SCHOOLS: School board candidates speak out

Candidates agree on many issues, but building program isn't one of them

It is hard to distinguish the four candidates for the Palo Alto school board from their views on the big issues facing the district. But their reasons for running, and their views on how best to use the $143 million school construction bond, set the four apart at Wednesday night's candidate forum.

A full house of about 80 people attended the League of Women Voters/Palo Alto Council of PTAs' forum at the school district's headquarters. The two candidates on the ballot who are still running--John Barton and Cathy Kroymann--have had quite a bit of experience working with the school district. On the other hand, Mandy Lowell and Ann Ozer, the two write-in candidates, come to the race with an outsider's perspective.

Barton, an architect, has served as chair of the Planning Review Committee since the beginning of the Measure B construction project. He also pointed to his teaching experience at various colleges, including San Jose State, Canada College and UC Berkeley, as an asset if he should be elected.

Kroymann is a long-time volunteer in the district, having served on the PTA of her childrens' schools from kindergarten through high school (her oldest child is a senior at Paly). She is also a past president of the Council of PTAs, along with serving on school district committees dealing with middle schools, teacher evaluation, school calendars, space allocation and business partnerships.

Neither Lowell nor Ozer have served on school district committees, though they have applied to do so in the past. Lowell is a product liability lawyer with a San Francisco firm who is running "to represent mainstream parents." She says she is not running on any specific issue, but on an approach to governing, what she described as "sound, fact-based oversight."

Ozer, the first write-in to declare after Jim Fruchterman, Bill Albright and Amado Padilla dropped out of the race, said she was not planning to run this year (she ran in 1991 and 1993) because she did not want to face an incumbent, but when Padilla left the race there were no incumbents, and only two people running for two seats.

"I thought it would be terrible in a city like Palo Alto to have no race for the school board," she said.

There was a consensus among the candidates on most issues addressed at Wednesday's forum. They were for parental choice for elementary and middle school teaching styles, for closing the fund-raising gaps between schools, and for trying to recruit the best teachers by maintaining competitive salaries.

When it comes to the building project, all liked the direction the "Building For Excellence" program has taken since Superintendent Don Phillips' arrival. The differences lie in what happened before that time.

"Where the bond project ran into trouble was when construction costs spiked and when class-size reduction was approved," Barton said. "When that all came together, the basic assumption was that it would be wise to step back and reevaluate the project."

Lowell disagreed with this assessment.

"One-and-a-half years after Measure B was passed and it is $32 million over budget and no construction has started," Lowell said. "(The new plan is good,) it is trying to bring all schools up to the same standard."

Ozer and Kroymann said they are encouraged by the project since Phillips arrived.

In her closing statement, Ozer said she would like to create a formal community service program for high schoolers and possibly middle schoolers, and she said one of her top priorities would be to increase the number of school counselors.

Lowell said she thinks curriculum debates have become too polarized, with the board choosing between one extreme or the other. "Why can't we have both?" she said.

One area Kroymann touched on that others did not was trying to make up for budget cuts by bringing in members of the community--teachers on early retirement, seniors, business people--to volunteer in schools.

Barton stressed that his qualifications extend beyond being an architect, as he has taught at the college level as well. He said he has learned a lot about what makes a good learning environment, namely that everyone learns in different ways so teachers must be able to teach in a variety of ways.

--Charlie Breitrose

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