DEL MAR — Candidates running for the Del Mar Union School District board of trustees discussed how district policies impact families during a forum on Monday hosted by the League of Women Voters of North County San Diego.
All six candidates running for the board attended the forum at Ashley Falls Elementary School, where they answered questions from community members about transitional kindergarten and STEAM+ programs and addressed community concerns, school safety, and declining enrollment.
The six candidates are running for three at-large seats on the board. Incumbents Gee Wah Mok and Alan Kholos (who was appointed in 2023) are running against former district teacher Bill Porter, Del Mar Schools Education Foundation Vice President Helen Doyle, academic and parent Genevieve Okada Goldstone, and parent and finance professional Danielle Roybal.
Several of the challengers said they want to usher in change and increase transparency within the district. Goldstone and Roybal said parents’ voices are not being heard by the current board and district leaders, especially when it comes to special education issues and uniform complaints.
Doyel and Goldstone said that they ended up pulling their kids out of Del Mar Union schools because their needs were not being met, and they want to improve support for families.
“I wish they could be in neighborhood schools. I’m taking my frustrations and I’m turning them into something good,” Goldstone said.
Roybal, who also ran for the board in 2022 alongside Porter, has been outspoken for several years about the district’s lack of collaboration with special education families and, in some cases, failure to follow special education law.
During the forum, she described how the school district denied her request for an aide for her son after an incident where he went missing from school property.
“I’ve been a parent on the other side who has concerns,” Roybal said. “It would be important to me for parents to realize I take their concerns very seriously.”
Kholos stated that none of the issues referenced by Roybal are recent and claimed that the district has not been involved in new special education litigation since he began on the board in mid-2023.
“The good news about the bad news is it’s old news. If you take a look at the complaints that were listed by one of the candidates, none of them are recent, and I can say … we’ve had no new litigation since my watch, for special ed,” Kholos said.
Candidates also discussed declining enrollment in the district and how this impacts Del Mar Union as a basic aid district. This means that its revenue from property taxes is higher than what it would get in per-pupil funding from the state.
While declining enrollment is an issue faced by districts throughout California, some candidates said they believe families are leaving Del Mar Union due to their frustration with the district.
Porter, who taught in Del Mar schools for 18 years before becoming a principal in the Vista Unified School District, said declining enrollment in the district is a “plus-minus.” He explained that although the district doesn’t lose funding with fewer students, facilities end up being underutilized.
“We get paid no matter how many students are sitting in the classroom, but it’s not utilizing our resources as effectively as we can,” Porter said.
Mok said declining enrollment does free up some funds that can be used for other things. In the 2023-24 school year, the district was able to allocate $548,000 to fund two classes of a limited transitional kindergarten program for highest-need students.
“What additional things can we offer, if possible? That’s something we invite the community to come participate in,” Mok said.
Transitional kindergarten, or TK, was also a large topic of discussion on its own, as the state requires all elementary school districts to offer it as a precursor to regular kindergarten for all four-year-olds by 2025-26. However, Del Mar argues that it is exempt from this requirement because it doesn’t receive state funding to implement the program.
All six candidates said they wanted the district to offer TK, but they differed in how this should be accomplished.
Doyle, Kholos, Mok and Porter said they would like to see more advocacy on the state level for increased funding and that using district money would require moving funds from other things, such as small class sizes or STEAM+ programs.
Goldstone said that if “there’s a will, there’s a way” and claimed there are empty classrooms with attached bathrooms in the district that could be used for TK. Roybal said she believes the district has the money to fund it themselves and said having only socioeconomically disadvantaged students in the district’s TK program singles them out among their peers.
Community members also asked candidates about improvements to the STEAM+ program, which provides instruction in the arts, science, physical education, Spanish and technology. Many STEAM+ programs are funded by donations to the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation, or DMSEF.
Doyle said that as a leader in the foundation, she has seen where the district’s intentions for the program have fallen short for families. She said parents need more information about funding and decision-making related to how STEAM+ programs are spread out between schools and that many people do not donate because they are unhappy with how funds are spent.
“There needs to be more openness and transparency in that decision-making process,” Doyle said.
Community members also asked about the new dispersed library system at Pacific Sky School and the new Del Mar Heights campus, where books are available for checkout throughout the school rather than in a dedicated library space.
Mok and Kholos said this approach provides students with more access to books than a traditional library, while Roybal and Goldstone said they believe there is value in traditional library spaces.
Goldstone is running against Kholos for a limited-term seat lasting until 2026. The other four candidates are running for four-year terms, and the top two vote-getters will be elected to the board.
A video of the forum is available on the LWV’s YouTube page.
