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Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Seven school board candidates seek seats at McSwain

Seven candidates are running for three spots on the McSwain Union Elementary School District board.

They are:

Bill Halpin

Halpin, a 16-year veteran of the board, is looking to stay on for another four years.

“I’m a proven commodity,” Halpin said of his candidacy for the board. “You know what you’re getting when you get me. I still want to move forward; we’ve got a lot of things to do.”

Halpin is a lifelong Merced resident and currently works as a professor and head swimming/water polo coach at Merced College.

He graduated from Merced High and holds a master’s degree from Fresno State.

He has two daughters and two sons, all of whom graduated from McSwain.

“I’ve lived in the community. I’ve seen McSwain change from a rural school. I’ve been there when the budgets have been real tight and I’ve been there when we’ve built new schools,” he said when asked for his qualifications for re-election.

Halpin has taught junior high, high school and college students over 37 years.

As a proud grandfather of two, “I want to make sure they will get the same opportunities as their parents,” he said. “We need to give our kids the best that we can offer.”

Scott Koehn

Koehn, 39, is running his first campaign for school board. A lifelong McSwain area resident, he works as a regional sales manager and a rancher.

He decided to enter the election for his two-year-old daughter.

“I’m running to hopefully make sure McSwain is for my little girl what it was for me,” he said. “Especially given the current challenges of state budgets.”

If elected, Koehn felt he’d bring “a diverse set of professional and personal experiences both corporate and professional to the school and community I grew up in,” he said.

Koehn said dealing with the state budget will be a time-consuming task for the new board, but creative allocation of those funds that are received is most important.

“Preserving McSwain’s quality education and track record of student achievement through difficult times and helping to lead it into the next era of solid performance” is critical, he said.

Todd Machado

Machado, 47, has served on the board for 16 years.

A farm owner, he graduated from McSwain and Atwater High School.

His three children all attended McSwain and have graduated from high school.

“My experience for the last 16 years on the board and knowing the McSwain area is my qualification,” he said. “ It is unique and knowing the people and how things are run out here, that’s important.”

Machado said the biggest issue for the new board will be state funding.

“I don’t see California getting much better financially in the next few years,” he said.

Machado said he wanted to keep an eye on the number of students in each class which has increased to 36 in some classrooms, he said.

Frank Melo

Melo, a sheriff’s correctional officer and Atwater resident, filed election paperwork on Aug. 7.

Several phone calls to the phone number listed by the elections office were not returned.

George Morrow

Morrow, the final incumbent candidate, has served on the board for 12 years.

He’s running again because “there’s just some more stuff that I need to do,” he said.

Specifically, he wants schoolchildren to understand the importance of their studies. “McSwain’s at the top of the heap academically,” Morrow said. “But I think a lot of (students) can’t see what all of this is for. They are engaged in their academics, but I want them to look forward to their future and start planning for it.”