Conejo School Board Casts a Vote for Harmony

THOUSAND OAKS — Prizing group harmony over unpleasant election memories, a divided Conejo Valley school board voted Thursday night to stick with tradition and select Mildred Lynch as president.

“I would like to say that I’m sorry that this was a split vote,” said a gratified Lynch after the 3-2 decision in her favor. “I’ve never seen this happen before. And I did consider leaving, but there are a lot of people out there who put me where I am. Here I am, and here I will stay.”

Usually, the election of a board president is a calm, unanimous decision that follows a set pattern, which follows that the last person elected is the last to serve as president. More senior board members become the ceremonial leader of the 18,574-student Conejo Valley Unified School District on a rotating basis.

Using that long-standing--though not codified--formula, Lynch was next in line. Trustee Elaine McKearn is the most recent member. Trustee Richard Newman just finished his spin as president, and board members Dolores Didio and Dorothy Beaubien served as the Conejo schools commander in chief in the two previous years.

For the first time in recent memory, the selection of the board president hinged on the board’s underlying ideological split and a nasty election season. While the board often votes in sync, fiscal and social conservatives Lynch and McKearn sometimes cast the dissenting votes against the more moderate trio of Newman, Didio and Beaubien.

The fact that the independent-minded Lynch chose this election season to make her first school board endorsement in 11 years--for challenger Chuck Rittenburg, who sought to unseat Beaubien and Didio--did not help matters.

Consequently, Beaubien and Didio voted against Lynch’s presidency.

Hoping to influence the board’s decision, more than a dozen parents attended the meeting on Lynch’s behalf and praised her as a hard-nosed advocate of traditional educational methods and fiscal responsibility.

“Hurray for civic debate,” said parent Karen McLaine, adding that Lynch’s election “sends a signal to the community that board members do not lose 1st Amendment rights should they be elected to public office.”

Parent Debra Lorier, an unsuccessful school board candidate, said she was heartened by the vote against divisiveness.

Hoping to leave the election behind, the majority of the board endorsed Lynch’s bid for the ceremonial post, which involves little more than pounding the gavel, running the board meetings and representing the district at community functions.

Saying that board unity was a factor in his decision, outgoing President Newman was the swing vote.

“I hope we can have the same cohesiveness that we’ve had in the last seven years,” he said before voting.

Didio and Beaubien said Lynch’s sometimes cynical stance toward public education influenced their votes.

Calling the election of the board president an internal matter, Beaubien said she was disturbed by “veiled threats” from community members.

“I was told by several people that if I did not make the right decision, I would be sorry,” she said.

Until she was lobbied by parents, Beaubien said she had never considered voting against Lynch, which she eventually did.