Principals, teachers submit retirement notices in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District

 

So far in 2021, five principals and 29 teachers have submitted retirement or resignation notices in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, including one principal who retired last month.

The four other principals and the teachers will be leaving their positions at the end of the school year. In addition, 20 teachers have been granted leaves of absence through June, mostly for medical reasons.

Dave Flynn, one of the district's longest-serving employees at 45 years, retired Jan. 4. Flynn is a former Esperanza High School principal who was named the founding principal of Yorba Linda High School 12 years ago.

Replacing Flynn as interim principal is former assistant principal Richard Dinh. The school's advanced placement human geography teacher, Joel Bradford, was named interim assistant principal for student services.

Three of the retiring principals currently head elementary schools: Diana McKibben at Ruby Drive, Cynthia Rex at Fairmont and Debra Silverman at Tynes. Also retiring is James Hardin at Parkview, the district's home school and independent study campus.

Also serving as interim principal is Chris Herzfeld at Valencia High School. He replaces Olivia Yaung, who was named the district's director of human resources. Herzfeld, a former Laguna Beach High School principal, served as the school's assistant principal since 2017. New interim assistant principal is Will Truong.

Application period for the Valencia and Yorba Linda principal positions ends today, Feb. 18. The salary range is listed as $133,429-$150,959 for 224 workdays.

A Feb. 10 California State Teachers Retirement Systems blog notes a 26% increase in statewide teacher retirements. A survey showed 62% retired earlier than planned (56% because of pandemic challenges, 35% due to remote teaching and 35% worried about COVID-19 exposure, with more than one answer allowed).

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The district's trustees at a Feb. 9 meeting authorized the purchase of additional HEPA air purifiers for use at district and school sites, adding to a previous purchase of purifiers and desk shields for classrooms approved last year.

The new purchase includes 425 purifiers “as an added precaution to bolster the safety measures already in place for smaller areas, such as lounges and single offices at school sites and district departments,” according to a report by Purchasing Director Don Rosales.

Also, an added 300 purifiers will be installed in larger areas at school sites and district departments, such as libraries and common spaces. Total cost for the new purchase is $355,000 from “learning loss mitigation” funds.

And trustees have appointed Valencia High School senior and student body president Jackson Hartman to fill the student trustee slot for the second semester through June.

He replaces Noah Campuzano, a senior and student body president at El Dorado High School, who held the position during the first semester.