San Juan Unified School Board election: Who are the candidates for Trustee Area 7?
Voters in the San Juan Unified School District are choosing trustees by geographic district instead of at-large for the first-time this fall.
The candidates for Trustee Area 7 are Citrus Heights City Councilman Steve Miller; Murad “Moe” Sarama, a parent who is running with support of the school district’s teachers’ union and Citrus Heights’ mayor; and Oleg I. Shishko, a parent who is critical of the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are running to represent Citrus Heights, including neighborhoods around Mesa Verde High School.
Steve ‘Sparky’ Miller
Age: 64
Occupation: Council Member, City of Citrus Heights
Campaign Website: www.facebook.com/SteveMiller4CHCC
1. If elected, what strategies or changes should San Juan Unified focus on to improve educational outcomes for all students?
One way to effectively increase positive outcomes in the San Juan Unified School District is to bring in the community. Schools do better when volunteers, local businesses, non-profits, and service clubs work together with families to support our students. An invested community and dedicated parental base make for a high-achieving school.
I am also committed to ensuring our students are safe and secure on their campuses; our students graduate ready for a career, college, or university; our students are taught to think for themselves; and they are taught financial literacy in high school.
2. Across the state, teacher and staff recruitment retention could be a concern for years to come. What should the district do to ensure teachers come and stay at San Juan Unified?
Teachers stay in their jobs when they feel valued, connected to their job, and supported by parents, administrators, the school board, and community. And it is not just teachers, it is also support for staff, coaches, and campus monitors. I am informed San Juan Unified has enough teachers hired for this coming school year. Recruitment and retention happen when teachers know we care and listen to those who have the biggest impact on our children’s education.
3. About 15% of your school district identifies as English Language Learners. What additional support would you like to see for students to reach more academic success?
The district has at least 22 campuses, including 8 schools in Citrus Heights, where English Language Learner and Fluent English Proficient enrollment is above 15%. The last two school years, there was an increase in English learners speaking Farsi, Pashto, and other languages. Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Arabic speakers have seen a slight decrease in the district.
The challenge will be keeping up with the changing demographics of English learners and obtaining state funding to make sure standards are met. The additional support I would recommend is creating streamlined connections between the English learner program and the school’s curriculum, while focusing available resources on our schools with the most need, instead of considering using the funding for district-wide initiatives.
Murad ‘Moe’ Sarama
Age: 45
Occupation: Transportation/Logistics Business Professional
Campaign Website: www.sarama.vote
If elected, what strategies or changes should San Juan Unified focus on to improve educational outcomes for all students?
I will work diligently to ensure our district runs a balanced budget while ensuring that our teachers and staff get a fair deal as this is essential to ensure our kids go to the best schools. Cooperation among all our stakeholders is essential to ensure our kids get the best education. I will work with the San Juan administration on evaluating each classroom size to ensure an ideal student-to-teacher ratio.
Across the state, teacher and staff recruitment retention could be a concern for years to come. What should the district do to ensure teachers come and stay at San Juan Unified?
We need to retain the highest quality educators and childcare professionals so our students get the education they deserve. To achieve this, teachers and staff need to earn enough to have a high quality of life. I will advocate for a better benefits package for our teachers and staff while ensuring each teacher and staff member is not overworked. I will work in collaboration with the San Juan administration, the San Juan School Teachers Association, and the California School Employee Association to develop a strategy for our district to achieve the best retention rate in the region.
About 15% of your school district identifies as English Language Learners. What additional support would you like to see for students to reach more academic success?
It is vital to create a nurturing environment for our students. We are a diverse district. Education is the great equalizer. We need to operate inclusively to ensure it remains so. Our English as a second language (ESL) programs need sufficient resources in order to be effective. This means recruiting qualified teachers and support staff while acquiring essential instructional materials. I work with the San Juan Human Resources Department and San Juan School Teachers Association to recruit teachers and staff from the communities who will benefit the most from these programs.
Oleg I. Shishko
Age: 29
Occupation: Remodeling consultant at a construction company
Campaign Website: www.voteoleg.com
If elected, what strategies or changes should San Juan Unified focus on to improve educational outcomes for all students?
We need to find ways to get parents more and more involved in the education of their children. Students will be more academically successful if there is an effective partnership between teachers and parents.
How can we build and nurture this parent/teacher relationship? Our district and schools need more transparency in order to regain the trust of parents. Parents must have easy access to lesson plans and curriculum. Our political elite don’t know and can’t possibly know what is best for each child in our district. Parents must be able to easily affect change in the classroom without having to become an expert in navigating a bureaucracy. No one knows their children better than the parents. We need to do everything possible to enable parents to have maximum control over the educational process of their kids.
The district needs to resist federal and state overreach and mandates to our schools. My children do not belong to the state. Parents are the sole guardians of their kids and parents know what is best for their child. If the goal is to improve educational outcomes, we should refocus our schools on academics and cut out what is unrelated to academics.
I am confident that the educational outcomes of students will significantly improve with transparency and parental involvement.
Across the state, teacher and staff recruitment retention could be a concern for years to come. What should the district do to ensure teachers come and stay at San Juan Unified?
Teaching children is not an easy job. It takes a person with a lot of heart and dedication to commit to a career in teaching kids. We need to look for ways to make the job of our teachers easier and not continue to throw more and more responsibilities on them that are unrelated to academics. One way to do this is to have our schools refocus on academics. Our society is incredibly diverse. Schools should stop acting as the implementation and indoctrination arm of our political elite. If we are to truly embrace diversity and inclusivity, let’s refocus our schools on academics and leave the inculcation of values, morality, and ethics to where they belong: families, churches, nonprofits, etc.
Teaching morality to our kids is vital. However, this sacred duty cannot be entrusted to the state. If our government is to be inclusive of all, it must stay neutral and let families and other segments of our public engage in this role.
Our schools should be left out of the cultural and political battles of the day. By refocusing our schools on academics, we will make the jobs of our teachers easier, thereby increasing the academic performance of all children.
About 15% of your school district identifies as English Language Learners. What additional support would you like to see for students to reach more academic success?
I am an immigrant from Belarus. I grew up in a family where English was our second language. While it was relatively easy for me to pick up and master English from a very young age, I understand the struggle of learning another language. I have seen my parents and many other immigrants struggle with learning and communicating in English. Picking up a new language for a child is possible with hard work and dedication. For that ESL student to stay motivated through the frustration and struggle of learning a new language, their parents must be on board with their educational journey. There are a lot of resources available for immigrants. While it may be difficult and costly to create a new program, what we can do is to do a better job in making these existing resources easy to find and navigate. If parents of these ESL students are able to easily navigate our educational system, access available resources, keep track of their children’s educational progress, and more easily communicate with the teachers of their children, the ESL students will have much higher chances for academic success.
This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.