Frances Bilak Holds School Board Campaign Kickoff Event

A safe, technologically advanced learning environment run by a fiscally responsible district is what Frances Bilak called for during her campaign kickoff speech Sunday at .

Bilak is one of running for three seats during the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education election Nov. 8.

Aside from schools having "strong walls, seismically sound buildings, gates and security guards," Bilak said that students' well-being was not only about physical safety, but also emotional security.

"I'm for a clear and well-defined ," she said to those in attendance. "A policy that is easy to understand and that's enforced in a consistent and fair way in all the school sites in the district." 

With two children at —a son in sixth grade and a daughter in first grade—Bilak pointed out the tech-savvy nature of today's youth and said it is time to embrace technology in the classroom.

"We should not have our kids schlepping 20 or 40 pounds of books in their backpacks any longer," she said. "They can have a tablet where all their textbooks are going to be. That's what new education is going to be like."

Addressing spending, Bilak called for transparency and accountability.

"The city and all of you here today deserve a clear plan that lays out how the money should be allocated," she said. "It's the community's money."

Measure E was approved under the premise of renovating the city's aging schools. However, Bilak warned that the prospect of a subway going under would be detrimental to renovations there.

"Tunnels under the high school will impact both the cost of future construction as well as limit what we can do, and both of these are totally unacceptable," she said. "The bottom line is we don't want a tunnel under the school."

Beverly Hills Education Association President Mark Frenn introduced Bilak before she gave her speech. An eighth-grade math teacher at for more than 15 years, Frenn said he was supportive of Bilak's desire to improve the district by attracting and retaining the best teachers and staff available.

"Academics is very important to her, but she's also aware that labor is an important thing that has to be discussed by the board and has to be respected," he said.

Chris Bushee, the BHEA's political action committee chair who has taught chemistry at BHHS for nearly 15 years, was also at Bilak's kickoff event.

"When she speaks, she's speaking from the heart," Bushee said of Bilak. "She's speaking from someone who as a parent, and as a Beverly Hills community member, really feels connected to the school and to the community at large."

As the city's main teachers union, the BHEA has endorsed Bilak along with and Andy Licht. Bilak has also received the support of Mayor Barry Brucker, former Beverly Hills Education Foundation CEO  and numerous school PTA board members.

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