by Jennifer Evans (Updated: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 4:05 PM PDT)
From left, Juan Apitz, Lee & Associates; Alex Rose, Continental Development; Alan McKenzie, Mar Ventures; Jerry Evans, Lee & Associates; Charlie Smith, Thomas Properties Group; Bill Messori, Mar Ventures; and Kent Handleman, Thomas Properties Group at the event sponsored by the Urban Land Institute. (photo by Chris Miller)
In a time when the state is constantly cutting money from education, not many people would want to serve on a school board, but for El Segundo School Board incumbents Robin Funk, Ann Coles and Bill Watkins, electing to sit on the board for another term seems like the right thing to do.
With no opposition, the three board members whose terms are up this September will not need to campaign and instead will stay seated for the next four years.
“When we made the decision, all three of us looked at each other and said are we crazy?” Funk, who is vice president of the board, said. “But it almost seems unfair for someone else to have to jump in and figure all of this out. At least for me it feels like we are in the middle of something that needed completing and as a leader, you don’t just quit when you are in the middle of something.”
Funk was elected to the Board of Education in November 2005 following many years of community service in El Segundo. Funk has served as chairman of the Planning Commission, president of the Center Street School Site Council, president of the El Segundo Council of PTAs, president of El Segundo Middle School PTSA, president of the Parent Board for the ESUSD Preschool, and on the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce Education Committee. For many years she has been a booster leader, raising money for the performing arts programs at the middle school and high school, and the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks.
“I have a good relationship with the city and the local businesses,” Funk said. “My goal for this next term will be to continue being a catalyst between the community and the School District to make sure everyone is as involved as possible, especially during these times when the economy is riding this crazy roller coaster.”
Following her election to the school board, Funk has remained an active community volunteer, as Treasurer of the R.O.A.D. (Reach Out Against Drugs) Task Force, member of the 33rd District PTA Legislation Committee, vice president of programs for El Segundo High School PTA, and leader of both the Performing Arts Boosters and Girl Scout Troop 250.
Funk moved to El Segundo from Wisconsin 25 years ago to pursue a career in the Aerospace Industry. She worked for 15 years in Rockwell International’s Program Management and Cost and Schedule Master Planning departments, leaving the company following the birth of her second child.
Since then, Funk has dedicated her time and energy to her family and community. She and her husband, George, are raising their two children, Hayley, a student at Center Street School, and Chris Tiernan, a student at ESHS, to share their passion for community involvement.
“I understand the importance of trying to avoid the cuts that will negatively affect the classroom and as a board we have tried to cut back but still keep as much opportunities available for students. Right now our test scores show that the students are still thriving despite the cutbacks.”
School Board President Coles, who, like Funk, was first elected to the ESUSD School Board in 2005, also shares Funk’s ideas about staying seated while it feels like they are in the midst of some continuing budget challenges. “At the four-year mark you are really in the swing of things and it wouldn’t be fair to throw a brand new person into this,” Coles said. “I’d like to be part of the process of how we deal with the challenges of the budget.”
“Because we have had to put so much focus on the budget, so many other things have been pushed to the back burner so I am looking forward to looking at things like textbooks and how we might be replacing them with technology,” Coles added. “However, the fact is that although we have been hit hard now with the decrease in our budget, the worst is yet to come. It’s going to be very important for us to work with the city in helping us to figure out additional sources of revenue such as film days or taking a look at how the Imperial property can be a source of income.”
Coles moved to El Segundo after growing up in the Midwest. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1984 before making her way west to find her “dream job” in hotel management for the Embassy Suites in El Segundo in 1988. However, several years later she retired from hotel management to concentrate on raising her children and volunteering in the community. She has been active in PTA, holding various offices at all school sites, involved with CASE since 1990 and has been an active member of Rotary since 2003. She also contributes time and energy to her church activities.
Joining Funk and Coles in the ongoing work of the school board is Bill Watkins.
“I think there is a lot that still needs to be done and I am appreciative to be able to continue to have the opportunity to serve on the board for a second term,” Watkins said. “We need to figure out how we can continue to offer the high education plan we have despite the financial constraints the state is putting on us.”
Watkins, who has lived in El Segundo for 37 years, was also elected tin November 2005. Watkins worked in the ESUSD as a teacher and administrator from 1963 until he retired in 2001 and during that time he and his wife, Carol, raised two children, both of whom graduated from El Segundo High School.
Watkins was the district’s interim superintendent in November 1997 when El Segundo voters passed Measure “C,” the first of two bond measures to modernize campus facilities. As superintendent, Watkins oversaw two of the district’s modernization projects, reopening El Segundo Middle School in 1999 and Richmond Street Elementary School in 2000.
After retiring, Watkins continued his involvement in El Segundo schools, working to pass Measure “E” in November 2001 and serving on the bond’s citizens’ financial oversight committee. He was elected to the board of the El Segundo Educational Foundation in 2001 and chaired its Community Giving Committee, including the Superintendent’s Roundtable, until he resigned following his election to the School Board.
Question: The city of Manhattan beach is taking steps to make parking more convenient. A new recharging station for cash keys that can be used at meters will be installed at Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Highland Avenue, and starting in December the city will test new parking meters at the pier parking lots that may include the use of a single payment station for multiple spaces and the ability for users to pay by credit card and even to possibly extend their time by cell phone. * What do you think are the greatest challenges for parking in Manhattan Beach and other beach cities?
* What technology would you like to see to improve parking?
* What other changes, such as increased time limits, would you like to see?
from Archives: El Segundo News 
