New Poway Unified School District board majority takes office
A new era in Poway Unified School District leadership began Monday night with the swearing in of three newly-elected board members.
Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff, Charles Sellers and T.J. Zane took the oath of office administered by district Supt. John Collins in front of a room full of district employees, family members, high school students and interested members of the public.
The trio, all Rancho Penasquitos residents, were elected Nov. 4. They replaced retiring 20-year board member Penny Ranftle and ousted incumbents Todd Gutschow and Marc Davis. All three are Poway residents.
The newcomers join 18-year board member Andy Patapow and Kimberley Beatty, who has served two years. Patapow lives in Poway while Beatty is a Sabre Springs resident.
The new composition of the board means that for the first time in the district’s history a majority of members of the school board reside outside of Poway.
A few moments later Beatty was elected president of the board on a 4-1 vote. Patapow opposed her selection after having first nominated O’Connor-Ratcliff for the position. He failed to get a second to his motion. O’Connor-Ratcliff was then elected vice-resident and Patapow was named board clerk.
Asked Tuesday about his actions, Patapow said he nominated O’Connor-Ratcliff because she received the most votes in the election and placed first in every voting precinct. He said he opposed making Beatty the president because “I felt that Michelle would do a better job with the board.” Patapow added that he will be retiring from the board when his current term ends in 2016.
In prepared remarks offered at the start of the meeting, Beatty extensively praised the three outgoing board members and said “the community has done well” by electing the new members, all of whom, she noted, have children attending district schools.
“To our community who wonders (or worries) about this transition, I want you to know that our roots are deep,” she said. “Our foundation is solid and the state of our district is strong.”
Once settled into their seats, the new board members wasted little time establishing that they intend to pay close attention to the district’s business.
A staff recommendation that the district begin the process of exploring what to do with two vacant district-owned parcels generated extensive discussion among the board members, with both Beatty and O’Connor-Ratcliff saying they would be inclined to oppose the surplus land being sold.
The properties include 10.48 acres near Westview High School and 11.23 acres near the new Design 39 Campus.
District officials have suggested, as one of several possible options, that an anticipated $2 million shortfall in the 2015-16 budget could be closed through the sale of the properties. The point of Monday night’s recommendation, they said, was to begin exploring whether it’s in the district’s best interests to sell or lease the real estate.
O’Connor-Rafcliff said she was concerned that proposed large residential development in the area might necessitate the eventual use of the Rancho Penasquitos property by the district. Sellers, a former member of the Rancho Penasquitos Planning Board, echoed her concerns.
At Zane’s suggestion, the board eventually agreed to support the staff’s recommendation.
Two routine “consent agenda” items were pulled and thoroughly discussed by the board as well.
The first item related to the re-appointment of the district’s representative on the district personnel commission. Sellers suggested that perhaps there should be an effort to recruit interested applicants from the public before naming someone to serve for four years beginning in the spring. The board then agreed with Beatty’s suggestion that an ad hoc board committee be appointed to develop a recruitment process. The matter will back on the Jan. 20 board meeting for further discussion.
The other pulled consent agenda item involved a staff recommendation to terminate a contract with a charter bus company providing after-school event transportation for its alleged repeated failures to comply with conditions of the contract.
Board deliberations on the matter included hearing repeatedly from an attorney representing the company, who asked for more time to respond to the staff allegations, and from the district’s transportation director.
At one point during the protracted discussions Collins turned to Beatty and asked “Are you willing to trust your team?”
Again at Zane’s suggestion, the board eventually voted to support the staff’s recommendations.
The new board will meet next on the morning of Monday, Jan. 5. Beatty proposed the meeting, saying she’d like to have a series of “talking sessions” where the board can meet key district employees, work on developing a board handbook on procedures and protocols and begin “crafting a strategic vision” for the district extending out to perhaps 2030.
