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Embattled superintendent casts shadow over school board race

by Rachel Metz

With all the problems facing the Ravenswood City School District, the campaign for three open spots on the school board is centered on an individual who isn't even running for office: embattled Superintendent Charlie Mae Knight.

On Knight's plate rest a pending lawsuit regarding the district's special education program, scrutiny for her 2001 acquittal on conflict-of-interest charges and, most recently, the possibility the district will have to return $1.4 million in federally-subsidized lunch funds it received last year.

Of the seven candidates jockeying for three open spots, only two -- Ruben Abrica and Lois Frontino -- are incumbents. Three of the remaining five -- Marcelino Lopez, Adam Mitchell and Todd Gaviglio -- are running as a slate endorsed by the East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park Coalition for Quality Education and the Ravenswood Teacher's Association. They are bent on removing Knight from her position, as are the remaining two candidates, Myrtie Fitzpatrick and Wayne Owens.

"Charlie Mae has run the district, for me, into moral and financial chaos and I think it's time for her to leave. Charlie Mae kind of makes up the rules as she goes ... she breaks the law at will...and lately she's been getting caught and caught and caught and caught," Owens said.

An educator who works with special education students, Owens, 43, has been employed in the Ravenswood district for 10 years and said he has personally witnessed problems with the district's special education program and food service program.

"We had a fantastic food-service program and now the kids are eating real poorly," Owens said, reflecting on a recent snafu in which $1.4 million received last year for federally subsidized meals may be rescinded due to incomplete documentation of the funds' use.

If elected, Owens wants to increase and keep qualified teachers in the district. He also aims to help classified district employees like food service and janitorial staff, by giving them pay raises and halting the intimidation he said they currently face.

"The children are secondary in our district right now and that has got to stop," Owens said.

Each candidate echoed Owens' sentiment of putting children first. Fitzpatrick, a retired educator and consultant who has lived in the Belle Haven community for 44 years, said she wants to serve the children, parents and employees of the district "with respect and honesty and dignity."

With two grown children who went through Ravenswood schools, Fitzpatrick has never been on the school board or run for any office. However, she does have 40 years of experience in the district as a teacher, principal and consultant.

Like several other candidates, Fitzpatrick is in favor of removing Knight from her current post, saying there is a need for an administrative change.

"I'm speaking primarily of the superintendent...in her case I think that she has been ineffective in many areas. Certainly an area would be the curriculum area," Fitzpatrick said, referring to standardized test scores she believes can and should be higher.

"In all fairness I'm sure she's worked hard and some good things have come out of her tenure, but based on the kind of things that are continuing to happen with the special education program and the un-humanistic way in which people are treated, I think it's time for her to move on," Fitzpatrick added.

If elected, she would concentrate on increasing standardized test scores and making sure parents and community members can be heard. Fitzpatrick also wants to implement a policy governing behavior of board members and administrators to guarantee they conduct themselves in "an ethical manner, use dignity and honor in their behavior."

Incumbent Lois Frontino, a retired school administrator with three grown children, said she hopes to continue working on projects -- such as new playing fields and lighting for night games, implementation of a dual-language immersion program and a new charter high school -- she and other board members developed during her past two terms on the Ravenswood school board.

Frontino thinks the board operates best when some members have experience; if neither she nor incumbent Abrica is re-elected the majority of the board will consist of newcomers.

"If you had all new people you wouldn't have as good a situation," Frontino said.

As for the criticism Knight faces from other candidates, Frontino said if there was a vote to remove Knight she would have to be aware of all board members' reasons and come to a decision for herself.

"I believe (Knight) has a continuing contract. The board does have an opportunity to review her once a year and evaluate her and we feel that she may want to consider a retirement," Frontino said. "We're not sure if it will be June 2003 or exactly when. But there is some discussion on that topic."

Abrica, also an incumbent, serves as an instructor at De Anza Community College and said his professional life is devoted to education.

Like Frontino, Abrica, 53, wants to push through projects he has worked on during the last several years on the board, including bi-lingual education programs.

Abrica also wants to work on building a public high school in East Palo Alto, saying many Ravenswood eighth-graders are not as prepared as those in other districts, and thus get "lost in the system" or drop out of high school.

"In the long run, if we're really committed to helping our kids succeed we need our own high school," Abrica said.

As for Knight, Abrica said he is neither for nor against the superintendent, and if elected he would work as well as he can with her. Abrica added he disapproves of "this witch hunt that's been generated over the past two years" concerning supposed criticism of Knight's leadership.

Lopez, 55, is the father of two high school-aged students who were educated in Ravenswood schools. A greenskeeper who has lived in East Palo Alto for more than 30 years, Lopez feels his work as president and vice-president of ELAC, the English Learning Advisory Committee, helps make him a good candidate.

Like his running-mates Gaviglio and Mitchell, Lopez thinks replacing the Ravenswood superintendent is vital.

"Definitely we have to start with replacing the superintendent and finding somebody who has to be dedicated to our kids and our parents," Lopez said.

"If two of the incumbents, which are the only two running, are re-elected, then we are in trouble. (In that case) I would suggest all the parents get their kids out of the district...we have to bring the trust of our parents back and that is going to be very difficult," he said.

Lopez fears district parents are being ignored and aims to help prepare Ravenswood's children, parents and teachers for the future.

"We desperately need to change. We have to empower the parents and we have no other choice but to do something. This is a great opportunity because if we don't do it now, we have to wait another four years. And I don't think our kids can afford to do that," Lopez said.

Principal of Redwood City's John Gill Elementary School, Gaviglio, 37, has no children of his own but said he was motivated to run because many of his friends' children are about to enter Ravenswood schools. Gaviglio has been an educator for more than 10 years, and was principal of Ravenswood's Green Oaks Elementary School before he left for Redwood City in 1997.

Running with Lopez and Mitchell, Gaviglio says the three men come from diverse perspectives and complement each other.

Intent on raising standardized test scores and running the district "more efficiently," Gaviglio thinks if he and his two running-mates are elected they will try to remove Knight from the board in an effort to improve the district.

"The whole point really is that the superintendent should be accountable to the board and the community and not the other way around," he said, adding, "To make a dramatic significant change you need three votes. And it seems pretty clear the current board members have a history of voting with personal interests ... it's better to have three reform candidates get in."

Gaviglio said he is confident voters will not re-elect incumbents, and even if he is not elected he will still be active in the community. Like other candidates, he wants more qualified teachers in Ravenswood classrooms. He also hopes to increase teacher salaries and cut back on conference and legal expenses. Gaviglio pledges to be accountable to the community, guaranteeing students have safe, quality schools.

The third candidate running on the slate, Mitchell, worked as a Ravenswood teacher for three years and resigned in order to run for the school board. Although Mitchell enjoyed his teaching job, he said over time he became aware of leadership problems in the district that eventually prompted his decision to change educational positions.

While he thinks removing Knight is important, he stressed the election is not personal; Mitchell's opposition stems from his belief that Knight has not put children first in the district.

"I really think that what's going to make the difference in Ravenswood is a new leadership that puts classroom instruction and excellence in the classroom first," Mitchell said.

Mitchell's goals if elected include a district-wide focusing on improving student achievement that focuses on classroom instruction, restoring the district's integrity and re-uniting the community and schools.

"I really think that schools belong to the parents and the community and the kids that go there," Mitchell said.

E-mail Rachel Metz at rmetz@paweekly.com