Closures of Schools Dominate Four Races : Election: Eleven candidates seek four seats on the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees. A lack of revenues has stirred the most interest.

With two incumbents stepping down and a group of political hopefuls demanding change, the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees race is likely to be among the county’s liveliest contests in the Nov. 6 election.

Eleven candidates are seeking four seats on a school board that has experienced one of its stormiest years in recent memory, including protests by angry parents over proposed school closures and demonstrations by teachers over stalled contract talks.

Two incumbents are seeking reelection: board President Charles Osterlund, who is seeking another four-year term, and Trustee Carolyn Hunt, who is seeking an unexpired, two-year term. Board members Elizabeth A. Spurlock and Janet Garrick decided to step down, largely out of frustration, they said.

The nine challengers in the race have criticized the board as being stagnant, disjointed and fiscally irresponsible. They offer a diverse range of ideas on what should be done to quell labor unrest among teachers and how harmony can be restored to the often-divided board.

The most pressing issue, however, is whether schools should be closed to help balance the district’s budget.

The district is operating at a budget deficit exceeding $1 million, even after cutting $1.4 million in spending from last year’s plan. That crisis compelled the board in June to consider closing three schools with low enrollment.

An outcry by hundreds of parents persuaded board members Garrick, Hunt and Marcus to delay closures for at least a year. However, the financial problem persists, and the new board this spring will again have to wrestle with the question of whether to close schools in the face of public protest.

Osterlund, who voted against the majority in June, said he will continue to push for school closures unless other budget alternatives arise. He charged that the board shirked its responsibility by refusing to close schools last year.

Among the nine candidates for the four-year seats, Osterlund is joined by former high school administrator Flint Morrison and bilingual-education activist Tracy Pellman in favoring school closures to help trim the budget.

James M. Ball, former chairman of the district’s budget committee, contends that financial woes can be remedied without closing any schools.

The other five candidates for the three seats said they would close schools only under certain circumstances.

Randall J. Clifford, another budget committee member, said school closures should be considered only to reduce class size or if the money saved by closures “wouldn’t be squandered.”

Julie Engquist, district personnel commissioner, said school closures would be “painful” but added that “my mind is not closed to the possibility.”

Lottie Hobbs, who helped lead the parents’ drive to keep open Golden View School, one of the three that had been targeted for closure, is opposed to closing any schools unless the aim is to improve educational programs.

Carolyn Kanode, who is leading the effort to establish a Huntington Beach shelter for runaway teen-agers, argues that the board should consider reconfiguring its combination of K-6 and K-8 schools before closing any sites.

Randy Vanderhook, an organizer in youth sports groups, said he would consider closing schools “only as a last resort.”

In the race for the two-year seat, Steve Buhrig, who served on the board’s advisory committee to consider the school closures, agrees with Osterlund that school closures may be inevitable to bail the district out of its budget crisis.

Hunt, Buhrig’s opponent for the unexpired term, said she would continue to explore all means of raising revenue and cutting spending to avoid school closures.

Hunt, who has served on the board for nine years, said she is seeking reelection to the unexpired term, rather than a full, four-year term, because she wants to retire from the board soon. She said she would have stepped down this year but was afraid that three incumbents leaving the board at one time might have created massive upheaval.

Another issue facing the district is improvement of bilingual education. Last year, Ocean View came under scrutiny by the state for being Orange County’s last district to submit an acceptable plan for increasing its number of bilingual teachers.

That process is now moving forward, but the district is working to desegregate heavily Latino Oak View School to prevent a clampdown by the state Department of Education, officials said.

Additionally, candidates will have to address teachers’ labor unrest, which reached new heights during 1989-90. During contract talks, which were stalled for more than a year, teachers picketed and boycotted extracurricular activities.

A two-year contract was finally reached in June, but it expires in June, 1991, so talks between the union and administration will probably heat up again early next year. The teachers’ union has promised to take an active role in the November election.

OCEAN VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT CANDIDATES

These are the candidates running for the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees in the Nov. 6 election. There are three four-year terms to be filed plus a two-year opening that will be left when Elizabeth A. Spurlock leaves the board in November. Incumbent Janet Garrick is not seeking re-election while incumbent Carolyn Hunt is vying for the two-year seat.

James M. Ball

Age: 44

Occupation: Engineering manager

Background: Former chairman of the district’s Community Budget Committee and unsuccessful applicant for board seat filled last January; spent three years on school advisory committees and has tutored teachers in science; has two children attending district schools.

Issues: Is critical of district curriculum and teachers’ union executive director; opposes closing schools to cut spending; would propose lengthening school day and tying teachers’ salaries to test scores.

Randall J. Clifford

Age: 35

Occupation: Trucking company president

Background: Served on the district’s Community Budget Committee; valedictorian of his graduating class at Brigham Young University; has two elementary school-age children who attend private school; endorsed by resigning trustees Janet Garrick and Elizabeth A. Spurlock.

Issues: Favors closing schools only to lower class size, his top priority; favors “businesslike, common-sense approach to problem solving” and forming partnerships between administration and teachers to quell labor unrest.

Julie Engquist

Age: 41

Occupation: District personnel commissioner

Background: One of three district personnel commissioners for the past year; PTA president and officer for 10 years; president of the parents’ lobby Political Action League and member of Project No to Drugs in Schools and district’s former Master Planning Committee. Has two children attending district schools.

Issues: Says she would work to improve employee morale; believes students and parents share responsibility for effective schools; would prefer not to close schools but says, “My mind is not closed to the possibility.”

Lottie Hobbs

Age: 36

Occupation: Businesswoman and substitute teacher

Background: Ardent parent activist against last spring’s proposed closing of Golden View School; active in youth sports organizations; backed by teachers’ union; has two children in district schools.

Issues: Opposes closing schools as budget-cutting measure but would consider it to improve educational programs; favors including teachers in more district decisions; would explore “creative alternatives” to enhance district revenue to limit spending cuts.

Carolyn Kanode

Age: 53

Occupation: High school nurse

Background: Led effort to establish Huntington Beach Youth Shelter for runaway teens; member of Masters in Education Administration; a school employee for past 16 years; backed by teachers’ union.

Issues: Favors realigning district’s combination K-6/K-8 system before closing schools. Advocates giving teachers greater voice in all district decisions.

Flint Morrison

Age: 59

Occupation: Video productions businessman

Background: District personnel commissioner for the past 10 years; former administrator in Anaheim Union High School District; active in California State Employees Assn.; ran unsuccessfully for board in 1981.

Issues: Considers school closures viable budget-cutting measure; says teachers and administrators need to solve labor talks sooner rather than “using children as a basis for negotiations.”

Charles Osterlund

Age: 56

Occupation: Incumbent; high school administrator

Background: Current board president and a board member since 1975; school program coordinator at Narbonne High School in Harbor City.

Issues: Opposed board majority that voted in June to postpone school closures for another year; says closing schools and other cost-cutting measures would enable the board to end practice of deficit spending; a moderate in the board’s dueling voices of radical change and status quo conservatism.

Tracy Pellman

Age: 35

Occupation: Pediatric nurse

Background: Member of district’s Integration Advisory Committee and former Master Planning Committee; former PTA president and member of tri-district PTA council; Spring View School site committee chairwoman; has two children in district schools.

Issues: Strongly advocates improving efforts to educate limited-English speaking students and reducing class sizes. Favors making teachers’ salaries higher priority in budget talks; would consider school closures to trim budget.

Randy Vanderhook

Age: 36

Occupation: Aerospace developmental lab technician

Background: Involved in PTO and school site committees; holds state teaching credential in physical education; active in youth baseball organizations; has two children attending district schools; backed by teachers’ union.

Issues: Top priorities include exploring new revenue sources and avoiding class size increases; would consider school closures “only as a last resort”; favors cooperative management to improve labor talks and district-public communication.

Two-Year Term Steve Buhrig

Age: 37

Occupation: Nursery business owner

Background: Served on district’s Master Planning Committee; past PTO president, treasurer and vice president; backed by teachers’ union; has one child attending a district school.

Issues: Would consider school closures to cut spending; stresses smaller class sizes; says teachers have been forced into protracted contract talks in past due to poor communication on both sides, which he would seek to remedy.

Carolyn H. Hunt

Age: 54

Occupation: Incumbent; community service director

Background: Board member since 1981; currently associate director of local United Way’s west regional office; president of Huntington Beach Coordinating Council; community relations chairwoman for city’s Girl Scouts; member of Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Issues: Voted with board majority in June to delay school closures for at least a year; an ally of trustee Sheila Marcus, she supports status quo on many policy issues and continuing aims and direction of the board; considered by some as one of the board’s leading consensus builders.