Editor, Manteca Bulletin:
The old and the new of Manteca Unified School District met for a good discussion at Monday’s candidate forum ably moderated by Daryl Carpenter. It was fittingly held at the new Sikh Temple in Area 4 south of the 120 Bypass – a growing area of Manteca. Area 2, which includes similarly growing parts of Lathrop was also represented. Areas 5 and 6, which encompass the more built out portions of central Manteca rounded out the 4 seats that will be filled on November 6.
Four questions were answered by all six candidates, either in person or by email. The first was provided by a former board president and addressed the large amount of time trustees need to commit to their service. Kathy Howe, from Area 2, shared her retirement status and passion for reaching out to connect with her communities. Andrea Collins-Cambra, from Area 4, shared her current ability to manage multiple commitments to business and her community as well as the ongoing family support for her role as trustee. Maria Freitas, also from Area 4, shared managing the demands of business and community commitments along with the fact that her recent retirement from teaching will provide the time for even more commitments.
Evelyn Moore, the incumbent from Area 5, shared her experience with balancing district, community and family commitments over the last two decades as a trustee. Cathy Pope-Gotschall, also from Area 5, shared her plans for being well prepared for board meetings, her past experience balancing work and earning two graduate degrees – especially the value of collaborating within a team, and the fact that her work as a teacher librarian allows her to actually be able to come home without having to put in extended hours. Stephen Schuler, from Area 6, referenced the support of his wife of 15 years in managing his multiple commitments to education, youth sports, policing, etc. He shared his strengths in multitasking and task completion.
The remaining questions were from the CSBA. The first concerned how to maintain accountability for the administration’s responsibility for providing the accurate and complete information necessary for effective decision making. Cambra, Freitas, and Howe shared a consensus that additional information should be requested from the Superintendent prior to the meeting. Schuler shared this consensus with additional thoughts about how the Superintendent is the board’s one employee and that postponing a vote is an option based on the nature of the issue and the new information. Moore shared that in her experience the responsibility is almost always met and rare exceptions can be handled by postponing a decision while asking for additional information. Gotschall also agreed with the consensus with the addition of her willingness to ask tough questions.
The next question asked about ensuring opportunities for community to express diverse views to inform board deliberations. Freitas expressed her belief in the benefit of informal contacts with the community, social media outreach, and engagement with citizen groups. Moore encouraged the community to use the public comment period and shared her experiences with how issues that were dear to parents would be brought up at one meeting and addressed satisfactorily at a subsequent meeting. Gotschall emphasized the two way nature of communication from the community to the board and the converse of the board to the community. Schuler shared the effectiveness of study sessions at local sites, outreach to School Site Councils, use of the public comment period at meetings, and his commitment to email responsiveness. Howe shared her experience with communicating through whatever means are comfortable for community members such as encouraging public comment, talking on the phone, email dialog and one on one discussions during informal encounters. Cambra shared that she will listen to all community members however it is important to address the board as a whole since individual trustees do not have decision power.
The final question answered by all the candidates asked “Describe a good board meeting”. All the candidates shared similar descriptions which included words like collaboration, efficient, respectful, compromise, productive, transparent, and flexible. Including student recognition and ending on a positive note were also common descriptions.
Additional questions were asked by community members present at the forum. Moore, Gotschall, and Freitas were all comfortable with the change to a more formal process for community use of our school facilities, with Freitas suggesting that the current 30 day application process might benefit from being shortened.
How to have sufficient facilities for the growing student population was seen by all the candidates present as a significant concern requiring cooperation among developers, city officials and MUSD. Gotschall contributed the idea of considering repurposing existing non school vacant buildings as possible solutions, Freitas offered thoughts on the redrawing of school boundaries, and Moore shared how MUSD is being proactive to maximize access to state funding.
When asked about her biggest concerns about local education, Freitas focused on growth and safety. Moore focused on the need to increase the funding for education. Gotschall focused on improving the quality of learning through extended student services such as nurses, school psychologists and teacher librarians.
All the candidates answered a question about school year calendars by noting that this issue is primarily addressed through negotiation with the representatives of the various staff associations.
A question was asked about teacher stress and again all the candidates concurred that student needs are the first priority while at the same time seeing teachers as underpaid.
Finally the candidates responded to a question about the diversity gap between fairly homogeneous teachers and a growing diverse student population by having a productive conversation with each other. Ideas such as welcoming diverse community members and building on the acceptance that young students bring to school were shared. A member of the hosting Sikh community joined the conversation and helped the forum end on a high note with his observation of the similarity between the discussion and the 4 open doors symbolism of the central Sikh Temple. He shared that the local Sikh community is seeking partnership with MUSD to develop some of their new property as a community resource for children.
Léo Bennett-Cauchon
Manteca
