ELECTIONS SCHOOLS : 56 Candidates Seeking Seats on Elementary, Unified Boards

In the Oxnard Elementary School District--where a group of Latino educators has vowed to oust a school board member they claim is insensitive--two Latinos are among the seven candidates who have filed to run in the Nov. 6 election.

They are among 56 candidates in nine elementary and unified districts who filed for school board seats by the deadline Wednesday, county elections officials said.

In Oxnard, three seats are open on the board, which represents a district that is 72% Latino. Some Oxnard residents, including challengers and the Assn. of Mexican-American Educators, say the board needs a Latino member.

“I do believe we need Hispanic representation,” challenger Manuel R. Razo said. But Razo and Mary Barreto, the other Latino challenger, said that although they are bilingual and bicultural, they would represent all children in the district.

The question of the board’s sensitivity to Latino students was raised at a July meeting when board member Jack T. Fowler objected to a parent, who speaks English, making remarks to the board in Spanish.

After the incident, members of the educators group said they would seek a Latino candidate to back for a board seat. But association President Sandra Echavarria said Wednesday that the group will not decide on whether to make endorsements until after an Aug. 25 meeting with the candidates.

Fowler, who is seeking reelection, said Wednesday that the incident was an insult to the board. He said he favors an emphasis on teaching English language skills because success in this country is “based on the ability to read, write and speak the English language. If you can’t do that, you’re going to remain at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.”

Oxnard incumbent Dorothie J. Sterling said whether there is a Latino on the board is not an issue. She said the board has done a good job of representing all of the district’s students.

Incumbents and challengers say school districts--most feeling the financial crunch from Gov. George Deukmejian’s recent veto of $462 million in education programs from the state budget--face a broad range of challenges.

Besides Oxnard, school board elections for elementary districts in Port Hueneme and Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley are shaping up to be heated.

In the Hueneme Elementary School District, where nine candidates have filed for three seats, challengers say their big concern is a new perspective on the board, where the junior member has served for 17 years.

The incumbents are Elaine K. Garber, a 30-year board veteran; James K. Tipton, who has served on the board for 25 years, and Jose C. Babauta, a 17-year member. Two other board members whose terms are not up were first elected in 1959 and 1964.

“Given the longevity of this board, a lot of people are interested in seeing some new blood,” said challenger Toni Young, a Port Hueneme businesswoman.

In the Pleasant Valley district, a student population growing at the rate of about 150 students each year--the result of booming development in eastern Camarillo--has emerged as a campaign issue. Some parents complain that the schools have become crowded as a result.

Challenger Jeanette L. (Jan) McDonald, a member of Concerned Parents for Neighborhood Schools, said her group is opposed to busing to solve the problem of crowded schools and has criticized the board for waiting too long to address the problem.

Others among the nine challengers also said growth will be a major issue.

But incumbent Robert W. Formhals said parents who want quick solutions to the space problem have an unreasonable expectation of how quickly funds can be obtained and how soon new schools can be built.

Seven candidates filed in three other districts, where elections will not be held. In two of them--Mupu Elementary and Santa Paula Elementary--the number of candidates filing was equal to the number of seats open. All five candidates in the two districts were incumbents.

And in the one-school, 31-student Santa Clara Elementary School District, only one candidate filed for the two full-term seats available.

School CaNDIDATES

People seeking election to elementary and unified boards are listed. B3