Emily Ortiz Wichmann, an education consultant and former school board member, is running for the Area 2 seat on the Oceanside Unified School District board of trustees. The San Diego Union-Tribune asked all the candidates running for school board in districts around San Diego County about their policies, plans and priorities. Here’s what Ortiz Wichmann told us about hers. Emily Wichmann (Courtesy Emily Wichmann) Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? I am an experienced school board member, having served in Oceanside USD from 1994-2018. I’ve also attended the OUSD school board meetings for the past four years. I know the issues and challenges the school district has been facing with their staff, students, parents and community. What is the most important issue currently facing your school district? The most important issue currently facing OUSD are the academics. Test scores have fallen since 2017, according to state data. In 2023, only 46.66 percent of students were proficient in English and 34.62 percent proficient in math. These are dismal and alarming stats for the families and community of Oceanside. What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? Raise test scores by giving teachers the curricular support and teaching methods that truly improve student learning for the students in Oceanside. It won’t be the latest theory in teaching reading and math, which has been a waste of time and money, but the methods proven to bring academic success. Insist on safe and secure campuses for students and staff. Restorative justice is not working, according to many teachers who tried but have failed due to how the discipline is being handled. Make the bond construction management company accountable and transparent. The district has been notorious in the last few years for planning construction projects at schools during the school year. Schools are being renovated while school is in session, endangering students according to parents. Financial management of district funds for the classroom. Accountability of supervisors to evaluate employee performance to monitor how it helps teachers for students’ academic success. What would your approach be to district budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? OUSD financial planning is going to hit a brick wall, which they don’t seem to understand. A budget shortfall means cuts in the budget. OUSD has hired many mid-management people with an excess of personnel not held accountable. An assessment of all financials needs to be regularly monitored. How should your school district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? As a school board member, I would study the curricula and teaching methods adopted by the board to see if in fact they are getting results. I would also research to see what teachers are experiencing and if they have a better system for their students. According to the National Council on Teacher Quality, “students who are not reading at grade level by the time they reach fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.” Some educators are calling it the “pipeline to prison.” I would ask the district to make the commitment and goal for all third-graders to be reading at grade level by the end of third-grade year. Do you think anything currently offered in school curricula or libraries should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not? I have come across a couple of books in our high school libraries which I consider graphic pornography. Having spoken at school board meetings about those books, I have been asked to explain my rationale. I meet with parents and grandparents who are willing to listen. I bring the books and a copy of the graphics. In showing the books, their first comment is “It looks like a comic book,” because it is all illustrations with a limited number of words. Their next comment is that it should be rated X due to the graphics — of what they are doing to each other that are adult situations, and why would school libraries have X-rated books in their collections if those are for adults? It’s a split decision whether the books with written words should be rated X too or R. What do you think is driving student absenteeism in your district, and what would you as a school board member do to reduce it? Unfortunately, COVID caused a myriad of problems with student absenteeism. Students found out how easy it is to stay home or be in the streets. As hard as schools try, they don’t seem to have a seamless procedure to deal with student needs, even though they know if the school district would give them the right resources they could get students back to school. Has OUSD asked the students what it would take to get them back to school? OUSD has spent over a million dollars surveying students about social-emotional learning — does that include student absenteeism? I have not seen any results. Do you think schools should notify parents if their child’s gender identity or presentation at school changes? Why or why not? Newsom signed California bill AB 1955, which is what you are asking. This issue will end up in the Supreme Court due to the issues of federal parents’ rights and students’ rights. I ask parents, would they want to know if their student was failing a class? Would they want to know if their student was in a fight? Would they want to know if their student was being bullied and WHY? If the district knows a student is being abused by parents, they are mandated reporters to (Child Welfare Services). School districts do not have the time, money and especially the expertise to help the student and parents unite and work together.