NEWPORT BEACH COSTA MESA : Two on School Board Will Not Run Again

Two Newport-Mesa Unified School District board members whose seats will be contested in November have announced that they will not run for reelection.

Sherry Loofbourrow and Forrest Werner said they will not seek another four-year term on the board.

Loofbourrow, who was first elected in 1981 and who is the president of the California School Boards Assn., said she felt it was time to step aside and let other people join the board.

“Serving on the school board is just not something I can continue to do,” she said. “It’s an immense privilege, but it’s also a profound burden to serve.”

Werner, who also has served on the board for 13 years, said his family urged him not to run again because of the stress the job placed on him.

“My kids said, ‘Hang it up, Dad. You don’t need this,”’ said Werner, who retired last month after two decades as a high school counselor in Garden Grove.

Werner said he might change his mind if “a good, qualified candidate” does not take out candidacy papers before the Aug. 12 closing date.

The other two incumbents, Judith Franco and Rod MacMillian, took out candidacy papers Monday, the day the filing period opened, according to the county registrar of voters.

Only one other prospective candidate, Corona del Mar High School parent Karen Wilson, has taken out filing papers. Wilson has been active in educational restructuring at the high school, where her son and daughter are students.