MISSION VIEJO : Full House at Forum Produces Few Sparks

A well-attended forum for candidates in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District board race produced few sparks this week despite a pitched battle that had been waged earlier.

Still, a pair of conservative candidates sought to distinguish themselves from the others in the field of eight vying for two seats.

During the Monday night forum at Mission Viejo High School, candidates differed mainly on sex education and educational philosophy. They responded to questions from an audience of about 200 people.

Incumbents Dore J. Gilbert and Bobbee Cline are running as a team. They were the target of a handful of indirect attacks from Pat Soriano and Dave Schultz, who also are campaigning as a team and have been called extremist Christian candidates. The two reject the label, saying they are politically conservative parents who want to improve education by emphasizing basics and “American values.”

The other candidates are Sandie Gonzales, Pamela S. Rush, Susan Krumpotich and Williams J. Goodwin.

Gonzales and Rush are also campaigning as two who eschew the “far right.”

The Nov. 8 election is being viewed as a struggle to control the balance of power on the board.

Gilbert and Cline said the district has performed well in past years and could continue to do so under their leadership. The two defended the district’s sex education curriculum, saying that it promotes abstinence as a primary goal.

Gilbert said the district does not distribute condoms, after Soriano had told the audience that she opposes the practice.

Goodwin and Schultz said they support segregating boys and girls during anatomical discussions of sex education.

Gilbert also said the school district is not trying to “control the minds of your children.” She was addressing critics of the recently abandoned state-mandated assessment test system.

Soriano said the district is moving away from basics, and instead is encouraging students to say “how they feel” about math problems and literature passages.