We’re glad to see a real race for the six seats on the Gilroy
Unified School Board that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The three incumbents
– Bob Kraemer, Jaime Rosso and John Gurich – face tough
challengers in the form of active GUSD parents Rhoda Bress and Bob
Heisey and retired Antonio Del Buono principal Pat Midtgaard.
We’re glad to see a real race for the six seats on the Gilroy Unified School Board that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The three incumbents – Bob Kraemer, Jaime Rosso and John Gurich – face tough challengers in the form of active GUSD parents Rhoda Bress and Bob Heisey and retired Antonio Del Buono principal Pat Midtgaard.
Unfortunately, there are two uncontested races for the Gavilan Community College school board. Incumbents Tom Breen and Leonard Washington will face no challengers in the upcoming race. Incumbent Mark Dover is being challenged by Manly Willis.
Perhaps the lack of candidates is a sign that most people in the Gavilan district are pleased with the direction of the current board, which recently hired President Steve Kinsella, whose job performance has been widely praised by students, staff and the community.
But voters will get the chance for a vigorous debate about important issues in the GUSD race, and we expect that these candidates will speak passionately and articulately about them.
Some of the issues we think are most important include:
• Establishing a clear policy on teacher evaluation. It’s in the best interest of our students for GUSD to be an attractive place for teachers to work. That won’t happen if there are any more debacles like the one in which a teacher was escorted from the campus after being fired for no apparent reason. It’s shocking that administrators asked trustees to make a firing decision without making teacher evaluations available, and even more shocking that six of the seven went along with that.
• Creating an atmosphere of trust and communication with parents. The contentiousness surrounding the reading list selection process shows just how much parents want to be involved, and sadly, how hard they have to work to have their voices heard in the district.
• Challenging all students at all levels. Whether they’re learning English as a second language, struggling with the basics, or performing above grade level, all students deserve to be challenged and engaged in the education process.
• Making educational excellence, not political correctness, the top priority in all decisions – from reading lists to parental input to honors and AP classes and beyond – in all GUSD decisions.
• Improving physical education curriculum for GUSD students. Numerous respected studies demonstrate the lifelong physical and academic benefits of a strong physical education program. GUSD has a teacher who has been a tireless and passionate advocate for improving its PE program. We hope the candidates will explain how they plan to improve Gilroy’s PE program, which does not meet state minimum standards, and if not, why not.
These are just a few of the dozens of issues facing the Gilroy Unified School District’s board in the upcoming years. We look forward to a civil but vigorous debate on these and many others in the upcoming weeks.
Now’s the time for Gilroyans to consider what’s important to them, to learn each candidate’s positions on the issues, and then, to register and vote on Nov. 2.
An informed, engaged electorate that holds its representatives accountable for their decisions is the most important step in creating good government and excellent schools.
