ENDORSEMENT

There are six candidates running for two seats on the Huntington Beach

Union High School District -- one of those seats is available because

board member Bonnie Bruce is retiring. And of the candidates, incumbent

Michael Simons and newcomer Susan Henry, we believe, have what it takes

to bring the high schools into the 21st century.

Simons, who has been on the board since 1992, has several goals if he

is elected this next term.

He wants improve the district’s facilities, provide safe environments

for all students and staff, and make the district more accountable to the

students, teachers and community. He also wants to make the schools part

of the Digital High School program.

This longtime Huntington Beach resident has had three of his children

graduate from local high schools, with one more in the elementary school

district.

Simons is a member of the Huntington Beach Community Services

Commission and Infrastructure Advisory Committee, as well as the

Educational Enrichment Foundation and the district site council.

He agrees the district should raze Building No. 300 at Fountain Valley

High School because it is unsafe, but he is committed to working with

school and district staff, parents and students to develop plans for

accommodating the programs now held in the building after construction.

While Susan Henry may be new to the political arena, she is not new to

the high school district. Her fresh ideas and experience are needed on

the board. She is also the only candidate with students enrolled in the

high school district.

She is president of the Fountain Valley High School Foundation,

Huntington Beach Union High School District Strategic Planning and

Curriculum committees, as well as a member of the Orange County Coalition

of Public School Foundations. Henry has also been a school volunteer for

12 years.

She agrees with Simons that the schools’ facilities need structural

upgrades and modernization, and that it is important to ensure these get

done for the students. That includes Building No. 300, which she said if

it cannot be economically upgraded and earthquake retrofitted, then it

should be replaced.

Both candidates have been endorsed by the classified and

non-classified district unions, and they deserve your vote Nov. 7.