The Advocate

Welcome back, everyone! As we begin another school year, I want to wish each of you a wonderful year. Whether this is your first year in the classroom or you’ve been doing this for decades, the beginning of a new school year brings excitement, new challenges, and plenty of opportunities to make a difference in the lives of our students.

As your OMTA team, we are excited to get out and connect with you! Your newly elected OMTA Directors will be visiting your school sites or attending group meetings throughout the year so we can hear directly from you—what’s going well, what challenges you’re facing, and how we can better support you. We can’t wait to see you, hear from you, and work together to make this a great year for our members.

Let’s Get Proposition 3 Across the Finish Line!

This November, we need your help! Proposition 3 (formerly known at Prop 30/55) is an important opportunity to keep crucial funding to our schools, with an updated amount of $75 million for OMSD. This funding makes a real difference for our students, classrooms, and educators. Your voice and your vote matter. Tell your family, friends, and neighbors to support Prop 3! Are you willing to join other educators walk in support? Sign up at prop3.link/canvass today. Let’s work together to get Proposition 3 passed!

Join Us for Our Welcome Back Social! 🎉

What better way to kick off the school year than by getting together with your OMTA family?

📍 Rodrigo’s
📅 September 10
⏰ 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Come grab some food, relax, catch up with colleagues, and celebrate the start of another school year. We hope to see you there!

Thank you for all that you do for our students, our schools, and one another. We are stronger together!

OMSD has been awarded $1,031,000 in Safety Grant Community Project Funding to enhance school safety infrastructure and help protect students and educators alike. This funding will support important safety improvements developed in partnership with educators and local law enforcement agencies.

But this victory didn’t happen overnight.

Three years ago, a few dedicated educators from OMTA sat down with Congresswoman Norma Torres to discuss an issue that matters deeply to all of us: the safety of our schools. That conversation became the catalyst for a much larger collaboration between educators and the Superintendent’s Office to pursue funding that could make a meaningful difference across our schools.

Congresswoman Torres sponsored the grant, helping turn an important conversation into a real opportunity for our students, educators, and school communities.

A special shout-out to Jasmine Saunders and Dr. Kristen Garcia, who worked tirelessly to write the grant and bring this vision to life. Their dedication, expertise, and commitment were instrumental in making this award possible.

And they did not do it alone.

We are incredibly grateful to Irma Sanchez, Brooke Murray, Alondra Sandoval, and Congresswoman Torres’s amazing staff for their partnership and hard work throughout this process. This is what can happen when educators, district leadership, elected officials, and community partners come together around a shared goal.

We can do amazing things when we work together.

This $1,031,000 award is more than funding—it is a reflection of what is possible when we speak up, build partnerships, and remain committed to creating safer schools for everyone.

Congratulations to everyone who helped make this happen!