SEQUIM — Virginia O’Neil, Stanford English major feels English lit is not for everyone, and Jon Kirshbaum, retired IT manager, thinks the School Board should better utilize its quarterly newsletter.
O’Neil and Kirshbaum are running for the District 2 position on the Sequim School District Board of Directors, which is an unpaid four-year term.
O’Neil is the incumbent. She has held the position since early 2007, when she was appointed to fill the seat vacated by long-time school board member David Blake before his term ended.
In the fall of 2007, she ran for the seat unopposed.
O’Neil, 48, is a 14-year resident of Sequim and has three school-age children.
Kirshbaum, 66, moved to Sequim from Chicago after retiring three years ago. His parents lived in the area for many years.
Pressing issues
O’Neil cites overcrowding and inadequate funding as the most pressing issues facing Sequim schools, according to her statement in the Clallam County Voter Guide.
“We need to secure stable, ample funding at the state level,” she said.
Kirshbaum, in the same publication, cited the need to improve two-way communication with the community as the biggest issue, since many community members do not attend the twice-monthly school board meetings.
“Why not include pertinent information in one or more of the quarterlies mailed out?” he said in his statement.
At a recent candidates forum, O’Neil said she would like to see the high school curriculum tied to career paths.
“For a 16-year-old boy to read Dickens to become a welder is pretty darn stupid,” she said.
And O’Neil knows Dickens.
She graduated with honors from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in English, and after a year of study in England did master’s course work in English and creative writing at New York University.
She is president and general partner of a family limited partnership and real estate holding company.
Kirshbaum has a bachelor’s degree in comprehensive marketing, a master’s in business administration with an emphasis on finance and has done doctoral coursework in educational administration.
He is a retired information technology project manager and financial systems analyst.
He has also been an executive editor of a travel magazine and a freelance travel writer and photographer.
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Features Editor Marcie Miller can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at marcie.miller@peninsula dailynews.com.
