ELECTIONS / VENTURA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD : 6 Candidates to Compete for Seats

A retired Buena High School principal and an insurance agent who thinks the “public school system is really goofed-up” were among six candidates meeting Wednesday’s filing deadline to run for the board of trustees in the Ventura Unified School District.

Three of the five seats on the board are up for election Nov. 2. Trustees Terence Kilbride and May Lee Berry are not running, leaving board President John B. Walker as the only incumbent seeking another four-year term on the board that oversees policy in the district, which has 23 schools and 15,200 students.

Walker, vying for his second term, will face four political novices, along with Cliff Rodrigues, an administrator with the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools office. He placed fourth in the 1991 election.

The other candidates are Michael F. Shanahan, a longtime educator who was principal at Buena High from 1980 to 1991; Jim Oliver, an insurance agent who graduated from Buena High in 1976; optometrist Michael Boggs Jr., chairman of the American Heart Assn. of Ventura County, and Velma Lomax, a legal secretary active in the PTA.

“It’s time for new people and new ideas,” said Kilbride, a 51-year-old county deputy district attorney who has served on the board for 14 years.

All the candidates oppose the voucher initiative, which would give $2,500 to students who attend private schools, but they are split on the year-round school issue on the ballot. Oliver is firmly opposed to the year-round program, but if the public approves the measure, he and the other candidates, who support it to varying degrees, said they would vote for it as board members.

Two years ago, 15 candidates ran for two seats on the school board, but this year’s small turnout doesn’t surprise Walker.

“A lot of people are throwing rocks at public education these days,” he said.

Walker, a 46-year-old general manager of a telecommunications company, was elected in 1989 by promising to run the district as a business. He thinks he succeeded.

“I believe we accomplished a lot in the last four years,” he said. “We resolved the retirees’ health-care issue that had threatened the district with bankruptcy, we changed the morale climate within the district and we hired a new superintendent.”

If reelected, Walker intends to focus on district programs that give parents more choice in the education of their children. He also wants to develop Ventura High School into a magnet school.

Walker hasn’t begun raising money for his campaign but plans to hold a fund-raiser in September.

The only candidate who has accumulated a war chest is Rodrigues. Since last December, he has held monthly meetings, raising $2,500. He expects contributions to total $6,000, the same amount he collected in 1991.

A former Spanish teacher in the district, Rodrigues, 52, has spent the last 20 years at the county superintendent’s office and is coordinator of the audiovisual, bilingual, media and technology department.

Rodrigues likes the direction of the district. “Good things are happening, and I want to get elected to make sure they continue to happen,” he said.

Rodrigues would like to give teachers and other school employees a raise and beef up maintenance of school sites, “which could be in better condition,” he said.

Shanahan, 65, wants to make a contribution to a district where he has worked as a teacher and administrator for 38 years.

“I got an awful lot from this district,” he said. “Now it’s pay-back time.”

The challenge facing the district, Shanahan said, is dealing with dwindling funds. “Managing our money well is a goal of mine,” said Shanahan, who would like to get each school to be responsible for its own budget.

While Shanahan says, “We’re doing a real good job of educating our kids,” Oliver isn’t so sure.

“The schools are out of control and I’d like to help put some sanity back in them,” Oliver said.

Oliver, 35, entered the race because he has a 5-year-old daughter in kindergarten and wants to improve her education, he said. Oliver believes that political and social issues should be avoided so schools can get back to the basic three Rs.

“I may be naive to see if I can have an effect,” Oliver said, “but I want to try instead of just complaining all the time.”

Lomax is a former president of the De Anza Middle School PTA. Lomax, 42, has a 16-year-old daughter at Ventura High and describes herself as “a very involved parent,” adding: “I’ve been in the trenches with the moms and the kids.”

Lomax would like to be their spokeswoman: “I want them to know I’m their avenue to the board. I want to do what’s best for the kids.”

Lomax likes the way the board is operating, but said, “There’s always room for improvement.”

Another candidate with a young child is Boggs, who has a 1-year-old daughter and wants “to secure her future.” With 17 Distinguished Schools in the district, “I think the system is working, but we can make it better,” Boggs said.

If elected, Boggs, 35, would press to get parents more involved in the educational process.

“Kids with involved parents do well in school,” said Boggs, whose parents were teachers.