Three candidates vying to be the next Merced County Superintendent of Schools spotlighted their similar experience in local education at a Wednesday night forum.
The superintendent position will be on the June 2 primary election ballot because incumbent Steve Tietjen is not seeking re-election. Mail ballots will start going out to registered voters May 4. Tietjen has held the county superintendent position for a decade and has yet to endorse a candidate to replace him.
The superintendent leads Merced County Office of Education, which works as a support system for school districts and schools throughout the county. County offices often focus on enrichment programs for inside and outside the classroom, as well as administrative support in special education and teacher credentialing.
The forum Wednesday, held at Golden Valley High School’s theater, was organized by the Merced County School Board Association and was open for school employees to attend. About 30 attendees watched from their seats as the candidates focused on their decades of history in education administration.
Four candidates are campaigning for Tietjen’s spot — Ana Boyenga, an assistant superintendent at Atwater Elementary School District; Paula Heupel, the superintendent of El Nido Elementary School District; Richard Lopez, the superintendent of Merced River School District in Winton; and Alberto Velarde, a retired principal and school administrator. Velarde did not participate in or attend the forum.
The superintendent of schools candidate who obtains 50% plus one of the primary election votes wins outright. Otherwise, the two top candidates will compete in the Nov. 3 general election.
During opening statements, Boyenga described herself as a first-generation immigrant and said she’s held many roles, including teacher and principal, before her current role in Atwater. Heupel, who grew up in Hilmar, also held teaching and leadership roles in a variety of educational agencies, including at Merced City School District and the Merced County Office of Education. Lopez said he is a product of public education, and has served as a school board member as well as his current role as superintendent.
Despite this focus on extensive administrative experience, not all voters at the forum said that’s what they’re looking for.
“We see a lot of administrators that are not visible,” said Edgar Aguilar, a substitute support aide for special needs students at the county office. “You need to be visible. You need to provide that one-on-one coaching, not just be an admin and sit behind the scenes and send your staff.”
Collaboration during first days in office
The first question of the night asked what candidates would do during their first 100 days in office.
Heupel said she would use her history in the county office to meet with staff and do an internal review of the institution’s effectiveness. She also said she would establish an advisory council with community organizations and partners that would provide more representation.
“This is the process that I use wherever I’ve gone,” Heupel said. “It’s very collaborative. It’s never ‘me’ – it’s ‘we’ – and that creates sustainability.”
Lopez called for a push to collaborate with leaders at school districts as well as attending district’s school board meetings.
“Many districts find themselves, especially the rurals in isolation, looking for that guidance, looking for that support,” Lopez said. “I’m going to be that person that’s going to be there, that’s going to be visible.”
Boyenga stressed collaboration with school districts and staff at the county office. She said the conversations would likely revolve around special education, which she said is a concern “throughout the country.”
Addressing concerns in budgets, special education
The candidates also answered several questions involving concerns in special education and budgets.
When looking to address declining enrollment and the associated costs, Boyenga said she would look for new funding sources and apply for grants, similar to what she does in her current role as an assistant superintendent.
“When you’re looking at your budgets, and school boards have the three-year projection, you can already have an idea of where you’re going and curb expenses to ensure that you’re living within your means,” Boyenga said.
Heupel said she would use her business background and the superintendent position to advocate for new policy in the legislature.
“We need to look at our efficiency, but we also need to look at the quality of our programs, and it comes back to trust,” Heupel said. “The public trusting us, and having an exceptional program that delivers for students, that will keep us with our student enrollment coming in, rather than the declining enrollment.”
Lopez would continue to look at budgets throughout the year, he said, and utilize the Local Control and Accountability Plan, otherwise known as the LCAP, to help school districts make changes throughout the year.
As for special education, Lopez said he would focus on closing any budgetary deficit by having conversations among superintendents in the area.
“I can come up with a solution, but it’s not just my program,” Lopez said. “It’s our program as a collective. We need to work together.”
Boyenga said she would focus on good instruction and intervention programs by recruiting more teachers in special education. Heupel said she would like to expand training capacity for all staff on how to increase parent involvement and attendance.
Looking to the future
After the forum, The Merced FOCUS caught up with two candidates and some attendees to ask their thoughts.
Boyenga was asked to run for superintendent after receiving the Merced County Administrator of the Year award last October, she said. According to her, experience with a larger school district, such as her experience at Atwater Elementary, is what sets her apart from the other candidates.
“I am from a large district with nearly 5,000 students and 11 schools when you’re looking at working for 20 districts,” Boyenga said. “We have 11 schools in Atwater, whereas my opponents each have like one school that they oversee.”
Meanwhile, Heupel stressed her experience beyond her current role as superintendent at El Nido Elementary. She pointed to her previous roles at Merced City and MCOE, which she said is a reason she sees this position as her “calling.”
“Dealing with big district issues and the opportunities of how that is nuanced in the community,” Heupel said. “I have extensive experience that the others do not.”
The Merced FOCUS couldn’t catch Lopez in time for an interview, but he apparently captured the vote of Edgar Aguilar, the substitute aide.
“I already know who I’m going to be voting for, and that is [Lopez], just because I’m from the Winton community, and he started working there at the Winton community,” Aguilar said.
Greg Friedman, a culinary career technical education teacher at Merced Scholars Charter School, said he’s still unsure who he will vote for, but he’s hoping to get out to another forum to get a better sense of the candidates before the election in June.
“This role is so encompassing,” Friedman said. “It sounds great here, but once it’s boots on the ground, you have the job, it’s totally different, right? So you kind of look at that, and here’s the rose-colored glasses that they’re trying to project. But then, how are they really going to do once it’s there?”
