New Trustee Joins School Board

By Patric Hedlund and Gary Meyer

The new trustee for the El Tejon Unified School District Board of Trustees is Stephan Kiouses of Lebec (husband of former El Tejon and Frazier Park Schools principal, Dena Kiouses). Stephan Kiouses has been working as a teacher in the Bakersfield area.

The trustees who selected him from a field of four well-qualified candidates on August 31 are Kenneth Hurst, Paula Regan, John Fleming and Anita Anderson.

Phyllis Throckmorton of Pine Mountain was also in the running, along with Cuddy Creek resident Bradford Oliver and Lebec’s Lawrence Skiba. Each submitted a letter of interest, seeking to fill the open spot.

“There was a self introduction by the candidates, a short break and then candid conversation by members of the board,” Bradford Oliver said in a short interview, adding, “They went with an educator along the ideological lines that Paula and Ken were comfortable with.” Comments in the letters submitted by the candidates reveal varying priorities.

Lawrence Skiba said, “every person who lives on this mountain or has property here has an interest in our schools. I feel it’s time for me to become involved and do what I can to save [this] very important resource….” He has been a leader in revitalizing the high school weight room and securing donated equipment for the schools.

Phyllis Throckmorton was elected to serve on the ETUSD board in 2004. She served for two years, then resigned to apply for the superintendent’s position when John Wight left. For the past 5 years she has worked with the Oxnard Union High School District in “technical education curriculum development, grant writing—bringing in several million dollars for educational programs—working with community organizations, after school programs, public relations, ROTC programs, University of California Curriculum Institute and much, much more.”

Bradford Oliver has a BS in chemical engineering and an MBA. He said his experience as a consultant turning around businesses would be an asset to bring ETUSD up to the challenges of the global economy.

Stephan J. Kiouses wrote that he was in the private sector for 20 years in upper management positions dealing with budgets, personnel, contracts, and finance, then taught math and science at the high school, middle school, and university level for the past 13 years. He has an MS in geology, and an MBA in finance. He says declining enrollment and maintaining a sound financial position are primary challenges for ETUSD.

“It is important that we increase rigor as well as [breadth] in our student’s educational experience,” he wrote.

This is part of the September 09, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.