Former school board president narrowly appointed to oversight committee

School board member Espie Free votes against former board president Chris Staples' appointment to the Measure "G" citizens oversight committee during their meeting on February 24, 2025.

Newly elected school board members failed to block former board of education president Chris Staples from being appointed to the Measure “G” Citizens Oversight Committee during their meeting Monday night. 

Measure “G” is a bond measure that was presented to the public by the Norwalk La-Mirada Unified School District. The funds from Measure G are used for physical repairs and upgrades to the school campuses, such as the stadium, hardscape, driveways, and other facilities. 

The citizens oversight committee meets once a year to review reports and ensure the district is spending the Measure G funds as promised, according to director of facilities, Edith Florence. 

“We are behind on our reports and March is typically the month that we meet,” said Florence. “So we would like to have a quorum and proceed with our standard of meeting once a year and then we can work to present you with the next annual report.”

The director of facilities explained that the committee is a year behind on its report. However, the committee has seven seats, and they need four members at minimum to conduct their meeting. 

Prior to Staples’ appointment, the committee only had three members.

Despite having previously served on the committee for two years, board members Espie Free, trustee area one, Becky Langenwalter, trustee area seven, and Lorena Vidaurre, PhD, trustee area six, voted against the appointment.

“For this position, I'd really like to see a fresh new set of eyes to be part of this oversight committee,” said Free. “I do want to thank Mr. Staples for his service to the community but for me it's no.”

Vidaurre echoed a similar message. 

Despite the objection, Staples received the appointment to the committee. 

While Vidaurre was elected to the board in 2023, Free And Langenwalter were voted into office in 2024. 

The board members were congratulated by conservative organizations including the LA County Young Republicans club.

Langenwalter received support from MassResistance, an organization that was labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The self-described pro family group’s field director, Arthur Schaper, identified Langenwalter as the local chapter leader. 

During the 2023-24 school year, MassResistance advocated against the Wellbeing Center at John Glenn High School. They claimed, without evidence, that Planned Parenthood trained the staff at the center, and influenced students to become transgender. 

The center provided students and parents with health education, information about substance abuse, mental health and stress reduction groups. Health educators from the LA County Department of Public Health were present to support students, teach sexual health and provide sexually active young people with counseling, according to the FAQ on the district website. 
NLMUSD allowed the agreement with LACDPH to fund the Wellbeing Center to expire in June 2024.

Flyers for the group direct people to contact Langenwalter and express their support for Vidaurre.