After no one filed to run in the general election to fill the
two years remaining on Morgan Hill School District Trustee Tom
Kinoshita
’s seat, having 13 candidates vying for an appointment is a
welcome embarrassment of riches.
After no one filed to run in the general election to fill the two years remaining on Morgan Hill School District Trustee Tom Kinoshita’s seat, having 13 candidates vying for an appointment is a welcome embarrassment of riches.
We’re thrilled that so many citizens are willing to take on the difficult, often thankless task of serving as a school board member. It’s gratifying that despite the well-publicized difficulties the Morgan Hill School District has endured in recent years, our citizens still believe in public education.
It is now up to the school board to choose an appointee from among these 13 candidates. To seek applications and then to receive a stunning 13 obligates the school board to choose from the bevy of diverse, well-qualified candidates.
Some have advocated not choosing one of the 13 candidates and instead filling the vacant seat with the fourth-highest vote-getter among those in the general election. That would be disrespectful of the process the board established and rude to the 13 candidates who took the time to apply.
Making a choice from the large pool of diverse candidates will be a difficult one. It will be a chance for the three trustees who have decided not to run for re-election to have a positive impact with one of their final decisions.
So here are a few ways we think school board members should evaluate the 13 candidates before them:
• Is your top priority producing students who can thrive in an ever-changing global workplace and diverse society?
• Can you deal with competing pressures from teachers, classified employees, parents, administrators, students and the state and federal government?
• Do you have a thick skin? Can you avoid taking passionate criticism personally?
• Do you view a trustee’s role as setting direction for the district instead of facilitating the initiatives of the superintendent and administration?
• Will you always keep the best interests of the district’s students in mind, even if it means standing alone on an issue?
• Will you do your homework on the myriad of issues that come before the school board?
Our community is dedicated to its public school system. The passionate debate at school board meetings and on these opinion pages is evidence of that. And so is the fact that a baker’s dozen of people volunteered to take on the difficult role of trustee for the next two years.
We urge the school board to select a candidate wisely and to appoint that candidate quickly.
