Motivated by a desire to improve academics, school safety, and parental rights, candidates vying for a seat on the Newport-Mesa Unified School Board faced off in a forum hosted by the Harbor Council Parent-Teacher Association Oct. 10.
This year, four seats on the board are up for grabs: Trustee Area 2, which covers Costa Mesa’s eastside; Area 4, comprising the southeast Newport Beach region; Area 5, which spans the majority of the Newport Coast; and Area 7, which encompasses the westside portion of Costa Mesa.
In Areas 2 and 4, both current trustees opted to not seek re-election, leaving the seat open for newcomers.
In Area 2, Danielle Mills, a parent who works in the veterinary field, will face off against Michelle Murphy, a parent and nonprofit executive.
Three candidates—Kristen Valle, an executive assistant; former teacher and parent Lisa Pearson and business owner and parent Barbara George—are vying for Area 4.
Meanwhile, school counselor and parent Reina Shebesta is facing off against Area 5 incumbent Michelle Barto, who was elected in 2018.
Area 7 incumbent Ashley Anderson, who is running for re-election, faces two challengers—Kristen Seaburn, a parent who works as an executive assistant in the Orange County Assessor’s Office, and Vicky Rodriguez, a tax professional, notary, immigration consultant, and parent.
Nine of the 10 candidates—with George absent due to scheduling conflicts—answered questions about why they ran for the board and what they consider to be their area’s top issues.
Improving Academic Performance
Murphy said she noticed many children in her Costa Mesa neighborhood do not attend district schools due to poor academic performance.“There’s more the district could be doing to better support local schools with resources and ways students can achieve their best potential,” Murphy said.
Pearson, Barto, and Anderson agreed, saying they thought literacy rates were the district’s most pressing issue.
“There are a ton of our students that do not know how to read,” Anderson said. “There [are] some clear solutions academically that I would like to see continue, and I’ve been working on them for a few years. We got a little derailed with years of COVID time, but that to me is still a very pressing issue.”
Both Barto and Anderson said they believed their re-election would help the district—as well as their respective areas—maintain continuity as schools continue to recover from the pandemic.
School Safety, Mental Health
Rodriguez, Valle, and Shebesta said they wanted to improve student safety and mental health in their respective areas.In Area 7, Rodriguez said that she’s received calls from area parents concerned about drugs, gangs, violence, and suicide in neighborhood schools.
“Getting drugs and gangs out of the schools is my top priority,” Rodriguez said. “Everything else comes after that.”
Shebesta, who served as a public-school counselor for 23 years, said she thought student academics, behavior, and mental health would improve when school safety has.
“It starts with physical safety,” she said. “Kids can’t succeed academically, personally, or socially without feeling safe. What got me here is years of effort trying to improve student safety, because students can’t succeed until they feel safe.”
Valle said she had noticed rising depression and anxiety among children in her neighborhood. But after her 16-year-old neighbor committed suicide, she said she investigated the source of rising depression and anxiety among the younger generation.
After examining the curriculum in local schools, Valle said she is concerned that critical race theory—an ideology that divides society into oppressors and oppressed based on race—is being taught in U.S. schools, and that this is causing division, anxiety, and depression among children.
Parental Rights
Finally, Mills and Seaburn said they hoped to be a voice for parents on the board.“Since 2020, parents were kept off of campuses and out of classrooms and libraries,” Mills said. “I want to ensure that does not happen [anymore] and advocate for parents to make sure their voices are heard.”
Seaburn agreed, saying she’d like to see even more parental involvement and help parents of children with disabilities navigate their options in the district. Seaburn also said hiring a school safety officer for every campus and installing security cameras are her top priorities.
The Newport-Mesa Unified School Board elections will take place Nov. 8.
