Candidate for
Trustee; Capistrano Unified School District; Trustee Area 3

~Innovative Programs/School Choice~

Capistrano Unified is an innovative leader in school choice. In the past two years alone, I have worked to expand student choice within Capistrano Unified. This year will mark the launch of Orange County's first and only Mandarin Immersion Program (students are bilingual in English and Mandarin by the 5th grade), a project that I have worked to bring to South Orange County. In addition, California Preparatory Academy, Capistrano Virtual School and Oxford Preparatory Academy are among the new charter programs offered and now available to our children.

But we are not yet done. I am also working to bring additional programs to Capistrano Unified, including launching the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts & math) program at a San Clemente elementary school in the near future. I firmly believe that parents should have a variety of choices from which to choose from when educating their children.

~Reduce Mello Roos Taxes and Bond Obligations~

San Clemente residents pay on their property tax either Mello Roos taxes or general revenue bond obligations to finance our existing school facilities. My focus has been on reducing the tax burden on taxpayers while maintaining existing service levels for our schools. The easiest way to achieve this is by refinancing existing debt. Per my request, Capistrano Unified is currently working to save $8 million by refinancing existing bond obligations to get today's lower interest rates. I am working to do the same on existing Mello Roos obligations within Capistrano Unified (specifically including Talega).

~School Boundaries~

With the La Pata extension coming soon, Capistrano Unified will once again need to address whether Vista del Mar Middle School (Talega) will be reassigned from San Clemente High School to San Juan Hills High School.

A number of San Clemente residents look forward to sending their students to San Juan Hills while others are content to stay at San Clemente. Residents in Talega have paid Mello Roos taxes to build San Juan Hills and refurbish in part San Clemente. They have paid for the right to choose. Capistrano Unified already provides this right of first choice to certain students residing in San Juan Capistrano and should extend this privilege to affected portions of San Clemente.