Westminster Coalition Wants Superintendent Issue Revisited

A fledgling grass-roots coalition demanded Friday that Westminster School District trustees reinstate a superintendent that they hired and then let go a week later.

KimOanh Nguyen-Lam, 46, would have been the first Vietnamese-American superintendent in the United States.

Some community members and school board President Blossie Marquez, who supported Nguyen-Lam, said the trustees’ May 30 decision to rescind the job offer was tinged with racism.

“We demand that the school board not waste taxpayer money to do another search,” said Daniel Do-Khanh, spokesman for Keep Our Voice, Keep Our KimOanh, at a news conference outside of school district headquarters. “Let’s be clear: This is not about qualifications. If she was not qualified, she would not have been in the process.”

Later in the day at a special board meeting, trustee James Reed said that he never considered Nguyen-Lam a good candidate, but initially voted for her as a show of solidarity with his colleagues.

“I have never believed she was qualified,” he said, adding that Nguyen-Lam didn’t have experience in collective bargaining, budgeting and other areas.

Trustee Sergio Contreras, who backed Nguyen-Lam, said he didn’t think Reed would vote against his conscience. “Reed has been on the board for nearly six years,” Contreras said. “How many other times has he voted just to get along?”

Nguyen-Lam, who holds a doctorate degree in education and speaks four languages, is associate director of the Center for Language Minority Education and Research at Cal State Long Beach. She is also a trustee of the Garden Grove Unified School District.

On May 23, the board voted 4 to 1 to hire Nguyen-Lam, with trustee Jo-Ann Purcell opposed. Seven days later, trustees Judy Ahrens and Reed rescinded their votes without giving a reason.

Marquez, the board president, said in an interview that Nguyen-Lam was dismissed “out of just pure prejudice.”

While about 40 members of the coalition attended the Friday news conference, its leaders said they hope to rally hundreds for the Thursday school board meeting.