Speaking of our schools. Finally, I had coffee with new Superintendent Wesley Smith. What a breath of fresh air. Wes is engaged in our schools as he should be, but also out and about in our community bringing both together.
To me, that means good things ahead for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
Along those lines, the community faces a very important November election for our school board. Longtime incumbent Karen Yelsey is stepping down, much to my chagrin. Fortunately, she’s hand selected Lisa Pearson who she hopes to follow in her footsteps.
Lisa has longtime involvement in local schools, including PTA president and multiple volunteer roles at both Lincoln Elementary and CdM High School as her three children moved through the ranks.
She also spent time at one point in the classroom and was named Teacher of the Year, so she’s the real deal.
Michelle Barto, the current chair for the NMUSD board, is also running for reelection in District 5. She’s been extremely involved as you might imagine.
Here’s a concern you all should be aware of. Those running against Barto and Pearson are running on a platform of tearing our district apart and then attempting to rebuild it.
My question would be, why?
Both of our high schools are under terrific principals in Sean Bolton (NHHS) and Jacob Haley (CdMHS). Wesley has a very clear direction on how he plans to run the district. Employees seem fired up and freed up with his leadership after only a short period of time and already are showing new signs of flourishing. It appears it’s only getting better.
And, if that’s not enough, every year students graduate from our high schools and their colleges of choice becomes a list of all the best schools in the country. It’s always extremely impressive.
So, in my estimation, the last thing we need to do is “tear it apart.”
Even Barbara George, who is running against Pearson, says on her website, “Newport-Mesa schools have always been some of the best educational environments in the nation. As a mother whose children are currently in our community’s public schools, Barbara has every intention to make sure Newport-Mesa Unified School District remains one of the best places for your child’s education.”
So, why say in one breath our system is broken and in the next say it’s “the best.” I know, it’s political speak.
I believe the best course is keeping in the direction we’ve been heading and that means Barto and Pearson.
Now, for anyone saying that I should have reached out to the opposition, I tried. I contacted both George and Reina Shebesta, who’s running against Barto, in an attempt to meet and did not receive a response.
And that’s okay, it just helped me make up my mind.
Truth be told, I also tire of what I perceive as continual shenanigans happening with the board at the Orange County Department of Education and those are the people endorsing George and Shebesta, along with a group who call themselves “Newport-Mesa Uncensored.”
The ironic piece to Newport-Mesa Uncensored is that they’re a group that says they’re not in favor of censorship, but their goal is actually censoring books in the libraries. This is all related back to a book that found its way into a Costa Mesa school library that was not age appropriate. Should it have been there? No. Did the district/board respond appropriately upon its discovery, absolutely.
To be clear, I’m not advocating age-inappropriate books…I just feel like an unfortunate problem occurred and the district responded quickly to alleviate any concerns. This group introduced a petition trying to formalize a group to review everything in our school libraries. It’s a complete overreaction.
Tom Johnson, Stu News