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Charter school issue draws Encinitas candidates
By: PHIL DIEHL - Staff Writer | ∞
ENCINITAS ---- Seven people are running for three seats on the Encinitas Union School District board of trustees this year, an unusually large field in a district where candidates often go unchallenged.
The candidates are incumbents William A. Parker, Cathy Regan, and Marla W. Strich, and challengers Bruce Bishop, Maureen "Mo" Muir, Kim Rendler, and Nina Vitenson.
It's the district's first contested election since 1998. Trustees Shannon Kuder and Carol Skiljan were unchallenged when they filed for re-election in 2000 and 2004. Four years ago Parker, Regan and Strich briefly had a single opponent who withdrew before the election.
Interest in the school board election seems higher this year because of a newly created charter school. The Theory Into Practice Academy, or TIP Academy, opens Tuesday for kindergarten through sixth grade in temporary quarters at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 551 S. El Camino Real in Encinitas.
The charter school enrolls students from anywhere in the Encinitas district and from neighboring districts, and offers a Gifted and Talented Education program to all students. Most public schools offer GATE courses only to high-achieving students.
The school board unanimously approved the charter school in May, but several trustees have expressed reservations that it would draw much-needed money and resources from other campuses in the district.
"The charter school is an issue for some (candidates) this year," said Strich, who is seeking her third four-year term on the board.
She said recently that she's running again because she's proud of the board's achievements, and there's more work to be done.
"I'm very proud that as board president I spearheaded the search for a new superintendent," she said. Last year the board selected L. McLean King, formerly superintendent of the Lemon Grove School District, to replace Doug DeVore, who had accepted a job at the University of La Verne after being with the Encinitas district since 1997.
"We have continued to raise test scores, raise the bar for students in our district," Strich said. "We pride ourselves in providing excellent facilities and an excellent program."
Incumbent Regan, a board member since 1989, agreed that the TIP Academy has been an issue in the district, and said that charter schools can be good and bad.
In areas with poor public schools, charter schools can be "lifesavers," Regan said. But in areas such as Encinitas, with high property values, high income and good public schools, districts lose money on charter schools, she said.
Regan said she's running for re-election because she wants to "educate kids to be responsible members of the community."
"Encinitas test scores are very, very good ... the top 3 percent in the nation," Regan said. "But that doesn't mean we can't improve. Our English language learners could be higher." Another issue in the election may be where to find a permanent home for the charter school, Regan said. Some residents want to move it to the vacant Pacific View campus downtown, she said, but the board has other plans for that site. For now, it's leased to the city as a public works yard.
"Our plan for Pacific View is to eventually trade that property away ... to generate $500,000 a year for programs for all students in the district," she said. "It's a very valuable piece of property."
Candidate Vitenson said the board's effort to make money from Pacific View is one reason she decided to seek a seat on the board. She said the district still needs to use the campus as a school.
While many of the district's schools are good, some are overcrowded and could perform better, said Vitenson, the mother of two children who will enter the charter school in September.
"I was very fortunate to learn about the charter school," Vitenson said. "I was very dissatisfied with the alternatives, with the academic level, with the way the school board has been handling important decisions."
She said the charter school's location is unimportant to her. She would like a permanent location, she said, but added she would be enthusiastic about the school even if it opened "in a tent."
Candidate Bishop, the director of student affairs at Palomar College in San Marcos, said he was unhappy with the district, and the charter school issue "pushed me over the edge" and onto the ballot. He said the district should do more to support the TIP Academy.
Bishop's wife, Lisa, is a teacher and founder at the charter school. The couple and their two children, about to enter the fourth and sixth grades, moved to Encinitas six years ago from Elfin Forest.
"I have been interested in the Encinitas school board since I moved into the district," Bruce Bishop said.
"The central issue is we need a board that is responsive," he said. "It is a very strong advantage to have a charter school ... a tremendous opportunity."
Rendler, a physical therapist who works with special needs children, said she approves of the charter school but it had nothing to do with her decision to run for the board.
"I just want to make sure that all needs are met in the school system," Rendler said. "I'm just looking to be a voice for all children."
Rendler said she and her husband have a child in the sixth grade at Mission Estancia, an Encinitas Union school in southern Carlsbad.
Parker and Muir could not be reached.
The district pays trustees a monthly stipend of $266.85.
Contact staff writer Phil Diehl at (760) 943-2314 or pdiehl@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.
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nutty election wrote on Sep 3, 2006 10:11 PM:Extremely confusing article, so what does the TIP charter school have to do with the school board election? It sounds like these folks flaunt intelligence but was I the only one who noticed some odd situations like; Candidate Bishop, running for a set while his wife Lisa works as a teacher and founder at the charter school. Come again, does the word “Conflict of Interest” come to anybody’s mind? So if he gets elected will his wife quit her position as teacher and founder? It sounds like a really nutty election… Why don't they just become BOD in the charter school and leave everybody else alone?
Conflict Here, Conflict There wrote on Sep 4, 2006 11:40 AM:Muir is the wife of Mark Muir, Encinitas Fire Chief. It's always amusing who runs for political office, especially if they've shown virtually no interest in the school board before the election. Then the board simply is a jumping off, name recognition board. Perhaps a more significant issue is why the school district continues to employ Nancy Cunningham.
Pam wrote on Sep 5, 2006 6:29 AM:The TIP Academy candidates only want board seats so they can vote to allocate land, money and resources to their school. We are already losing money with this charter school as it is only serving approximately 80 Encinitas students, and approx. 40 Oceanside students. With the Oceanside students we are already losing about $500,000 per year - money that could be going to the other schools in our district. Do not vote for these Charter candidates as more and more money will be taken away from our current students. This is really bad news!!!
EUSD parent in favor of TIP wrote on Sep 5, 2006 8:26 PM:My kids attend OPE. I am not involved with TIP, but I wanted to point out the REAL conflict of interest presented at the August board meeting. The board has engaged Dee Snow in a $33,750 contract ($1,050 per day) to change the zoning of Pacific View and present it to the Encinitas Planning Commission--where her husband Bill sits as a member. As if this wasn’t offensive enough, the board allowed Mr. Snow to speak double the allotted time, as he admonished the TIP parents for being rude to the board, and scolded them for wanting to use the Pacific View School site for their children (as opposed to a risky real estate deal to benefit Dee Snow and her family). He also told them that they needed to “let it go.” Is this really what the superintendent had in mind when he talked about fiscal responsibility (for Bill and Dee)? The previous writers did not mention if they were parents like some of the challengers to the board. Could Pam explain how EUSD is losing $500,000 from Oceanside students who are attending TIP? Could it be that these writers are employees of the district who are concerned about their own futures, now that disenfranchised parents finally have an affordable option? If so, I would call this a “conflict of interest.”
Observer wrote on Sep 5, 2006 10:59 PM:This could just as easily be TIP employees rallying the cause.
EUSD parent in favor of TIP wrote on Sep 6, 2006 12:08 AM:Dear Observer, I am not a TIP employee, nor a parent with a child at TIP. I am in education and teach at a university, and was shocked to see how badly parents who were seeking the best situation for their children, and local residents who expressed a desire that Pacific View return to a school were treated at the meeting. My children are not gifted, but others in the district who have been GATE identified receive little or no attention. There is research that suggests gifted children without stimulation run almost as great of a risk of dropping out, as students who perform badly. Regardless of your view on TIP, how does it look to have a member of the Encinitas Planning Commission tell parents that they can't use a school site, when his wife would be awarded a well-paying contract to deny children the use of the property later in the meeting? I respectfully suggest that a school board meeting is a place for parents to express the needs of their children, not for a planning commissioner to insult audience members and push for his wife to get a lucrative, if not unreasonably-priced contract to change the zoning on a public school site.
conflict all around wrote on Sep 6, 2006 8:57 PM:Dear EUSD parent in favor of TIP, please put two and two together and see if you can solve this problem. Since you are in favor of TIP, I’m sure this is an easy problem and should not keep you up past midnight!!!! Who is the wife of Bruce Bishop the candidate? It’s Lisa! Where does she work? TIP! Is Vitenson tied up with charter? Yes!!!! After all, she does not have any problem having kids to attend school “in a tent”! Now, here’s a good one! Who’s Maureen Muir’s husband? Isn’t he the new fire chief in Encinitas? Wasn’t there some question about his appointment to his new position and the City Council members? I’m sure Bond, Guerin, Houlihan, and Dalager had nothing to do with his appointment since he was not involved in their campaign!!!!!! Isn’t Maureen one of TIP’s founders? Please don’t tell me you don’t see any conflict of interest!
setting the record straight wrote on Sep 7, 2006 12:06 AM:I was at the board meeting and Mr. Snow was not there. The gentleman that spoke and asked the audience to be civil in their remarks lives in the PV neighborhood.
Gifted mommy wrote on Sep 7, 2006 5:11 PM:EUSD parent-- if you teach in at a university are you familiar with the United States Department of Justice amicus against the GATE program? Are you familiar with the CDE site endorsing the teachings of Plato and Socrates into the California curriculum? (GATE) How about the teachings of Thorndike andTerman mimicking Plato philosophies and their quest for the eugenics movement of Charles B. Davenport of 1904? How about Bolling vs. Sharpe or Hobson vs. Hansen? How about last week’s California Supreme Court decision in JOEY WELLS, a minor etc., et al., vs. ONE2ONE LEARNING FOUNDATIONS?
funding in encinitas wrote on Sep 14, 2006 1:33 PM:In response to the losing of funds at schools,Pam is correct, though I am not sure about the dollar amount. Children who come to Encinitas from certain other districts, get only a fraction of the funding than a student whose family resides in the City of Encinitas. There are two types of funding and if you remember what Cardiff school district did a few years ago, that is an example. They don't allow any transfers because they won't receive full funding per child.
Concerned Parent wrote on Dec 23, 2007 7:09 AM:Kim Rendler is not concerned about children. She is helping a con man scam parents and caregivers of his own special needs child out of money.
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