ELECTIONS : School Board, Council Winners Outline Priorities : Education: Centinela Valley school district faces money woes and labor disputes. Incumbent Pam Sturgeon and her allies will also address allegations of racial bias.

Winners in the Centinela Valley Union High School District election say their top priority will be to strengthen a system hobbled by racial friction, teacher disputes and budget problems.

Board President Pam Sturgeon, the only incumbent in the race, beat two challengers Tuesday to retain her seat in Area 1, which covers Lawndale. Her allies in the two other races, Area 2 and Area 5, also won.

Jean DeSimone bested two other candidates to win in Area 2, which covers the Hawthorne area east of Hawthorne Boulevard, and Sheila Stachowiak was the victor over a single opponent in Area 5, covering Lennox.

Sturgeon has been a staunch defender of the district as the Justice Department investigates allegations that administrators discriminated against African-American employees.

The Justice Department inquiry was prompted by the results of a U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigation that concluded district employees and students were subjected to a “racially hostile environment.” Sturgeon has objected strongly to the characterization.

Sturgeon’s opponents, however, said their showing indicated voters are unhappy with Sturgeon’s command.

“If you add mine and John Dragone’s vote, you have close to 6,000 people who wanted a change,” said challenger Ann Birdsall, who received 32% of the vote to Sturgeon’s 37%. Dragone received 2,905 votes and Birdsall got 2,936, compared to Sturgeon’s 3,374.

The numbers, said Birdsall, “send a message to Pam and the board that the people are tired of all the problems.”

Aside from the Justice Department investigation, the district over the past three years has spent nearly $2 million to settle racial discrimination lawsuits filed by former employees.

And the district, which has 6,000 students in three high schools, has been beleaguered by labor disputes and money woes. Last month, teachers at Hawthorne High School staged two sickouts to protest a contract dispute. In addition, budget problems left the district nearly bankrupt last year, prompting state officials earlier this year to call in a fiscal consultant.

Sturgeon said Wednesday that if voters are unhappy, it is with Supt. Joseph M. Carrillo, not her.

“We have teachers who don’t have a contract, and low morale, and that has all happened since Carrillo came on board” in 1992, she said.

Stachowiak said her top priority would be to unify the rancorous board.

“We need to regroup and start working towards common goals,” Stachowiak said.

But she said she had no specific plans pending individual meetings with other board members.

In the Area 2 race, DeSimone won 46% of the vote, Mario Chiappe 31% and Stennis Floyd 23%. Floyd has been a vocal critic of board president Sturgeon.

In the Area 5 contest, Stachowiak defeated Nivia Brito, 60% to 40%.

In the Palos Verdes Peninsula school race for three open board seats, Peter Gardiner led the field of six with 23% of the vote. Gardiner, an associate professor in the systems management department at USC, had criticized the consolidation of three peninsula high schools in 1991. He argued that while enrollment had decreased during the past 10 years, changes in demographics could lead to overcrowded schools in the next 10 years.

Incumbent board member Brenton F. Goodrich was reelected, gaining 20% of the vote. Ellen Perkins, an estate planning attorney, also received 20% of the vote.

Both incumbents in Torrance Unified School District were reelected. John Eubanks got 29% of the vote and William R. Blishke received 24% of the vote. Gary Kuwahara, the new board member, received 31% of the vote. The winners had supported a recent tax levy on homeowners to pay for maintenance in the district.