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Schultz retires from School Board; Riddle seeks vacant seat

By David Scharfenberg Daily Planet staff
Tuesday April 23, 2002

Ted Schultz, an eight-year veteran of the Board of Education, has announced that he will not run for re-election in November. Nancy Riddle, chief financial officer for Monster Cable Products, Inc. of Brisbane and long-time parent activist, has declared her candidacy for the coming vacancy. 

"Clearly, the financial background that I have – I think it would be a good add to the board," said Riddle. 

Voters will elect three board members in the fall. Board President Shirley Issel, who faces re-election, told the Daily Planet she will run. Board member Terry Doran, who is also up in November, could not be reached by the Planet’s deadline but is expected to seek re-election. 

Schultz and board members John Selawsky and Joaquin Rivera have endorsed Riddle. 

"Nancy’s intelligent, articulate – she’s been following district issues for many, many years," said Selawsky. 

"It would be good to have someone with her talents on the board," added Schultz.  

Issel, who will have to compete with Riddle for a seat if more candidates enter the race, praised her potential rival. 

"The district is particularly in need, at this time, of her kind of financial expertise," said Issel, making reference to the $5.4 million deficit the school system faces next year. "If there’s a seat there for her, I’d love her to have it." 

Schultz, whose announcement has been expected for months, said he is retiring to make room for new people and to spend more time with his family.  

Schultz was reluctant to claim credit for any particular achievements in his time on the board, but said he was happy to have contributed to the district’s early literacy program and campaigns to win passage of Measures AA and BB, which provide construction and maintenance dollars for the district. 

"I enjoy working with Ted," said Selawsky. "He’s solid, he’s steady, he’s unflappable." 

 

 

See BUSD/Page 6 

Riddle, the mother of two children in the district, currently serves as vice-chair of district’s budget advisory committee and co-chair of the planning and oversight committee for the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project, a special local tax devoted to the schools that is expected to bring in $9.67 million this year. 

Riddle also serves on the district’s Student Assignment Committee, which is grappling with issues of diversity and integration in the face of state law and a series of court cases that prohibit school assignments based on race. 

As a board member, Riddle said, she would be committed to diversity and closing the "achievement gap" that separates white and Asian students from African-Americans and Latinos. 

 

See BUSD/Page 6 

A parent group called the Coalition for Excellence and Equity made a strong push earlier this year to convert Berkeley High School into a series of small schools in the fall of 2003, in part to address the achievement gap. The board majority tabled the proposal, arguing that the concept needs more study and the district needs to face its financial crisis first. 

Riddle praised the handful of schools-within-a-school that already exist at Berkeley High, but said she is not ready to put wall-to-wall small schools in place. 

"I think the programs we have are great," she said. "But I think we have some work to do before we make the leap to all small schools." 

When it comes to the fiscal mess, Riddle, who has a master’s degree in finance and international business from UC Berkeley, said former Superintendent Jack McLaughlin is partly to blame. 

"I think we had a superintendent awhile back that wasn’t focused on those areas," she said. 

Riddle was reluctant to criticize the board, but suggested it might have moved more quickly to head off the financial crisis. 

"I think the board was slow in realizing how serious it was," she said. But, Riddle quickly added, the McLaughlin administration had a role to play because it did not provide the board with clear budget information. 

Riddle said she supports the cuts the board has made in recent months to address the deficit. Her only criticism, she said, is the lack of public input solicited by the board. 

Riddle said public process will be a top priority if she is elected. 

"We need to play with ideas a whole lot more before we make a decision on the perfect solution and then spend a lot of time debating it," she said.