NEWHALL HOPEFULS GRILLED MAINLY AGREEMENT AMONG 5 IN RACE FOR 3 SCHOOL SEATS.

Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer

NEWHALL - There was little dispute during a forum Monday night among five contenders vying for three school board seats on the Newhall School District board, where discussions ranged from federal laws to physical fitness.

For nearly two hours, hopefuls answered a series of questions submitted by audience members - about 20 people, mainly their spouses and PTA members. Only a few who came to Meadows Elementary School for the debate were local residents looking for faces to match the names on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Candidates tended to agree on some typical issues: Yes, fourth-graders have a lot of homework and, yes, going after the distinguished school distinction is a good thing.

But questions about the district's grading policy - using numbers instead of traditional letter grades - sparked some differences among the candidates.

The four-number system, which began about four years ago, ranks students in relation to education standards set by the state.

Although the rating system is explained on the back of report cards, some parents want to return to letter grades because they don't understand what the numbers mean. Some try to equate the numbers to grades, but the comparisons don't match up.

``It's a rethinking of what the report card is all about,'' said Steve Tannehill, 52, who's running for his third term. ``I think it's here to stay.''

Candidate Robert Jensen, 45, said the rating system does work, but at the same time he'd like to have more discussions about it.

But candidate Steve Lunetta, 42, said the district should discontinue the system, because its unmotivating for students not to know what their grades are anymore.

``That takes excellence away from our school system, and that needs to be stopped,'' Lunetta said.

Thoughts about how to succeed with the No Child Left Behind Act also dominated the evening. The federal law requires states to annually test students in English and math from third grade through high school in exchange for federal dollars.

The system that considers test scores, not improvement, as measures for success has come under fire by many educators who see students, such as second-language learners, making great strides in the classroom but still can't pass the exams.

The federal law tells states to put districts on watch lists if scores don't improve enough over two years of testing.

``It's a joke, the way it's implemented, if you want to be frank about it,'' said J. Michael McGrath, another candidate.

McGrath, 35, said the board should be more involved with the struggles schools face to succeed under No Child Left Behind and wants to make sure each student achieves his or her goals when the school year ends.

Candidate Wendy Zinn, 49, said there are some good things about the federal law, but that it's not executed correctly - something she hopes to change.

Sitting in the audience with a notebook in hand, Roubina Aganian said she came to the forum with concerns about growth in the community and in the classroom. With twins at Newhall Elementary School, Aganian is looking at the future of her girls in the district.

The Saugus resident said the debate gave her the chance to learn about the candidates and their agendas.

``It was good to hear their backgrounds and to see how they look at things,'' Aganian said.

Sue Doyle,[phone]

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com