5 Vying for 2 Positions on County Board of Education

The June 7 primary race for two seats on the Orange County Board of Education has moved forward in a typically low-key manner and in stark contrast to other county races that have generated sparks and controversy.

The race even features uncommon agreement among the five candidates: The five-member board is too little known and is misunderstood by much of the public.

They also agree that may be why there is habitually so little interest generated that some have dubbed the election the “race to achieve obscurity.”

Consequently, few issues of substance separate the candidates. The main differences center on style and approach.

On the one topic that might have provided some sparks--whether the county superintendent should be elected, as he is now, or appointed--the candidates are united in their support for the appointive method.

The board has recommended that the issue be placed on the November countywide ballot, an action that awaits approval by the Board of Supervisors. Orange is the one major county that elects its superintendent, and proponents of the appointment method argue that an appointed superintendent would be more accountable to the board and county constituents.

County schools Supt. Robert D. Peterson is against the change. However, the board has agreed to take no formal position, and none of the candidates for board seats are using the fall vote as a campaign issue.

The county Board of Education oversees the county Department of Education, an agency with a $50-million budget and more than 800 employees. The department administers special education programs for the handicapped, Juvenile Court schools and camps, and child care centers. Contrary to some public opinion, the board does not act as a “superboard” with jurisdiction over all county local school districts, but as an intermediary between those districts and the state Department of Education. However, the board does write all checks and approves the budgets for local districts.

In District 2, which encompasses Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos and Stanton, three candidates are vying to complete the term of Frances B. Murphy, who died last year. Two years remain in that term. Board President Sheila Meyers, who was appointed by the board to replace Murphy, is among the contenders for the seat.

Two candidates, including three-term incumbent Dean McCormick, are running for a four-year term in District 4, which includes the cities of Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, Mission Viejo, El Toro, Orange, Placentia, Tustin and Yorba Linda.

In the District 2 race are:

-Mercedes (Micky) McCullough, 58, an education specialist with the Bellflower School District. McCullough, a Huntington Beach resident, has more than 35 years of teaching experience and is running for her first school board seat.

McCullough said her first priority, if elected, would be to reinstate innovative teacher training programs. “The county has stopped providing leadership and models for training that teachers must have to move forward with curriculum and new technologies.”

One way that might be accomplished is to divert funds from such popular county programs as the academic decathlon and spelling bee, she said. “They need to be supported, but they provide very little to the overall growth of the student body,” she said.

-Norma L. Vander Molen, 54, a Community Services commissioner for the city of Huntington Beach. Vander Molen was also a member of the Huntington Beach School District board for nine years. She was one of four finalists considered for the board seat left vacant by Murphy.

Vander Molen said a major concern is the “lack of opportunity for the public to attend board meetings” (board meetings begin at 9 a.m.) and said she will urge the board to consider scheduling evening meetings.

She also faulted current board members for a “lack of interaction between the county and local school districts” and would like to “raise the visibility” of the county board among the public.

-Sheila Meyers, 53, a member of the board for six years before she resigned to move out of state in 1986. Meyers moved back to the county in 1987 and was named to fill Murphy’s seat.

That appointment sparked a controversy, with opponents alleging that Meyers moved back to the county just to gain the board seat. A petition drive to block the appointment failed.

Among the most pressing issues facing educators is the lack of long-term financing for local school districts, Meyers said. “School districts must put pressure on Sacramento to make some laws. A lot of things are going to help, but the overall solution must be done legislatively.”

At the local level, Meyers would like to beef up counseling efforts and funding for special education. And she disputed charges that incumbent board members have not been responsive to local districts. “I don’t think the lines of communication are closed at all,” she said. “There is never any trouble with anyone getting ahold of me. We cannot go into the local districts and start meddling. That is not our responsibility.”

The District 4 race features:

-Nickolas A. Siokos, 62, a retired teacher and administrator who lives in Yorba Linda. Siokos served as interim superintendent in the Placentia Unified School District in 1987 and was a councilman and mayor in Lynwood in Los Angeles County.

Siokos said his main concern is that the board has not been responsive to local school districts. He charged specifically that incumbent Dean McCormick has made little effort to contact administrators in the local districts he represents.

“With a $50-million budget, we have to make a better effort in finding out what the opinion is in the local districts. The board needs to be more flexible to the needs of the districts. Mr. McCormick for the past several years has chosen not to be concerned with that input. He is too much of the status quo.”

Siokos said there also should be more scrutiny of county Department of Education finances, arguing there is “no consistency” in accounting methods.

-Dean McCormick, general manager of a transportation firm, is running for his fourth term on the board. He previously served as a board member in the Tustin Elementary School District and the Tustin Unified School District.

McCormick disputed his opponent’s contention that he has not been responsive to the needs of local school districts, pointing to his sponsorship of formal meetings between the board and local administrators, begun during his term as board president.

“It was like a local road show that I conceived to improve communications between the board and the districts,” he said. “The practice has been discontinued but, if reelected, I would urge the board to continue this dialogue. I have always made an effort to work with and know the superintendents and administrators.”

McCormick said that his priorities, if reelected, would be to “continue to serve the needs of our students, the disabled, the wards of court and children in our child care centers.”