SPELLING BEE WINNERS Elliana Nguyen (Allen Elementaary, at left) and Catherine Sweeney (Jordan) with school board and GGUSD superintendent Gabriela Mafi (GGUSD photo)

Employees of the Month were honored at Tuesday’s meeting of the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education.

Classified Employee of the Month is Inda Torres, a custodian at Walton Intermediate School in Garden Grove. She joined the GGUSD in 2005.

Certificated Employee of the Month is Cindy Kobayashi, who joined the district in 2007 and has taught third, fifth, and sixth grade at Russell Elementary Language Academy where she currently serves as the Community Schools Coach.

Also recognized were spelling bee winners Elliana Nguyen (Allen Elementary) and Catherine Sweeney (Jordan Intermediate).

The board also approved agreements with a variety of employee groups, most of them calling for 1 percent pay increase effective July 1, 2024, for the 2024-25 school year.

Additionally, some employees will receive a one-time 1.75 percent off-salary schedule increase on base pay for the 2024-25 fiscal year at year-end.

Among those affected were:
•  California (classified, such a bus drivers and food service workers) School Employees unit;
• Garden Grove Education (certificated, including teachers) Association unit.
The next meeting of the board is set for Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m.