Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide
Name: Leah Ersoylu
Current job title: President, Ersoylu Consulting
Political party affiliation: Non-Partisan
Incumbent: Yes
Other political positions held: Appointed, Orange County Children & Families Commission; Appointed, Costa Mesa Parks & Recreation Commission; Appointed, Costa Mesa Bikeability & Walkabiliy (Active Transportation); Appointed, Costa Mesa Housing & Public Service Grants Committee
City where you reside: Costa Mesa
Campaign website or social media: leah4newportmesa.com
Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for heavier restrictions on smartphones in schools, pointing to studies that show the harmful effects of social media. How do you see schools restricting smartphone use? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
Our district passed an updated cell phone policy this past year that limits the ability of students to use their phones while on campus. This is critical to help curb not only the phone addiction and mental health issues that arise from social media but also to curb the videotaping while at school of bullying and hateful acts that have occurred on campuses.
We are actually piloting at one of our middle schools a way that students actually lock their phone into a cloth “bag” that is kept in their backpack all day and then unlocked at the end of the day. It has shown promising outcomes in other districts, so we are testing it this fall and will have results to determine if we expand it throughout the other Middle and High Schools.
How can your district better harness artificial intelligence technology for learning while also protecting kids from another tool that can be used for bullying? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
AI is here and evolving rapidly; we must embrace that reality. NMUSD has offered staff countless professional development opportunities to help prepare staff and students to understand the usage and ethical issues that accompany AI. We must continue to train and re-train staff and students in understanding the appropriate uses. We also offer parent education workshops, and AI is a topic that parents must also understand, if parents want to be in the loop — whether it is Open AI, ChatGPT or even Microsoft Copilot. Parents, students and teachers all need a clear picture of how AI can be used for both good and nefarious ways. We need to educate our children about the dangers of creating fake profiles, offensive memes and other deepfake online photos, etc. Children need their parents to teach them the importance of vetting online information. Parents and educators need to make sure that there are evolving policies and procedures to address online bullying in its new and evolving forms.
What are the top two needs of your school district, and how are you prepared to address them? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
The top needs of NMUSD are to continue to strive for excellence in our learning outcomes and maintain safe learning environments.
As all districts faced learning loss from 2020-24, we have finally begun to see some improvements to our math and literacy scores. Our most promising steps taken has been to (finally) align our math curriculum K-12, and we expect to see results in upcoming years from this. Early education is an area where we must continue to develop, now with TK districtwide, to make sure that our earliest learning spaces give children the tools needed to build on their literacy, which will have impacts on their elementary school years.
Regarding the learning environment, we are continuing to make improvements to our safety and security, having just implemented new safety technologies, including cameras, and also building upon the work to have students continue to understand that they are in a community and that kindness and anti-bullying campaigns are critical to that. All students must feel welcome and safe to learn. Addressing our aging infrastructure is another way to keep our kids safe and recent installation of sun safety shades is an example of such facility improvements we continue to build on.
What experiences and priorities do you bring to the table for this role? What have you learned in prior leadership roles that make you the person for this job? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
As a small business owner for over 15 years, having worked with public agencies and philanthropy, I bring an acute understanding of the complex budgeting required to best serve nearly 18,000 children and operate dozens of school sites. In addition, my professional experience has been in helping nonprofits and government agencies to design and measure the impact of their education, youth development and other social programs. Therefore, I am able to look closely at the services and educational programming we offer our NMUSD students and identify whether or not the data demonstrates the learning outcomes we need to see. I have also served in several other commissions and committees (noted above) where I have helped steward public dollars to their best highest use for youth and families.
My priorities are always that we make decisions that impact all children, especially those who may not have strong supports and resources at home, and that we use data to make those decisions. I have learned in the past four years as your elected trustee that the educational issues facing our kids today are extremely complex and intertwined with so many other elements that I have become quite astute in identifying what is the “actual” hold-up or issue driving a problem.
California has a new law, set to go into effect in 2025, that prohibits districts from enforcing what’s been called parental notification policies, rules for school employees to contact parents if their child may be changing their gender identity. What do you see as the role of parents in education? Is there a limitation? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
The role of parents in their child’s education is paramount. Kids need to have parents who make sure they have the resources to be successful. Our board majority voted last summer (2023) to pass an updated parental rights and responsibilities policy. It is on the district website, as well as my Facebook page.
Sadly, there is so much disinformation and a real interest in some folks not wanting to understand what the actual rights parents *do* have, that this conversation — and the term “parental rights” — has become politically charged. We can all agree that parents are ideally a child’s first and best teacher. We know the value of reading to children aged 0-5 is critical to a child’s development. Parents should stay involved from preschool to 12th grade, at varying levels. They need to offer support and be able to identify issues and work with the child’s teachers hand-in-hand. This is why it is important that all parents read and understand the parental rights and responsibilities policy that the district has in place so that all parties can use reality as the starting point for any dialogue on the issue.
What role do you see your district playing in combating climate change? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
As any large public agency that owns land, districts have a responsibility to do their part. Our district has done extensive solar panel additions in parking lots, has worked to have plans for new buildings LEED Certified and will continue to steward the land we own in a way that does not cause more damage.
In addition, I personally see our role as an environmental steward as a critical one and am always looking for ways to identify greening efforts, maintain *and expand* our trees’ shade cover and work with others who have this expertise in identifying ways that we can provide environments that are healthy and heat-safe for children and families.
Related Articles
Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, Santa Ana City Council Ward 5 candidate, 2024 election questionnaire
Mario Alvarado, Santa Ana City Council Ward 5 candidate, 2024 election questionnaire
Jessie Lopez, Santa Ana City Council Ward 3 candidate, 2024 election questionnaire
Jeffrey Katz, Santa Ana City Council Ward 3 candidate, 2024 election questionnaire
Julie Tran, Santa Ana City Council Ward 1 candidate, 2024 election questionnaire
“
Leave a Reply