Santa Paula Unified School Board sworn into office
By Brian D. Wilson
Santa Paula News
Published: December 07, 2012
The new Santa Paula Unified School District Board held its first meeting Wednesday night. The five board members were elected last month from a field of six candidates.
Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Stanley Mantooth conducted the swearing-in of Christina Urias, Diana Ponce-Gomez, Michelle Kolbeck, Chris Wilson and Kelsey Stewart. Over 100 people were on hand for the event, held at the Community Center.
Urias, who was the top vote getter, was chosen by the other board members to be the first president of the district. She thanked everyone there for coming.
Mantooth called the unification a standout moment, noting it has been 30 years since the last unification took place in Ventura County. Its very exciting, he added. Theres a lot of heavy lifting to do, but I think there are many, many benefits that are going to come from this.
Voters approved Measure M last month, forming the unified district. Ginger Gherardi, one of the major players in getting Measure M passed, congratulated the new board. She called it a new day for the children of Santa Paula.
The board voted to name the new district the Santa Paula Unified School District. The board will start meeting twice a month on the first and third Thursdays next month. Meetings will be held at the Community Center until further notice.
The Unified District will officially take over the operation of the combined high school and elementary district on July 1 of next year.
