A merged district with strong leadership would benefit Mountain View schools A merged district with strong leadership would benefit Mountain View schools (October 27, 2000)

Among the decisions Mountain View voters make on Nov. 7, those affecting the governance of the city's schools certainly rank near the top in importance. In addition to choosing candidates for the Whisman and Mountain View school district boards, voters face the historic decision of whether to merge the two districts. If they do, they will elect a third, merged board to govern all of Mountain View's elementary and middle schools.

We think the merger is a logical step for the districts to take. First proposed 30 years ago, it has the enthusiastic support of both current school boards, which commissioned an extensive study examining the operations and financial implications of the proposal.

The two current districts, small in size compared to others around the state, will save money by consolidating their administrative costs. For Whisman, where enrollments have dropped to a mere 1,500 from 1,800 in 1996, joining with the larger Mountain View district promises better insulation from economic downturn and the departure of families stationed at Moffett Federal Airfield, where despite the closure of the naval base the military maintains a presence.

We nonetheless feel strongly that the success of the merger depends on the quality of its implementation. The trustees of the merged board will face difficult choices and hard questions from their constituents as they blend two institutional cultures. To ensure that the new district truly represents the interests of both Whisman and Mountain View families, the trustees must be strong leaders able to think independently, speak their minds, and work together.

In our view, Juan Aranda, Fran Kruss, Russ Wood, and Carol Fisher have much to contribute to the creation of a balanced board.

A longstanding resident of Mountain View, Aranda has earned wide respect for his work in the community, not only as a Whisman School District trustee but also as a youth baseball coach and a volunteer with the Community Health Awareness Council, the PTA, and the Community School of Music and Arts. For working closely with his constituents in his many endeavors, he knows their concerns innately and represents them well: he is just as willing to help a family get a copy of the yearbook as he is to press hard for his point of view in a policy discussion. The board needs Aranda's commitment and depth of experience.

In her long tenure as a Whisman trustee, Fran Kruss has shown herself to be a thoughtful decision-maker. Always well prepared with research of her own, Kruss comes to board meetings with ideas about how to tackle tough problems. She understands that disagreement is part of consensus-building and knows when to press and when to compromise. Her involvement in the district, which began in 1980s, also gives her a breadth of perspective on education in Mountain View that would prove valuable to the merged board.

Although a relative newcomer to school governance, Russ Wood has a grasp of -- and an interest in -- school operations that will serve him well in helping to effect the merger. A product of Mountain View schools and a former site council member at Bubb, Wood was inspired to run by the complaints he heard from parents about the management of the Mountain View district. Wood is on point in his criticism that the Mountain View School District needs better financial management and open communication with the community. His experience as a manager in an engineering firm and his enthusiasm for Mountain View's schools stand him in good stead to help the district make positive change.

As the president of the Mountain View School Board with just one term under her belt, Carol Fisher has worked extremely hard to serve Mountain View's school children. Confronted with criticism of the district's handling of its finances and its relations with the community, Fisher has tried to correct mistakes and deal fairly with the various parties concerned. Her ability to work with others would be an asset to the merged board. In her next term, however, we would like to see her take a more independent stance on important issues and ask tough questions of school district officials.

We do not make a recommendation for the fifth seat.

A long-standing figure in Mountain View's education circles, Rose Filicetti is unquestionably hard-working as a Mountain View School District trustee. She has proven her dedication to public service in taking the lead on such issues as the 1996 school bond campaign. However, based on her actions during several controversies this year, including the failed Morgan Center proposal and the steps leading up to the adoption of new math standards, we nonetheless feel that she is not as open to frank public discussion as the merged board will need to be.

Former mayor Joe Kleitman should be lauded for raising and pursuing fundamental questions about the management of the Mountain View district. The community needs someone of his persistence and intelligence to press the district to reveal to the public what is rightfully theirs: a full accounting of its finances and operations. However, we fear that his aggressive leadership style might hamper the efforts of a new board in finding its footing. The merged district will need a thoughtful critic; we believe that Kleitman might be most effective in this role, rather than as a board member.