Dee Lacey: Here’s why Angela Hollander is a good fit for Paso School Board | Opinion

I congratulate Angela Hollander and Kenneth Enney for running for a seat on the Paso Robles School Board.

It takes courage to stand for election, especially in these polarized times when even a local school board election is controversial.

Both candidates are well-educated, bright, opinionated (that’s good) and have strong personalities.

Mr. Enney chose a career in the Marine Corps (my favorite branch of the military because my husband was a Marine) and rose through the ranks. After retiring, he became a wheat farmer.

Mrs. Hollander chose a career in the medical field and became a neonatal intensive care nurse and then moved into education, working with families with children from birth through young adulthood.

So, who do you vote for?

For what it is worth, I am choosing Angela Hollander.

I have lived in this community 48 years. In 1976, I was elected to the Paso Robles School Board and spent the next 20 years being reelected, retiring in 1996. I was then elected to the Cuesta College Board of Trustees and spent the next four years getting a campus built in North County.

I believe I have some insight into what it takes to serve as a trustee.

First, it takes a passion for public schools. Public schools enroll everyone regardless of intellectual ability, athletic ability, musical talents, physical and emotional status, race, religion, nationality sexual orientation and financial status. It is the job of our public schools to educate the whole child and make them feel safe, welcome and to educate them in subjects that will prepare them for the world they will live in.

Second, a trustee is one of seven people on a board, and needs the ability to build consensus in order to bring ideas and vision to fruition.

Third, a trustee must show respect for those who work in public schools and do their jobs day in and day out. Board members set the tone from the top down for how the public and the students view their schools. Negativity and a combative nature don’t solve issues.

That doesn’t mean a trustee shouldn’t ask hard questions.

But this is not about playing a game of “gotcha” with administrators and teachers to see who is smarter. Trustees need to see themselves as part of a team working to enhance public education in our community.

Mrs. Hollander and Mr. Enney both believe in parent choice for education, as do I.

If you want to homeschool, the Paso Robles district has a terrific homeschool program. If you want your children to have a private school experience, we have them. Mr. Enney is a strong believer in the voucher system, and he would like to see a charter high school. I say, go do it.

However, I don’t think serving as a trustee on the local public school board is the place for him.

We are all aware of the challenges that exist here in our schools. That is all Mr. Enney seems to see.

Our district deserves someone who supports our local public schools and balances those criticisms by reminding us about the good things that are happening every day in our schools.

I am voting for Angela Hollander because she is a critic and a supporter of our schools. Instead of pointing fingers, she has rolled up her sleeves for the past 20 years and tried to make a difference in children’s lives, by serving on the PTA, on school site councils, volunteering as a reading buddy to a second-grader, coordinating early reading programs, and and volunteering two days a week in the College and Career Center.

As someone who has loved working with teacher and classified unions and fought with teacher and classified unions, who has voted to remove inadequate teachers and praise good teachers, who has been in disciplinary hearings, who has worked with six superintendents, I promise you I would not steer you wrong.

Vote for Angela Hollander before or on April 18.

Cattle rancher Dee Lacey has served on the Paso Robles School Board, the Cuesta College Board of Trustees and the Mid-State Fair Board.