New plans in place for the Little Lake City School District with a Latina as a leader

It has been three months since Monica Martinez-Johnson was officially appointed as the new superintendent of Little Lake City School District, which encompasses cities like Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk and Downey.

Since taking this new role, she and the board are more present in the nine school sites – seven elementary schools and two middle schools – in order to connect with staff.

There is also an intentional effort to rebuild relationships and trust with the unions while being more transparent about the district’s finances. One of the biggest challenges is the decline of enrollment and there are plans on the way to continue addressing it. 

“We are a small but mighty district, and I'll be honest, we haven't done the best job at advertising the wonderful things that Little Lake does for its students,” she said. “We are an award-winning district and schools, and so we are trying to put our name out there to entice families from other districts to join us and bring their children here.”

Taking the new role during a strike 

Martinez-Johnson became the acting superintendent on April 26, in the middle of a teacher and staff strike, after then-Superintendent Johnathan Vasquez suddenly resigned, citing health issues.

Three days later, Martinez-Johnson met union demands and ended the strike. 

While the challenge seemed big, Martinez-Johnson didn’t back down. She, her cabinet and board members started participating in listening sessions. She said some questions were uncomfortable and difficult to answer, but that’s why they were there. 

One of  the issues addressed  washealth care for staff. 

“The district has been paying 100% of their health care for over 30 years, and we are at a point where we're not able to do that because of fiscal issues and healthcare costs are rising, and so we were negotiating to have teachers and staff pay a small percentage of that,” she said. 

These uncomfortable conversations, however, led to ease of communication with the about 430 staff members and the community and made positive progress.

While Martinez-Johnson is doing a lot as a superintendent, she is not new to this. Prior to her new role, she was assistant superintendent for seven years, principal for 10 years and teacher for 13 years.  

Understanding the demographics she represents

As a first-generation college graduate, Martinez-Johnson said she’s very proud of her heritage. Her parents are Mexican and migrated to the United States in the 50s. 

She is currently in a doctoral program and has been the one to pave the way for her younger siblings and encourage them to continue their higher education. 

For this same reason, she is very understanding of the struggle many families are currently facing, especially with the constant ICE raids. Little Lake District is composed of about 89% Latino students.

Martinez-Johnson said the district has a family resource center that has been working with many of families to combat and address concerns about safety in schools.  

“I lived and grew up in Pico Rivera. It's a neighboring city, but it's very similar in demographics,” she said.

Being bilingual in such critical moments has been gold for many parents in the area. She said whenever she sees a family who's Spanish-speaking only, she tries to make them as comfortable as possible and speak in their language. 

“I remember when my mom would go to school right and maybe the office was only English-speaking, and sometimes my mom would be kind of left behind or out of the conversation,” she said. “The fact that I don't need to use a translator helps me connect with those families, which is great.”

She said the parents’ positive reaction makes her realize she’s doing a good job. 

“I'm able to talk to them about their needs, about their concerns and set their minds at ease,” she said. “Many times, they don't know about policies that we have put in place to protect them and their children from not disclosing their immigration status.” 

Martinez-Johnson said that while her dream was to represent the community in education, she never thought she would become superintendent in the middle of a strike. 

“Things happen for a reason, and I'm embracing it and loving my new role, and happy to do it for as long as I'm allowed to,” she said.