Final word: Rancho Santa Fe School District board candidate: Lorraine Brovick-Kent
Five candidates are vying for three seats on the Rancho Santa Fe School District Board of Trustees in the Nov. 6 election.
The candidates are Lorraine Brovick-Kent, Todd Buchner, Richard Burdge (incumbent), Tyler Seltzer (incumbent) and Heather Slosar. In September we published biographies of each candidate and their answers to questions from the RSF Review (see www.rsfreview.com). To give readers one more chance to learn about the candidates before the election, we are publishing final candidate statements below (as well as a reprint of their biographies).
Name: Lorraine Brovick-KentYears living in the RSF School District:
16 years and a San Diego native
Profession/education:
Retired; Former managing director at National Decision Systems, a subsidiary of Equifax. Bachelor of Science from SDSU.
Community activities:
San Diego County Taxpayer Association member; League of Women Voters member; PTO member and/or Foundation member for the last 15 years; Past Council member for Solana Ranch Girl Scout Service Unit working with membership development at R. Roger Rowe School, as well as Troop leader for eight years; RSF Community Center volunteer on Back to School Bash, fundraising programs like the Gala and holiday events; Children’s Hospital RSF Auxiliary lifetime membership, since 1997, serving in various positions and working on numerous fundraising events over the years.
Candidate Statement:
Excel in Academic Achievement by exceeding current State standards.
We should set our goals higher than the state standards and become better aligned with the next tier of education. We have 88 students leaving 8th grade to attend the local high schools with 720 students in 8th grade from the #1 ranked Carmel Valley Middle School, so why have we been #2 since 2006? I do not advocate teaching to a test. The picture is much bigger as our students become apart of a larger community in high school and compete for the same college spots. We need higher standards than what the State mandates to become #1 again.
Bring back the collective voices of the parents and community.
We are a great school and we need to ensure we get parent and community input on our programs and land dealings. Over the years, I have personally witnessed many decisions come and go from our school without public discussion or insight as to why they worked or failed. Some examples are bond attempts, Honors classes and K-6 foreign language programs. One way to accomplish this is to conduct annual surveys on school issues, so that all stakeholders have an equal voice.
Raise the educational bar, not the budget.
We are financially strong, but with pending budget cuts from the State, we need to manage our dollars even more than ever. Since 2005, our school attendance has been declining, yet spending has continually increased. Many parents have asked, “ Where is our money being spent?” It’s a misconception that top-rated schools can’t afford technology or enrichment programs, they do. Our schools biggest expense is people, not programs. Therefore, we must keep enrollment in mind while making any financial decisions.
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