Candidates for Chula Vista school board discuss budget, safety

Candidates vying for a spot on the Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Trustees participated in a forum Tuesday where they discussed the district budget, safety and academics.

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Jorge Balvaneda and Debra McLaren are competing for the Seat No. 1 spot held by Jessica Castillo Tolston, who was not in attendance Tuesday.

Katina Gonzalez-Rondeau, Leticia Segura and Norma Lozoya Toothman are competing for Seat No. 3. Incumbent Delia Dominguez Cervantes is instead running for Seat No. 5.

In addition to Dominguez Cervantes, Tom Glover, Janette Gomez, Jaqueline Gonzalez, Devone L. Jones and Michael “Tony” Perez are running for Seat No. 5. Incumbent Keren Ramirez Dominguez is not seeking re-election.

In Chula Vista, all five board members are elected at-large and serve four-year terms.

The forum was co-hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Chula Vista Council of PTAs.

Concerns about the school district’s budget came up throughout the forum, with many candidates expressing concerns about the district’s monetary decisions. The district is operating on a roughly $30.1 million deficit for the current school year. The deficit is around $13.6 million for the unrestricted budget, according to a district spokesperson.

Segura said that she would prioritize ensuring that children have the materials and support they need to be successful. In her first 90 days, her goal is to be visible and visit school sites.

“Making sure that we’re reaching out to families and supporting our educators and our classified staff because they’re the ones that are doing the work every single day to ensure that our kids are successful,” she said.

Toothman said she would do her due diligence and learn more about the district budget to understand where the district’s priorities are.

“In knowing what the budget’s priorities are, then I can focus on allocating some funds for teachers, especially special ed, and the students who really need it the most: English learners,” she said.

Gonzalez-Rondeau said she wants to keep the dollars as close to the classroom as possible. She said they need to make their schools competitive and are not paying their classified staff enough.

“We cannot get substitutes to cover when our classified staff are absent, those that are in the trenches, working with the students,” she said.

Glover said that he would support teachers and families and reach out to stakeholders to understand what is important and make sure that students start the year right.

“I’ve done it 12 years as a principal,” he said. “You start a school right and the year goes better, and kids succeed…academically, socially, emotionally, and become part of an academic family that matters.”

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Gomez said her priority in the first 90 days would be to help teachers. She said she would study ahead of time so she would be prepared to help everyone at a school when she arrives.

“Because when your school is a well-oiled machine, then that translates into the classrooms and then your children are picked up happy, they want to return to school and that’s what makes teachers happy when you support them,” she said.

Gonzalez said that her priorities were safe schools, as well as academics. She said there are also discrepancies throughout the district.

“There’s a lot of need on the west side of Chula Vista,” she said. “I want to know how are we helping our students regardless of their socio-economic advantage.”

Jones said that his number one priority is the budget, so he would want to listen to stakeholders in a setting similar to the forum.

“Because if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, but if it’s broke, we need to fix it, and in order for us to fix it, we need to make sure we have the funds for it,” he said. “So, we need to put the funds in the right places.”

Perez said his priorities were safety, academics and fiscal responsibility. He said he wants to continue meeting with parents and hold parent education classes because not everyone has parents who know what it takes to succeed in school.

“I also believe that every dollar needs to be spent, but it needs to be spent directly affecting students,” he said.

Dominguez Cervantes said that her priority will always be the child and supporting children requires staff. She said would support teachers and ask staff what they need.

“There’s so many staff that need support,” she said. “Without that partnership, the student will always suffer.”

McLaren said she would begin by asking the superintendent what his goals are, and then she would assess what the needs of the district are. Then she would ask what the goals are and what actions should be taken towards those goals.

“It doesn’t stop there, because after that you need to make sure that you have a way to monitor the progress of those goals so that you can achieve what you’re trying to achieve, and that is impacting our students and their learning,” she said.

Balvaneda raised concerns about the budget deficit and not enough students being able to read or write. He said they need to invest more in the classroom and do it in a transparent way so everyone can understand the decisions.

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“We need to make this a district that people want to be in,” he said.