Wolff Steps up Involvement With Bid for School Board

Peggy Wolff may be a first-time contender running for a seat on the Laguna Beach school district board, but it hasn’t been far from her mind as an active volunteer and teacher over the last 19 years.

“Friends kept inquiring, ‘when are you going to run for the school board?’ ” Wolff said. “It’s always been on the burner.”

Wolff is one of three candidates seeking two spots on the five-member board. Her competition is Howard Hills, a lawyer and author, and 26-year incumbent and board clerk Jan Vickers.

Current board president William Landsiedel is not running for re-election. Other elected members include Ketta Brown, Carol Normandin and Dee Perry.

Wolff says her experience as a teacher for seven years in the Tustin and Newport-Mesa school districts gives her insights about students. “It’s a trickle-down effect,” said Wolff. “We’re always looking for ways to innovate and to set standards for continuous improvement.”

As an example, Wolff recalled a 9-year-old boy in a fourth-grade class at Newport Heights Elementary School in Newport Beach. He never talked in class and squinted. She intervened and arranged an eye test. With a $20 donation, the student received eyeglasses and she witnessed his transformation. “He was a different kid. He started talking and went into the GATE program,” said Wolff.

Wolff believes she’s also well attuned to children’s needs by serving as a volunteer in the classes of her daughters, Kenzie, a senior, and Shelby, an eighth-grader in the district.

She’s also served for nine years on the Laguna Beach PTA Council as well as on many district committees ranging from a site advisory council to an academic task force.

Parent Tammy Skenderian, PTA Council president for the LBUSD said, “I can vouch for her incredible work ethic, her commitment to children, and her multi-faceted experience as teacher, parent and volunteer. Her resume speaks for itself.” Skenderian said her comments should not be construed as an endorsement, but based on her personal experience with Wolff.

Wolff is also a director of the Laguna Beach High School Scholarship Foundation, which in June awarded $380,000 in 322 awards to 147 seniors. School board member Ketta Brown is the President of the Foundation.

Those varied environments gives her a unique ability to work with most anybody, she said. “Working with volunteers, you need to adapt and change and to appreciate people’s strengths and weaknesses,” Wolff said.

Wolff has the support of local parent-volunteer Carrie Reynolds. “She will be the perfect addition to our existing board. Peggy brings long-range perspective, fiscal responsibility and optimism to LBUSD’s challenging future. Adding, Peggy, unlike the approach others may have, brings optimism, understanding, classroom experience, fiscal understanding, teamwork skills and strong, thoughtful action to our board,” Reynolds said in a letter to the editor. She could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wolff has another ally in school board member Ketta Brown, who hosted a fundraiser in her home last month that raised about $6,000, Wolff confirmed. “She’s got the chops for it. She’s taken the time to get her hands dirty and learn about the district from the ground up,” said Brown.

Wolff and her husband of 19 years, Josh, who is a lawyer, also volunteer with Friendship Shelter in Laguna Beach and for five years served as trustees of SchoolPower, which raises money for Laguna public schools.

SchoolPower Executive Director Robin Rounaghi said Wolff has volunteered numerous hours in varying roles, as a member of the executive committee and endowment board and chair of teacher grants. “While our non-profit does not make political endorsements, we look forward to partnering with the elected school board to continue to make the most of our donors’ generous contributions,” she said.

Wolff, 52, a native of Pensecola, Fla., grew up in several different states due to transfers by the Marine Corps of her father, Colonel Gerald James. As a child, she attended now defunct Aliso Elementary and then Thurston Junior High in Laguna Beach, but graduated from Dana Hills High School in 1982, her website says.

Wolff earned a bachelor of arts in communication studies from UC Santa Barbara in 1987 and earned teaching credentials from California State University, Northridge in 1992.

A Jazzercise instructor for 10 years in years prior, Wolff now enjoys taking long walks to the beach with the family dog, Gretel. “Friends often ask if they can join me on a walk, but I say, no, that is my own time to take a break and relax,” she said.