LAUSD OKS ARMENIAN LIAISON
By George B. Sanchez
Los Angeles Daily News
Nov 4 2008
CA
Los Angeles Unified School District officials voted to appoint the
district’s first-ever official liaison to the Armenian community
after 16 community representatives, including an Armenian speaker,
were laid off over the summer.
The district’s personnel commission voted 2-1 Monday to create a new
position for an Armenian-speaking parent- community facilitator.
The moves comes after the Armenian community complained about the
loss of the district’s only Armenian-speaking community representative
in July.
The person hired for the position was the same one laid off in July.
Commission chairman Joseph Paller cast the dissenting vote.
Paller said he agreed there is a need for an Armenian-speaking
community liaison, but said the timing was was poor following the
layoffs in July.
He further explained that by creating the position and rehiring a
laid-off employee, the district circumvented its own seniority policy
for rehiring laid-off employees.
The commission’s decision was at odds with the fairness and equity
concerns that the commission was meant to ensure, he said.
The decision was welcomed by three dozen community members who had
called for the position.
The commission began looking into the matter in September, prompted
by public outcry from the Armenian community over the decision to
cut parent-community representatives across the district.
Among those laid off was an Armenian-speaking facilitator who worked
with Armenian families in the East Valley for four years.
Nearly 6,500 LAUSD students come from homes where Armenian is the
primary language, according to a district survey.
More than half of those – 3,338 students – are in local District 2.