MUROC DISTRICT TO FILL 3 SEATS ONE INCUMBENT FACES CHALLENGE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Three seats are up for election in November in the Muroc Joint Unified School District, but only one is being contested.

Incumbent Chuck James, who represents the North Edwards area, was the only person who filed to run for his seat, so he will automatically win another term.

Katrina Coullier and Jan Torres filed to run for the Edwards Air Force Base seat vacated by Ginger Ashcraft, who resigned to move out of state. However, Torres was appointed to fill a vacancy created when trustee Jan Finch also moved after the deadline for removing her name from the ballot.

Kern County election officials say that if Torres wins, she will have to resign one of the seats.

Torres said she never intended to file to run for Ashcraft's seat but was given the wrong paperwork when she applied for the Finch appointment.

The third seat representing Boron is a contest between incumbent James Sommers and challenger Julie English.

Sommers, 54, was appointed to the board in December. He works as an operator at U.S. Borax and owns a gas station. He previously served on the board for six years in the 1980s and is a 19-year member of the Boron Community Services District board.

``I feel I have a lot of experience and a lot to offer,'' said Sommers, whose daughter is a senior in the district. ``I like kids and people.''

Sommers says being a board member entails more than buying books and materials, hiring teachers, and providing a safe clean environment for the students.

``We have to handle things like expulsions, irate parents. You need to have a broad understanding of what it takes to be a board member,'' Sommers said.

Sommers said the district is heading in the right direction, with the hiring of a new superintendent and district psychologist and having good maintenance and transportation systems.

``I will try to see that we maintain the track we are on,'' Sommers said. ``We are going the right way.''

Sommers said he tries to be an honest board member who makes himself accessible to the public. ``I try to help where I can. I'd like to think I've been a good member in the past and would continue to be a good board member,'' Sommers said.

Sommers said he has not yet formed an opinion on Proposition 38, a statewide ballot measure that would give parents a $4,000 voucher to send their children to private schools.

He said he favors passage of Proposition 39, which would lower the approval level needed to pass local bond measures from a two-thirds majority to 55 percent.

English, 39, is a part-time adjunct professor in child development at Cerro Coso College and works during the summers in a pre-kindergarten program.

English taught in the Muroc district for 12 years before leaving in 1996 to stay home and care for her two children. Her husband teaches at Boron High School.

English said she is running for the board because the oldest of her two sons is entering the Muroc district next year.

``I'm just interested in improving the quality of our children's education. I have a vested interest in that,'' English said.

English said she would work to improve school safety and encourage parent and community involvement in the schools. She wants to revive now dormant parent-teacher organizations and provide child-care programs for parents who would like to volunteer in their children's classrooms.

``We also need to get more communication out to the parents. We could have a homework hotline, a phone number or a Web site, where parents can log on or call and find out what's going in their child's classroom or school,'' English said.

English also said she wants to launch an early childhood program for 3- and 4-year-olds and provide more course offerings and advanced classes for juniors and seniors.

``We have so few electives now, some students are forced to take two periods of P.E. Some are taking college courses off campus and using that for high school credit,'' English said.

English said she is against Proposition 38, the voucher initiative, and undecided about Proposition 39.