Pali High Board of Trustees Elects New Chair

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

The Palisades Charter High School Board of Trustees met virtually on Tuesday, December 8, for the last meeting of the year.

During the meeting, current Community Chair Leslie Woolley announced that she would be stepping down from the position and facilitated the election of a new chairperson of the board.

Board Member Emily Hirsch made a motion to nominate Brooke King as Woolley’s replacement. King is currently the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center’s Aquatic Director and has been in charge of the board’s management.

“I have gotten to know her pretty well over the last few years, she’s been at Pali for quite a number of years—13, give or take,” Hirsch said at the meeting. “I personally believe she’s demonstrated her knowledge of the charter … and I just believe that Brooke has proven her commitment to Pali and making it a better school for all of the stakeholders.”

Members took a vote and the motion was moved.

“Thank you so much, I thank everyone for their support, and I will do the best that I can for the Board and all stakeholders of the school,” King said. “I want to thank Leslie for … her committed service to Pali, for all of these years.”

Later in the meeting Pali High Principal Dr. Pamela Magee said that steps are in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at the campus, but Los Angeles schools have been encouraged to not make decisions about the full second semester at this time.

“Looking towards the possibility of a vaccine and what that might mean for the mid-semester, a possible … hybrid return,” Magee said. “We will certainly be working to develop a hybrid model, we’ve got preliminary information from surveys.

“Some very important conversations have gotten started, not that this is the first time they’ve been discussed at Pali, but … now that we’ve seen what’s transpiring and what’s happening during this eLearning period, I think there’s a willingness to see what we can do for students beyond eLearning and when … we’re not in this particular circumstance.”

This topic segued into the Academic Accountability Committee report: Teacher Brenda Clarke, who was recently elected as chair of the committee, led the discussion and reported that the last AAC meeting was well received and collaborative.

She said Magee and others are discussing what can be done to potentially include a side-letter to the Memorandum of Understanding that would make adjustments to help students.

Clarke also said the school’s missions and goals need to be aligned, and resources need to be put toward crucial concerns, issues and priorities. She said the discussion will be followed up in a January 14 meeting and months after that to make sure stakeholders provide input on priorities.

Later discussions drew attention to individual departments and administrators, and their requests of what they might need as eLearning continues.

“I’m glad this discussion is happening about committees … and we’re coming to understand the committees and the power of all the stakeholder groups on committees,” King said at the end of the meeting. “I thank you all.”

The board’s next meeting is scheduled to take place via Zoom on Tuesday, January 12.