Whitman vs. Brown. Maldonado vs. Newsom. Capps vs. Watson. When these candidates face off in their respective political races on Nov. 2, voters will probably know enough about their platforms to make a decision. In contrast, many people might not know enough about who’s running for the local school board.
With this in mind, the Sun talked to the three candidates running for the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Board of Education—Fidenzio “Bruno” Brunello, Jody Oliver, and Rev. Will Smith—about their goals for the district. Voters will be tasked with selecting the two people they feel will best represent them.
The incumbents
If reelected in November, this will be retired teacher and administrator Fidenzio “Bruno” Brunello’s third term on the Santa Maria-Bonita School District’s Board of Education.
Brunello first ran for the position in 2000 after working 38 years in the district. During that time, he spent 18 years as an elementary and junior high school teacher, eight years as principal of Tunnell School, and 12 years as a district administrator and assistant superintendent.
He’s probably best known for his role in bringing the Bonita and Santa Maria school districts together. In the late 1980s, the superintendent selected Brunello to oversee services provided to the rural district’s 57 students and handful of teachers.
“That position really taught me how important the culture of a school is,” he told the Sun.
He said one of the Bonita school board’s biggest concerns about merging with the Santa Maria district was that the school would be sold or renamed.
“I told them, ‘As long as I’m alive, that’s not going to happen. It’s always going to be Bonita School,’” he recalled.
Eventually, the Bonita officials, teachers, and parents voted overwhelmingly to absorb the Santa Maria district.
That experience, he said, along with many others, prepared him to serve on the Board of Education.
“There isn’t much experience, really, that I haven’t had when it comes to the schools,” he said.
But with that knowledge, Brunello admits, comes great responsibility.
“My No. 1 priority is to be an advocate for the children and the teachers,” he said.
As an administrator and a board member, Brunello said he’s always made a point of listening to the parents and teachers “who are on the front lines.”
Other priorities of his include providing children with a safe and positive learning environment and supporting and expanding fine arts education.
When asked what he would say to people unsatisfied with the district, Brunello said: “Give me a call and I will take you to any school, any grade, and when we’re in there, I’ll answer any question you have.”
Brunello said he feels there are a lot of misconceptions about the district. Academically, he said, the district’s children are improving—but not at the accelerated pace created by the No Child Left Behind Act. Also, he said the district has remained fiscally solvent while sustaining budget cuts at the state level.
“We’ve been very proactive with our funding approach,” he said, adding that the district is set to receive a $3 million grant from the federal government soon.
If reelected, Brunello said he would do everything in his power to ensure the district’s students continue to receive a high-quality education.
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The slogan of incumbent Jody Oliver’s fourth campaign for a seat on the Board of Education is: “To Share the Experience.”
Oliver, who taught in the district for 35 years, said one of her main goals is to help people better understand the district, its accomplishments, and its needs.
Oliver said being a teacher is very demanding, but it also brings a great sense of fulfillment.
“It’s a very hard job, and I think it gets harder every year,” she said. “This is the most difficult time in education I’ve seen since I started teaching in 1961.”
Oliver kept this in mind when establishing her three major priorities if reelected to the board.
“Fiscal solvency of the district right now is really a challenge,” she said, but added that she feels it’s a challenge she’s qualified to face.
Last year, the district was able to balance its budget without issuing any pink slips—something of which Oliver and her fellow board members are very proud. The board has also approved budgets for the next three fiscal years.
“We’ve been accused of being conservative, but now we’re very glad that we were because we’ve been able to handle budget cuts better than many other districts,” she said.
Another goal: preparing children to be successful citizens. To do this, Oliver said, the district must continue to meet the diverse needs of its student body.
“We have some amazing programs already,” she said, referring specifically to the district’s Gifted and Talented Education and After School Education and Safety programs.
Oliver acknowledges there have been complaints about the district’s failing test scores, but said she feels those scores are “an unreliable way to measure education” because they only focus on one dimension of the learning process.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think [the emphasis on test scores] is going to change because our state and our country have used this as a measure of standards for a long time,” she added.
Nevertheless, she said, students’ test scores are improving steadily, which is an accomplishment in itself considering how many cutbacks the board has had to make.
“We just don’t know when the state is going to take money and other resources away,” she said. “I’m very proud of the teachers and staff. They’ve been very positive and [have been] working together to solve problems.”
But the teachers and staff members can’t do it all on their own, she said.
“There are so many things people in our community can—and do—do to help our schools. We have some really talented people in Santa Maria who come in and pick up the slack where we’ve had to cut,” she said. “But I encourage other people to come support the schools even if you don’t have children in the district.”
The challenger
Rev. Will Smith is on a mission. For the past several months, the Santa Maria teacher and preacher has been going door to door in local neighborhoods asking people these questions: “How happy are you with your school district? Is it what you want it to be?”
More often than not, Smith said, the answers he gets aren’t good.
“People aren’t happy with our schools,” he told the Sun. When a reporter shadowed Smith on one of his neighborhood walks, people’s displeasure with the schools—locally and nationally—was apparent.
“Teachers used to tell me, ‘I’m getting paid whether you learn or not,’” said one local graduate. Another woman described the entire education system as “the pits.” And Smith agrees with them.
“At Santa Maria-Bonita School District, I think we could do a lot better than we are right now,” he said.
That’s why Smith is running for a seat on the district Board of Education.
“My No. 1 priority on the school board will be providing children with a good education,” Smith said.
At least three of the district’s schools are considered to be failing, according to the federal government’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report. However, the district has made some overall improvement in the last few years.
Still, Smith said that isn’t good enough for the district’s students: “When your school fails, that means you’ve failed the kids.
“Our schools can meet the needs of our community, but they have to be held accountable,” he continued. “[Accountability] doesn’t start with the teachers, who are always getting the blame. Their hands are tied. It starts at the top.”
If elected to the Board of Education, Smith said he would propose that the board “hire a third party to do a neutral evaluation of who and what is costing us money.”
Like many districts in California, the Santa Maria-Bonita School District is struggling financially. But Smith believes the board should be able to do more with the money it has to improve test scores and the overall curriculum.
One point of contention with Smith: litigation fees.
“If you look at the school board’s minutes, you’ll see a lot of litigation. My question is, how much money is being used to fund litigation and why so much?” he said. “Maybe it’s legit, maybe it’s not. But why isn’t the public aware of this?”
Smith named the ongoing TurnKey embezzlement case as an example.
“That’s money that could be used for the kids or to hire more teachers,” he said.
When asked about the amount of litigation in the board minutes, district representative Maggie White said many of the cases listed on meeting agendas are actually the same issue being discussed several times. Additionally, she said, many of those cases don’t end up going to court.
Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 14-21, 2010.