Three Incumbents Reelected
The results of a recent election at Palisades Charter High School promise a mini-makeover for the school’s Board of Directors. That’s because four of its 11 members are replacing long-serving incumbents, including the former chair. But voters also reelected three board members. In written candidate statements and in speeches at a forum on October 18, the 18 candidates largely echoed one another. They called for raising student academic achievement, closing the achievement gap, reducing class size, ending teacher traveling and improving dialogue among students, parents and teachers. ‘I think they’ll have a lot to contribute,’ said Executive Director and board member Amy Held, who was upbeat about all of this year’s candidates. Seven seats were at stake in the school’s election, which was held late last month. As a condition of its charter, seats on the board are reserved for the stakeholder groups that compose the school: one for an administrator; one for classified employees; three seats for community members; three for teachers; and three for parents’one of which is reserved for traveling parents. (Voting for seats is restricted to members of that stakeholder group. For example, a teacher who does not live in the Palisades can vote for a fellow teacher, but not any other seat. Students can elect a community representatives as well as one student-elected teacher representative.) Parent Representatives Michael Rogers and Darcy Stamler will replace Ros Wolfe and Patrice Fisher’both of whom chose not to run. Community Representatives John Riley, Victoria Francis and Vice-Chair Rene Rodman were all reelected. Teacher Representative Dave Suarez will replace former chair and long-time board member Bud Kling. Torino Johnson was elected to represent classified workers. Debbie Elliot and John Callas will be parent alternates; Dayle Hartnett and Bud Kling are the community and teacher alternates, respectively. Unsuccessful candidates for PaliHi’s board were classified employee and Board Member Maisha Cole Perri, community members Lynette Campbell and Steve Cron and parents Richard Saxton, Brian O’Connell and Maurice Levin. Last school year, the already high-performing school saw large achievement gains. Its API rose 15 points’more than double the statewide rate’to 781, placing it among the top 30 percent of the state’s public high schools. But during the same time period, the school board was accused of mishandling its enrollment procedure for some Revere students and misrepresenting stakeholders when it attempted to change the school’s academic calendar. And some of this year’s successful board candidates’ stated goals reflected demands for change. ‘Last year, we witnessed the problems that can occur when academic leadership is weak,’ wrote John Riley in his official candidate statement. ‘Confidence dropped and polite discussion gave way to anger and frustration. Finding the right principal to build on the experienced leadership we have this year must be our number one goal.’ Rene Rodman wants the school to adopt a more customer-service-like mindset. ‘It means we need to provide an environment that is geared toward taking care of issues at the source,’ she explained to the Palisadian-Post. ‘It also means clearly defining timelines, for example, for parents to respond to.’ In addition to finding a full-time principal this year, the independent charter faces several new challenges that its board will be charged with tackling: There are two known lawsuits filed against the school, one of which demands punitive and compensatory damages. A large but narrowing achievement gap divides white and Asian students from their poorer-performing minority and socio-economically disadvantaged counterparts. As part of an unresolved transition from LAUSD to independent-charter status, more than 50 percent of its teachers must decide whether or not they’ll return to the district. And millions of dollars must be raised to fund a Master Plan, which includes building a pool and a nearly complete renovation of its track and football field. Despite the school’s large number of eligible voters’approximately 2,700 students, thousands of parents and hundreds of teachers and staff’turnout was low. In fact, only 277 voters cast ballots, according to school records. One high-ranking insider at the school blamed the turnout on a change in school’s election schedule. In previous years, candidates spoke during the school’s Open House, virtually guaranteeing that hundreds of parents would hear candidates. But this year, a separate forum was held specifically for the race. Only a couple dozen parents attended that event. Executive Director Amy Held acknowledged that turnout to the event was low, but she said the large number of candidates running for the board made having them speak at Open House impractical. Returning board members who did not have to run for reelection were Amy Held, Eileen Savage, Steve Klima and James Paleno. The board plans to meet for the first time with its new members on November 20. At that meeting, members will select a chair and vice-chair. — To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
