Wiseburn board has choices
to make
But first, voters need to pick three of four candidates next
week.
By Ian Hanigan - Daily Breeze, November 3, 2005
Some big decisions are on the horizon in the 2,200-student
Wiseburn School District, where a slate of three incumbents --
including one recent appointee -- is squaring off against a lone
challenger in Tuesday's school board race.
The west Hawthorne-based system has already rebuilt Anza
Elementary from the ground up, and it has plans to rebuild Dana
Middle School. But rising construction costs will leave little
money to reinvent Cabrillo Elementary.
In addition, local development is expected to create more than
1,300 new addresses in the years ahead, leaving Wiseburn's
leaders to decide whether they want to expand enrollment or
restrict the number of out-of-district permit students, who now
account for about a third of the total population.
And then there's the local campaign to secede from the Centinela
Valley Union High School District by adding a high school.
Jo Anne Kaneda, Nelson Martinez and Israel Mora, the incumbents
in the race, would like to be there to weigh in on these issues.
For that matter, so would Thomas Hartnell, the challenger who
believes in more transparency and limits on the number of permit
students.
Kaneda counters that those permit students benefit the district
by bringing in extra revenue. They're accepted only where
there's already space available, she says, and they perform as
well or better academically.
Having each served one term, Kaneda and Mora both point to the
state of Wiseburn before their arrival four years ago. Back
then, the district had a somewhat strained relationship with its
staff, plans for rebuilding Dana had stalled and the curriculum
wasn't always properly aligned from grade to grade.
Kaneda and Mora say communication within the district has
improved, plans for Dana are now in the state's hands and
curriculum has been streamlined, evidenced by the fact that
three of four Wiseburn schools have surpassed the state's ideal
target of 800 on the Academic Performance Index, which is based
primarily on standards tests. Dana, at 767, isn't far behind.
If elected to a second term, Kaneda, 56, said she would work to
maintain the delicate balance between permit students and local
enrollees as new housing springs up. She also said she would
like to find a way to rebuild Cabrillo without floating another
bond measure.
"We are really going to work hard to figure out ways of
alternative financing without going to the community," said
Kaneda, a management consultant for national security programs
at the Boeing Co.
Mora, 42, an assistant general manager of a hotel, said he'd
like to continue to see test scores improve with new textbooks
that are aligned with state standards and more teacher training.
"I'm out there doing the best I can for all the kids," he said.
"I try to question every expenditure and make sure we're going
in the right direction."
Martinez, 34, was appointed in March to take the seat of the
late Walter Guerrero. He's competing for his first full term.
As for his day job, the longtime resident is a program director
who oversees school construction for Pacifica Services Inc. in
Pasadena. He said his knowledge of market fluctuations, building
materials, standards and technology makes him a good fit in a
district trying to rebuild two campuses.
"I think the strength that I bring is my background in
facilities," Martinez said. "One of my goals is to help them
improve their maintenance program."
He also said he can help ensure that both the construction
budget and the general fund are balanced from year to year.
"As a school board member, that's probably our biggest level of
responsibility -- making sure the district is fiscally sound,"
he said.
Hartnell, 40, is the newcomer in the race. A proposal manager
for Boeing's C-17 military cargo jet program, he said he once
devised a way to save approximately $1 million per plane by
modifying the troop doors.
"That's one of the things I'm able to pride myself on, is to be
able to look at things a little differently and come up with a
better way of doing it," he said.
The father of three, including a child at Burnett Elementary,
Hartnell said he'd push for better records of board meetings and
more public information about the building campaign.
"I would like to know if the school district doesn't have enough
money to rebuild Cabrillo," he said.
"I'd like them to tell the residents now so they can plan for
it, because all indications are that they don't have enough
money to do it."
In addition to limits on the number of permit students, Hartnell
said he would lobby for creative fund-raisers, such as community
bingo games, to generate funding for music and science programs.
|
|
|
|
|