THE RACE FOR THE NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- Her favorite place to be is the home she has made for

herself and her two sons in Costa Mesa.

As someone who really knows the value of a home, Dana Black cherishes

hers.

Bright and comfortable, the restored home maintains much of the

original 1940s feel with wood surfaces, diamond pane windows in the front

and large windows that allow the mother to watch her children in the

backyard.

But Black was rarely just gazing out at her own sons. The house on

Abbie Way has always been the hangout spot for friends of both of her

sons.

It was her habit of watching out for all the children that was the

first step to her becoming a trustee for the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District four years ago.

It began in 1991.

“We had just done a jog-a-thon and raised $35,000 at Mariners

[Elementary School], and two weeks after that we heard they were laying

off the art, music and P.E. teachers at Mariners,” she recalled. “Four

months later, the district came up with a $2-million mistake -- a

clerical mistake supposedly.”

Black and a group of parents, later dubbed the “gang of five” began to

question the board.

They asked if they could raise money to keep the teachers on.

When the board brushed off the group, they decided to take matters

into their own hands.

After nine months of research, Black and her supporters discovered

Steven Wagner had embezzled $9 million from the school district since the

1970s.

Four years later when school board member Jim De Boom decided not to

run for reelection, he suggested she take his place.

She took him up on that suggestion, and Black believes she has made a

difference.

“I think we’ve made a lot of changes, and I’m really proud of the

changes I’ve made in four years,” she said.

Since rooting out the bad eggs years ago, Black said she takes a more

positive approach now.

Now, she said, she asks herself -- and others one question: What is it

you want to get done?

Her answer is improved schools and a tighter community.

“I want to see all schools at the Distinguished School level,” she

said. “I want to see parents as our No. 1 partner in the district, and I

want to see an active student leadership.”