Harbor Council PTA forum for Newport-Mesa board of trustees candidates focuses on school reopenings

By Lilly NguyenStaff Writer

Oct. 9, 2020 3:18 PM PT

Just before the start of a candidates forum for the eight candidates running for a seat on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s board of trustees Thursday night, the current sitting board voted 5-1 to delay the reopening of secondary schools until December after school administrators said they weren’t prepared for the move during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s no small wonder, then, that candidates focused on the subject of reopening classrooms and campuses during the forum.

The forum, sponsored by the Harbor Council Parent Teacher Assn. and held on Zoom, was moderated by Bev Berryman, the vice president of advocacy for the PTA officers of the fourth district, which represents 20 Orange County PTA councils and members in a small part of Los Angeles County.

Officials represent seven “areas” within the greater district, which governs 32 schools between Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Trustees are voted in by residents in each of those areas, as opposed to being elected by voters districtwide.

Seats are open in District 1, 3 and 6.

Candidates were given two minutes to provide opening remarks. They were then given 90 seconds each to answer questions that dealt with the responsibilities of the superintendent; how candidates intended to engage with stakeholders; interdistrict transfers and declining enrollment in local schools.

Much of the contention circled around school reopenings and the delay thereof. Schools in the primary level reopened in the district earlier this month, welcoming back 3,500 students onto campuses.

Secondary schools were slated to return on Monday as part of a hybrid program. Parents and students in favor of the reopening protested in front of the district office on Thursday, arguing about the impacts of school closures on mental health and student equity.

All the candidates agreed that students needed to return to school as quickly as possible, but that it needed to be done safely. Amy Peters, who is running for the sixth district seat, said that “every promise has been broken to our kids” and that the county was now able to return to in-person instruction, but the district wasn’t.

Charles Kent Booker, who is running for the third district, said that administrators had the opportunity to contest the reopening earlier, but failed to do so. Booker said he was disappointed that schools couldn’t return, but suggested that students return in staggered waves.

Trustee Vicki Snell, who is running for re-election, cast the lone vote againstdelaying the reopening of the middle schools and high schools.

Candidates also discussed what their visions were for the future of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and how they intended to implement new policies to see them through. Leah Ersoylu, who is running for the first district against Snell, said she felt the district should take a “if you build it, they will come” approach, pointing to district programs to create pathways for students interested.

Ersoylu and candidate Krista Weigand spoke to state test scores, arguing the district needed to work toward improving them to provide a more solid foundation for students in English and math. Weigand said she felt the curriculum needed to be more “cross-collaborative,” using math and robotics as an example of that.

All candidates stressed the importance of maintaining, but also growing the career technical education programs available at local schools and emphasizing that students had options and could go to vocational schools, join the military or continue to college.

“Success looks different for every single student,” Weigand said.

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