MISSION VIEJO : School Board Ballot Winners Take Seats

With sad farewells already said to outgoing Saddleback Valley Unified School District Trustees Raghu P. Mathur and R. Kent Hann, one incumbent and two newcomers--who promise many changes--were sworn in this week by County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez.

The two new board members, Frank L. Ury and Debbie Hughes, were successful Tuesday in persuading their colleagues to meet twice a month for the time being.

“I’m not one who is going to be willing to sit back and go with the status quo,” said Hughes, a 39-year-old homemaker. “I do want to be a very proactive board member.”

Hughes said she is reviewing district policies for any needed changes. “It’s going to be a lot of reading,” she said.

Ury said he too is studying district issues, especially those involving the budget and busing fees, which he would like to reduce. Ury said he has found one immediate way to reduce spending by about $10,000: He has declined district-paid medical coverage for himself and his wife, who is pregnant with their first child.

“I have been elected to represent the people,” said Ury, a 28-year-old electrical engineer. “If I do not find something to be in the best interest of students or parents, I will be very hard-pressed to support it. I hope parents will take this change as a really good opportunity to get involved.”

In response to pre-election claims by some, both Ury and Hughes denied being part of any right-wing “conspiracy” to elect fundamentalist Christian members to school boards throughout Orange County, although they said they do share some conservative beliefs.

“I will never do anything but respect the point of view of other people, and hopefully the same will come the other way,” Ury said, adding that he and Hughes met for the first time only a couple of weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

“I’m just my own person,” Hughes said. “I’m very open-minded, and I’m a good listener.”

Also sworn in was Marcia L. Birch, a 42-year-old homemaker and community volunteer who was elected to her second four-year term on the five-member board. Trustee Bobbee Cline was unanimously elected board president.

District officials bade farewell to Hann and Mathur last month. Hann, who was elected to the board almost 10 years ago, chose not to seek reelection, saying he had reached his “personal term limits.”

Mathur, a board member since 1984, was narrowly defeated in his reelection bid. In an emotional farewell address, Mathur said he was “shocked and saddened” by the loss because “education is my career and my life.”

“I want people to know that under the prevailing circumstances throughout my term, I have left no stone unturned in doing the very best I could do to strengthen the quantity and quality of education for all students in the district,” he said. “People of this valley deserve no less.”

Mathur said he was particularly proud of the following accomplishments during his tenure: higher SAT scores and a lower dropout rate; one of the lowest administrator-to-teacher ratios in the county; tough gang prevention, alcohol and drug abuse policies; acquisition of $90 million for construction of new schools, and increased partnerships between schools, community groups and businesses.