In celebration of 80 years of local education, the William S. Hart Union High School District held its State of the District event on Wednesday at Canyon High School, highlighting achievements and the district’s Strategic Plan to ensure student success and a vision for the future.
The Hart district has 20,133 students enrolled across 18 schools in the Santa Clarita Valley and has a graduation rate of 96.8%, according to the presentation given by Superintendent Michael Vierra. Of those 20,133, Hispanic or Latino students make up almost half of the student population with Caucasian coming in as the second largest demographic. Asian studentswere the third largest demographic, according to the presentation.
“It’s a diverse group of students,” Vierra said. “The phrase ‘One Hart — Every Student Opportunity Ready.’ What that means is our goal in the Hart district is when students leave, they will be able to do whatever they want to because they are prepared but also accept any opportunity that comes their way.”
Aside from graduation rates over the 95% mark, 9,136 advanced placement exams were taken in the 2025-26 school year with an 81% pass rate. There was also a 5% increase in math and 3% increase in English language arts in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress exams.
Other district achievements this past year included six local schools being named California Distinguished Schools, as well as Arroyo Seco Junior High earning Blue Ribbon School recognition for its academic performance and progress in closing achievement gaps.
Teachers and classified employees have also been recognized at the state level for their work within the district.
Governing board member Cherise Moore presented focus area No.1 — student learning and instruction.
“For us, that really is where everything is centered in the Hart district. It is our No. 1 goal and I see it as a place for me, where we are able to show how much we are champions of our students. We are dedicated to making sure that every student receives the highest quality of education, that they feel supported, and they have every opportunity to succeed,” Moore said.
Ways to achieve that goal were identifying clear goals for every student, establishing and implementing common curriculum guides district-wide, and implementing benchmark exams.
“We want consistency across schools, so we share learning plans and timelines so that teachers … can collaborate and share ideas and use proven strategies to make sure that our students thrive,” Moore said. “Throughout the year, students are taking assessments that help us to understand how they’re doing at different points, and it allows our teachers to quickly adjust so that we know that the learning is happening and when it isn’t.”
The district will focus on implementation of an artificial intelligence task force and create parameters on how to ethically use AI in the classroom, the expansion of professional learning teams to further structure collaboration, and continue to develop educational options such as virtual/homeschool and creating a more consistent grading practice.
Governing board member Aakash Ahuja presented the second focus area of safety and wellness and shared the different online platforms in place to provide communication with the community during an emergency.
“Safety for students and staff continues to be the highest priority for the Hart district and all school sites. This is one of our main jobs, to keep students safe,” Ahuja said before thanking partnerships with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the city for having on-site school resource deputies at each school.
Other resources available for students include the Wellness Centers where they can receive support from guidance counselors, social workers and wellness coordinators.
“This year, the district has worked to coordinate these resources and more specifically target students in need. We also are working on to increase the student accessibility through regular school attendance,” Ahuja said. “The district places a high priority on student attendance. Students do better in school and socially while attending schools regularly through targeted intervention and support as well as incentives,” he added.
Governing board President Joe Messina focused on access and equity, the third focus area of the district’s strategic plan.
The district prides itself in providing well-established extracurricular programs that help students be more successful in the classroom but also recognize that not all may want to pursue higher education.
The Career Technical Education pathway, which saw 1,289 students complete the program in 2025, gives students different pathways to success. Currently, CTE offers 25 pathways in 13 industry sectors, all aligned with College of the Canyons pathways. All pathways are taught by fully credentialed CTE teachers and students engage in hands-on learning using industrial standard equipment.
“CTE is offered at every Hart district school; 35% of the Hart district students are in CTE courses. That equates to about 7,000 students [and] $4 million CTE grants are awarded annually to the Hart district,” Messina said.
Messina also stated he wants to see the district have a technical education center that will focus on providing career pathways such as plumbing, carpentry, and “all things that we’re going to need here in the future,” he said. “We’re going to work to establish a CTE center.”
To provide programming, the district’s budget must be presented three times a year to the Los Angeles County Office of Education for certification, said governing board member Bob Jensen, who presented the financial and human resources focus area.
“I’m proud to say that we have always maintained what is considered and called a positive certification,” Jensen said.
Aside from the regular budget, the district handles 14 other funds that have an accumulated balance of $173 million and altogether the board oversees and manages $500 million a year.
“I feel we’ve done a very good job for many years in managing these efforts. We also have implemented a specific budget cycle to again adhere to our fiduciary duties and responsibilities. The cycle includes having a three-year adopted budget. We’re looking at three years out. We’re having foresight. We’re looking at the future,” Jensen said.
Jensen added that all reports are available on the Hart district’s website for view and encouraged the public to attend meetings, whenever the board is approving or reviewing budgets.
Student attendance, which directly impacts the revenue the district receives, has also increased and Jensen credited those efforts to establishing programs tailored to families and expanding educational options.
Goals for the future are retaining and increasing enrollment, continuing to engage families and parents to increase attendance, and focusing on upgrading and improving school sites in terms of maintenance.
“We will continue to prioritize our funds towards supporting and developing our staff, our most important resource, and towards enhancing and expanding the student programs and related activities we have that are going to benefit all of our students and families in the community,” Jensen said.
For the final focus area, communication and collaboration, governing board clerk Erin Wilson stated that the junior high schools have formed partnerships with the local elementary school districts to invite incoming students to open houses.
“You’re familiar with the famous proverb, ‘It takes a village.’ That is something we understand here in the district, and so we strive to create relationships that develop into vibrant collaboration,” Wilson said, adding that local nonprofits are essential in those efforts as well.
Wilson added, “It’s about how we as a community, partner together to lift up the district, to support our teachers, to support our board, to support our superintendent, and most importantly, of course, to support our families and student.”
