Dear Editor,
The appointment of Javier Aguirre to the Gilroy School Board on
Dec.12 gave the public an opportunity to hear directly from
trustees about how they evaluate information and make
decisions.
Dear Editor,
The appointment of Javier Aguirre to the Gilroy School Board on Dec.12 gave the public an opportunity to hear directly from trustees about how they evaluate information and make decisions. Over the years, board applicant Robert Heisey has served on Gilroy Unified School District committees, has been actively involved as a parent, and has regularly attended school board meetings. He has helped our school district raise the academic achievement bar, which is the point of “closing the achievement gap.”
Yet, four board members overlooked Heisey and appointed Mr. Aguirre, a less experienced and less involved candidate, to fill out the remaining year of T. J. Owens’ term. Why? Let the transcript of the school board proceedings speak. One board member, Jim Rogers, did not provide the public an explanation for his vote, which was for Mr. Aguirre, but the other five did.
Jaime Rosso used race as a determining factor in his decision to vote for Aguirre and stated that focusing on the achievement gap is the most important need in the district. Rosso’s comments were divisive and in direct conflict with the district’s stated goal of meeting the needs of all students.
Pat Midtgaard, a former administrator who should have a solid understanding of the inner workings of GUSD, has provided reasons that do not address the most critical factors that should be considered when selecting a board member. She believes, for example, that a 32-year-old graduate of GUSD will be able to give the board important information about what factors contributed to his success, and this information can then be used to make decisions about raising academic achievement.
While it is admirable that Mr. Aguirre is willing to come back to serve our community, the truth is that public education has changed radically since he graduated from Gilroy High School about 14 years ago, before No Child Left Behind and the current standards-based curriculum. Meanwhile, Heisey is married to a public school teacher, has one child who recently graduated from GHS and another one still enrolled; he and his family are in a better position to give advice based on current information and experience. Ironically, before voting for Mr. Aguirre, Midtgaard complimented Heisey for being “very knowledgeable and informed.”
David McRae believes that Heisey has “some alarming paranoia about Hispanics.” Many questions regarding the district’s Hispanic population and the ethnic makeup of the board were directed to Heisey, and he answered them carefully and thoughtfully.
“I don’t think, in my experience I have felt it necessary to divide the Gilroy community into specific groups and make quotas for any particular group,” he responded. The accusation of paranoia is an inaccurate and irresponsible one.
What I did observe was McRae acting antagonistically towards Heisey. He questioned Heisey’s data about more students transferring out of GUSD than transferring in and wondered how well Heisey could represent GUSD if he was so negative. The data Heisey cited was presented by district staff at a recent board meeting, a meeting that Heisey attended but McRae did not!
McRae has once again found an opportunity to express his disdain for the Alliance for Academic Excellence. Yet, it is common knowledge that many of the academic improvements that have been made in the district are a result of the hard work by Heisey and other parents and community members. I would be willing to weigh the Alliance’s accomplishments on behalf of all parents and students against McRae’s any day. Thanks to the Alliance, GHS has a College and Career Center, an honors program, a standard-based English curriculum, and more.
Rhoda Bress and Tom Bundros used legitimate criteria to make their decision. They explained that Heisey was “ready to hit the ground running” based on his experiences, knowledge, proven track record of improving academics, attendance at school board meetings and answers to the questions submitted by the board and the public. They both recognized Javier Aguirre and encouraged him to run for office after he acquired some background knowledge and experience.
The district’s motto is “Excellence: It Takes Everyone!”
The public demonstration of poor decision-making by the majority of the school board is very worrisome and leads me to question whether we will be able to attain the goal of excellence that all our students so richly deserve.
Jackie Stevens, Gilroy
