KERN COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — Voters head to the polls in November to cast their ballot on a number of issues, including local school board races. 23ABC took a closer look at two candidates running for Area 2 of the Kern County Board of Education. The area covers schools in Taft, Shafter, McFarland, and Delano.
The County Board of Education is limited in its influence on local school-based decisions, but it does play a role in things like charter schools and expulsions. Both are decisions that have lasting impacts on a child's educational journey, which is ultimately what has prompted the following candidates to run.
Joe Marcano is running for County Board of Education. Marcano is originally from Los Angeles but has made Kern County his home for the past 14 years.
As a supervising deputy District Attorney for the county, Marcano says he has seen younger and younger students commit more serious crimes, such as sexual assault, carrying weapons, and bringing drugs like fentanyl to school. He says that's why it's important to be firmer with students he describes as "problematic."
"At some point, the criminal justice system has to get involved and unfortunately sometimes those kids need to be referred to probation and they might have to have a juvenile petition filed against them," said Marcano about those students.
Meanwhile, Marcano's opponent and incumbent, Joan Smith, has served on the board for a year and says she has looked at parent and district concerns when making expulsion decisions.
"I'm a strong believer in restorative justice," said Smith. "There are some cases where some of my questions have been, for example, to a district official, ‘what have you done to make things better for this particular student?' Perhaps they are a student of color in a district where they feel like they don’t have a voice or perhaps they are a student with special ed needs, so we have to look at all those issues."
As a public school teacher for 39 years and a current professor at California State University Bakersfield, Smith says school safety is a main priority.
Both Smith and Marcano say they are pro-charter schools.
23ABC will continue to bring you more profiles of candidates for the county board of education as the November 8th election approaches.