GLENDALE : Beauchamp Won’t Seek Reelection

After nearly 16 years on the Glendale Board of Education, Sharon Beauchamp said Tuesday she is setting her sights on what some school districts consider the root of all their problems: state government.

Beauchamp, who is completing her fourth term as a school board member, announced that she will not see reelection in the April election in which the board seats she and Elena Hubbell curently hold will be up for grabs.

Instead, Hubbell said she plans to run in 1996 for the state Senate seat long held by Newton Russell, who will be forced to leave office due to term limits.

If she wins the Republican nomination and is elected to the Senate, Beauchamp said she will “continue to be an education advocate.

She added: “I strongly believe education is a life-long process and is the root of our existence. Lack of education is the basis of most of our crime and violence, as well as most of our social (problems).”

Beauchamp also reflected on the changes that occurred within the district’s makeup during her tenure as a board member. Enrollment grew from about 19,000 to 29,000 students; the budget grew from about $39 million to about $126 million, and the percentage of minority students rose from about 9% to about 70%, she said.

She also called the Glendale district “one of the most outstanding school districts in the state and the nation.”

“We have always been in the forefront of any situation that has arisen,” Beauchamp said.