“Recall voters wanted someone to land in the middle,” said Villa Park Councilwoman and OUSD parent Crystal Miles. “I believe you guys landed far to the left.”
In late 2024, Orange Unified was rocked by the resignation of Superintendent Ernest Gonzalez. Gonzalez was one of OUSD’s most senior administrators, having begun as Principal of Orange High School in 2005, a position he held for over eight years before becoming the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Human Services and, eventually, its Superintendent.
His departure came shortly after the Board of Trustees approved a nearly 10 percent salary increase for teachers—a deal negotiated by Orange Unified Education Association President Greg Goodlander. Months later, Goodlander married Board President Ana Page. Both were married with children.
Gonzalez would eventually step into the role of Assistant Superintendent. But first, it was time for OUSD to begin its search for a permanent replacement.
In early 2025, OUSD launched a public survey to collect feedback that would “help shape the candidate profile, recruitment process, and final selection.” According to Trustee Page, approximately 2,000 responses were submitted. But the results of that survey were not made public. That makes it difficult for parents to know where there were areas of consensus.
Though we can’t see the submissions themselves, the 7-0 pro-union majority evidently believed that parents wanted an outspoken left-of-center activist and self-proclaimed “social justice leader,” which they found in Rachel Monárrez.
Previously, Monárrez was superintendent of Worcester Public Schools in Massachusetts. In 2024, her gross salary totaled $287,434.
She is given credit for creating that districts’ “five-year plan,” which allegedly “fostered better communication between parents and the district, and created new positions to encourage less punitive approaches to student discipline.” However, she did not stay at the district long enough to see that five-year plan come to fruition, as she was hired in July 2022 and resigned barely three years later in July 2025 to take the OUSD job.
Parents now question whether or not Monárrez will stay at OUSD long enough to see whether her multi-year plans pan out as intended. Or will she leave before the work is done? And was that question even asked when the Board of Trustees unilaterally voted in favor of hiring her?
On social media, Monárrez has posed reading The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves, which is described as encouraging “[divestment] from an addiction to frenzy rooted in extractive capitalism.” She has also promoted “gender-expansive” youth activities and has reposted controversial takes—including comments from actress Leslie Jones alleging that the nation’s biggest problem is white supremacy and calling President Donald Trump “orange idiot.”
When all of this was discovered, Monárrez responded by locking her tweets to private and changing her bio from “social justice leader” to “champion for all learners.” It’s hard not to see this as something close to an admission of guilt. If she was so proud of her record as a social justice warrior, why have this reaction? Why hide it?
Monárrez later said she “wasn’t in the best headspace” and “maybe I didn’t make the best leadership decision.”
“That was my personal Twitter, but it is true that I used it primarily for work, and I shouldn’t have combined the two, and it was an error, and I apologize, and then I’m going to leave it at that,” said Monárrez.
Her tweets—as well as the list of accounts she follows—are still protected at the time of writing.
Villa Park Councilwoman and OUSD parent Crystal Miles argued the survey results should be shared with the public. Although she put in a formal request, they were not made available—at least by the time that OUSD’s trustees unanimously voted in favor of hiring Monárrez. Miles further argued the Board of Trustees did not provide a compelling reason why hiring a Superintendent with such candidly partisan posturing was in parents’ best interests.
“The board is missing a very important component. Recall voters wanted someone to land in the middle. I believe you guys landed far to the left,” said Miles during public comment. “You haven’t given us any reason for hiring her, except [that] she’s bilingual.”
Former OUSD Trustee Madison Miner claimed that Monárrez has a “track record of leaving districts worse than [when she] started.” Is there any truth to that claim?
Prior to her role at Worcester Public Schools, Monárrez was the Assistant Superintendent at San Bernardino County. In her last year at the district, chronic absenteeism was at a ridiculous 44.7%. That same year, the statewide average was 30%, and that was an all-time high described by education policy experts as a “crisis” and an “absolutely a pivotal moment.”
For context, the statewide absentee rate during Monárrez’s first year at the district (2016) was only 10.8%. That figure should put into context how shocking an absentee rate of nearly 45% is.
It was so bad, in fact, that Monárrez and her Superintendent Dr. Dale Marsden had to go door-to-door to try and convince families to have the students come back to class.
At least with regard to chronic absenteeism, Worcester Public Schools under Monárrez’s leadership showed modest improvement, with the rate dropping nearly 4% between the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. However, overall, the district only met 47% of its performance targets in Monárrez’s last year, with around one-third of its schools being labeled as “requiring assistance or intervention” from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Regardless of these results, Board President Stephen Glass said there was “no better individual to take on this position at this particular time.”
In the coming months, the 2025-2026 academic year will come to a close and Monárrez will have concluded her first year at OUSD. It will also be the first academic year completed by Chief Communications and Strategy Officer Jacqueline Perez, a newly-hired staffer enjoying an annual salary of $266,153 who—at another district—created an “Equity Champions” program designed to teach educators about micro-aggressions, implicit bias, and critical race theory.
“They could hire four to five teachers for that amount of money,” said social media user Jason Elder.
“Such a good use of taxpayer dollars,” user John Wright commented ironically.
As for Assistant Superintendent Ernest Gonzalez—a seasoned 20-year employee of the district—it will be his last.
A source close to SoCal Daily Pulse reported that Gonzalez—along with fellow executive cabinet member and Chief Business Officer Sulema Holguin—will be stepping down. Officially, these are considered resignations. Our source claimed that one or both were “mid-contract” and the design to “resign” had less to do with their own ambitions and more to do with Monárrez.
“Two cabinet members don’t leave unless there is a shakeup,” our source stated.
Monárrez’s involvement in the matter remains speculative. But if this account is accurate, it would mark a remarkable turn of events. Recall that the union-led effort in 2024, which installed the current 7-0 pro-union majority, was fueled by supposed outrage over the firing of a superintendent. Fast forward to 2026, and the pro-union faction seems to be encouraging the exit of veteran administrators, possibly with the goal of installing leaders more closely aligned with their agenda.
Once more, that remains speculation. But we will continue to investigate and provide updates as necessary.
In the meantime, OUSD parents will likely continue questioning whether Monárrez was truly the right choice for a district mired in political turmoil.
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