Candidates discuss strategy and priorities for district schools

Signature Academies, air conditioning and the state of schools on Costa Mesa’s Westside were discussed at the Newport-Mesa Unified school board candidate forum — the first hosted by Mesa Verde Community Inc.

About 40 community members attended the panel discussion Wednesday night at Mesa Verde Methodist Church to listen to six school board hopefuls share their thoughts on the district’s biggest challenges and successes.

Three seats on Newport-Mesa Unified’s seven-member school board are up for grabs in November.

Former trustee and current Newport-Mesa parent Michael Collier will battle former district principal Charlene Metoyer to represent the Costa Mesa High School zone.

Current Trustee Walt Davenport will run for reelection against parents Lisa Manfredi and Fidel Mora to represent Area 7, which is made up of several elementary schools on Costa Mesa’s Westside. Mora was not present at the forum, due to a scheduling conflict.

Vicki Snell, who was appointed to the board this year, and Steve Smith, the vice chairman of the Fairview Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee, will face off to represent the Estancia High School zone.

The candidates briefly shared details about themselves Wednesday night before launching into the issues.

Smith, a former Daily Pilot columnist, took a hard stance early in the forum, criticizing the current school board for its perceived indifference to some of Costa Mesa’s lower-performing schools and simply “rubber stamping” instead of making improvements.

“Sometimes we feel like we’re being treated like stepchildren,” he said of families on the Westside. “We’re not getting the attention we need.”

Snell fired back at Smith, who is endorsed by the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, condemning the fact that he accepted campaign money from the teachers’ union.

“It’s not appropriate to take money from an organization when you vote on their salary and benefits,” she said.

She also defended the current school board, saying that every trustee works hard to be informed on all of the issues and can often be spotted visiting local schools.

The candidates agreed that retaining Westside families is one of the district’s most important tasks.

Snell said Signature Academies, in which each high school zone will offer two specialty programs in addition to regular coursework, will help make neighborhood schools more attractive to local families.

Manfredi agreed that the academies and eventually creating a magnet school such as Davis could improve the reputation of the Westside.

“It provides a compelling reason to attend their neighborhood school,” she said.

Davenport said the district needs to up improve its marketing of Westside schools to get the word out to families that may be tempted to leave Newport-Mesa.

“There’s no solid reason to leave those schools to go elsewhere, but we need to get the word out,” he said.

Smith suggested visiting once low-performing schools in other areas to find out how they made improvements.

Students leaving the district to attend schools in Huntington Beach and other areas isn’t a new issue for Newport-Mesa, Collier said.

He said reducing the number of lawsuits and other “distractions” facing the board would help the district regain focus.

“We need to figure out a way to get distractions out of the schools so we can do a better job of educating,” he said.

All of the candidates agreed that putting air conditioning in Newport-Mesa classrooms should be a board priority.

Metoyer suggested using savings from the district’s upcoming solar panel project to help fund the installation.

Mesa Verde Community Inc., a nonprofit established in 1965, came up with the idea of hosting an information-gathering forum featuring just school board candidates after noticing how many people appear to overlook the race, said President and forum moderator Darnell Wyrick.

“It’s an opportunity to meet with each of the candidates and see what they’re bringing to the table,” Wyrick said.

A recording of the forum will be available on the district’s website and on “The Costa Mesa Brief,” viewable on Youtube.