Shant Sahakian championed STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics) education and Financial Literacy education to prepare students for college, career, and life success. As part of a bold vision to build a STEAM pathway, Cerritos Elementary School was transformed into the Cerritos Computer Science Immersion Magnet School, Roosevelt Middle School was transformed into the Roosevelt STEAM Academy Magnet School, and the Glendale High School Cloud Computing & Computer Science Academy was launched in partnership with Glendale Community College. The school district adopted its first ever Financial Literacy curriculum for fifth, seventh, and ninth grade students and is currently preparing for the new high school graduation requirements.
Early Childhood Education
Sahakian advanced investments in Early Childhood Education to establish a strong foundation for students’ long-term academic achievement. Universal Transitional Kindergarten (TK) was implemented to expand public education for the school district’s youngest learners, Full-Day Kindergarten was implemented to increase invaluable instructional minutes for students, and Before & After School Child Care programs were expanded to meet families’ needs and serve thousands of elementary school students. During his tenure, the widely acclaimed Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program featuring seven languages was expanded from elementary schools to middle schools and feasibility studies were launched to explore the potential of adding new languages including Western Armenian and Filipino/Tagalog.
Healthy, Safe & Inclusive Schools for All
Sahakian has been a strong advocate for the most vulnerable and underserved members of the school community throughout his time on the Board. He supported initiatives that promote healthy, safe, and inclusive schools for all. The new Student Wellness Services department was established, Mental Health Services & Support were expanded, and Wellness Centers were added to school campuses to promote student success and wellbeing. He is a firm believer that schools thrive through the partnership between students, families, and school employees.
Public Education Leadership
Sahakian provided steadfast leadership and served as a voice of reason for the school district as it tackled significant challenges including the Global Pandemic which impacted schools across the country, Culture Wars that divided the community, and the Eaton Fire & Windstorms which impacted the lives of students, families, and employees. The school district strengthened collaboration with Labor Partners and reached historic wage agreements while protecting one of Los Angeles County’s leading employer sponsored health benefits programs for teachers, support staff, administrators.
In 2022, Sahakian was elected by the School Boards of neighboring school districts to serve on the Delegate Assembly of the California School Boards Association (CSBA), the leading organization representing elected officials who govern public school districts and county offices of education. He is currently serving his second term representing Region 23A which includes more than a dozen school districts and more than 100,000 students. As a Delegate Assembly member, he serves on the Improving Conditions of Children Policy Pillar Committee and advocates for public schools and education policy at the local, state, and federal level.
Public Policy & Government Reforms
Sahakian’s most significant accomplishments reshaped the future of the school district through signature public policy work and government reforms. He authored and unanimously passed the school district’s first ever Term Limits Policy to promote responsive governance by establishing a maximum limit of three terms for elected Board members. The electorate enacted the limits with a resounding 89% approval of GUSD Measure T at the ballot box. He and his colleagues spearheaded the launch of the award-winning Student Voice Panels program to empower student voices by establishing Board meetings dedicated to learning about the issues most important to students directly from student panelists. He proposed and unanimously passed Curriculum & Textbook Adoption Reform to empower parent and guardian voices by establishing new requirements for parent and guardian input in addition to the standard practice of professional evaluation and public review for the school district’s curriculum and textbook adoption process. He authored and unanimously passed a new first-time Board Member Training Policy to promote effective governance by establishing new requirements for Annual Ethics Training, Annual Brown Act Training, and additional training programs for elected Board members. He authored and unanimously passed Board Member Compensation Reform to promote servant leadership by establishing new restrictions and limitations on Board member compensation and ties Board member compensation increases to employee compensation increases.
Most recently, he authored and introduced a new Code of Ethics & Ethics Complaint Procedure Policy proposal which represents the most significant ethics reform in the school district’s history and would establish one of the most robust public accountability systems for Board members and local elected officials in the State of California. The proposal is based on the principle that if there are high standards for students and employees and accountability systems to address student and employee conduct then the same should exist for Board members and local elected officials. The Board is anticipated to consider the proposal at a future meeting.
