Candidate for
Member, Governing Board; Murrieta Valley Unified School District

• Putting our kids first-- Our students must be adequately housed until a complete second high school can be built. Among other possibilities, we could move 6th grade back to elementary schools and move 9th grade to middle school. I will ask for community forums to address these vital issues.

The first "phase" of the new high school will offer only 2 gyms, administration offices plus some classrooms. No library, choir/band rooms, performing arts theater, cafeteria and drama room are included at this time. Why should your child go to an partial facility and have an incomplete education?

UCI and other universities have proven that music instruction starting in kindergarten raises spatial-temporal reasoning, the very reasoning used in higher levels of math and science. I will ask that we make music inclusion a high priority. Test scores rise as high as 51 points over six years with a unified music program.

I will insist that family concerns and sensitivities regarding course content and texts be valued. You and your child, after all, are the client!

• Fiscal Responsibility-- Twenty percent cuts in classroom funds, aides and other personnel are unacceptable. Some high school students just got their books last week! We must revise the budget, placing classroom books, pencils and other vital materials first. It's time to give our great teachers all the tools they need to do a first-class job of instruction.I will be vigilant over the budget to ensure it no longer drops below the state-mandated reserves of 3%.

I will ask the board to write our state representative, explore grants and lobby Sacramento to change allocation procedures. The new second high school is designed for 2,700 students, yet at build-out it will house 3,672. The district shouldn't saddle us with another inadequate school and a big student population.

Working closely with the City of Murrieta, I propose that we share facilities, which could provide us a new performing arts theater of 1,400 or 2,000 seats. This would be beneficial to the community. Let's work with the City of Murrieta for school planning. They are not the enemy.

• Honest communication, community involvement-- I am opposed to even discussing another tax measure unless and until substantive talks with parents and other taxpayers take place. We shouldn't tax our senior citizens or put kids in a partial high school until the community's wishes are known.

Do you want two 3,670-student mega-schools or three 2,400-student schools? As a 34-year veteran teacher, I know smaller is better, but the taxpayers' wishes need to be known and seriously considered.

Why will a new 9.5 million district office be finished before December and why do our kids still languish in a 3,760-student overcrowded high school? What's best for the kids?

A "We Tip" telephone line to let kids anonymously call regarding weapons and drugs on campus, plus a 24-hour hot-line for parents in the event of another bomb scare are a must. The district ignores these needs even though I campaigned for them in 1999. Let's return to the philosophy of putting kids' needs first.