My goals for the future of O.U.S.D.

By Paul-Dean Martin

My name is Paul-Dean Martin, and I am a candidate for the Orange Unified School District School Board. Many of you already know of my 12 years of service to the children of the O.U.S.D. through my after school theatre program, The PDM Young Actors Workshop. And no doubt many of you have read about my students' selfless acts of kindness throughout the community as reported on several occasions in the Anaheim Hills News. My long-standing relationship with the families, schools, and businesses in this community is the exact reason why I should be your next choice to serve as a member of the O.U.S.D. School Board.

Why am I running for school board?

If you listen to rumor, I am running because the O.U.S.D. hit all after school programs with a usage fee making it impossible for my after school program to continue and still allow all students, regardless of finances, to be able to take part.

This is untrue. While we were forced to stop offering our classes to O.U.S.D. students because of the fee restrictions, we continued our work with Corona Norco School District and Palm Springs Unified School District. Now, due to the overwhelming generosity on the part of those districts and their surrounding residents and businesses, my program is returning to the O.U.S.D. with private funding allowing us to offer our classes for free to all students who wish to take part. Instead of complaining about the money my program didn't have, I focused on how to obtain the money and the support it needed to continue; a practice that the current school board doesn't seem to be able to grasp when it comes to the financial shortfalls for school programs.

I am running for school board to bring our community back together on the subject of our kids. I'm tired of the animosity that all sides have for each other and feel the need to express publicly. I was once told by the superintendent's office under the leadership of Dr. French, that the school district is a business just like every other business. You know, he was partly correct that we are in business. We are in the business of educating children. A kindergartner doesn't understand state budgets, they only understand that there was no paint to finger paint with today. A middle school student doesn't understand fiscal responsibility, but they do understand that there is no extra money for team sports, the arts, after school educational clubs, and other elective programs. High School students do understand what's going on, and it's here that their rebellion against a flawed system begins. We need to stop going along with the status quo and start thinking out of the box to pull ourselves out of this financial hole. Orange County is blessed with some of the greatest business minds, the most creative artists, and the hardest working labor force in the state. There is no reason why we shouldn't be leaders when it comes to the education of our children.

What will be different during my term in office?

I will call for a full reconstruction of the entire school district. The current school board keeps telling the same old story of "We don't have any money." That is inaccurate, we have millions of dollars. It just continues to be spent in the wrong areas. They continue to cut school programs and school level jobs. The principals aren't spending the money. The students aren't spending the money. Yet this is always the first place the cuts begin. We need to cut money at the district level. The district is top heavy with duplicated jobs, overstaffing, and a superintendent salary that makes no sense given the current financial standing of the district. If we can't get more money from the state, then we need to use new and creative ways to create revenue for our district. I am all for facilities fees. Our district has some of the most beautiful sporting venues, theatres, and multipurpose rooms in the OC. But let's not target our after school programs who have been there providing our kids with chess clubs, cooking classes, team sports, sign language, and countless other courses that the school district has been unable to offer. Let's target event planners looking for venues for family functions, community groups needing meeting space, and city organizations. Let's work with local businesses to develop a true community partnership that will help our district while helping local businesses to succeed. When we work to support our community, our community will work to support us.
Our district also spends an enormous amount of money on attorney's fees and legal settlements. Much of this brought about because our district is not meeting the needs of all its students, especially those in Special Education. Why is it that everyone screams lawsuit in our district? It's because of the past unwillingness and flexibility of the district to look outside the blanket policies that are burying us in red tape. We need to create a new community policing policy.
Problems can be solved before they get to the district level if our educators and principals are kept informed and made clear on the exact polices of the district but given flexibility to implement those policies.

The Final Word

As I stated earlier, my initial problem with the district was the usage fees. This is no longer a problem for me as I went out and solved the problem with the support of my community. As a member of the OUSD School Board, I will continue to work with our students, parents, faculty members, janitorial staff, food service workers, nurses, and community leaders to begin a new era of education in the OUSD that will make us a leader in the field of education in California.