Pasadena : New School Board Head

The Pasadena Board of Education unanimously elected the Rev. George Van Alstine as president and George A. Padilla as vice president at its annual reorganization meeting last week.

New board member Lisa Fowler took office during the meeting. She defeated incumbent Wilbert L. Smith in a runoff election April 20.

A senior pastor at Altadena Baptist Church, Van Alstine, 56, has been a board member for two years. Van Alstine said he sees his role as that of a facilitator who will ensure that the school district keeps moving ahead.

Since the installation of Supt. Vera Vignes last summer, the district has reached out to the community through two education summits and has promised to be more accountable to parents.

Van Alstine was vice president last year and takes over from Elbie J. Hickambottom. He is married, has two children who attended public schools, and has a grandchild now in public school.

Because the district’s funds come from the cash-strapped state, next year’s budget is a major issue facing Van Alstine.

“It is a really hard process when we can only guess what the state will do,” he said.

His first action as president was to oversee the appointments of Fowler and Padilla to the District Budget Committee.

Padilla, 47, was reelected in March to a second term with a large majority.