The Newhall School District governing board voted Tuesday in favor of nominating State Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, and Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita, for California School Board Association legislator awards.
Wilk was nominated by the board for the CSBA Legislator of the Year Award and Smith was nominated for the Freshman CSBA Legislator of the Year Award.
“(Sen. Wilk) has worked with great compassion for his civic career on behalf of education for families,” said NSD board President Sue Solomon. “And I feel this shows his commitment to education because he’s had impact throughout the state.”
“We nominated (Smith) because in her first six or seven months of being in the Assembly, she’s had three laws signed by the governor dealing with family welfare education,” Solomon said. “For the freshman award it’s the amount of work she’s put forward for her constituents in the first half of the first year of her first term.”
In their resolution nominating Wilk, the board cited his work in both the state Assembly and Senate, highlighting the various CSBA-sponsored bills he has supported, as well as his position on various committees (including being the vice chair of the Senate Education Committee) to bring bond funding back to the schools, including $10.260 million that has been allocated to the NSD for classroom construction.
“It is a tremendous honor to be nominated for this award and I am so appreciative of the Newhall School District for the nomination,” said Wilk on Thursday. “I remain committed to improving our schools statewide because every child, no matter their ZIP code, deserves access to an education that will prepare him/her for the future.”
Smith’s nominating resolution cited her work as a member of the Assembly Education Committee, the three bills she’s had signed by the governor already this year and total of 12 bills she’s authored in the area of education during her first term. The resolution also touched on Smith’s time as the NSD governing board president, when she chaired the Measure E Proposition 39 campaign that brought in $60 million in resources for NSD.
“It’s an honor to be nominated by my home team at NSD,” said Smith. “We are so proud of the work we accomplished as a board in my time there and their support of me in my new role is greatly appreciated.”
The CSBA’s final selection of honorees will be made in September and announced in December or January.
