William S. Hart Union High School District governing board members discussed potential negotiations with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council on Wednesday, outlining what they would like to see if negotiations move forward.
The board considered the authorization of a community workforce agreement for select public work projects to ensure a skilled workforce, create opportunities for local residents and minimize construction delays while keeping projects on time and within budget.
The district also asked that the board provide specific guidance on items to include in the agreement.
But before the item was moved for approval, governing board President Joe Messina and governing board member Cherise Moore both discussed what they’d like to see that can lead to additional opportunities for students within the trades.
Moore moved to authorize negotiations for the community workforce agreement for a limited number of projects. Governing board member Aakash Ahuja seconded the motion and the rest of the board voted in favor. Board member Bob Jensen was not present for the open session.
For Messina, the agreement would be a gateway for students to learn more about trades and provide jobs to local community members.
“There are 3 million identified jobs across the country right now. This is now, that are opened that they need to have filled,” Messina said during his comments. He added that, with artificial intelligence becoming more popular among different technology-driven industries, “AI won’t replace the trades,” he said.
“This workforce agreement isn’t strictly to work with a union group, to work through a contract where they’ll be working on some of our stuff but also … we see the benefit of it as well,” he added.
Messina wanted to discuss some of the guidance and direction on the item, but before he brought up those possible terms Moore asked to motion the item to a vote. Messina stated in the past it has been done both ways, before putting it to a vote and after.
Moore responded she was going by governing board member Jensen’s rules, who was not present during open session. Jensen was present for closed session.
“The reason I say this is because you’re moving a generic item. I want to make sure certain items are in there, kind of hard to do after you vote,” he said.
Moore simply responded, “Negotiations,” before the discussion moved forward.
Messina then started off by stating he wanted to make sure the CWA came with a percentage of internships for the jobs. He noted that the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council had a program for internships and ensured project boundaries such as costs and nothing under a certain amount.
He also wanted to make sure local tradesmen would be prioritized with work, and create a 7-mile radius from the center of the city of Santa Clarita for that to be possible. Messina also stated he wanted the agreement to help them find teachers for the district who would then teach the trades.
Messina noted that finding people who could teach trade skills to district students within the curriculum has been a challenge. With the agreement, he envisions students graduating high school with some form of certification and/or experience to make them more competitive.
He then brought up the proposed career-technical education center, which is something Messina has been striving for, encouraging students to pursue trades.
Ahuja also mentioned AI and the impact it will have in the upcoming years, but said certain trades will be more difficult than others to be replaced, he said.
“I support this, I think that it would be a good thing for our students to learn the practical experiences related to this stuff,” he said.
Governing board clerk Erin Wilson asked if the possible teaching positions would be made up of retired professionals, which Messina said was something to figure out.
Moore said she wanted to see a pre-apprenticeship program at Golden Oak Adult School, an eight-week summer bootcamp for high school students that comes with certifications, field trips, networking opportunities and is paid.
Moore said there’s a program based out of Long Beach that has all those components. Moore also stated she wanted opportunities to be equity-focused and that there would be outreach for women and students of color.
She said she preferred active industry professionals over retired instructors and suggested exploring a cost-sharing model, noting the district could not cover the expenses alone.
Moore also suggested pursuing legislation that recognizes the benefits of hiring local workers, who would have shorter commutes and contribute less to freeway traffic and congestion with the CWA agreement.
A representative for the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council present during the meeting stated that the list board members requested was something the district and governing board would have to further discuss due to funding sources but was optimistic both parties would find common ground.
