Cypress School District Calls Special Board Meeting Tuesday, Including Open Session Item on Board Member Conduct

The district’s superintendent walked out the door March 10 — weeks before the board has to make layoff decisions. Now questions about a board member’s behavior are coming into the open.

The Cypress School District Board of Trustees holds a special meeting Tuesday amid the sudden departure of Superintendent Anne Silavs, a $3.3 million budget shortfall, and an open session item on the conduct of a board member at a recent school event.

The Cypress School District Board of Trustees holds a special meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. — the sixth such session called this year — as the district works through a $3.3 million budget shortfall, the abrupt departure of its superintendent, and now a formal open session discussion item on the conduct of a board member at a recent school event.

That last item is drawing attention from parents. According to the posted agenda, the board will address a board member’s behavior at a recent PTA event during open session. Community members say the conduct in question was not appropriate for a school setting. The matter going to open session means the public will be able to hear the board address it directly.

The board is also still sorting out its leadership. On March 10, trustees unanimously voted to accept Superintendent Anne Silavs’ request for immediate early retirement — effective that same night. Silavs had formally announced her retirement just 11 days earlier, on February 27, with her planned exit set for sometime after May 15 — the deadline by which the board must decide which employees to lay off, furlough, or reduce pay due to the budget crisis. The board moved up her departure by months.

Tracy Mouren-Laurens, the district’s Executive Director of Human Resources, was appointed Acting Superintendent on the spot. The board is also searching for an Interim Superintendent to oversee operations and the full budget reduction process going into 2026-27.

The timing of Silavs’ exit raised questions in the parent community from the start. The superintendent announced she was leaving approximately two weeks before the board would have to make its hardest personnel decisions. A local watchdog newsletter described the board as having been caught “off guard” by the retirement announcement.

Silavs joined the Cypress School District in 2015 and was named the 2021 Orange County Superintendent of the Year. The district has lost 540 students over the past six years, a decline that drives the budget shortfall now forcing cuts to positions including principals, a special education coordinator, and classified staff such as health clerks and library assistants.

Tuesday’s special meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the district’s board room, 5816 Corporate Avenue in Cypress. The meeting is also live-streamed via Zoom; a link is posted on the agenda at cypsd.org.