Lois Shade: Coming to the Table

Lois Shade, 68, is no stranger to local politics. The former Glendora city council member and mayor is now setting her sights on a spot on the Charter Oak School Board.

When meeting with Shade for her One-on-One interview with Patch, the high school secretary suggested to meet in the parking lot of the Sunflower Alternative campus, a site that has been a topic of dispute between Shade and the Charter Oak School Board for more than a decade.

Shade’s backyard sits next door to the school’s parking lot, and Shade insists that in 2000, the district promised neighbors that a wall would divide their properties and the school campus. Instead, a chain link fence sits between Shade’s backyard and the school’s parking lot. Shade also claims the campus had been left in shoddy condition long after construction for the parking lot was finished.

Shade said the Sunflower dispute is what compelled her to become more involved in district issues. After regularly attending school board meetings to protest construction at Sunflower, Shade said she became concerned with the district’s budget, as well as lagging test scores. Shade talks to Patch on why she’s running for the Charter Oak school board and why she considers herself more than a one-issue candidate.

Why are you running for a seat on the school board?

It was in 2000, the school district promised us that we would get a wall between the school and our backyards. They said we would get low level lighting. The trash cans would be moved to the back and they ignored us. They had a bond oversight committee. They’re supposed to be in touch with the community and let us know what’s going on.

We didn’t know they were starting this [parking lot] project until they actually started blowing dirt into our houses.

They refused to sit down and talk to us. These lights are not low level. They’re all over our backyards and they’re in my kitchen window. They just totally violated CEQA.

I’m still asking how did a half million dollar parking lot meet the standards for Proposition C, which is bond money to improve education?

I started going to the board meetings and I discovered other things. Like the announcement that they’re $1 million short the third year out. Schools are required to have a three-year budget showing that they can pay their bills. Then they turn around and let a $1.2 million contract to do the improvements at Sunflower. There were no bids.  The question becomes, in this economy, why would you do that without going to bid and explore all the options?

This economy can’t sustain another bond, and I can’t take another hit on my property tax. Retired people that I know are scared to death to take another hit. What about the young families, what about the unemployed or those who don’t have a secure job? We can’t do that.

They just don’t come to the table, and I don’t think they get the right opinions. I just think they need someone with a little city council experience, planning and redevelopment experience.

How do you think the district should address upcoming budget issues?

I’m wondering why you would contract for energy efficiency. I understand that it was $13,000 a month. I feel that’s kind of high. I’m wondering, did they ever go out to bid for that? Did they check with Southern California Edison for their efficiency programs? That’s a lot of money to spend to have someone go around looking at lights and have a 4-year contract.

I’ve spoken to the homeowners and they’re very distressed. They want those schools improved. They want those test scores improved. They’re very concerned about the stadium. They would rather have spent it on a pool.

Maybe that’s not entire consensus of the community, but there doesn’t seem to be that dialogue between the board and the general public, and I think we need to open that up a little bit.

I think they need to realize that we can’t keep spending money. There is no state or federal money coming forward. Everyone is cutting back. We also have two Program Improvement schools. They’re not getting to the 800 mark, they’re not showing improvement and they’re losing ground. The third year, I understand the state comes in and helps them out.  People are concerned about that. Why are you spending money on a stadium when our kids aren’t learning? We have two schools that are struggling, so you need to be over here and you need to be talking to us. There needs to be a concentrated effort to work on that school.

I just think the board needs to come to the table and seek input from the community on important issues that impacts them, especially the budget.

What maintenance projects do you think the district should focus on?
I think they’re going to have to take a look at trying to streamline maintenance.

Who is going to come over here ( to Sunflower) and trim all these bushes? They laid off a bunch of the maintenance guys, they have two grounds men responsible for taking care of all the schools. Are they going to start contracting out? What is that going to cost?

Why would you do this (points to chain link fence) rather than a wall? And I offered to pay for the wall, but they refused to respond. For some reason, they like to spend water and maintenance on this. I don’t think this is good idea. The plants don’t look healthy. Who is going to pull out all the weeds? The watering is beginning to rot out the fences.

I talk about Sunflower because I’m more familiar with this, but we need to look at those types of issues in other places too. We need to streamline as much as we can.

How would you respond to your critics who suggest you’re a one-issue candidate?

That’s not true. I’m very concerned about the lease at Palmview, because Charter Oak school district has been able to stay very viable even though it’s much smaller than some of the others. That’s because it’s retained its property. It has ended up with good lease revenue When Western Christian was there, it was a profitable venture, and allowed them to keep the school and maintain the school. So I’m very concerned that they don’t get themselves in a financial position where they have to lose the school sites. I think they have potential.

I’m very concerned about the test scores. Charter Oak has always had an excellent reputation and that is what has maintained our property values here. It has brought young families in and that helps property values.

We need to take a look at why our test scores aren’t as high as some of the other school districts. How do we remain competitive – especially with open enrollment? If you had a choice going into high school, would you want to go to Charter Oak, which is below 800 API only increasing single digits? Or would you rather go up to Glendora High School where it’s above 800 and their test scores are increasing double digits? Those are choices young families make. I want those schools out of Program Improvement. I want them to be successful. If nothing else, to maintain my property values.

Technology is fast changing. I’ve heard concerns that the technology in the classroom is not where it should be. That warrants investigation.

I think you’ll need everyone to come to the table. The parents, the teachers, the staff  and I think they need to sit down and talk about this and see what’s going on. Why aren’t these kids learning?  I think someone passed it off as the economy and family issues. But we need to talk about that.

What are your views on District of Choice? Is it an option for Charter Oak?

I think there are those that support it, and I think it’s something to put on the table. District of Choice allows you to make the decision of where you wan to go to school and schools can’t stop you from doing that. Couple of the things you need to consider is that you can’t cherry pick, and take all the A-plus students. We’ll need to look at the pros and cons.