ELECTIONS / OXNARD SCHOOL BOARDS : Funding Crisis, Needs of Latinos Dominate District Races

The school funding crisis, bilingual education and the needs of increasing numbers of Latino students are the dominant issues facing candidates seeking seats on Oxnard’s elementary and high school boards in the Nov. 6 election.

In the 12,000-student Oxnard Elementary School District, two Latinos are among the seven candidates competing for three seats in a district that is 72% Latino, yet has no Latino board members.

And in the Oxnard Union High School District, whose 12,000 students attend six schools in Oxnard and Camarillo, there are six candidates, including two incumbents, battling for three positions. Growth and funding for new schools are the biggest issues facing the district, which is projected to double in size by the year 2006.

The 13 candidates squared off before an audience of more than 130 parents Wednesday night at Oxnard’s Fremont Intermediate School. The forums were translated into Spanish for about 30 audience members.

The elementary board race, which threatened last spring to turn into a hot contest after an incident involving board member Jack T. Fowler, has remained low-key.

At a board meeting last school year, Fowler angered some Latinos by objecting to a parent addressing the board in Spanish, prompting a vow from the Assn. of Mexican-American Educators to oust him.

But Fowler is standing behind his position and his belief in stressing the teaching of English.

“I make no apologies for this,” Fowler said. “It is the worst kind of discrimination to pat a child on the head and say in so many words, ‘We know you can’t do it, so we’re going to make it easy for you and teach you in your native language.’ ”

Fowler said he supports bilingual classes as a transition to English-only classes, but that “the district’s obligation is to teach and make literate in the English language every student that passes through our schools.”

Both Latino challengers, Manuel Razo and Mary Barreto, have downplayed the ethnic aspect of the race, emphasizing instead their qualifications to serve all children in the 17-school district.

Barreto, a 13-year Oxnard resident who is a family counselor with El Concilio, a Mexican-American advocacy organization, cited her cultural sensitivity as an asset she would bring to the board.

Razo and challenger Bob Hansen, both parents of children in Oxnard schools, cited the need for parent representation on the board.

Hansen also criticized the level of education in the district, saying that his eighth-grade son was doing the same math problems this year that he was doing four years ago and that English classes often overlook grammar and spelling in favor of writing exercises.

“It seems like repeat, repeat, repeat,” Hansen said. “No wonder other industrialized countries are getting ahead of us. . . . I’m very concerned.”

Both the Assn. of Mexican-American Educators and the teachers’ union, the Oxnard Educators Assn., have endorsed Barreto and Razo, and the union has also endorsed incumbent William D. Hill.

Hill said the district has maintained a high level of education despite spending only $4,032 per student, about $600 below the state average. Citing a $2.5-million deficit and continuing budget cuts projected at the state level, he proposed forming a committee of union leaders and school board members to “help determine a course of action for the 1991-92 school year.”

Challenger Jim Suter, who taught in Oxnard schools for 35 years before retiring, said that elementary classes should be smaller and that junior high classes should have more hands-on instruction, including shop and home economics.

“All these things cost money,” Suter said. He suggested cuts such as renting equipment instead of buying it, eliminating a district negotiator and greater use of parent volunteers.

Incumbent Dorothie J. Sterling, a teacher who retired after 35 years and who is seeking her second term, emphasized her record and experience in Oxnard schools. In response to criticism that the board has taken too long to build new schools, she said problems at the city and state level have slowed the process.

In the high school district race, challenger Roy Lockwood criticized the present board for portraying Oxnard High School as unsafe because of its proximity to the airport.

Last spring, Oxnard High School was placed first on a statewide list to receive emergency funds for its relocation. Although a state report found that the airport was a safety hazard to the school, a later study by federal aviation officials said the school and surrounding area are safe.

“Oxnard High School is a viable school--there is nothing wrong with that school,” said Lockwood, who also is running for City Council. He added that the board could renovate the school and that it could still be used.

“There is no need for a relocation of Oxnard High School,” said Lockwood, who said the board has wasted time and money on the relocation effort.

If elected, challenger Nancy F. Koch said she would be the only parent on the board. “I feel very strongly that the voice of the parents needs to be heard,” said Koch, who added that she favors more site-based management to increase the authority of principals and teachers.

Challenger Thomas D. Ragan has been an educator for 41 years, 34 of them at Oxnard High and Rio Mesa High as an English teacher and department chairman. If elected, he said, he would retire from his current position as assistant principal at Rio Mesa.

Ragan said he was concerned about the proposed location for a new, seventh high school on Gonzales Road and said the overcrowding issue could be resolved temporarily by changing school boundaries. A change expanding Rio Mesa’s boundary, for example, increased the school’s student body from about 1,200 to about 1,800 and helped ease overcrowding at Channel Islands High, he said.

Angie P. Varela, an Oxnard High graduate who is a senior administrative assistant with the county, said she would recommend that the county hire a professional grants writer to increase district revenue. Varela proposed cutting costs “by looking at past performance by teachers to ensure that tasks are teacher-student related, not administrative.”

Incumbent Jean Daily Underwood stressed her experience, first as a board member in the Somis Union Elementary School District and as an Oxnard board member for the past 16 years.

Also seeking a fifth term is incumbent Janet Lindgren, who cited her experience as a board member. She said a steady presence on the board is important, given the recent hiring of a new superintendent, Ian C. Kirkpatrick.

“Reelection will ensure continuity to the many programs we already offer,” Lindgren said.