serve until the general election results are certified in December.
The two OUSD vacancies opened after voters ousted former board President Rick Ledesma and Trustee Madison Miner in the March primary elections.
OUSD Recall, a group made up of community members and teachers, launched the effort to remove Ledesma and Miner after the board called a special meeting in January 2023 to fire its superintendent and place an assistant superintendent on paid leave without explanation and over the objections of many in the school community.
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The group had said there was an exodus of OUSD staff because of the board members’ actions and spending practices.
Voters supported the recall by more than 53% in the primary.
Other candidates considered Thursday evening included, for Trustee Area 4:
• Brian Harrington, a supply chain director at Prolacta Bioscience
• Armando Perez-Serrato, a teacher at Magnolia School District
• David Scott, a pastor at Canyon Church
• Fred Smoller, a Chapman University professor
• Lee Tousignant, a director of customer service at Herff Jones
• Chad Zimmerman, a former Villa Park mayor
And for Trustee Area 7:
• Michelle Byerly, an executive director at the Nonprofit Partnership
• Melissa Chelius, a real estate broker
• Lisa Kunzman, an athletic trainer in the Santa Ana Unified School District
• Mark Landson, a retired surety bond underwriter
• Oliver Lopez, a Chapman University professor
• Brian Mull, a retired OUSD teacher
• Bryan Nih, a senior portfolio governance manager at Mattel
• Genie Stuemke, a grandparent of an OUSD student