Jose O. Rivas

Jose O. Rivas, a former mechanical engineer who was elected to the Lennox board in November 2001, was hired recently to teach physics at the Lennox Math, Science and Technology Academy, a charter high school entering its third year.

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Because conflict-of-interest rules prohibit trustees from working in districts they govern, Rivas chose to resign as a board member June 30.

Enter Maria Calix, a two-term trustee for the Centinela Valley Union High School District.She is scheduled to be sworn in today by the Lennox board, which has tapped her to serve the last four months of Rivas' term.

In a brief interview, Calix said Monday that she was intrigued by the challenge of working with younger grades after eight years with the local high school district.But because state laws preclude anyone from serving on two school boards at once, she recently resigned her post on the Centinela Valley Board of Education.
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Back in Lennox, Rivas would have ended his first term in November.He was elected to the board in 2001 while working as a mechanical engineer at Boeing Space Systems, but he has since found a new career in the classroom.

Most recently, he was teaching physics at Roosevelt High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Lennox school board President Trini Jimenez said Rivas will be missed by his fellow trustees, but he said the hiring is a coup for the local charter school.

"The good news is that he's going to be teaching the kids in our district," he said, "and I'm sure that he's going to do a great job for this community."

As for Calix, Jimenez said she is "a very good fit" for Lennox.