School Board hopefuls try to distinguish themselves during last
week
’s forum
The theme of the evening at the Morgan Hill School Board candidates’ forum last week appeared to be that change is necessary for the health of the district.
Six candidates are vying for three school board seats in the Nov. 2 election. Mike Davenport, Bob Griesinger, Julia Hover-Smoot, Peter Mandel, Kathleen Sullivan and Harlan Warthen are running for seats that will be vacated by Board President George Panos and Trustees Jan Masuda and Del Foster, who do not seek re-election.
The two years remaining on former Trustee Tom Kinoshita’s term will be filled by longtime district volunteer and board watcher Don Moody, who was appointed Oct. 19 to fill the seat Kinoshita resigned in March. Moody will be sworn in December, along with the three newly elected board members.
The relationship between board members was something all candidates agreed could be improved.
“They need to respect each other,” Mandel said. “Among these candidates, there is respect. Whoever you chose, you will have a team working together. Respectful disagreement is helpful, it’s natural, when it is constructive and you are driving toward the same goals, all trying to achieve the same end.”
Sullivan said mutual respect among board members includes doing what is expected as a part of the whole board.
“I have great respect for the people on the board; these are the people who show up and do the work,” she said. “Mistakes have been made, any group will have some errors. I want to make sure there is a balance of viewpoints. Discussion is good; I do expect there will be times we won’t agree. I think two things are important, and that is to treat everyone with respect, and everybody do their homework and be prepared for discussion.”
One of the more important topics the new board members will be discussing is the replacement of Superintendent Carolyn McKennan. Her contract expires June 30, and the current board has asked district staff to put together information about starting a search for a new superintendent.
The six candidates were asked at the forum what qualities they would look for in a new superintendent.
Davenport said he wanted to see someone with a top-notch background.
“Someone who can get around a vision to equip all students for success,” he said. “Someone with a successful track record. This process is like selecting our own CEO. I have done this before, and it’s not a fun task. We need someone with community leadership, with their feet firmly planted in the community; someone you can have a cup of coffee with downtown.”
Another key issue the new board will be dealing with, on an ongoing basis, is finances.
“The first thing I’d like to accomplish is to institute a standard account procedure,” candidate Harlan Warthen said. “It’s a frustrating thing to have two different financial reports side by side and two different formats. The second thing is when the board is presented with an action item, the report should include a funding source and a long term cost of the action. I’d also pay serious attention to the fiscal oversight committee. It’s down to two people from 15, and that can’t go on.”
Another thing candidates agreed the board needs to keep an eye on is the way the district handles diversity and teaches tolerance. The forum question the candidates were responding to referred to the settlement last year of the Flores lawsuit, which mandates that district staff, teachers and certain grade levels of students have anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training.
“The board and the district need to model tolerance,” Hover-Smoot said. “If we have trouble in the district, we need to address these problems immediately. We can’t let them get pushed under the rug. We need to respond diplomatically to parents and students when we have complaints. We need equality of opportunity for all students.”
Sometimes students and parents agree that the best opportunity for their students is not at a district school. Candidates were asked whether they believed the decision to send a child to public versus private school was relevant to the performance of a School Board trustee.
“Yes, I think it is,” Griesinger said. “My son made a decision to attend Bellarmine, he filled out the application, he went through the process on his own. He was at Nordstrom School. This was something he wanted to attain. Our daughter felt Live Oak would be better for her, and she’s done very well.
“We learned from the private school experience that there is a substantial amount more they could do for our students at Live Oak in terms of college guidance, periodic reviews of how our students doing relative to their plans for the future and with helping parents during the whole process.”
Hover-Smoot’s son also attended Bellarmine, a family tradition, she said.
The students attending the forum also had a chance to make their voices heard. One question that came from them was about students leaving the high schools for lunch. Right now, both campuses are “closed” during lunch, meaning students may not leave.
The candidates agreed that the responsibility for student safety during that time belonged to the schools, and all agreed that the lunch time was perhaps not long enough and traffic perhaps a problem. Several candidates, however, suggested that the idea could be researched, and maybe the campus could be “open” for juniors and seniors or only seniors.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@*************es.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 ext. 202.
