By Brandon Nguyen
With primary election ballots already out, voters will decide their choices for Orange County’s Board of Education (OCBOE) and Orange County Superintendent in the June 7th election. Three seats are contested, which could sway the balance of the board’s conservative majority. The Orange County Superintendent seat is challenged by a conservative. Unlike other elections, the OCBOE and Superintendent elections do not have a primary and will be final on June 7th.
The OCBOE has the power to approve the department of education’s budget and buy property and acts as an appeals committee for students transferring inter-district, expulsions, and charter school applications.
The superintendent’s office is the county’s top education chief and responsible for employment contracts, district budgets and how the department spends its money.
Superintendent Candidates
The current incumbent is Superintendent Al Mijares who has been in the role since 2012. Before serving as superintendent, Mijares was the vice president of CollegeBoard for six years and spent 11 years as superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District. He believes the role should be non-politicized and students should receive more mental health services.
Mijares believes that schools in the future should prepare students for automation and artificial intelligence. His record includes the OC Pathways consortium that partners universities with K-12 educators to create lesson plans and increased high school graduation rates. He agrees with California’s plan to mandate ethnic studies as a class and supports limited COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Some of his key endorsements are former U.S. Ambassador and former OC Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez, Democratic Congressman Lou Correa and OC Sheriff Don Barnes.
The challenger is Stefan Jacob Nam Bean, who served as superintendent for three years at Aspire Public Schools. He was also principal for ten years at Cornerstone Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles. Bean is running on the platform of parents’ rights and choice in their child’s education along with a greater emphasis on academics.
Bean believes the future of education involves preparing students for space-aged information. He disagrees with the state’s plan to mandate ethnic studies and favors banning books that contain transgenderism or gender identity in schools. He is also against Critical Race Theory and against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools. Some of his key endorsements are the Republican Party of Orange County, OCBE President Mari Barke, and OCBE Trustees Tim Shaw, Lisa Sparks, and Dr. Ken Williams.
Orange County Board of Education Trustee Area 2
The County Board of Education Trustee Area 2 encompasses the city of Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Cypress, a region where the majority of students and faculty that attend Fountain Valley High School reside.
The current incumbent is Mari Barke who was first elected to the OCBE in 2018 and currently serves as the board’s president. She is running on the platform of expanding school choice, which allows public education funds to support students whether they go to a public or private school. She wants to increase transparency in education and disagrees with the state’s plan to mandate ethnic studies and is against any mandates for the COVID-19 vaccine. Barke supports banning books in schools that contain pornography and wants parental input on curricula and books.
Notably, Barke led a lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom to reopen schools and Superintendent Al Mijares for sending the county’s education budget to the state without the approval of the board. Some of her key endorsements are Republican Congresswoman Michelle Steel, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes and the Orange County Republican Party.
One of Mari Barke’s challengers is Martha Fluor who served as a Newport-Mesa Unified school board member for 29 years. She says she is running to put students first and for increased transparency and tolerance. Fluor wants the OCBE as a central point for members of the community to receive information regarding educational issues and increased support for students in juvenile court schools and foster care. She believes schools should teach age-appropriate information about sex education and does not favor banning any books. She supports limited mandates for COVID-19 vaccines. While Fluor doesn’t have any endorsements listed on her website, she has attacked the current OCBE trustees for the money spent on lawsuits that she argues would have been better redirected into classrooms.
Another of Mari Barke’s challengers is Christopher Ganiere, who has been an architect for over 25 years and is active in the Libertarian Party of Orange County. He is in favor of fully reopening schools and opposes any mask or COVID-19 vaccine restrictions. Ganiere advocates for ending any relations between the OCBE and national organizations. He also doesn’t support failing schools getting any additional funding or free rechartering.
He opposes the state’s plan to mandate ethnic studies and sees no need for teaching race in schools, arguing students can do that in their own time. Ganiere believes parents should receive any lesson regarding sex 72 hours in advance and there should be no assessments or grades for sex education. He doesn’t support banning any books, but rather a list of encouraged books. He is endorsed by the Libertarian Party of California.
Get Involved
While students under 18 cannot vote yet, there are different ways for students to get involved. Students can volunteer for Mari Barke or Martha Fluor on their campaign website. Students can support Christophe Ganiere by contacting him via his LinkedIn where he announced his candidacy or Youtube channel.
Students can also inform their parents about the candidates and ensure they turn in their ballots. Voters can turn in their ballots by mail which has to be marked on or before June 7, return their ballot in person or in a dropbox by June 7 and vote in person at the polls on June 7. Drop boxes and polling stations can be found using the county’s interactive mapping tool.
