SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Ceremony Honors 3 Outgoing Trustees

With more than 38 years of combined service between them, three Capistrano Unified School District trustees bid farewell during their final board meeting this week.

Trustee A. Edward Westberg, who served on the board for 20 years, and Trustee E.G. (Ted) Kopp, who served for 17 years, were both defeated in their reelection bids Nov. 3. Trustee Kathryn Itzel, who was appointed to the board in May, 1991, did not seek election because the seat she held was shifted into another district region.

A fourth incumbent on the seven-member board, Trustee Marlene Draper, was reelected to her second four-year term on the board.

During a ceremony Monday, all three outgoing board members thanked the district and community for the opportunity to serve.

“My voice will break a little bit here,” Westberg said. “I hope our district will continue to be on the cutting edge of education. . . . I ask that the new board always remember schools are primarily for our children, and children are our primary responsibility.”

Westberg, a 50-year-old dentist, was commended for helping establish several academic programs, such as the College and Career Planning Center, Writing to Read, and Typing and Keyboarding Program, that “contributed to the quality of education for tens of thousands of students.”

In 1972, when Westberg joined the board, there were 9,612 students and no computers in the district. Now there are more than 30,000 students and computers in many classrooms, Trustee Annette B. Gude said.

Kopp, a 58-year-old general contractor, was honored for never being afraid to “ask the difficult questions” and for his fiscal leadership, especially among low-wealth school districts in trying to achieve funding equalization.

“There is no one here in the district who paid more attention and who was more caring about the financial stability of this district than Ted Kopp,” Trustee Paul B. Haseman said. “That’s hard to replace.”

Kopp said his tenure has been “one great experience” and that he has come to view the district as a trusted family.

“I’m sad, I’ll admit, to leave,” Kopp said. “It became a part of my life.”

Although her tenure was short, Itzel was honored for her many accomplishments, including her role as a “positive parent leader” and advocate for increased student participation in athletic and academic activities.

The three trustees will be replaced by Sheila Benecke, a 51-year-old mother of three children, two of whom still attend district schools, and president of the Orange County PTA; Mildred D. Pagelow, a 66-year-old social science professor at Cal State Fullerton and mother of six grown sons; and Peter J. Espinosa, a 45-year-old academic counselor at Saddleback College and father of two children, both of whom attend district schools.