Volume LVIX, Issue 2
15325 East Los Robles Avenue, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
October 2019
School Policy Holds Students Accountable By Lucy Argaez
Patricia Higgins collecting Adam Garcia’s life changing vote. Photo by Kimberly Gonzalez
12% Could Change Teacher’s Lives By Adrian Banuelos A 12% proposed raise over three years is being voted on this week in the HLPUSD district for all teachers to receive. It’s all up to both the District and the HLPUSD union members to vote on this salary increase. Counselor Patricia Higgins said, “The Union members have to vote on it first. That voting takes place October 14 through October 21. The good news is that teachers may be getting a 6% raise this year, retroactive back to the first day of school.” According to Higgins, if the motion passes, teachers will get 6% for this year and for next year 3%, and 3 % the following year. This would end negotiations after that. If the teachers take that offer, they are set for three full years. Higgins also said, “The last raise all teachers a 2% raise.” A substantial amount of that raise is based on what the state gave the school district for their COLA, which is the Cost Of Living Adjustment. So, it’s not just as if the school is all of a sudden getting money; part of the money came from the state, and then directly from the district. Senior Nick Ross said, “Every single teacher on this campus deserves a 6% raise, because of all the hard work they do every year for each and every student. It has been long enough since all the teachers have received raise.” Each year if there is potential raise, it all depends on the amount of money available to hand to schools in California. This is based on many things one of which is attendance.
Higgins clarified, Hacienda La Puente must be approved by the Board of Education and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Negotiations happen between the HLPTA and the district each year.
The melodic ding of a phone notification was the start of a troubling afternoon in math class. A response team was rushed to the D wing. Within minutes, the situation was contained by security, and Principal Jeffrey Hess and Assistant Principal Danny Hong. A video had surfaced online of several students concealing what appeared to be weapon on campus. A teacher who was alerted about the video, immediately called administration. Administrators and campus police investigated the potentially dangerous situation. Students involved were escorted out of their class by campus police alongside security officers. Upon concluding the investigation, the potential weapon turned out to be a stapler. A statement was issued over the PA system about the potential crisis, and how administration dealt with it. Principal Jeffrey Hess said, “Before the call, it was literally a normal day. We were supervising lunch and then we get the call from Mrs. Wong. Mr. Hong goes down with officer Barba and they got [were able to view] the video. Then they brought it to my attention. We found out exactly who they [students] were. From there, we went down to the student’s classrooms and pulled them out.” Wong declined to comment about the situation. According to Hess, the response to the video from staff, administration and officers was the quickest it has ever been, a total response time of fifteen minutes. “It was no longer than fifteen minutes and that’s probably the quickest we have ever been able to handle a situation like that. So, I think that the way we processed it and went through our normal routine was great; it was better than it ever has been before,” For Hess, the situation’s containment went beyond identifying and pulling out the students. Although the students received their consequences, there was no way to take down the video from social media, and it spread quickly online. The reason for the course of action at LAHS and the consequences that followed were based a California Ed code. The Education Code § 48900 A student who has commited the following acts is subject to discipline by suspention or expulsion: (m) “Possessed an ‘imitation firearm’. As used in this section, “imitation firearm” means a replica of a firearm that is so substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a firearm.” “The thing is you just have to be careful with social media everyone thinks that social media is a game and they can post whatever they want, but you post things on social media and it gets to Continued on Page 3
Graphic by Lucy Argaez