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.