Spreckels Union Elementary School District

Total Revenue: $6,283,349 Dollars/Student: $7,343 Total Schools: 2 Total Enrollment: 870 Average Class Size: 25.3 Student/Teacher Ratio: 22.8 to 1 Average Teacher Salary: $49,979 Average Years Teaching in District: 9 Students Receiving Free or Reduced Lunches: 14.4 percent

The Candidates

Vote for Two

BRIAN J. BALCOM

Age: 54

Occupation: Incumbent/Marine biologist by education, environmental consultant by profession

Number of years in district: 8

How many kids do you have?

I have four children – age 35, 32, 16 and 13.

How many kids do you have attending schools within the district for which you are running?

One at Buena Vista Middle School, with a grandchild starting soon.

What are the top two issues facing the district?

The SUSD has seen several challenges over the past four years, including declining enrollment and budget shortfalls. In terms of my vision for the future: I will actively pursue the return of our lost programs. For example, the exploratory program at Buena Vista, and more school-supported field trips for both Spreckels Elementary School and Buena Vista Middle School. I will work to see our teachers and staff paid a more competitive salary. I want to see more stability in our budget and I will investigate all potential funding sources. I want to keep district families in our schools, by their choice, and will work to expand the recognition of our schools’ excellence and the retention of students who may otherwise transfer to other districts.

What issue flies under the radar of the current board or the public?

The current board does not miss much. They are very knowledgeable regarding education and special education issues and the funding problems that we face. I believe that the public does not fully appreciate how the Spreckels Union School District became a low wealth district, or how the current board has worked to make the district run as efficiently and frugally as possible, and the serious funding issues facing us. I also feel that the public does not fully appreciate how valuable we, the board, feel all district employees are to the district.

What will you accomplish that your opponents cannot?

My opponents do not understand the complexities of education funding in California. Although I am not an expert, I have gained considerable knowledge of the funding process, and I have first-hand experience with budget review and establishing spending priorities. I have also developed a network of expert contacts in state finance and alternative funding sources upon which I can draw.

What endorsements have you received, if any?

Endorsements from current and past board members, parents, individual teachers and staff, and administrators within the district.

What is your education-related background (work, volunteerism, education)?

Graduate and post-graduate education in marine biology, environmental law and environmental engineering from the University of Southern California and the University of California, Santa Barbara. I taught undergraduate and graduate students while pursuing my Master’s degree at USC. I also tutored disadvantaged children in Los Angeles as part of USC’s Asian American tutorial project.

I have been an active volunteer for many years. I have been a soccer and basketball coach, 4H and Boy Scout volunteer, and I volunteer my time to St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Salinas.

I volunteer for school-related functions on a regular basis, starting with my efforts on the Spreckels School Site Council about eight years ago. I have also served on the Architect Evaluation and Selection Committees for the Spreckels Elementary School renovations/expansions and the Buena Vista Middle School multipurpose room construction. However, I believe that my most important contribution has been to the school board, where I am currently the vice president. As a school board trustee, I took the lead role in framing the composition and voting guidelines for the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) – and I have served as board representative on the BAC since its inception. I have also represented the Board in various capacities, including sitting on the Technology Committee.

What other civic experience do you have?

Limited to my volunteer work in support of public education.

What is the one book that every school kid ought to read before graduating from high school?

“Log from the Sea of Cortez,” by John Steinbeck.

VICKIE CASACCA

Age: 50

Occupation: Incumbent/Produce Sales

Years in district: 19

How many kids do you have?

Andrew 23 and Peter 20

How many kids do you have attending schools within the district for which you are running?

None presently, but they both attended Spreckels Elementary School and Peter attended Buena Vista Middle School.

What are the top two issues facing the district?

The top two issues facing our district at this time are bringing our salary schedules in line with the rest of Monterey County for all of the employees in the district in order to retain and attract qualified staff and the other issue would be the communication within the district. As a small school district, we need to actively pursue additional funding opportunities and grants that may help generate additional monies that we can use to offset our general fund deficits in order to increase salaries in our district. I would like to see a subcommittee formed that includes administration, district staff, board trustees and the community that would research these opportunities. The district needs to maintain open lines of communication between administration, staff, parents and board trustees with the use of newsletters, an updated web site and an open-door policy.

What issue flies under the radar of the current board or the public?

We are in the preliminary stages of hiring a principal for our elementary school and the public may not realize the difficulty of finding qualified applicants at our current salary level.

What will you accomplish that your opponents cannot?

Since I have been a Trustee for the past 12 years, I have the knowledge and experience necessary to run the district in a fiscally responsible manner while making impartial decisions that are in the best interest of the district. As a member of our advisory goal setting committee, I want to dedicate myself to finding the additional funding to bolster our revenue base and I want to bring innovative programs and curriculum into the district that would benefit all of our students. I believe I have the resources and determination to see these projects achieved.

What endorsements have you received, if any?

None listed.

What is your education-related background (work, volunteerism, education)?

I have worked in the agriculture industry for over thirty years. I currently work in produce sales and was previously an office manager and full-charge bookkeeper for two produce brokerage companies. I have worked on several committees and organizations that have dealt with budgets. I am a past president and member of the Spreckels Union Educational Foundation, Past President and member of Salinas Circle for Children, an organization that raises funds for children with mental and physical special needs, and past president and former treasurer of California Women for Agriculture, Salinas Valley Chapter. I attended local elementary schools and graduated from Salinas High School and Hartnell College with an AA degree and a Certificate in Administration of Justice.

What other civic experience do you have?

I was honored in 1999 as one of the Outstanding Women in Monterey County.

What is the one book that every school kid ought to read before graduating from high school?

“Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck.

THOMAS HOOVER

Age: 41

Occupation: Engineer

Number of years in district: 4

How many kids do you have?

Two children, ages 12 and 15.

How many kids do you have attending schools within the district for which you are running?

My older child recently graduated from the district, my younger child is attending seventh grade in the district and my wife teaches fourth grade in the district.

What are the top two issues facing the district?

Budget Constraints: In the past four years, the board spent the budget reserve, placing the district at risk of a take over by the county office of education. Additionally, our district budget has ignored our district mission statement of attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers. Instead, Spreckels Union has the lowest pay scale of any district in Monterey County or of any equivalent district in California. This is severely impacting our ability to attract and retain teachers. At the same time our school board has done nothing to address the growing impact of transportation costs or special education on the budget even as it has spent money on new facilities and upgrades at the district office. I will refocus our district budget on the most essential component of any school: teachers. I will also push the district to identify why our budget, with the lowest percentage going to teachers salaries, is not as efficient as the budgets of other comparable districts across the state.

Class Size Reduction: Each year our district has struggled to implement CSR. This year we still were not in compliance five weeks after school started. This failure to meet CSR in a timely fashion has occurred every year in recent memory, yet there is no proactive plan in place to handle this issue. Instead the district repeatedly finds itself surprised and desperately seeking to hire a teacher after the students are already in the classroom. I will bring a more proactive approach to this problem that allows parents to enroll their children in classrooms that meet the CSR goals. Identifying enrolling students earlier and ensuring that enough teachers are available to teach those students is a challenge that I will make sure the district meets.

What issue flies under the radar of the current board or the public?

Poor communication seems to be at the root of many of the problems in our district. For example, both incumbents claim our test scores are rising yet the 2007 STAR test scores for our eighth grade class have dropped by 1 percent in science, 7 percent in English and 9 percent in algebra. This kind of poor communication seems to happen a lot.

Another example, is when faced with a teacher-hiring crisis, the official word from the board was there was a “teacher shortage.” No mention was made of the $10K discrepancy in pay between our teaching positions and that of neighboring districts. Poor communication seems to be an issue here.

As I talk to parents, teachers and staff, a consistent theme has emerged. The board seems to be misinformed or left out of the loop on many of the facts that are behind the decisions made in our district office. When these concerns are brought before the board, parents and teachers are directed to address the matter at a later time and place that never seems to happen. I won’t let poor communication happen.

What will you accomplish that your opponents cannot?

I will initiate an open and honest dialogue with parents, teachers and staff. The incumbents have lost sight of the customer and have become disconnected from the employees. Starting with a fresh relationship that is not encumbered by past communication issues, I will ensure that parents, teachers and staff are treated with respect and courtesy and their concerns are not minimized and deferred but instead are addressed in a public and timely fashion.

What endorsements have you received, if any?

The Spreckels Union Teachers Association and the Spreckels Classified Employee Association have both endorsed my campaign. In addition, I have received personal endorsements from prominent members of the community, including Kim and Mike Costa, Sandy and Ken Logsdon, Rose and Paul Kershing, Ron and Carol Eastwood and Peter and Joanna Oppenheim.

What is your education-related background (work, volunteerism, education)?

Unable to pay for college, I enlisted at age 18, and spent two years in engineering training before reporting to a submarine for four years. When my first enlistment ended, I headed for college but still being cash strapped, I stayed active in the Navy Reserve. Even after completing both my Associates degree and Bachelors degree I chose to continue serving my country. After 22 and a half years, including a tour in Iraq, I retired at the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

While not in uniform serving my country, I worked as a civilian in shipyards supervising installation of passive defensive systems on navy ships and assisted in at sea test programs for those same systems. I also worked in the aerospace industry designing automated test equipment for communication satellites. I currently work in Moss Landing at MBARI, developing the next generation of autonomous ocean sensing equipment that will allow us to better understand the challenges we face in the world climate.

What other civic experience do you have?

In addition to my 22 and a half years of service in the United States Navy, I currently serve as president of the Buena Vista Middle School Site Council, as treasurer of the Summer Hill Home Owners Association and coach the Buena Vista Remotely Operated Vehicle club. I also perform equestrian patrols of Fort Ord with BETA and work with the Moffet Field Chief Petty Officers Association to provide assistance to our veterans at Palo Alto Veterans Hospital.

What is the one book that every school kid ought to read before graduating from high school?

“Atlas Shrugged” provides a strong female role model that our children should be comfortable with even as it examines the strengths and potential pitfalls of capitalism and democracy.

Christopher Cuda did not respond to the Weekly’s questionnaire. (Actually, someone did, from his email account, possibly his wife, he says. But when the Weekly called to confirm his answers, he said he didn’t respond to the questionnaire and didn’t want his – or whomever’s – answers published.)