Many students at Long Beach City College live in surrounding cities such as Paramount, a city that is home to approximately 54,387 people, as of 2018.
Fighting to represent those residents are 10 official candidates currently in the running for Paramount School Board.
Beginning in 2017, the L.A. Times broke a story that Paramount had experienced an uptick in exposure to the toxic chemical Hexavalent Chromium. This caused ongoing contention between the local community and several metal manufacturing companies responsible. It also hypercharged engagement in local politics.
One candidate in the running is Gerald Cerda, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and former 2018 candidate for the School Board. According to SmartVoter.org, he received 1,561 votes or 4.74% of the total vote in that election.
“I have been involved [in the community] since the Paramount Air Crisis began… part of my plan is to make sure technology is brought up to speed… In some of the school board meetings, we discovered some of the policy language was over thirty years old,” said Cerda. “We also want to bring in MERV-16 air filters into the classrooms.”
“There are a lot of questions that need to be asked. What happens when a Zoom call is dropped, what is plan B? Parents have questions about IEPs. We need to make sure the classes are safe to return to after the pandemic is over,” Cerda said.
One of the current members of the Paramount School Board, Sonia De Leon spoke about the election and her own endorsement.
“I want to improve our communication and emphasize data at our meetings. In December 2018, we fought to make the meetings recorded for people who could not attend the meetings. We thought it was unfair for them not to. Transparency is still an issue,” said De Leon.
“The current school board is too interested in its own self-interest. We need things like the MERV-16 air purifiers.” she continued. “I am endorsing Gerald Cerda because he has always been a strong advocate for the health of our community.”
Eddie Cruz, a Long Beach Unified School administrator and Paramount High School alum, is also in the running.
“I have always been involved in my community through my school or my church… There’s love and passion for serving my community,” said Cruz. “[One of the things] I’d like to take a look at is Paramount High School West Campus… My concern with that school is if we are accomplishing the goals with that campus and if not, we should revisit that design.”
“I have been endorsed by the Teacher’s Association of Paramount, California School Employers Association Chapter 447. I also received an endorsement over the weekend by State Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell. And local hero and former school board member Tony Pena has also endorsed me,” said Cruz.
And yet another candidate is Sandra Cuevas, a local social worker.
“I have lived here all my life and I want to give back to my city and my community… As a social worker, I try to teach parents to advocate for their children. I see there are a lot of barriers to education like language and I would like to reduce these barriers,” said Cuevas.
Cuevas has no endorsements currently.
Many of the other school board candidates were contacted for an interview, but they were unavailable for comment by publication.