Lawyer, Executive, 2 Incumbents Vie for 3 Seats : Reinstating Classes Focus of School Race

A local lawyer, a corporate vice president and two incumbents are quietly battling for three open positions on the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education in a race that has primarily focused on reinstating classes that have been eliminated in past years.

At least one newcomer will join the five-member board after the April 2 election because current board president Carl Raggio has decided to run for City Council.

Running for the three open seats on the school board are incumbents Jane Whitaker and June Sweetnam and challengers Charles Whitesell, a Glendale attorney, and Richard Matthews, corporate vice president of communications for Carnation Co.

The major issues in the race so far have been reinstating the sixth period for seventh- and eighth-grade students and balancing the number of academic and vocational classes taught in the district.

Experience Stressed

Sweetnam, 58, seeking her third four-year term, and Whitaker, 55, running for her second, have stressed their board experience and their work in implementing state-mandated changes in curriculum and in guiding the district through the lean years when public schools fell victim to statewide budget cuts.

Sweetnam, a city resident for 35 years whose five children went through Glendale schools, is a member of the Glendale College Patrons Club, Glendale Beautiful and the Glendale Historical Society.

Whitaker, whose two sons graduated from Glendale’s Hoover High School, is the district’s appointee to the Foothill Youth Services Project and is a member of the board of directors of the 1st District of the state Parent-Teacher Assn. She has lived in Glendale 15 years.

Whitesell, 48, in his first quest for public office, and Matthews, 46, making a second stab at a Glendale school board seat after his 1983 defeat, point to their community work and their backgrounds in the legal and business fields.

Experience Listed

Whitesell is a past president of the Glendale High Boosters and is on the board of directors of the Glendale Community College Foundation, a fund-raising group for the school. He has lived in the city 15 years and his three children have attended Glendale schools.

Matthews, who also volunteers as an aerobics instructor at the Glendale YMCA, is on the board of directors of the Glendale Symphony. He has lived in the city for 17 years and his two children have attended Glendale schools but are now enrolled in a private school.

Besides the school board posts, three positions on the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees are up for reelection. However, there are no challengers to incumbents Phillip Kazanjian, Ted Tiffany and Kenneth Sweetnam, who is no relation to June Sweetnam.

The school board race has been low-key, with the candidates making the usual campaign appearances before gatherings of clubs and organizations in the city.

Campaign Literature

As of the latest filing, none of the candidates reported receiving contributions of more than $500, but all said they had raised enough money to mail campaign literature later this month to selected groups of city voters.

The issue that has generated the most talk in the race has been reinstating the sixth period for junior high students, a move that would cost about $500,000 a year. The extra period was eliminated in 1981 because of reduced state funding, and all four candidates agree that it must be restored to the schedule so that seventh- and eighth-graders can be better prepared for high school.

District officials said they will include the sixth period in next year’s budget but are awaiting word from Sacramento on whether state funding will cover the expense.

“We have to get the sixth period back, and that’s my No. 1 financial priority,” said Whitaker, who was the only board member in 1981 to vote against the period’s elimination.

Sixth Period Wanted

Whitesell said that the sixth period is at “the top of my list” and that students need “as much time in class as possible in order to get entry-level employment skills once they get out of school.”

Reinstating the sixth period has been a thorny issue for Matthews, who took his two children out of Glendale schools three years ago and enrolled them in private schools because, without the extra period, he said, his children “would be getting shortchanged.”

During several campaign appearances, he has had to defend his earlier move, saying that he does not regret taking his children out of Glendale schools “and would do it again.”

“The main reason I am running is to get that period reinstated,” Matthews said. His children, one an eighth-grader and one a high school sophomore, will return to Glendale schools when the class time is restored, he said. “What I did was look after my kids’ welfare just like I would look out for Glendale’s welfare,” he said.

Arts, Music Cuts

The massive cuts that the district had to make after passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 led not only to the elimination of sixth period, but also to a reduction in the number of music and art classes offered in Glendale schools. Much of June Sweetnam’s campaign has focused on the restoration of these classes. The district expects slightly more money this year and, possibly, additional money from the state lottery.

“The arts are very important to a student’s education,” Sweetnam said. “In years past, when we sit down with the budget, it always seems that the arts are the first to go. I would like to put an end to that.”

Although Sweetnam has called for a return to the arts, Matthews said more vocational classes are needed.

He has proposed that two programs be established in the high schools, one designed for students wishing to pursue vocational interests and another for students interested in academic study. He said the district should contact area businesses that may be able to employ students in such fields as carpentry, auto repair and building construction. Students could work in the industry and possibly receive school credit for their time, he said.

Vocational Issue

“Not everyone is college bound, and we have to help those students who are interested in a trade,” Matthews said.

Whitesell and Sweetnam, however, disagree, contending that students must study the basics before moving into vocational pursuits. They argue that the district already offers vocational classes and that it is not the primary role of secondary education to engage in job training.

“Sometimes I’ve hired students in my office only to soon find out that they have trouble reading, writing and even speaking,” Whitesell said. “Vocational classes are needed to some degree but not at the expense of academics.”

Another issue that Whitesell has stressed during his campaign is security within Glendale schools. He said vandalism and theft are beginning to cost the district thousands of dollars a year and are eating away at the general fund. He has suggested that additional security guards be hired to patrol campuses at night when most of the crimes occur.

Classroom Supplies

All the candidates agree that another top priority should be replacing and upgrading classroom supplies neglected since Proposition 13 and repairing school buildings that have fallen into disrepair.

“I drive by some of our schools and the conditions look deplorable--like a demilitarized zone,” Whitesell said. “Teachers are especially concerned about their working conditions, and poor conditions bring morale down. If we want to attract the best teachers, one of the things we have to do is maintain our schools.”

Matthews said that another way to improve morale would be to establish what he calls “teacher councils,” groups of about 10 teachers from each school who would regularly report to the board on matters affecting their schools.

“I feel that teachers sometimes feel that the administrators are not listening to them, or at least do not understand what they cope with every day,” Matthews said. “Teacher councils would be very good for communication between both groups.”

Field School Use

Although it has not become a weighty issue in the election, leasing the Field Elementary School property is a major concern of the candidates. The five-acre property, valued at about $5 million, is considered by developers to be one of the most attractive unused pieces of land in the city for a large housing project.

The school was closed in 1981 because of declining enrollment and the district has been trying to lease it for the last two years. A lease arrangement with a Los Angeles developer who wanted to build about 220 apartments on the property fell through in November when the City Council refused to issue tax-exempt bonds for the construction.

This week, the school board voted again to solicit bids for development of the land, which through a lease arrangement would provide the district with about $400,000 a year. School officials have decided not to sell the land because they fear the state might reduce funds for Glendale schools if the district suddenly became $5 million richer.

Agreement on Lease

All the candidates agree that a long-term lease is in the best interest of the district, although Matthews has suggested that the board investigate the possibility of remodeling the school and turning it into a vocational institute for students who wish to pursue a trade.

Whitaker, however, criticized the idea, saying that Matthews is “several years behind in thought.” She said that, before Clark Junior High School was closed in 1983, the board considered turning the school into a vocational facility but rejected the idea because it would cost several million dollars for renovation and equipment.

“The amount of money to do something like that would be mind boggling, and, frankly, the district couldn’t afford it,” Whitaker said. “We do have to think about vocational education, but I don’t think a separate school is the answer.”

Trustee Concerns

In the election for trustee members for Glendale Community College, the three unopposed incumbents, all seeking their second term, said faculty morale is one of their highest concerns. Morale reached its lowest point late last year when faculty and administration negotiators haggled for several months during a bitter contract dispute before reaching agreement, college teachers said.

“We do have a morale problem, but part of it is our financial situation,” Kenneth Sweetnam said. “The state simply hasn’t given us the money to yield to every request for pay raises. We have to sit down with the faculty and find out just what the other problem areas are.”

Sweetnam is a retired university professor and administrator; Tiffany is the principal of Daily High School, a continuation school in Glendale, and Kazanjian is an attorney.

District Issue

Another major issue with which the trustees will have to grapple involves the Los Angeles Community College District’s intention to enforce a state law prohibiting city residents from enrolling in community colleges outside their district. The move could reduce enrollment at Glendale Community College by more than one-quarter and state funding by about $1.5 million.

The trustees have tried to compromise with Los Angeles officials but so far the effort has failed.

Tiffany said that, if an agreement cannot be reached locally, the board of trustees will begin working with other community colleges that are pushing for state legislation to allow students to enroll at the school of their choice, rather than being restricted by district boundaries.