Voters to Get the Final Word : In two school districts and a city where the election debate has been hottest, decisions will come at the polls Tuesday. : Garvey School : Integrity Disputed as Much as Policy in Race for 2 Board Seats

In the hotly contested Garvey school board race, divisions among candidates have been characterized as much by personal enmity as by policy disagreements.

“It’s all personal,” said Supt. Andrew J. Viscovich.

The seven candidates on Tuesday’s ballot include two incumbents, a former board president, and four challengers who have accused the board of being inaccessible to parents and capitulating to pressure from special interest groups.

Personal integrity is perhaps the central issue in the race for two seats on the five-member board, which governs elementary and intermediate schools in parts of Monterey Park, Rosemead and San Gabriel

Supporters of incumbent Jim Smith and challenger Diane Martinez have distributed a flyer reminding voters that incumbent Bob Miranda violated state codes governing the use of district funds after he charged $90 in food and alcoholic beverages to his district-issued credit card in 1985. Miranda said he paid for a dinner attended by other board members and Viscovich after a conference, and has maintained that it was a legitimate expense.

The county Office of Education ordered Miranda to reimburse the district.

Miranda has asked that the past actions of other candidates be re-examined as well. He has pointed out that former board President John Nunez, who is trying to win back a seat, also charged meals to his district-issued credit card and should be held accountable. A board subcommittee found that Nunez’s expenditures were legitimate.

Miranda has also criticized Smith, who has been accused of a conflict of interest for voting to approve a summer program in which his wife was employed as a teacher’s aide. The accusation was made last month by Anne Cusick, who has dropped out of the race.

When Smith was elected to the board in 1983, the county counsel’s office told the district that since his wife had been employed for more than a year before her husband joined the board, he could vote on regular salary matters involving her position.

Smith said the item was part of a consent agenda that was unanimously approved, so his vote made no difference. But Miranda said the program was funded by a grant the district had to apply for and, therefore, was not a “regular” salary matter. Miranda has asked that the county counsel look into the matter.

Policy Issues

The candidates are also split on policy questions. One of the central issues involves what some perceive to be a poor showing by the district in last year’s California Assessment Program (CAP) scores.

The CAP tests, which measure achievement in fields such as reading, math and science, are given to students in the third, sixth and eighth grades. For purposes of comparison, schools are divided into categories based on socioeconomic factors including the number of families receiving public assistance, the parents’ education level and the students’ fluency in English.

District officials say about 80% of the district’s students have limited proficiency in English and a similar number come from low-income families. Compared to students from similar backgrounds, Garvey students have consistently ranked above the median in recent years, school officials say. However, the district’s rankings statewide have been low.

Top Priority

Miranda, who is vice president of the board, said that if reelected, he would put top priority on improving CAP scores.

“We’re definitely going to have to look at our instruction and curriculum,” Miranda said. “The majority of our schools are doing very poorly in comparison with the rest of the state.”

Frederica Frost, supervisor of research and planning for the district, said more than 80% of the district’s 7,500 students are Latino or Asian, in many cases recent immigrants. It is not surprising, she said, that these students do not do as well as those from more affluent backgrounds whose first language is English.

She noted that Garvey’s scores have been improving gradually over the last six years. “As long as we’re improving, we think we’re going in the right direction.”

Nunez agreed. “The scores have been improving,” he said. “You can’t expect great leaps from one year to another.”

But Miranda and several first-time candidates expressed concern that Garvey students may have trouble competing with students from other districts when they enter high school.

“The materials the kids are using in our district should be comparable to those used in Arcadia or San Gabriel,” said candidate Mike Bender. “The kids coming out of Garvey are at a disadvantage.”

Budget Cuts

Candidates also disagree about the district’s budget priorities, given the drastic cuts in state education funds this year.

“My priorities are not to take funding away from the classroom,” Smith said.

Challenger Cathy Barron is also committed to fighting classroom cuts. In a statement outlining her qualifications for board membership, Barron attacked the board’s decision to continue funding a special program for gifted children while cutting the budget by 13% at each of the district’s 13 schools.

“From where will this 13% be extracted? From teachers’ salaries? Clerks? Administration? Or will the cut be made in children’s classroom supplies and materials?” Barron asked.

But Martinez, who has a 10-year-old daughter in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, lobbied the board for continued funding for the program, an experience that she said led to her decision to run for the board.

‘Shocked’ by Reception

“I was shocked and appalled by the reception I got,” Martinez said. “I saw no regard for the children.”

Several challengers also said the board should do more long-term planning.

The board is “doing Band-Aid solutions,” Nunez said. “They’re curing things for this year and not for latter years.” He cited the board’s decision last spring not to put money into a deferred maintenance fund that receives matching grants from the state. Such funds can be used for structural repairs and for major improvements, such as rewiring and new carpeting, he said.

“That’s like not paying your insurance,” Nunez said. “Or not changing the oil in your car for a year.”

No Guarantee

John Avila, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said the board decided not to allocate $120,000 for deferred maintenance partly because there was no guarantee that its contribution would be matched dollar for dollar this year. So the board decided to use the money to make up for cuts in other areas, he said.

According to a candidate’s statement filed with the board, Barron, who could not be reached for comment, is a Monterey Park resident who serves as chairwoman of the district’s bilingual advisory committee. She is running on a slate with Miranda. Like Miranda, Barron says her top priority would be improving the district’s performance on the CAP tests.

Barron said in the statement that she has been active in the district for 12 years and has regularly attended board meetings for 3 1/2 years. She advocates increased parental involvement in school district affairs and would like to initiate a “school watch” program using parent volunteers to ensure student safety on school grounds.

Accessibility Urged

Bender, a 43-year-old San Gabriel private investigator, said he has found the board to be insensitive to the needs and requests of parents and would like to make it more accessible. Two of his four children attend school in the district. Bender’s other primary concern is improving the quality of education in the district.

Elizabeth Diaz, 29, a Monterey Park resident and social worker with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, is an alumna of Garvey district schools. Diaz became interested in working with the district after discovering that it could not provide what she considers appropriate education for her developmentally disabled daughter.

Her main concerns are keeping drugs and alcohol out of the schools and making sure that all students learn to read and write. She would like to see the district develop an alcohol and drug abuse education program for its elementary schools. Diaz would also like the district to institute annual testing of students’ basic skills and then provide tutoring, special education and other support services to those who test below grade level.

Martinez, 34, lives in Monterey Park and works as a telecommunications manager. She is the daughter of Rep. Matthew Martinez (D-Montebello). Martinez said she would work to decrease overcrowding by developing under-used property at existing school sites.

“Our district has grown by leaps and bounds, and our district has no long-term master plan,” she said.

Miranda, a 31-year-old Rosemead resident, is a toolmaker and businessman whose three children attended district schools. He has been on the board for four years.

Miranda wants to focus on raising outside funds to supplement the district’s pared-down budget. “By the end of the year, the schools are going to run out of money for materials, and our facilities are going to look pretty shabby,” Miranda said.

Nunez, 38, who lives in Rosemead and works for an insurance company, has one child attending school in the district. He blames his defeat two years ago on the allegations made by Miranda that he had misused his district-issued credit card.

“I lost my seat not because I was incompetent but because I was accused, accused of misspending money on my credit card. And I had done nothing wrong,” Nunez said.

Nunez says he has the experience necessary to get the most out of a limited budget. “It’s not the time to go out and experiment,” he said.

Smith, 51, who lives in Rosemead and is a customer service supervisor for Southern California Edison Co., has two grown children who attended district schools. He has served on the board for four years. His main concerns are compensating for budget cuts in a way that won’t hurt the quality of classroom education.

“I don’t see major problems other than what finances cause,” he said. He is also concerned about increased class sizes resulting from cuts in the number of teachers and would like to find a way to hire them back.

Like Cusick, Marti Armstrong of San Gabriel dropped out of the race earlier this month. Both women endorsed Miranda and Barron.