Board choice is shuffle or stay

A Sacramento veteran. A community activist. Two mothers whose children graduated from the same high school — albeit three decades apart.

Whichever candidate voters choose for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s fourth trustee area next week, they are assured of one thing: They will get an experienced leader in office. The question, though, is what kind of experience will serve the schools best.

Incumbent Serene Stokes, who is completing her third term on the board, has seen the district through its peaks and valleys of the last 12 years. Elected to the board shortly after Newport-Mesa suffered an embezzlement crisis, she oversaw the district through tough financial times, helped pass two bond measures and aided the creation of two strategic plans.

Challenger Karen Yelsey, a first-time candidate, saw her youngest daughter graduate from Corona del Mar High School in June. Over the last 18 years, she has been an active parent, heading PTAs at Corona del Mar High and Lincoln Elementary School, serving on accreditation committees and organizing the annual Spirit Run, a race that garners funds for local schools.

“The reason I’m running is that I’ve been in the school district for 18 years,” said Yelsey, 55, who has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania. “I’ve been intimately involved, and I feel that I have a lot of knowledge and expertise that I could bring to the district. Now that we have a new superintendent, it’s important that we have some new voices, some leadership on the board and some change.”

Change, so far, is the main issue driving the race for the fourth district, which covers Corona del Mar and Newport Coast. Stokes and Yelsey are Republicans, supporters of school bonds and advocates for parent and community involvement on campuses. To many voters, though, they represent a choice of a different kind: keep the status quo or shake things up.

Yelsey, who strongly favors term limits for trustees, has significant backers in her campaign. One of her mailers lists 35 former PTA and Parent Faculty Organization presidents from Corona del Mar schools who support her, and the California Republican Assembly and Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers have endorsed her as well.

Stokes, 77, has a number of prominent supporters, including Orange County Supt. Bill Habermehl, Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich and Coast Community College District Chancellor Ken Yglesias. A Corona del Mar resident for nearly 40 years, she put her daughters through Corona del Mar High and served for 17 years as a principal in the Santa Ana Unified School District.

In her last election, Stokes defeated a pair of challengers — one of whom, Ed Loyd, also argued for term limits. With Jeffrey Hubbard recently instated as Newport-Mesa’s superintendent, Stokes said experience on the board was essential.

“It takes a while to learn what to do to be a good school board member,” she said. “You go to classes, you learn the whole system and everything. I feel if the public thinks a school board member is not doing a good job, they will vote them out.”