by Jerry Dannenberg
I am Jerry Dannenberg and I have recently been elected to the Ventura Unified Board of Education, Area 4.
First and foremost I would like to thank my family, friends and supporters who made it possible for me to run for the Ventura Unified Board of Education. I would also like to thank all those who helped me with my campaign. Finally thank you to those of you who voted for me. My commitment to all the voters and parents in the district is that I will be an advocate for all children.
This year marks a major transition for the district with the retirement of several district key leaders. The board has hired a very well-grounded Superintendent in Mr. David Creswell. Mr. Creswell has in turn hired a great administrative team in the district office to move the district forward in the years to come. It is my hope that I will be able to help the Board, Mr. Creswell and his team with some of the district history and with my 41 years of experience as an educator.
For those in the community that don’t know me, I have been a teacher, teacher’s union president, principal, district office administrator, Superintendent, and Adjunct Professor of Education for the three local universities. Sixteen of my 41 years in public education were spent in the Ventura Unified School District. I served as principal of Juanamaria Elementary School, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Assistant Superintendent of the Educational Services division of the School District.
My wife, Melinda, and our two children moved to Ventura 32 years ago. Both my children graduated from Ventura Schools and went on to graduate from the state university system. We have five grandchildren. One has graduated from Ventura and is presently attending college. The other four are presently attending Ventura Schools.
I hope that I can help the district address the following issues in my first four years on the Board:
- An aggressive approach for dealing with problematic bullying and racism in our schools.
- Equitable learning opportunities for all students including making sure that all high school students have the same number of class periods available to them. We also need to make sure they have the same opportunity for Advanced Placement Classes at all high schools.
- Safe schools for all students.
- Proactive fiscal management of district resources that insure balanced budgets that provide the best learning opportunities we afford.
- A focus on academic rigor to help all students. I would also like us to work towards an International Baccalaureate Program in one or more of our high schools.
- We need to make our employee salaries more competitive so that we are not losing our teachers and employees to other school districts or different careers.
- We need to fully staff all of schools with counselors who can help our students deal with the pressures of today’s world.
- We need to look at the feasibility of putting air conditioning in our classrooms to make them the best learning environment for our students and the best work environment for our employees. We also need to look into renewable energy source success solar energy to help reduce our future energy costs.
I am looking forward to being a member of the Governing Board and I can’t wait to get started. Once again I would like to thank everyone that supports me and voted for me. Thank you.
