School Board’s Vote of Confidence

Your editorial, “The Troubled Past of a School Board” (Aug. 16), requires a response. As members of the Orange Unified School District Board of Trustees, we take great pride in our accomplishments and improvements to this district.

In only three years, the current school board and administration have turned a financially troubled district into a financially stable one. As one county education official recently confided to the board, “Three years ago, the question was, ‘When will Orange Unified go belly up?’ Now, your credibility and financial solvency are excellent.”

In fact, OUSD’s turnaround is so significant that our business department has recently been asked to help the state assist other school districts who currently face troubles that our district once encountered.

So then, why this recall attempt? Basically, a new school board was voted in to make changes, and changes always result in the alienation of those who were comfortable with the old style. But as your editorial points out, OUSD cannot afford to turn the clock back and revive the troubled past, and a successful recall would do just that. Your editorial is correct in pointing out that if the recall team is unhappy, they should develop their own candidates for the next regularly scheduled election. Those of us up for reelection in November, 1993, will be proud to run on our record of fiscal and educational integrity and excellence, and we are certain that the voters will agree with us.

MAUREEN ASCHOFF

ALLEN E. IRISH

LILA BEAVANS

BILL LEWIS

JOHN HURLEY