The William S. Hart Union High School District governing board chose Joe Messina to take the helm as the 2026 board president in a unanimous vote during Wednesday’s organizational meeting.
Board member Aakash Ahuja motioned the approval and board member Erin Wilson seconded.
Messina’s goal this upcoming year is to finish building the roads of Castaic High School with the assistance of federal funding and community partnerships with Rep. George Whitesides, D-Agua Dulce, Sen. Suzette Valladares, R- Acton, and Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth.
As governing board president, Messina also wants to focus on making a career technical education center possible. With the growing population in artificial intelligence, jobs in the tech industry and other related fields will eventually go away, he said, and he wants the next generation of students to focus on hands-on trades that will allow them to go into high demand fields without needing a college degree.
“We deserve it. This district deserves that,” Messina said during the board meeting.
Messina also mentioned that the district may face money challenges in the upcoming year with a $17 billion deficit from the state which he believes may be more. And his goal is for everyone in the district and board is to “get in front of that,” he said.
Creating community partnerships with the local entertainment industry is something Messina aims to also do in his new role.
With the many film industry studios in the area, Messina believes students can get a closer look into related professions if those partnerships are created, and can give students a better understanding about future careers they may be interested in.
“I’m hoping with the help of the board as a whole, as a team here at the dais, that we can get that done,” Messina said.
But before the board officers could officially take on their new roles, a public comment by community member Rebecca Hindman opposed the anticipated decision.
“Mr. Messina should not lead this board. He has and will cost the district time and money with policies that are political clickbait,” Hindman said referring to the recent changes in board policies in relation to the flag ban and others that caused a spirited debate earlier in the semester. “I believe that either Dr. (Cherise) Moore or Mr. (Bob) Jensen should be put in the current board president place to protect the finances of our district by preventing frivolous lawsuits, as well as to protect our students and their success.”
Governing board member Erin Wilson was elected to become the clerk and board member Bob Jensen will serve as the assistant clerk for 2026.
Following the election of board officers, board member Cherise Moore was thanked by the board and community for her leadership over the past year.
“For my first year as superintendent, I very much enjoyed working with you, your leadership, your partnership. I felt like it was a great year for me personally, but also for the district,” said district Superintendent Michael Vierra to Moore. Many of the board members echoed similar statements.
“One of the goals that I had as president of the board this year was to make sure that we made these meetings a place that people felt welcome, a place that you knew that this is your meeting. It doesn’tbelong to us. This meeting belongs to the community and that at every one of them, we took time to celebrate our students.” Moore said. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s who we do this job for. So, we can make sure that we’re preparing them for the future.”
Moore added: “It’s important to make sure that we see them at each one of the meetings, so that we know the policies that we’re putting for the decisions that we’re making. It impacts the students. It impactsthe staff.”
