Beach Reporter

By Marilynn Merritt Holcomb

Unedited answers to MBUSD candidate questions from the Beach Reporter Newspaper.

1) Why are you qualified to serve on the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board? Why should Manhattan Beach residents vote for you? (Later: A note on the questions sent: When in print the second part of question 1 will read, "What distinguishes you from the other candidates?" rather than what was sent.)

I am an 11-year resident of Manhattan Beach with a Liberal Studies B. A. degree (Elementary Education). My family's legacy goes back 50+ years at Mira Costa. Members of my family have been students and/or teachers at all MBUSD schools. They have participated in Academic Decathlon, Advanced Placement, Chorus, Drama, La Vista, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Having worked in local government for 20 years, I will bring two decades of experience in helping diverse groups and agencies come together to achieve common goals. As part of teams that have successfully negotiated previous labor contracts, I have a proven record of accomplishment.

2) For several years MBUSD has had to make major cuts in programs to make up for revenue shortfalls and balance the district's budget, this trend is likely to continue. Where do you think the district should cut back?

We cannot cut any more programs. Our stakeholders need to come together, brainstorm, and devise ways for our assets and resources, both human and property, to work more efficiently for the district. Future cuts would negatively affect our ability to provide students with an excellent education. What could we cut? More cuts would mean we would be forced to provide an education that only fulfills the minimum requirements for the California public universities: English, Math, Science, History, Social Science, Foreign Language, and Art. All of our students deserve a well-rounded education, not just an API, SAT, ACT score-driven curriculum.

3) Several candidates have stated that one of their priorities if elected would be to reinstate cut music programs, physical education instructors, teacher's aides, and other programs hit by the budget deficit. This takes money, how do you propose to increase revenues and reinstate laid-off teachers and bring back cut programs?

I want all stakeholders to come together and provide tangible realistic solutions. With some thinking outside the box, we could find ways to utilize our assets and resources to reinstate MBUSD teachers, classified employees, and programs. Secondly, in order to increase our revenue, we need to pursue some innovative fundraising ideas: individual, community, and/or corporate sponsorships, etc. Furthermore, we must better explore applying for and receiving grant money, particularly for music, visual arts, physical education, and science programs. We may have to invest more money in grant writing to receive more grant money.

4) Residents approved two bond measures that were supposed to fund modernization projects on all the schools in the district, but due to a lack of oversight, the district over ran its budget by about $5 million and has not been able to finish the projects. Do you think there is anyway to remedy this situation?

There is no way to remedy this situation without first regaining the trust of this community. We must either abandon the modernization projects or work at building trust. For potential individual, community, and/or corporate sponsors to give us the money needed for the undone projects, we would have to demonstrate that we are capable of completing projects within budget. We have an obligation to the community and taxpayers to create a transparent budget and expenses management policy. The board, watchdog groups, and donors must keep everyone in the district apprised of our diligence in staying on task and within budget.

5) Some in the community have complained that there is a lack of communication between district officials, parents, and other school community stakeholders. How do you propose to bolster communication?

We are obligated to disseminate information to concerned parties. I propose that we have a communications campaign including an information directory made available to all stakeholders. We need to educate all concerned individuals and groups about how to communicate with each other and us, and where and when information can be located. Board meeting agendas should be well publicized. Stakeholders need to know how and when they can get their concerns and issues heard and considered by the board. District officials must be accessible and listen to all concerned parties---keeping in mind that no stakeholder can be too involved.

6) Do you think there is a drug and alcohol problem at Mira Costa High School and if so you think it's adequately being addressed?

Drug and alcohol problems exist in most, if not all, high schools. After interacting and speaking with many Mira Costa High School parents and students, I continue to hear that many people believe our community has a higher tolerance for letting "teenagers be teenagers"--- "they work hard, let them play hard." In addition, I am hearing that our teenagers use harder drugs (methamphetamine, cocaine, etc.) more frequently than teenagers in other communities do. After much listening, I believe we need to educate more parents not to tolerate this illegal and destructive behavior by our invincible-minded and vulnerable teenagers.