everyone on the board will serve as president at some point.”
Members nominate their peers to serve on the board’s leadership positions. This year both Brownley and Leon-Vazquez were the only ones nominated for their posts, and subsequently they were unanimously elected.
Leon-Vazquez did not return repeated messages left at her home, and was unavailable for comment.
But Brownley said she is looking forward to serving as president and keeping the school board focused on the issues facing the school district.
Brownley said the school district needs to lower class sizes, especially at the Santa Monica High School where some classes have more than 40 students.
“I think to some degree we are a victim of our own success. It’s clear people living outside of our district — but close enough to come to our schools want to come here — and that’s good news for our district,” she said.
“But I think on the other hand, that this is not a sound way to address our financial ills. I think what the board did — direct the superintendent to research what we can do — is the right move. We are simply filled to capacity.”
Brownley also applauded the district administration and the teachers’ union for working together to revolutionize how the district may use its academic performance Index funds, which are given to school districts based on their improvement in state standardized test scores.
“I am excited about this plan,” said Brownley. “I think in terms of pooling the funding together and reallocating it more deliberately toward our own student achievement makes complete sense to me.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 12, 2001. Read the original PDF.