Editor,
As a concerned parent, I have followed the local school board election closely. There are three slots and four candidates. Ketta Brown, Dee Perry and Carol Normandin are qualified. The fourth, Annette Gibson, is not.
Those of us familiar with the schools know we face challenges and issues. Those include contract negotiations, planning and hiring, facilities management (e.g. tennis courts and facilities), student safety, and more. Three candidates have demonstrated through past actions deep connections with our schools as parents, teachers, or both.
Gibson is a parent of three kids in private school. Of course it is her choice and right to place her kids in private school. But someone who doesn’t think our schools (or even public education at any public school anywhere) are fit for her own children’s education is not a good candidate for our public school board.
Consider that Gibson probably:
- Has never been to any meetings about facilities, tennis courts, or anything else;
- Knows nothing of the holiday boutique, jog-a-thon or any other annual fundraiser;
- Is not, and has never been, a member of any Laguna PTA:
- Has never volunteered in a Laguna classroom;
- No attendance to the Artists’ Theater (and no idea of the private fundraising involved to build it);
- Has probably never set foot on a Laguna school campus other than to campaign;
- Has no idea how our district has planned for our new curriculum, e.g. maintaining dedication to the arts and math through AP calculus;
- Has never shown one iota of interest in our schools before now; and
- Has no background in education or public education.
So what does Gibson care about? Well, apparently she is obsessed with the California-mandated standards that the California Board of Education adopted in 2010. She doesn’t know our district and teachers spent two years gearing up for those standards, that Laguna selected and further developed its own curriculum to meet the new standards, and UC and Cal State college systems support the standards. California has had state-mandated standards since at least 1997, and those 1997 standards matched up relatively closely to the new standards.
So in addition to not knowing about our schools, never being involved in our schools, not having kids in our schools and appearing out of nowhere to run for office, Ms. Gibson seems to have an agenda.
Vote 1, 2 and 4 for school board on Tuesday.
No, no Annette.
Carrie Reynolds, Laguna Beach
