NMUSD candidates discuss parental rights, academics and safety at PTA forum
School safety, the pursuit of academic excellence and involving parents in the practices, policies and laws affecting their children’s education framed a deep discussion Wednesday among seven candidates running for three seats on Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Board of Education.
A forum hosted by the Harbor Council PTA at Back Bay High School allowed a panel of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach residents — all of whom have or had children enrolled in the district — to convey their personal and professional qualifications in running for three districted seats in the Nov. 5 election.
Incumbents Leah Ersoylu (Area 1), Carol Crane (Area 3) and Krista Weigand (Area 6) seek second terms, having been elected in 2020, and each faces at least one challenger.
Robin Mensinger is squaring off against Ersoylu, whose district includes Early College High and schools in the Estancia High School zone. Crane’s seat, which represents Eastbluff Elementary, Corona del Mar High School and Back Bay, is being contested by Philip Stemler.
Weigand, whose area includes Kaiser, Mariners, Newport Heights and Woodland elementary schools, is being challenged by Chris Kretzu and Amy Peters, the latter of whom placed second against Weigand in 2020.
After introductions and flash-card responses covering how long candidates have lived in their trustee areas (all indicated 10 years or more), how long they’d expect to spend each week on board duties (answers ranged from 10 to 20 hours) and whether they’d reviewed the latest district budget (all affirmative), moderators pitched 10 round-robin questions to give panelists an opportunity to air their views and platforms.
When asked what inspired them to seek office, Kretzu, the father of an Ensign Intermediate seventh-grader, said his son’s transition from elementary school into a larger, older campus got him thinking about social-emotional health and the potentially negative influence of cellphones on campus.
Mensinger, a publicist, said she decided to run after hearing how dissatisfied parents had become with what they described as a lapse in schools’ academic performance, while Stemler, a San Bernardino County deputy district attorney, cited a lack of transparency about district decisions and a diminished focus on educational success.
Peters said she was motivated after hearing about NMUSD’s compliance with AB 1955, a state law prohibiting districts from notifying parents about students’ preferred gender identity.
“I don’t think we should be keeping that information from parents,” she said. “The secrecy that’s happening on school campuses drives a wedge between schools and parents and teachers and children.”
Incumbents took a different view. Ersoylu said she first ran in 2020 on a platform of student health and wellness, after seeing evidence NMUSD wasn’t complying with its own policies. She also pointed to a scarcity of electives at TeWinkle Middle School.
“It had 11 electives and other schools had 26 or 28,” she said. “I just really think we needed to change that, and we did.”
Weigand said COVID-19 restrictions inspired her to seek ways to get kids back in school as quickly as possible and cited school safety and individualized learning models as other motivating factors, while Crane listed academic achievement, facility improvements and whole child learning as her main priorities.
A question about how candidates, if elected, would balance their personal beliefs with the elected officials’ sworn oath to uphold state and federal laws and mandates they might not agree with also drove a wedge between panelists.
Peters and Stemler indicated an interest in finding ways to challenge state laws that conflicted with dearly held local principles and values, particularly social and politically charged issues like AB 1955.
“The blizzard of state laws and regulations that are governing our schools are the reason why you need someone like me, who has experience in court and litigating and standing up for what’s right,” he said.
Ersoylu said she believed in keeping a clear line between conflicting personal beliefs and laws, while Mensinger backed a balanced approach that would allow officials to both uphold the law and ensure parent concerns were heard and considered.
Crane said the school board has the ability to determine how it will uphold a particular law or mandate and can create a solution that best meets everyone’s needs. She cited the district’s actions during the pandemic to create an instructional model that would allow kids wishing to return to in-person learning as quickly as possible without abandoning virtual learning.
Weigand agreed that the district can make policies or a curriculum with its own local flavor.
“On the board, I have worked to take policies I may not have liked but figure out how we can make them and structure them in a way that still represents our values without breaking any laws.”
To access a list of candidates and their campaign statements, visit the Orange County Registrar of Voters at ocvote.gov/candidates/candidate-filing-log-with-statements.
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