Candidate for
Board Member; Santa Maria Joint Union High School District

I am running for the SMJUHSD board of trustees, because I believe our high schools are in crisis. I am a parent of a 2001 Righetti graduate who is currently a senior @ USC. I am knowledgeable about the educational needs of high school students today, and what it takes to enter and be successful in college in 2005 and beyond. As a local business owner, I am also very familiar with what is required to enter the workplace directly after high school. I will bring a needed female perspective to an all-male board composed mostly of retired educators. I have the ability and desire to advocate and speak out for our high school students, placing their needs ahead of all other considerations.

The leadership of the present board of trustees seems to be lacking a cohesive, central vision. The board and the district seem to be working as one entity, and there seems to be very few checks and balances---accountability to parents, teachers, classified, and the community is non-existent. I feel the district and board are in denial about the many problems that confront our schools

The most challenging problems facing our high schools today are over-crowding and that we are not meeting the eductional needs of the majority of our students. We have to make sure the majority are prepared with a variety of options when they graduate, whether on to college or trade school, the military, or straight to work. We must conduct an educational assessment of needs, surveying the community, classified, parents, teachers and students to ascertain how to better serve high school students in the 21st century.

Our students need more choices including vocational-technical options. These research-supported approaches are actually far more cost-effective than the present plans of the district. Our students need to learn about a world whose technological needs each year become increasingly more complex and demanding. Our schools must meet these needs if students are to be competitive in the workplace and in college. Schools as we know them must change, and we must be willing to embrace a new paradigm of education that includes all of our children. We presently have 3 huge high schools, and I would like to survey this community to determine if the majority of our students and parents desire to have a 4th huge high school. I suspect we may find that this community is interested in exploring options. If this is true, a dedicated board member must be willing to serve the needs of the community.