What is the most important issue facing GGUSD?

By Bob Harden

There is more to it than just balancing the budget. The district has seen great progress in academic performance over the past several years. The challenge for the board is to make financial decisions that will allow us to continue that progress.

In 2004, Garden Grove was awarded the Broad Prize as America's best large urban school district. You may have seen those orange Broad Prize banners hanging in front of our schools. It was a great accomplishment.

What made winning the Broad Prize special was that it was based primarily on student achievement. Test scores were rising and exceeded expectations.

That trend of rising test scores has continued. Each year the state publishes scores for each grade level, and each year our scores are higher. This year, our lowest scores were better than our highest test scores the year we won the Broad Prize!

So how do we keep that upward momentum going in a time of financial crisis? The answer starts with consistent, stable leadership at the board level. This is not the year to make changes in leadership.

The current school board team has taken good care of your money through the years. We have cash reserves in place that will help us through these hard times. Even so, there will be difficult choices to make.

The board has spent the past several months prioritizing spending, and identifying areas where cost cutting can occur with the minimum impact on what goes on in the classroom.

It is critical now to keep the current school board in place to execute this program and steer the district through these difficult times.

We've been here before. I joined the board during the Orange County bankruptcy. I've seen the district through tough financial times. We've made it through before, and we will make it through these times too.

Thank you for trusting me to serve as your representative. I look forward to serving you for the next four years.