PUSD School Board Candidates Pitch Their Platforms

Seven candidates vying for seats on the Pasadena Unified School District board appeared before the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, March 1, to share their ideas and plans for the future of the PUSD.

Each candidate was given time to outline what he or she felt to be the primary focus of their campaign, as well as why he or she deserved the PUSD electorate's vote in the coming March 8 election.

Much of the discussion centered heavily on what many candidates referred to as a "troubled" district, citing recent school closures and ongoing discussion about budget cuts and potential teacher layoffs.

Renatta Cooper, the Seat 2 incumbent, began with a warning, saying, "This is a district in crisis and the financial concerns and decisions that have to be made are overwhelming in some respects."

Cooper also mentioned the recent resignation of Superintendent Edwin Diaz, which she said "just adds one more thing onto the pile of crisis." Cooper said that hiring a superintendent is the most important thing that a school board does and that the future board needs to replace Diaz "with someone of his caliber."

Altadena resident and Seat 4 candidate Kim Kenne credited her experience on the PTA for her ever-increasing interest in how to "make things better for the district and for our kids."

The most important factor contributing to that possibility, according to Kenne, is parent involvement. "I've been very involved with parent engagement and parent partnerships, which is something I feel really strongly about," Kenne said, adding it was important to "make sure all the parents know enough about the system and how it works and how their child is doing so that they can advocate for their own child."

Gene Stevenson, another Altadena resident, opened his pitch with a call back to recent endorsements made by the Pasadena Star-News, who named him as their candidate of choice for Seat 4. Echoing Renatta Cooper, Stevenson also called the PUSD "a district in crisis."

Specifically citing the coming need to replace Edwin Diaz, Stevenson said "we have to have the best people on the board, we have to have the most qualified board, to make that decision for and with you."

The core of Seat 6 incumbent Tom Selinske's pitch was based on his experience as a board member and the issues he has dealt with during that time. "In the last three years we've had to reduce our budget by over $30 million," he said. "That's a lot of money, [and] it's been a challenge on how we can struggle to balance the budget and still provide a high level of service to our students."

Nevertheless, Selinske said that despite the cuts, PUSD has had much success during his tenure, but that there is "still a lot of work to be done."

Seat 6 challenger Sean Baggett hinged his candidacy on being the "only credentialed teacher and administrator in the race," as well as his belief that many PUSD schools were performing at such a poor level that some people, such as his neighbors, were actually moving away from the district in search of better public schools.

Baggett also addressed the "hot topic" of many in Sierra Madre and Altadena wanting their own designated seat on the PUSD board. Baggett not only said he would be willing to give up his seat on the board if this were to happen, but gave the audience a bit of a shock when he said he would support Sierra Madre's secession from the PUSD to form their own district if there were a "major consensus amongst the Sierra Madre community."

Gaylaird Christopher, another challenger in the three-way race for Seat 6, spent much of his address praising Sierra Madre schools as a good example of PUSD's "neighborhood schools."

But Christopher said the problems began to arise "as we go up in the district" to the middle and the high schools "and we get a little more separated from the structure and from what's happening in the schools." Christopher also argued for more diverse class offerings in the district. "Whatever you want to do, the school should introduce you to that and get you passionate about that," he said.

Write in candidate for Seat 2 and late arrival to the candidates' forum, Altadena resident and Sierra Madre school parent Cushon Bell spent most of her time answering questions from the audience. First on the minds of most was why she had decided to run for the seat on such short notice.

Bell responded by saying that having been recently honored by the Pasadena Education Network, as well as her selection as the California delegate to Parenting Magazine's 2011 "Mom Congress" weighed heavily on her decision to run. Bell echoed the sentiment of other candidates that the district's secondary schools were underperforming, but said she felt stronger parent involvement could turn the tide. "I want other people in Pasadena to feel that the high schools are a viable and vibrant option," she said.

The PUSD board election will be held on March 8. Check back with Patch for more news on the race, as well as information on polling place locations and election night results.