Anna L. Piercy, a longtime Anaheim Union High School District Trustee and former Cypress mayor, died Monday after a battle with cancer leaving a vacant seat on the school board.
Board President Annemarie Randle-Trejo announced her passing at Tuesday’s board meeting and staff and trustees took time to remember her and share their condolences with her family.
Randle-Trejo said at the meeting that Anna was a force on the dais.
“When she believed in something she let us know, She was never afraid,” she said. “She listened to each and every one of us up here on this dais and to everyone out there.”
Trustees and district officials like Superintendent Mike Matsuda recalled some of their last conversations with Piercy before she passed.
“She said that she’s very thankful to God for 80 years of health. Unfortunately, the last few months, she was given this cancer, and she was very grateful to the entire district and there’s so much love that went out to her,” Matsuda said at the meeting.
He said in a Wednesday phone call that Piercy is an icon for the community.
“She was a staunch advocate for constituents, students, parents, teachers, and voters,” he said.
Matsuda said district trustees will likely call a special meeting to discuss how they want to address the vacancy on the school board, whether by appointment or through a special election.
“If it is an appointment, this person would have to run again in November,” he said.
Piercy was a teacher for 37 years in the district, served on the Cypress City Council from 1996 to 2004 with one year in the mayoral role and was elected to the school board in 2006.
Her death comes as the district continues to struggle with a wave of teacher layoffs at the end of the school year amid decreasing enrollment nationwide, the expiration of COVID bailout funds and as the state faces a budget deficit.
[Read: Anaheim Union High School District Continues Struggling With Layoffs]
It also comes days after Orange Unified School District trustees appointed two new board members following a successful recall election against Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma.
Trustee Jessica Guerrero said that Anna gave her a lot of advice.
“She has always been a strong advocate for AUHSD for the Cypress community, and she has dedicated herself to enriching the lives of countless of students who I know will honor her legacy,” she said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Randle-Trejo said there will be a funeral service held for Anna on May 30 at Saint Irenaeus Catholic Church at 10:30 a.m. in Cypress.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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