Unfailingly congenial, Alan Elmont also is just about the hardest-nosed activist in the schools community, and this time he was evaluating contenders for the School Board.
On Sunday afternoon before an otherwise silent crowd of Nancy Goldberg supporters at a meet ‘n greet, Mr. Elmont and departing School Board member Steve Gourley were holding court, drilling Ms. Goldberg on her convictions.
Recalling the Board candidate’s generic or non-answers to a number of inquiries, Mr. Elmont was surprised.
“At a point,” he said, “she admitted quite frankly that her expertise is not in the budget areas. She said she is coming at this strictly from the student perspective, 40 years teaching in the high school.
“She admitted that (if she is elected on Nov. 8) it would be a steep learning curve for her.
“Scott Zeidman, by comparison, has proven his mettle in the last four years on the Board. He did many of the things that he campaigned to get accomplished.
“He also is one of the most accessible School Board members in my memory. Bob Knopf also was accessible when he was on the Board in the ‘90s.
“Laura Chardiet has budgeting experience. She has been a classroom teacher, too.
“Nancy thought that L.A. Goal’s building (on Overland Avenue) still was available for the School District to expand into, if needed, for immersion programs.
“That is part of the deal with the County (it used to be the County Assessor’s building), that it got split. Nancy was not aware of that. So she is not even aware of our facilities.
“When she made the suggestion about the building, I asked if she was planning on canceling Adult School classes. She was taken aback by that.
“She is in opposition to testing, which a lot of people are, because we have excessive testing. But she doesn’t want to tie testing in with any kind of teacher evaluation. She believed in an open-door policy for teachers.
“I also don’t think Nancy is in touch with our demographics. When asked about school lunches, she said, ‘I believe parents should be backing nutritious lunches and setting the proper example. That is what I attempted to do (with my two children).’
“Yet more than 50 percent of our student population comes from single parent families. We have a significant Title 1 population, which qualifies for subsidized lunches.
“I thought her answer was totally off the mark. I don’t disagree with her. In my family, we certainly approached it that way, and we paid attention to what our kids are purchasing or lunches. Two kids, two very different eating styles.”
