MEET JOHNNY, CHRISTY & MIKE
2022 Manhattan Beach School Board Candidates
Volume 2 - September 28, 2022
WE ARE COMMITTED TO:
  • Being more responsive to parents, teachers & the community
  • Bringing families back to MBUSD
  • Ensuring:
  • Fiscal responsibility
  • Academic excellence
  • School safety
Parents assisting children doing homework at desk
STUDENTS, PARENTS & TEACHERS MATTER!
This week’s edition focuses on our platform to re-engage with parents, teachers, and community members to create a safer environment to receive their feedback.  This will enable us to improve our offering which will lead to retaining good teachers, increasing our enrollment and ultimately our revenue. 
 
A large number of parents feel their documented concerns have not been acknowledged or addressed by the current School Board.

As a result, over 1,000 students have left MBUSD since 2015 creating a chronic funding gap of $12 million PER YEAR. 

Rather than fostering a board goal of a "Climate of Care" for parents and teachers to voice their concerns, MBUSD has created a "Climate of Fear" where parents and teachers are afraid to speak out due to fear of retaliation. 
Mike Welsh Closing Remarks - MB Rotary Candidate Forum 9/26/22
COMMUNITY TESTIMONIALS
“MBUSD elementary school was fine, but MBUSD and Costa were disasters from my perspective. Teachers and administrators were both asleep at the wheel and ultimately it felt as if they didn't care. We are all seeing the clear end results in families sourcing alternatives and enrollment numbers plummeting.  After a long and arduous 2-year search for alternatives, we are driving an hour round-trip each day and paying $45,000/year for our son to go to Rolling Hills Prep. That seems silly when Costa is 6 blocks from our home.” 
- Jon Mesko, Former MBUSD Parent  
"I am friends with many teachers at different schools. It's heartbreaking with even tenured teachers telling me they are afraid of the retribution they will face if they come forward to voice their concerns about some of these recent changes in our schools." 
- Christie Norvell, Retired Pacific Elementary Principal of 21 years  
I am concerned about the politically charged environment in the high school classrooms which has only served to divide our students. My student’s high school English teacher created an environment where students felt they would be rewarded for criticizing their classmate's more patriotic perspectives. This played out in a Google Classroom Discussion Question posted by the teacher asking the students if they were proud to be an American. My student wrote about their gratitude for being an American. The students were then asked to comment on two of their classmates' answers. It was disheartening to see all of the criticism of my student and others who had a more patriotic perspective. This divisive environment has got to stop. It is affecting our students' emotional health and therefore their academic success. 
- Concerned Current MBUSD Parent
“I have contacted the district for many months asking them to remove 'MBUSD' from board member, Jason Boxer’s social media posts that inappropriately promote sexualizing children and anti-Israel sentiment. The only response I received was that MBUSD does not agree with Trustee Boxer’s posts and they are his own personal perspective. In 2022 alone, there have been 9 anti-Semitic graffiti crimes committed on our campuses. Is this a coincidence? I think not. The board did nothing about implementing systems to identify the criminals committing hate crimes on our campuses or mandating that Jason Boxer remove 'MBUSD' from his social media until two rabbis and the community participated in 2.5 hours of outraged public comments at a board meeting earlier this month. It didn't need to get to this point. We need a more proactive board for me to feel that my children are safe on MBUSD campuses.” - Concerned Current MBUSD Parent
A LACK OF PROACTIVE RESPONSE
These community issues are the result of a lack of a proactive response and a clear, safe, and effective complaint process for all MBUSD stakeholders.  

Our current board's solution of waiting for parent exit surveys is too late! We need a proactive response that will address parent needs, help us improve our offering, retain and attract families to MBUSD.
WE HAVE A PLAN!
Our plans are extensive and can’t fit into one email, here are just a
few of our ideas: 
 
Parents are leaving due to unaddressed concerns that result in them feeling that MBUSD simply doesn't care. Our plan includes hiring an ombudsman to help parents navigate safely and without retaliation through the complaint process.   
 
Many families leave because they don’t feel the district is giving their children the individualized attention they need.  
  • We can have better success "teaching to the whole child" by placing students in classes that meet them where they are in their academic journey. 
  • We can better prepare students for secondary school by bringing back the reading specialists and writer’s workshops to the elementary schools. 
 
Parents are leaving due to the highly politically charged environment on our campuses.  We plan to enforce CA Ed Code 6144, adopted by MBUSD in 2007.  In summary, when dealing with controversial topics, the subject matter shall be 
  • suitable to the age and maturity of the students, 
  • pertinent to the subject matter of the class, and 
  • presented in an unbiased and non-prejudicial manner that includes all sides of the topic. The teacher is not to give their personal opinion. This serves to develop critical thinking skills in our children.
 
We need a change in leadership, perspective, skill set, process, and strategy to refocus our district on better serving our community. Johnny, Christy, and Mike will bring: 
  • a proactive discipline 
  • a fresh perspective 
  • current professional experience 
  • a skillset more appropriate to running a $93 million business. 
 
We would be honored to have your 3 votes. 
VOTE ON OR BEFORE NOVEMBER 8!
The most important vote you will cast for MBUSD's future will be for your next School Board members.
We are Independent Thinkers
We are independent thinkers, each with our own ideas. We don't always agree but we promise a well-researched appropriate debate on the issues that will result in common sense solutions.
Please visit our websites below.
"I will unite the community"
I moved to Manhattan Beach to raise my daughter and twin sons in a safe community with award-winning schools. Two of my children are currently attending MBUSD schools. I will use my 30+ years of finance experience to address MBUSD's continuous financial crisis.
"Unafraid to speak the truth"
We need to get Back to the Basics. As a mother to 3 children in primary and secondary MBUSD schools, I will bring a "boots on the ground" perspective to the board. I will use the professional skills I developed while managing several start-ups to restore MBUSD to the premier choice for MB school-aged kids.
"I have a plan"
I've seen the data around the loss of MBUSD students to private education. I've heard from some parents in the district and their concerns. I'm running to be the parents' voice on the school board. Through positive partnerships we can put our schools back on the right track.
VISIT OUR WEBSITES
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Paid for by Christy Barnes for MBUSD School Board 2022 FPPC #1451936
John Uriostegui for MBUSD School Board 2022 FPPC #1451938
Mike Welsh for Manhattan Beach Unified School Board District 2022 FPPC #1449664