Dear Rancho Santa Fe Community,
I am a mother of 2 children at R. Roger Rowe Elementary School and would like to share with you my thoughts regarding the upcoming election for the Rancho Santa Fe School Board. I feel that our school would be best served by having Jee Manghani and Kali Kim re-elected to the board (they are incumbents and each have been on the board for 4 years). I have seen them listen to parents and engage with the school community, be open to diverse opinions and perspectives, listen and address difficult issues. They are also able to work constructively and collaboratively with the other board members and with the school leadership.
I have attended a number of board meetings over the last 5 years since I have had children at the school. Recently, an atmosphere of hostility, anger, accusations, and blame have permeated the meetings and detracted from the ability of the school board and the administration to work on projects to continue improving our school. Unfortunately the new candidates for the school board have brought negativity and vitriol to the school that was not there previously. I have seen the negative impact this has had on the morale of the teachers, administration, leadership and the school board.
Concerns have been raised in the last few months about the quality of education at the school. The release of the SBAC test scores this week demonstrates that our school continues to be an excellent performing school in both Math and ELA (with higher scores than any other school district in the San Diego region) and among the top schools in the state.
This election will have a significant impact on our school board and the future of the school. I encourage you to vote for Jee Manghani and Kali Kim to continue to lead our school and work to improve the education and learning environment for our children.
Thank you,
Ilia Christy
