Frequently Asked Questions

By G. Rick "Rick" Marshall

Frequently asked questions about the Torrance Unified School District, my candidacy and the campaign.

The Torrance Unified School District educates almost 25,000 students (almost 3,500 of them on permit) and employs almost 4000 people of which almost 1,200 are teachers. It is the largest employer in Torrance with an annual budget of over $180 million.

WHAT DOES THE BOARD OF EDUCATION DO?

The Board of Education is the legislative body of the Torrance Unified School District. It is a five member panel that sets education policy for the District under the watchful eye of the California Education Code. Elections are held in November of odd-numbered years electing half the board (2 members this year) each election.

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION?

I'm running to change damaging district policies that have led to the following situations that need to change:

For the past 10 years, a Torrance High wrestling coach was allowed to make "skin checks" when the school board knew there were allegations of child abuse against him. This past spring, he was arraigned on 46 counts of lewd conduct and child molestation. Now we face the possibility of 37 separate lawsuits over failure to remove him from contact with our students.

During our school modernization effort, "lease-leaseback" contracts to repair our schools were awarded to the very same the construction manager who advised the school board on what to repair-- a classic case of the "fox guarding the henhouse". Recently, a California Court of Appeals ruled these contracts illegal. Under California law, the penalty for making illegal contracts is repayment of the ill-gotten proceeds by the construction manager--in our case $109 million. He has since stopped work and left the District.

WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

I am a software developer in the Information Technology Department at the University of California at Irvine Medical Center. My wife Janice and I are homeowners and have lived in Torrance since 1990. We have two daughters --Kirsten, an El Camino sophomore and high-school age, Victoria. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Sterling College. Prior to joining UC Irvine Health, I operated my on software development consultancy.

WHAT ARE YOUR QUALIFICATIONS?

I understand how to work with fellow committee members to set policy. My service on the City of Torrance Water Commission has given me the opportunity not only to understand the needs of our community but practice in how to propose, persuade and pass policy initiatives. I'm a team player and will work in the best interest of our students and community.

WHAT IS YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE BACKGROUND?

I currently serve on the City of Torrance Water Commission. I have mentored young men and women through Junior Achievement and advised the Office Administration Department at Harbor College on curriculum. I was privileged to serve as an Academic Decathlon judge for both the Los Angeles Unified School District and at the national finals of the United States Academic Decathlon. I recently conducted Toastmaster's Youth Leadership Seminar at Century High School in Santa Ana.

WHAT POLICY INITIATIVES HAVE YOU PROPOSED?

I am one of three proponents of a City Charter amendment initiative to limit the terms of Torrance Unified School Board members to two terms just like our City Council. I am also one of three proponents of a City Charter amendment initiative to combine the City Council and School Board elections on the same date as the current council elections. If the requisite 12,605 valid signatures are collected, Torrance voters will consider them at the 2016 council election in June, 2016.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO ON THE BOARD OF EDUCATION?

My platform is three R's:

• Let's REFORM our lax child safety and hiring protocols and avoid hiring coaches that molest our children and cost us money;
• Let's RECOVER the $109 million dollars owed to us by our former construction manager because of illegal contracts; and
• Let's REJECT Common Core and give parents a chance to opt their child out of testing.

WHY SHOULD I VOTE FOR YOU?

People are policy. To change the policy you have to change the people. An indicted child molester was allowed to be a wrestling coach and illegal construction contracts were signed that allowed the construction manager to have a conflict of interest in deciding what work to do and then being given the contract to do it.

We need to change the thinking at Plaza Del Amo. Clint Paulson and I will do it.