Dr. Aakash Ahuja was officially sworn into his position as a trustee for the William S. Hart Union High School District Wednesday night.

During the Hart District’s first regular meeting of the year on Wednesday night, the Board welcomed its newest member. Dr. Ahuja was elected to represent Area 1 in November 2024, supplanting Linda Storli.

The meeting recognized West Ranch High School student Naomi Kim for earning the Congressional Gold Medal and Canyon High School Head Coach Samantha Holcombe for her achievements as CIF Southern Section Division Five Girls Volleyball Coach of the Year.

Under Holcombe’s leadership, Canyon earned its first-ever trip to the girls’ volleyball CIF state tournament in school history.

The board approved the appointment of Vince Ferry, current principal of Castaic High School, as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services

Ferry has been an educator in the Hart district since 1994, starting as a special education teacher at Canyon High School and Valencia High School before becoming an assistant principal at Valencia High School in 2007.

Since then, Ferry has served as the principal at three Hart District schools – Saugus High School, Rio Norte Junior High School, and most recently Castaic High School.

Before becoming an educator, Ferry earned his Bachelor’s degree in History and his Master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Oregon.

“Fun fact, he is the only Oregon Duck tight end in the last 38 years to not play in the NFL,” joked Collyn Nielsen, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.

During the meeting, Ferry provided an update on Castaic High School, highlighting the school’s enrollment, academic achievements, innovative programs like the iCAN Academy and Career Technical Education (CTE) offerings, and the school’s leadership program.

“Last year, we presented we were at 28% of our kids were involved in our iCAN Academy. That’s our unique partnership that we have with College of the Canyons, where students can be enrolled in college classes while they’re in high school starting their ninth-grade year, and earn both high school and college credit,” Principal Ferry said of Castaic. “Our five-year target was 40% of our students taking advantage of this program. We had a huge jump this past year, and we’re already at 33%.”

Under Ferry’s leadership in the last school year, Castaic presented a 94.5% attendance rate, much of which he credits to the efforts of staff to engage and support students.

He aims to expand many of these programs to a district-wide setting in his new role based on the model developed at Castaic.

Also during the meeting, Nielsen was named Deputy Superintendent of Human Resources.

The board also approved contracts for fiscal support, security services, and video classroom improvements at Valencia High School.

The meeting adjourned in memory of all those killed in the Eaton and Palisades Fires, and honored the efforts of emergency responders.

To watch the meeting, click here.

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