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Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Bellevue high school campus the focus of Merced board race

High school district has three seats up for grabs.

Whether to build a new high school in North Merced -- a hot topic on Merced Union High School District school board agendas for months now -- has become a central issue among candidates vying for election.

Bellevue Road area high school is the name of the proposed new school.

Three seats on the board are open. All three incumbents are among the candidates to fill the seats.

In district one, Kyle Ford, a Merced Irrigation District staffer, is going up against Ida Johnson, the current board president.

Dave Honey, a district office administrator for the Winton School District and MUHSD board member since 1997, will run unopposed to represent residents of district two.

Three residents will compete to represent district five. They are Kenneth Mackie, an attorney and former teacher; Tim O'Neill, a board member since 2004 and business owner; and George Starling, a nursing supervisor at Emanuel Medical Center's outpatient office.

The district's teachers association has endorsed all three incumbent candidates.

The contested candidates met with the Sun-Star to answer a few questions.

District one:

Kyle Ford, a 35-year-old resident of Merced, ran for his 9-year-old daughter, who will become a Merced Union High School District student in a "mere five years," Ford said.

Ford worked in the district as a classified employee in more than one department, including information technology, for eight years, he said. "My background in technology would be a very huge asset to the board," he said

His biggest issue? "The new high school. I think that everybody wants the new high school built as soon as possible, but I don't think we need to rush into it and borrow funds to get it done. I think it is better to wait until there is state money available," he said.

Ford cited a recent 3-2 board vote to penalize any contractor on the project that spends less than 50 percent of the project's cost in Merced County. He said the penalties were too lenient, as did Honey and board member Sam Spangler.

Ida Johnson, a 58-year-old Merced resident and current president of the board, said she never doubted running for re-election. "We are in the middle of making a decision as to whether to go forward or not (with Bellevue Road area high school)," she said. "We have the knowledge now, we have the background and training now to make that decision. I would hate to quit in the middle of all these projects."

Johnson also said the new high school construction was the biggest issue the new board will confront. If elected, she would rather lose current low bids for the project than start building without guaranteed state matching funds. "I'm willing to wait rather than risk going in debt. I just don't see spending $15 to $20 million without knowing what is coming from the state," she said.

Johnson said she was proud to have been a member of the board during a time when they voted to provide resources for alternative schools at the East Campus Educational Center and install security cameras at all school campuses. She was first elected to the board in December 2005.

District five:

Kenneth Mackie, 54, said he's running because he thinks the current board has become "too entrenched."

"They need fresh ideas and fresh faces," Mackie said. "Even though I am retiring from teaching, I still want to help students and do what is best for them."

Mackie began teaching at Planada Elementary School district in the fall of 1993. He is on administrative leave so he could take a full-time position as a lawyer, he said, and will officially retire when he turns 55 in a few months.