Lancaster Heads School Board Races - Elections: There will be 8 school district elections in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 7. But the focus will be on Lancaster, which is struggling to regain its top reputation.

Until a few years ago, the Lancaster School District was the school district in the Antelope Valley, local educators say. Teachers there were among the best paid in the region, the district was well-managed and financially healthy and relative calm prevailed.

As one board member from another local school system put it, “Lancaster was the Cadillac district of the valley.”

Somewhere along the way, however, the Cadillac seemingly suffered a breakdown. Salaries fell behind, enrollments swelled and problems grew. Since then, nothing has been quite the same in the district that is at the heart of this fast-growing region.

The problems began nearly two years ago when the superintendent of the district was demoted and the school board picked a controversial successor. Voters promptly reacted by recalling a majority of the board. The new board ousted that official earlier this year. After much turmoil, the district has its third superintendent in two years.

With a spate of school board elections to be decided early next month, it’s no surprise that the contest for seats on the Lancaster school board will probably emerge as the hardest-fought and most closely watched race in the Antelope Valley.

On Nov. 7, voters in the region will elect at-large school board members in eight local districts: Antelope Valley Community College, Antelope Valley Union High School and six elementary and middle school districts, including Lancaster and Palmdale. In all but Palmdale, voters will choose three of the five members who serve on each of the school boards for four-year terms.

A total of 44 candidates are seeking 22 school board seats in the contests. Although Election Day is less than a month away, there has been little sign of campaigning thus far in most of the races. But candidate interest has been piqued by numerous incumbents forsaking reelection bids and leaving open seats.

Because all of the districts are relatively small--Palmdale, the most populous, has about 11,500 students--it only takes a few hundred votes to a few thousand votes to be elected to a local school board. In the past, candidates have rarely spent more than several thousand dollars on their campaigns.

Despite their size, local schools tend to attract a good deal of attention throughout the year, partly because the region’s rapid growth has brought an influx of families with children and the need for new, costly classrooms. Nevertheless, turnout among registered voters probably will not exceed 15% based on past elections.

In the Lancaster School District, three incumbents are being faced by four challengers. Two of the incumbents, Michael Huggins and Melinda White, only took office in February as a result of the recall. The third incumbent, board President Richard White (no relation to Melinda White), was the top vote-getter when he was first elected in 1985.

Challenging them are Jacquelyn (Jacki) Pendleton, a homemaker and school aide; Joseph Starling, an air traffic controller whose wife is a teacher in the district; Keith Wilde, a structural mechanic, and Maridelle Wright, a day-care operator. Pendleton and Wilde were unsuccessful candidates in this year’s recall election.

Wright is the wife of E. Jarold Wright, superintendent of the district from February, 1988, until the current school board, a product of this year’s recall, bought out his contract for about $150,000 in July. Wright’s hiring helped fuel the bitter recall campaign. He is still serving on the local high school board but is not up for reelection this year.

Since that turmoil, the district has wrangled with financial problems and two new schools that opened late, sparking parents’ complaints. There has also been an interim administration since current Superintendent Edward Goodwin, a former assistant superintendent, was promoted to the job pending the outcome of the election.

The 12-campus district has an enrollment this fall of nearly 10,700 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It covers an 83-square-mile area of central Lancaster and has a $36.7-million budget this year. School board members earn a maximum salary of $240 a month, plus insurance coverage worth $427 a month.

Four years ago, the 12-candidate contest for three seats on the board of Antelope Valley Community College District was the hottest school race in the region. Two of the three incumbents were defeated, marking the first change in the college board’s membership in a decade. This year, there is little apparent discontent.

Board President James Du Pratt Jr., who was first elected in 1985, and Herman Kicenski, a member since 1973 who is seeking a fifth term, are favored for reelection. The contest will be between two challengers seeking to succeed one-term incumbent Lynda Gloyd, who is not seeking reelection.

The two challengers are Felix LeMarinel, a Palmdale resident and insurance executive who served on the board of North Orange County Community College District from 1965 to 1988, and Betty Lou Nash, a Lancaster resident who used to be a spokeswoman for the college and is active in art and music.

The college district, with its single 125-acre campus in west Lancaster, covers the entire Antelope Valley, about 1,925 square miles. The two-year college has about 8,600 students and a $17.3-million budget. Board members earn up to $240 a month plus insurance benefits worth $447 a month.

The Antelope Valley Union High School District covers virtually the same area. Seven candidates, including two incumbents, are competing for three seats. The incumbents are board President William Olenick, a county probation camp officer first elected in 1985, and Lawrence Rucker, a Lancaster resident and retired NASA consultant who is seeking a third term.

School board member Bob McMullen, who has moved out of the district, did not file for reelection, helping open the door for the five hopefuls. The most visible has been Steve Landaker, a Palmdale resident and billboard advertising executive who has spread large campaign signs throughout Lancaster and Palmdale.

Also running are Daniel Fricke, a school police officer who just missed winning office in 1987; Phil Maher, a GTE superintendent who ran unsuccessfully in 1985; David Von Buskirk, a court financial officer who finished behind Fricke in 1987, and Sophia Waugh, a homemaker and school volunteer. She lives in Agua Dulce, while the others live in Palmdale.

In 1985, Olenick finished first among eight candidates, getting more votes than any other school candidate in the Antelope Valley.

The high school district has a budget of $35.7 million and enrollment this fall of nearly 9,800 students. They are spread among three regular high schools, a continuation school and two temporary campuses awaiting permanent facilities. Board members earn up to $240 a month and get insurance benefits worth more than $450 a month.

Of all the local school districts, Palmdale may be the most peaceful these days, and many local officials say it is the best-run district in the valley. Perhaps as an indication of that, no challengers filed to run against the three incumbents: board President Velma Trosin, Fay Harrington and Frederick Thompson. Thus, they are not on the ballot.

However, school board member Susan Moulton, who was elected to a four-year term in 1987, resigned in June to move out of the district. Three Palmdale-area residents are seeking to fill her unexpired term through 1991. They are educator Sheldon Epstein, businessman F. Don Linde and Dan Hunter, a retired aerospace engineer.

The Palmdale district covers a 72-square-mile area that includes all of the city and some outlying areas. The district has about 11,500 students, a $39-million budget and 18 schools squeezed onto 13 campuses because of huge enrollment increases. Board members earn up to $240 a month plus insurance benefits worth $487 a month.

The other smaller school district races are as follows:

In the Westside Union School District, six candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for three school board seats. Incumbents Lynne Gardner Murley of Palmdale and Charles Strole of Lake Hughes finished first and second in the election four years ago. But school board member Norman Gookins did not file for reelection, leaving an open seat.

The challengers are Chuck Brandel of Palmdale, a corporate president; Howard Brooks of Quartz Hill, director of the Antelope Valley Board of Trade; Sandra Engebretson of Palmdale, a homemaker and accountant; and Larry Lindner, a retired police officer who ran in 1987.

In the Keppel Union School District, four challengers are vying against three well-established incumbents for their three seats. The incumbents are Patricia Conner of Llano, Jerry Freeman of Pearblossom, and Robert Jones of Littlerock.

The challengers are R. Michael Dutton of Littlerock, a school principal who ran unsuccessfully in 1983; Valorie Gorny, a Littlerock parent who tried in 1985; Claudia Moore, a Littlerock homemaker, and Richard Sanders of Littlerock, a city of Palmdale parks and recreation supervisor.

In the Wilsona School District, five candidates, including two incumbents, are seeking three seats. Incumbents Luis Easterwood of Lancaster and Sue Stokka of Palmdale are in the race, but board member Richard Dowen did not seek reelection, leaving an open seat.

The challengers in the election are Frank Donaldson Sr. of Lancaster, a general contractor; Michael Brown of Lancaster, a program planner at Edwards Air Force Base, and Richard Foster, a volunteer children’s counselor.

In the Eastside Union School District, where all three incumbents running four years ago were defeated, the turnover will continue this fall. Board member Martha Delores Johnson of Lancaster is seeking reelection, but first-termers James Beale and Rodger Gaudi are not in the race.

Vying with Johnson are four challengers: education consultant Lee Doughty; sales representative Gary Holmes; former Lancaster Chamber of Commerce Director Larry Lake, and Michael Terry, an inspector. All are Lancaster residents.