Religious Conservatives to Control Vista School Board

Religious conservatives captured a majority of seats on the Vista school board this week but failed to win control of school districts in other areas of San Diego County.

In Vista, conservative challengers won two of three available seats to join current board member Deidre Holliday in forming a majority.

Joyce Lee, one of the new conservative members, said she was surprised at her first-place finish. John Tyndall, another conservative, was second.

Linda Rhoades, the only incumbent reelected, predicted that the conservative majority will lead to an era of bitter disagreements over the direction of the district.

“I think the newspapers are going to enjoy covering Vista over the next four years,” Rhoades said. “We are going to have to agree to disagree.”

Rhoades said she had reservations about returning to what promises to be a tumultuous board. “I’m glad I won, but I have some major concerns,” she said. “I am truly nervous, and I don’t believe that this will be smooth.”

Lee rejected the notion that the transition would be anything but smooth, saying “We all want the kids to learn.”

But many of Lee’s educational beliefs, including teaching about the biblical theory of creationism in public schools side-by-side with evolution, and support for a school voucher system that would divert public money to private schools, clash with those of current board members.

Lee, who has been a substitute teacher in Vista for three years, said that while she is a Christian, she thinks that the “religious right” label has been misapplied to her.

Lee and Tyndall were endorsed by the Southern California Christian Times and the California Pro-Life Council. Leaders of the religious conservative movement declined to comment Wednesday.

Ousted members of the board sounded bitter about the election outcome. “Obviously, this was not a vote about education, this was a vote about religion,” said Marcia Viger Moore, the board’s president. “I am saddened, frustrated and angry. I cannot believe that the people of Vista allowed this to happen.”

Moore and others said they fear the new board majority will try to censor books, use sex education courses to preach against abortion, place the biblical doctrine of creationism into the classroom, and eliminate services such as the school breakfast program for poor children.