The Troubled Past of a School Board : * Trustees, Community Must Overcome Differences

As recently as a year ago, hope lingered that a freshly constituted board of trustees at Orange Unified School District might be able to launch the district into a new, more constructive era. That, unfortunately, has not come to pass. Instead, the board of trustees and the community have been locked in a struggle that has diverted the district’s energies during a crucial period. It’s time for everyone to reduce the rhetoric so that the district’s pressing problems can be addressed calmly.

OUSD’s troubles began in earnest in 1987 when maintenance supervisor Steven L. Presson was indicted on charges of misappropriating public funds. Subsequently, four board members were accused of “willful misconduct” for failing to stop Presson, who last year was convicted of conspiracy and embezzlement, fined $9,900 and given a suspended sentence.

The scandal diverted the district from a need to focus on scaling back services to reflect a huge drop in school population--from a peak of 30,000 students in the late 1970s to a low of 23,500 in the late 1980s. The drop in students meant closing schools--a highly emotional task in any school district--and reorganizing the educational services to reflect greatly reduced state funding, which is figured on a per-pupil basis. Currently, enrollment is at 25,300.

Unfortunately, unhappiness with the current seven-member board--four members have been in office only three years and three for only one year--seems to have added to the difficulties. A group of parents have become so angry at some of the board’s decisions--including ones to fire its last superintendent and demote three popular principals--that there is a recall movement afoot to remove six of the seven board members before their terms expire. Board meetings are so chaotic that one observer said they rival “L.A. Law” on Thursday nights as entertainment. But it’s not funny.

Who’s to blame? There’s plenty to go around. Inexperienced board members, for example, have been slow to learn the governing skills that it takes to run a large school district whose demographics are rapidly changing. Far too many decisions have been made without thinking through the circumstances. In some instances, the board does not fully inform people of the effects of its actions. All of this must stop.

The board also must get past petty disagreement and look at the big picture. That may mean placing more confidence in individual schools. It definitely means picking a new superintendent who has strong experience in bringing together teachers, parents and staff in the common goal of educating children.

But something also has been missing from the community. Far too much attention has been given to complaints and to destructive recall efforts. A positive effort to develop quality candidates for the next regular election would be far better.

One thing that would help is for everyone to recognize that OUSD is no longer the all-white, middle-class district it once was. Now it is 42% minority, including many poor immigrants. Parents who fight the board at every step in dealing with these new demographics only make things worse. An example of this was the complaints that followed a board decision to issue report cards in Spanish as well as English. The board was right. Bilingual report cards help non-English-speaking parents support their children’s schooling.

Luckily, through all of this, the district’s test scores have remained high. But one thing is clear: Everyone’s goodwill is needed to help OUSD put its troubled past behind and rebuild community confidence.