CSEA (classified school employee association) invited each candidate running for La Habra School board to answer the questions listed below...
Candidate Questionnaire
La Habra City School District Election + November 2nd, 2010
1. What do you know about the California school Employees Association?
CSEA is the largest classified school employees union in the United States. CSEA represents school support staff in the public and college educational systems. The employees covered under CSEA range from security, food services, office and clerical work, school maintenance and operations, transportation, academic assistance and para-educator services, library and media assistance, computer services and more.
2. What are your views on the contraction out of classified jobs?
It is important that the members of the school board do whatever is in their power to maintain a fiscally responsible budget while maintaining a strong level of support staff for our children. With that said, I would look at the pros and cons of the "suggested" area being looked at for contraction. In economic times such as these, it would be irresponsible to turn a blindeye to any suggestion that could save a substantial amount of money, create efficiencies and effectiveness for the schools. However, I whole heartedly believe simply contracting to "save" money is neither efficient nor effective. In my role, I would strive to create an open and transparent relationship with CSEA to ensure the "right people are in the right places." I would work to ensure the message and needs regarding the budget are honestly portrayed and discussed and that together, we make decisions as a team that will better the future of La Habra schools.
3. What do you view as the role of classified employees in the district?
If you look at a school as a house, the foundation of that house would be classified employees. Schools would not run productively if it were not for the men and women "behind the scenes" who tutoring our children, nourishing their bodies, and providing a safe and clean environment each and every day (just to name a few), our schools would not exist. I think that at times, we forget to thank and appreciate the work our classified team members do to keep the daily operations of the district a float. My role on the school board would be to address the "gap" between the school board, administration, certificated and classified staff. We are all on the same team. Each member brings a different perspective to the table. La Habra has many challenges ahead, and if we continue to work in silos we will not forge to the forefront of Orange County education!
4. Have you attended any district Board meetings? What do you know about the district?
I have attended many district board meetings. My husband is a former teacher in the district, thus my knowledge comes from his prospective, and the prospective I have gained by meeting with various district employees (all levels - parents and my own perceptions both as community member and as a Human Resources leader). To be completely honest, the discontent between the school board and employees is embarrassing. The lack of honesty, the fear of retaliation and the lack of respect are only a few items that I am determined to address and fix if elected. As a professional Human Resources Manager, I would NEVER allow the type of behavior that has been occurring to exist in my company; and I will certainly address the behavior if elected.
On a lighter note, I know the district has 9 schools and serves approximately 5600 students. Four of our schools serve the K-2 population, 3 serve the 3-5 population and we have two middle schools. We have (2) California Distinguished school, Las Positas, Ladera Palma and both middle schools are currently program improvement schools. The 2010 STAR & CST results should be available shortly to review how test scores faired last year.
5. Tell us what approached you would employ to hold management accountable for mismanagement of the district resources?
As an HR Manager, this is my daily function and role... to ensure that the guiding principles and policies (both legal, ethical and company specified) are upheld each and everyday by every member of the organization. This same philosophy will hold true if I am elected to the school board. I will in NO WAY tolerate illegal or illicit acts regarding financial mismanagement of the district's resources. Not only would I file the proper complaints with the Orange County Board of Education and the California State Board of Education, but I would ensure that any and all information is readily available to the public (as legally feasible). In regard to "irrespirable" mismanagement of district resources, I would hold the superintendent and my fellow colleagues responsible. It is the role; the duty and the obligation of the school board (not the superintendant) to ensure proper audits, reviews and questions are asked, discussed and thoroughly reviewed. One of my first goals as a board member will be to solicit outside services to assist us in an independent audit of the district's budget. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency and honesty of district resources by the current management leaves us no other option. I would ensure that members of our bargaining teams are part of the discovery process and that together we work together re-building trust and creating a responsible budget for all.
I would do this by ensuring clear roles and expectations are set for the superintendant, myself and colleagues on the board. I would also ensure that the roles and expectations are followed through with; I will not allow or entertain employees being retaliated against, "half-truths" to be told or blindly approving programs etc. without the input of the teams involved in the overall processes.
6. Why do you want to be a Governing Board member?
The staff that works in La Habra is amazing- you will be hard pressed to find a team of more dedicated individuals than the ones we have in our own backyard. I feel that somewhere we have lost the "family" atmosphere and we have lost focus on what is important- our kids. I have strong skills in organizational development, HR Management and know that I can make a difference in re-building the La Habra City School District. Having a perspective outside the typical "teacher experience" will allow me to bring new and fresh ideas to the board; my perspective will also help me represent the entire population of workers in La Habra. Lastly, although I do not have children now, I will have children in the near future- and those children will be students in La Habra. It is critical that we create a school system that I am proud and honored to have my children attend- and thus, for all La Habra's children to attend.
7. Please list four to five qualities of a good Governing Board member.
1. Ethical
2. Responsible
3. Honest
4. Transparent
5. Strong (able to stand-up against the crowd)
8. What is your philosophy on balancing a district budget in difficult financial times?
It is important that we do not work in a box. We are not the only district in the state dealing with difficult financial times. We must utilize the work of other schools, cities and municipalities to borrow ideas. We must engage our various unions to work with us to create responsible budget decisions to ensure we are financially sound. We need to listen, take all ideas into consideration, and not retaliate or make people feel "dumb" for their ideas and suggestions. We also must be realistic, spend responsibly, cut responsibly and react responsibly.
I want to see La Habra reach out the community. We need to utilize grants and corporate sponsorships; we need to explore ideas such as advertisements or approaches were we solicit our own sources of revenue outside of the state. Working to become more self-sustainable will be very important to the future of all schools.
9. Does such budget balancing include the layoff of classified employees? If yes, under what circumstances?
This is very difficult to answer, as it truly depends on the situation. If all measures were exhausted and the only items left were to lay off employees and we had to make that tough call to balance a budget, unfortunately- like many companies, state entities and schools, yes, I would agree to that decision. However, I also feel that we must remember to re-hire, address compensation and additional benefits when the budget gets better. We will not always be in such dire times.
10. How do you view your "management" role as a Governing Board member?
This is a two-fold question: In a normal situation, I feel the role of the school board is to strategically partner themselves with strong leaders to manage the La Habra City School District. Unfortunately, we are not at this place right now. My colleagues and I, if elected, will have to take an active role in managing the superintendent. We will need to set clear expectations, goals and deadlines. We will need to outline what will be tolerated and what will not be tolerated. We will have to serve as the face of our schools until the relationship between the superintendant and faculty can be rebuilt.
11. Are you willing to overrule decisions made by district management?
What is important to remember is that the school board runs the school district and the superintendant reports to the school board, not the other way around. If I do not agree on something my colleagues vote on, I have no trouble voting against it- explaining why and working hard at helping my colleagues understand my points of view. However, if I am still outvoted, I will adhere to the code of conduct and support the final decision made, with my dissent duly noted.
12. Will it trouble you to vote to oppose a Board majority on an issue?
Not at all, I will however do my best at trying to expose my colleagues to the rationale of why I may not agree with them. I will ensure that my opposition is noted, concerns addressed however, I will also ensure I follow the code of conduct and support a final decision made.
13. How accessible will you be to CSEA input before you vote on an issue affecting classified employees?
The most important thing that the school board must do is rebuild the relationships that have been severely broken over the past few years. It is extremely important to me that CSEA take an active role in the school board. I expect to see CSEA actively participating and attending all school board meetings, addressing concerns as they occur, and not letting them fester. In return, I promise to provide and create a safe environment to express concerns, share ideas, and talk about solutions that will help our schools. I do realize this is going to take time, but it will have to be a two-way effort. Although I cannot fix past discretions, I can ensure that the future relationship between CSEA and the school board will be transparent, honest and respectful--- we are team, we are in this together and we can do more working together then working apart.
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