Members elected to school boards share thoughts on how to help
As educators and students recover from the traumatic experiences, we asked two CTA leaders who are school board members in the burn areas to share their thoughts on how best to support students as they process and heal.

Telly Tse
GLENDALE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
Beverly Hills Education Assn.; former CTA Board Director

How are you supporting your educators, students and Glendale community as they recover from the wildfires?
At our last board meeting, my colleagues and I unanimously approved an agreement with our labor and management associations to provide extra days of paid administrative leave for employees directly impacted by the recent wildfires. It also provides greater flexibility for them to convert accrued sick leave into personal necessity days through the end of the 2025 year. In addition, we have been providing mental health services and maintaining regular communication with those  directly impacted to ensure their immediate needs are met.

As a trustee and education leader, how can we best support our students as they process the experience?
Our students have endured a lot in recent years. First, a pandemic and now this. All our students have been impacted one way or another, whether it’s from losing their home, temporarily evacuating from their residence or witnessing the smoke and fire in the sky. Our students should always be assured of the fact that no matter what happens, their school and their district is a place where they can feel safe and cared for. As a trustee and education leader, I work to ensure this happens by advocating for policies and actions that provide our students with all the resources they need to be academically successful and mentally healthy.

How does it feel as a CTA member and elected official to see your union family come together during this time?
It makes me happy and gratified. When school districts collaborate and work with their labor partners, good things happen. No one knows better what our students and communities need more than those who work directly with them. This includes our classroom teachers, instructional assistants, office managers, custodial staff, bus drivers and everyone in between. Any and every decision I make as a school board trustee must take into consideration their experiences and perspectives. The more educators and union members we have on school boards, the more likely we will see such collaboration happen in school districts across the state and nation.

Dr. Randa Wahbe
CITRUS COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEMBER
United Faculty of North Orange County Community College District; CCA Vice President

How are you working to support students and staff recovering from fires?
Immediately after the fires erupted, the president of Citrus College communicated with trustees and our campus community about the resources available to the campus community. As a trustee, I am using those resources to assist community members, as well as members, students and families in other communities and districts.

As a community college professor, how would you recommend supporting students impacted by the fires?
It’s important to let our students know about the resources that are available to them. Often, they need our help with completing forms for relief and support, like for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) resources. The fires were devastating in a way we’ve not seen in our area before. With so many of our neighbors going through unthinkable times, there’s a heaviness in our community. We have to support the devastation and its ramifications. Seeing so many community members step up to help in myriad ways has served to buoy our neighbors.