By Eric A. Mitchell
Karlo Silbiger has won my endorsement for the School Board.
Now that I finally am of legal age to vote, I am proud to cast my first ballot in support of his re-election. I urge fellow Culver citizens to do the same on Nov. 5.
In my time at Culver City High School, I witnessed an embarrassing absence of the student voice in the Culver City community. Critical issues have passed through the School Board, meeting after meeting, without the School District reaching out for student perspectives or seriously investigating feedback from students after significant changes were made in the schools.
Culver City High School is a fantastic institution, but as a student there, I often felt District officials lost touch with who they were really working for: The students.
Before I graduated this past spring, I was one of the more politically active students.
Additionally, I was a student representative in helping the Robert Frost Auditorium architects understand how CCUSD and the AVPA, the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, use the space and which ideas might be most effective for improving the facility with capital funds.
Unofficially, I became the student master electrician for the theatre spaces in my junior and senior years of high school. There is no fulltime faculty or staff oversight of the lighting equipment or day‐to‐day use of the space (a topic for another conversation).
Off campus, I already had begun working professionally as a technician and designer in Los Angeles theatres. I tried to offer my services to the former District staff. My concerns, though, were not seriously considered until the Frost architects brought them to their attention.
There is one exception.
Mr. Silbiger always has shown that his priority is with the students by talking to them. I served as a student representative on his Education Advisory Committee, a small group that includes the full spectrum of involved members in CCUSD who give him the opportunity to have real conversations about current issues in the District with members of the community.
It always has been clear to me that Mr. Silbiger listens to my input with as much consideration as any other individual.
He invests time in researching issues presented to the School Board. He uses the information learned to make educated, grounded decisions in the best interests of the students, schools, and community.
His poise and his professionalism are invaluable to our community.
This is the type of leader I want to see on our School Board.
Mr. Mitchell, Culver City High School Class of ’13, may be contacted at ericmitchell0@gmail.com
