BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Election Day is November 8th, which is just five days away. One of the elections on this year’s ballot is for Bakersfield City School District Board of Trustees seat for Area 4.
Two of the three candidates running for the Area 4 seat are Mary Poehner and Laura Guerrero-Salgado. They come from different backgrounds, but they both say they plan to tend to the needs of students, teachers, and parents if elected.
“Our children are our legacy and we need to make it possible for them to be successful and, I think, by having a good board, good trustees on the board, people that care deeply about what they’re doing,” said candidate Mary Poehner. “Make it so that the students can be successful in what they are setting out to do as far as their schooling goes.”
Poehner is a retired teacher and life coach, and says one of the main reasons she decided to run for the board is the understanding of the struggles students may be going through after the experience of being schooled virtually and having to find what she called “new normals.”
“With the covid thing having happened, these kids have gotten behind,” said Poehner. “It just occurred to me that I could probably help creatively to help figure out how to get the kids caught up, and that it would just be something to use the talent that I’ve been given, and years of experience teaching and running a school.”
Poehner and the third candidate, Isai Jimenez, who told 23ABC he was unavailable for an interview, are running against incumbent Laura Guerrero-Salgado.
Guerrero-Salgado says she was one of the members who pushed for the district’s Family and Community Engagement Department, which she calls the bridge from home to the public school system. She hopes to help the department thrive as it serves as a way for parents’ voices to be heard.
“I was motivated by parents to run for school board and to stay on the board just because the parents’ opinions and concerns and their questions are important, and should be important to the district because it has to do with their child’s education,” said Guerrero-Salgado. “How else can they bring their voice in making those decisions?”
Guerrero-Salgado believes she has gained trust from a majority of the parents who have students in Area 4 schools and looks forward to maintaining that trust by understanding how important it is to address their concerns.
“As a current board member, I know what it takes and what is needed to stay on this board,” said Guerrero-Salgado. “I understand the needs of the teacher, I understand the needs of the students, I understand the needs of the families, the members of the community, surrounding businesses, and our other staff.”
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