DISTRICT CANCELS SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION; ONLY 3 CANDIDATES TO APPLY WILL BE APPOINTED.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Because only three people were interested in the three school board seats up for grabs, the Newhall School District election set for November has been canceled, and the candidates will be appointed to the panel.

The decision, allowed under a section of the state Education Code, was announced at the Aug. 26 school board meeting.

Administrators had set aside $35,000 in district funds to cover election costs, according to Herbert Bartelt, assistant superintendent of business. Instead, that sum can be saved for other budget purposes.

Newhall Superintendent Marc Winger said it didn't make sense to hold an election when board incumbent John Castagna and newcomers Steve Tannehill and Sue Neiberger would be the only candidates on the ballot.

``It wasn't necessary. Why go to the expense?'' Winger said.

Decision not unique

Two years ago, the Newhall School District spent $25,384 to hold a school board election in which four candidates were vying for two seats, said Marcia Ventura, a spokeswoman for the county registrar-recorder.

Voter turnout, as is usually the case in school board contests, was sparse for that November 1995 election. Between them, the candidates received a combined 4,939 votes. Ron Winkler and Philip Ellis Jr. joined the board after garnering 1,586 and 1,289 votes, respectively.

Ventura said Newhall's decision wasn't unique this year. Across Los Angeles County, elections scheduled for Nov. 4 were canceled in 21 school districts due to a shortage of candidates. The same was true in elections to 17 other bodies, such as water districts across the county, she said.

In all instances, new board members will be appointed.

Winger said he wasn't concerned that, in a district with 27,929 registered voters, only three people - one of them an incumbent - filed candidacy papers to run for the school board.

``It tends to say that people are content. There aren't a lot of huge issues, even with our decision to go to year-round,'' Winger said. ``On the other hand, elections are good things and they should be competitive, so you could say you wish more people would get involved.''

No strangers

Neither Tannehill nor Neiberger is a stranger to school board meetings, although they were both making their first run for public office. They will be appointed to their seats Dec. 9, the same day Castagna will be appointed to his second term.

Neiberger, 43, is president of the Santa Clarita Valley Council PTA, an organization that represents schools in the Castaic, Newhall, Saugus and Sulphur Springs districts. Tannehill, 44, is an executive vice president of an investment banking firm that specializes in mortgage assets.

Both of them have children attending Newhall district schools.

Neiberger had high praise for district staff, the superintendent and the school board. ``Everyone has a vision for the future direction of the school district, and I wanted to be a part of it,'' she said.

A big motivation to run for the seats - left vacant when board members Mike McCabe and Susan Edwards decided not to seek another term - was the district's planned switch to a multitrack year-round schedule in the 1998-99 school year. The move is intended to cope with ever-swelling enrollments at the district's seven schools.

``I've always been a proponent for multitrack year-round education,'' Neiberger said. ``Our schools are overcrowded. We have portables on all our school sites,'' she said, referring to the temporary classroom buildings erected on school playgrounds and athletic fields.

``I believe children need space to learn, they need space to grow, and they also need space to play.''

Castagna, the current school board president, was elected in 1993. The 44-year-old Newhall resident is a certified public accountant with his own business.

Valencia resident Tannehill has first- and second-grade sons and a 2-year-old daughter.

Time for homework

While Tannehill said he was surprised about the shortage of challengers, he wasn't disappointed about the election's cancellation because he will use the next three months to do his homework about district issues like the budget and standardized test scores.

``Campaigning is probably the most distasteful part of the process, so not having to go through do I print posters, do I seek endorsements? . . . avoiding that was positive,'' he said.

``What's negative, though, is you miss the opportunity to . . . find out what (voters') concerns are, what they're most interested in seeing the school board address.''

Tannehill said he'll replace the lost campaign season with visits to each district school, to meet the students, teachers and principals. The Stevenson Ranch School PTA invited him to a Sept. 17 meeting, and he hopes to receive more invitations like that.

Although school board members must decide a number of business issues, from funding repairs and buying supplies to ``ensuring the fiscal solvency of the district,'' Tannehill said he's excited about tackling the more education-oriented matters.

``What I'm looking forward to most are the academic issues . . . ensuring we have the best possible curriculum,'' he said, citing the technology in the classroom program in particular.

A veteran of public schools, from kindergarten through graduate school, Tannehill described himself as a staunch advocate of public education, despite its many challenges. The Newhall district, he said, needs two new schools to accommodate its growing enrollment, which stands at 5,900, and to implement class-size reduction in first, second and third grades.

``I attended California public schools my entire life,'' Tannehill said. ``I've been blessed with success in my career, and I wanted to give a little back to make sure kids had the same quality of opportunities I had.''

Multitrack supporter

Neiberger, meanwhile, said her two sons - now in the fourth and seventh grades - went through the district's experiment with multitrack year-round schedule a few years ago. She is sold on the idea because she believes students retain more of their knowledge over the shorter vacation breaks.

She said she felt compelled to run for the school board after so many years of attending meetings and addressing the panel. ``You can only sit in the back of the room and shake your head for so long, and then it's time to jump in,'' Neiberger said.

``Public education has made a promise to children to reach their potential, and I would love to be a part of that,'' she said. ``There is an absolutely wonderful communication and partnering - from the district staff, to the professional staff at the schools, to the parents. No matter what the issue, input is taken from all of those factions.''

Tannehill, a Northern California native, said he and his wife researched school districts all over Southern California when he landed a job in Los Angeles County several years ago. Then they read a book that rated the 100 best elementary schools in the state - and Peachland School was on the list.

``That's what brought us down here,'' he said. ``We concluded that the Santa Clarita Valley was probably the best place to bring our family.''

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO (1) Steve Tannehill

Plans school visits

(2) Sue Neiberger

Comp elled to jump in