Beleaguered Oxnard Trustee Gets Support From Some Parents

Several parents have come out in support of an Oxnard school board member under fire from a group of teachers for his alleged criticism of two district employees.

Members of the Oxnard Educators Assn. are furious at trustee Arthur Joe Lopez, who last month allegedly criticized a teacher at Emilie Ritchen School and the Ritchen staff in general for failing to welcome parental participation at the school.

The teachers also say that at the March meeting of the Assn. of Mexican American Educators, Lopez threatened a district testing coordinator with her job if students’ test scores did not improve.

Lopez admitted he had criticized one teacher, but he vehemently denied he threatened to have the testing coordinator fired. Several others who attended the meeting support his account.

At a heated school board meeting Wednesday, where about 40 members of the teachers’ union turned out to criticize Lopez, several parents spoke in support of the trustee and said they too felt they were not welcome by some Emilie Ritchen teachers.

“Ritchen has a great volunteer program for parents,” said Susan Gowing, who has a son and a daughter enrolled at the school. “But there are still a few teachers who resent parents. They don’t want them in the classroom.”

Gowing, who had worked as a volunteer in her daughter’s kindergarten class until October, said she was told she could no longer come with her infant son because of liability concerns. Ironically, Gowing said, the complaint against her attending did not come from the teacher in whose class she was helping.

Jane Frank, another parent, said she had a similar experience.

“What he [Lopez] said and what he did at the meeting was addressing a real situation where a teacher is hostile to parent participation,” Frank said.

But at Wednesday’s meeting, union members, who wore buttons that read “I support the Ritchen Teachers,” were clearly angry with Lopez.

“When Mr. Lopez made the comment that Ritchen teachers are uncaring and threatened another district employee with her job relating to test scores, I was shocked and appalled,” teacher Ellen Harvey said. “I felt insulted, hurt and angry, like I had been slapped in the face.”

In an Oxnard Educators Assn. newsletter circulated before the meeting, union President Ann McCarthy demanded an investigation into the trustee’s conduct.

“You shouldn’t name a teacher,” McCarthy said. “If he is capable of doing that to one teacher, he can do it to any teacher.”

Supt. Bernard Korenstein, who attended the Mexican American educators’ meeting, agreed it was inappropriate for Lopez to single out a teacher in public. But Korenstein said he did not hear Lopez criticize the Ritchen staff members at large or threaten the district’s testing coordinator with her job.

Lopez was unapologetic for his criticism of the teacher.

“I did mention that a teacher made parents feel unwelcome,” he said. “This needs to be resolved.” Lopez added he felt vindicated by the parents, one of whom handed him a bouquet at Wednesday’s meeting.

Lopez, who has clashed with the teachers’ union on other issues, said the other allegations against him were fabricated by the union.

The testing coordinator who was allegedly threatened could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, McCarthy received an unsigned letter from “concerned Oxnard School District teachers” that accused her of exaggerating some facts and lying about others.

“You relied on hearsay and went public with this manufactured rubbish,” the letter states about the allegations against Lopez.

But McCarthy said she does not believe the letter was written by a teacher. “It was fabricated,” she said.

“The bottom line is things were said and done that were hurtful and disruptive,” McCarthy said. “If there are parental complaints they should be handled at the school site, not at the district level.”