School Visits a Learning Experience for Officials

Ventura Mayor Jack Tingstrom went back to school Tuesday. So did Veronica Forman, a facilities manager for Thousand Oaks-based GTE.

But Tingstrom and Forman did not return to school as students. Instead, they joined dozens of other government officials as well as business and civic leaders from around the county, learning what it’s like to be a school principal--at least for a few hours.

The “Principal for a Day” event, an annual statewide program sponsored by the California Educational Partnership Consortium, is designed to forge closer ties between schools and businesses by giving community leaders a firsthand look at schools.

“The goal is to enable leaders in the community to know what kinds of kids we serve, for them to know the actual work of the principal and to get advice from business leaders on how to improve the schools,” county schools Supt. Charles Weis said.

So the more than two dozen participants rolled up their sleeves Tuesday, took three to four hours off their morning schedules and toured their school campuses.

The experience was an eye-opener for Tingstrom.

For years, he whizzed down North Hillmont Avenue on his way to work at City Hall, passing the county’s three Juvenile Court schools, wondering what went on at the campuses but not having a clue.

All that changed Tuesday when Tingstrom was given an up-close look of the campuses by Principal Kristine Robertson, who overseas about 210 students attending McBride, Colston and the Juvenile Restitution Program schools.

The three campuses--run by the county superintendent’s office--both house and educate mostly high school-age students who are there for violations that range from breaking probation curfews to committing violent crimes.

“What I saw was a revelation,” Tingstrom said after following Robertson around the campuses for half a day. “You don’t even think youth have to be in a lockup situation, but it happens.”

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Students at McBride, a maximum-security school, live, eat and learn at the school, while Colston and the Juvenile Restitution Program students occasionally receive off-campus privileges.

Tingstrom appeared impressed with how much of a focus the Juvenile Court schools place on educating their students.

“What surprised me the most was the interest the youths showed in education,” he said. “I saw everybody trying to make the best of the situation.”

As he entered some classrooms, the mayor found himself an instant celebrity, with students asking him for his autograph. At one point, he told students about how last year, at the age of 61, he earned his bachelor’s degree after studying for four years.

“It was so important to continually go after it and go after the goal,” said Tingstrom, speaking before students in a social science class. “You never want to stop learning.”

Across the county in Thousand Oaks, Forman spent part of her day touring Banyan School with Principal George Cole.

Children in shorts and T-shirts swarmed the elementary school’s playground, enjoying the warm weather. As they watched third-graders square off on the basketball court, Coyle told his shadow principal about some of the challenges he faces, including disciplining rambunctious preteens and meeting the expectations of parents in a “pro-school” community.

“You’ve got a lot of variety,” Coyle said. “It never gets boring.”

The principal said recent changes in state school regulations are having an effect at Banyan. Architects are trying to determine how the school’s buildings can be reconfigured so class sizes can be reduced to 20 students per room.

Forman, who is in charge of maintenance for 315 GTE buildings in the western U.S., said she sees similarities between her job and the principal’s.

“I think it’s very similar in that he’s the manager of a facility, and he has to make management decisions every day,” Forman said.

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She said the school seemed well-maintained, contrasted with the Los Angeles County schools that her children attended. And for a moment, the GTE facilities manager got a chance to slip out of her role as shadow principal and serve as a consultant to the school.

Coyle explained that Banyan has received complaints from a resident who says humming from a refrigerator compressor in the school’s cafeteria is keeping him up at night.

“You can imagine, if you couldn’t sleep at night, you’d be pretty intense,” Coyle said.

Forman said GTE, like Banyan, sometimes finds itself trying to appease neighbors. She said she would try to arrange for a GTE crew to measure decibel levels at the school and try to figure out what is causing the nighttime noise.

At the end of her tour, Forman cited one aspect of Coyle’s job that she could not relate to: having about 600 young children know you by name.

“If I had a second career, I’d be a principal,” Forman said.