I am the mother of special needs children who have attended and are attending our local public schools. Over the years I’ve supported many families trying to navigate a system that isn’t always built for our kids. But our kids deserve public education that serves them, too.
That’s why I’m supporting Julee Brooks for the William S. Hart Union High School District board of trustees, Area 2.
For more than 20 years, Julee has supported special needs students and their families through her work in education and youth development, including navigating complex systems like the Regional Center and the California Department of Developmental Services alongside the families she’s served and working closely with teachers, families and students themselves to understand what works best. In addition, she also understands this journey firsthand — as a mother who has advocated for her own son with special needs. That’s a perspective that simply cannot be replicated without having lived it.
It has never been more important to have brave, experienced leadership fighting for our special needs kids at the local level. Families like mine are watching funding and protections shift under us, and we need school board members who won’t just react when something goes wrong, but who understand this world well enough to see problems coming and stand up before our kids are the ones who pay the price.
I know firsthand how much it matters to have someone in your corner who understands both the policy and the reality, and as a parent leader myself, I know how rare that combination is. I also know Julee personally, and she frequently opens her home to young people — I know from my own child that it’s a place where all feel welcomed and supported.
Julee is the kind of leader who will serve all students — and I know that those of us raising children with the most complex needs can depend on her courage and her experience to keep our kids visible, and to help guide this district toward truly serving them.
Julee is the voice for the Hart school board we need.
Ninet Castro
Valencia
