Board Member,
LAUSD District 6
Why I Serve
Dear Neighbor,
Every child in our community deserves an excellent public education; fighting to make this a reality has been my life’s work. As School Board President, I have successfully made sure that the East San Fernando Valley gets its fair share, bringing enriching opportunities like many more dual-language programs, magnet programs, and the first-ever Center for Enriched Studies to our community. I have pushed for our District to tackle long-standing segregation and promote greater diversity in all our programs. Most of all, I am guided by the needs of our schools and our community, spending countless hours at every school. I have met individually with every principal and collaborated with teachers, parents, and students regularly both to hear their concerns and work together to solve our District’s most vexing problems.
But the work isn’t done yet. All of these issues have only grown in importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has laid a heavy burden on so many of us in the East San Fernando Valley. We have stepped up in this crisis - serving over 140 million meals to hungry families, providing a device and internet access to every student in need, and launching an historic school-based COVID testing program. During this critical time, I have been a constant voice for our highest-needs families and communities and for ensuring the holistic needs of our students are met. As we plan for a long-term recovery from the pandemic, I will push to make up for lost academic time, but also for mental health, social/emotional support, and more enriching and engaging experiences for all students so that we recover from this crisis stronger and better.
I know the challenges in our classrooms, because I faced many of the same as a middle school science teacher. As the only parent of young children on the Board, I have worked for greater parent voice and expanded early childhood education. Lastly, as a first-generation college student and first-generation American, I am continually driven to ensure that all students in Los Angeles Unified have the opportunity to graduate high school, college, and beyond. Making this dream real for every one of our students will continue to fuel my commitment to our students and families.
Our public schools are the foundation of our community, and I would be honored to earn your support and continue to serve our schools. I hope you will join me in this important work!
Sincerely,
“We need a leader who has a record of working with the community to find solutions that support students and teachers and a leader who can address the toughest problems in the years ahead. I've worked with Kelly to help our youth, support our teachers and fund our schools, and I am proud to endorse her for the Los Angeles Unified School Board."
— Mayor Eric Garcetti
About Kelly
Kelly Gonez serves as President of the Los Angeles Board of Education and proudly represents Board District 6, which encompasses most of the East San Fernando Valley. During that time, she has championed the needs of the most historically underserved students as a Board member. She has authored policies leading to increased services for homeless students and to remove barriers to college for our high-needs students. Kelly has helped to increase investment in early childhood education in Los Angeles Unified and pioneered the expansion of ethnic studies for all students in the District, including as a high school graduation requirement. She has been a voice for increased investment in public education, devoting countless hours to advocating for our State and Federal governments to provide more funding and resources for our public schools.
Kelly grew up in an immigrant family and was the first in her family to attend college; while earning her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley, she worked three jobs, over 50 hours a week, to pay her way through college and support her working family. After she graduated college, she returned to the Northeast San Fernando Valley to be a math and science teacher in LAUSD.
She also previously served as an education policy advisor in President Obama’s administration, where she led initiatives to support English Learners, homeless students, immigrant students, and foster youth, among others. Kelly lives with her husband and two young children in North Hollywood.