Sue Palazzo
Candidate CUSD Board of Trustees (2nd District)
 
Endorsed and Supported By: Dr. Lon Uso, Council Member San Juan Capistrano Trish Kelley, Mayor, Mission Viejo Linda Lindholm, Council Member, Laguna Niguel, Tony Beall, Council Member, Rancho Santa Margarita Carmen Cave, Mayor, Aliso Viejo Gary Thompson, Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Rancho Santa Margarita Neil Blais, Mayor, Rancho Santa Margarita Mark Nielsen, Mayor Pro-Tem, San Juan Capistrano Ellen Addonizio, CPA, Board of Trustee CUSD Larry Christensen, Board of Trustee CUSD Anna Bryson, Board of Trustee CUSD CUSD Recall Julie Collier, Executive Director Parents Advocate League Craig Alexander, Dana Point Cheryl Uso, San Juan Capistrano Bruce Tatarian, San Juan Capistrano Katherine Tatatarian, Teacher, San Juan Capistrano Jennifer Ashe, San Clemente Jennifer Beall, Rancho Santa Margarita Sharon Campbell, Mission Viejo Barbara Casserly, Mission Viejo Shelley Murphy, San Clemente Frances Sheehan, Dana Point Sheri Fetner, San Clemente Kathy & Jack Hartung, San Juan Capistrano Andy & Laurie Meinke, San Juan Capistrano
Elect Sue Palazzo for CUSD Reform
 
I have been a public school teacher in Southern California for more than 30 years – spending the last 21 years as a substitute teacher in Capistrano Unified.  Having dedicated my entire professional career as a public school teacher, I am a staunch supporter of public education. 

I was very involved in the original 2005 CUSD Recall campaign and have continued to support the on-going community campaign to restore honesty, integrity and accountability to the CUSD Board of Trustees and administration.

In addition to teaching, I have been a real estate property manager for more than 30 years.   In that capacity, I have developed significant knowledge and experience in facilities maintenance, code compliance and real estate accounting. 

I earned a B.A. in Sociology, a Standard Life Teaching Credential in Education and a M.A. in Elementary Education from the California State University at Los Angeles.

I have been married to my husband and college sweetheart Richard for 38 years.  Together, we have lived within the Capistrano Unified School District for more than 25 years.  We have three sons who all graduated from CUSD’s San Clemente High School – and then from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  While my children were attending school in CUSD, I was an active member of the CUSD San Clemente High School Academic Booster Club, and the football, swimming and water polo booster clubs.  As a member of the Academic Booster Club, I was the chairperson in charge of computerizing the entire high school library collection at CUSD’s San Clemente High School. 

I served for more than five years as President of my local homeowners association.  In that capacity, I worked closely with property owners, code enforcement officers and local police to improve the safety and enhance the residents’ pride in their community. 

My family attends church at the Mission Basilica at San Juan Capistrano.
 
 
“I have personally visited almost every school in CUSD, and I have seen the unsafe and unsanitary conditions at many of our schools.  We can do far better!  I believe all students and all teachers at every school deserve a clean, safe and sanitary classroom.”
Donations can be mailed to:
 
Friends of Sue Palazzo
31482 Paseo Duran
San Juan Capistrano, CA  92675
ID #1306212
Email Sue at:
ElectSuePalazzo@cox.net



“With new, energetic, honest and fiscally conservative leaders, CUSD can be the very best school district in the State of California.”
Candidate Ballot Statement We need Reform at CUSD. As the newly elected trustee in the June 24th election, I will continue my lifelong support and advocacy for public education. My years of involvement as a mother, teacher and taxpayer will serve me well in stopping the controversy that distracts CUSD from its core mission—education of our children. I have a Masters Degree in Elementary Education and have been a public school educator for the past thirty-three years. My husband and I are residents of San Juan Capistrano and our three sons graduated from CUSD schools. As a property manager for thirty years, I’ve developed significant knowledge and experience in facility maintenance, code compliance and real estate accounting. As your Trustee, my highest priority is reallocating resources back to the classroom and away from district bureaucracy. With conservative, fiscal responsibility, I will ensure that today’s CUSD students are entitled to the same quality education that my three sons received in CUSD: excellent teachers; appropriate class size; current instructional materials; parental involvement; maximum academic achievement; safe, well-maintained schools. I will restore honesty, integrity and accountability to CUSD. Please join me in this important fight. www.ElectSuePalazzo.com www.CUSDrecall.com http://www.ElectSuePalazzo.comshapeimage_4_link_0
 
 
Juli Pehrson, Rancho Santa Margarita
Claudia Leyerle, Retired teacher, Mission Viejo
Monique & Charles Rea, San Juan Capistrano
Heidi & John Caestecker, Teacher, San Clemente
Nancy and George Sutherland, San Clemente
Mike Winston, San Clemente
Bob & Denise Miner, San Juan Capistrano
Donna Helmick, San Juan Capistrano
Linda Pfost, San Clemente
Brad & Kathy Goff, Rancho Santa Margarita
Mary Roman, Teacher CUSD
Sharon O’Brien, Mission Viejo
Richard & Ann Marie Casazza,  San Juan Capistrano
Tom and Michelle Russell, Rancho Santa Margarita
Jack & Carol Dressler, San Clemente
Kathy Sobota, CUSD teacher, RSM
Kathy Zaleski, San Juan Capistrano
Bill Chute, San Clemente
Wayne Tate, Mission Viejo
Connie Lee, Mission Viejo
Trudie Jenner,  Retired CUSD teacher
Stan and Sharon Ramsey, San Juan Capistrano
Kristi Kelly, San Clemente
Angela Duzich Rohde, San Juan Capistrano
Lisa & Jim Marcus, San Clemente
Jack & Colleen Brick,  Dana Point
Kelly Villatoro, Ladera Ranch
Kim Lefner, San Juan Capistrano
Lynn and Ates Baydu, San Juan Capistrano
Marillee Carroll, CUSD Teacher
Gretchen Welther, San Clemente
 
Partial listing of endorsements and supporters.
Current Issues Distinguished School and Blue Ribbon School Signs I was alerted to a rumor going around that I had requested the Distinguished School and Blue Ribbon School signs be removed. Here is an excerpt of the email I sent to the parent who alerted me to the rumor.    I never proposed that any Distinguished School or Blue Ribbon School sign be taken down.    I believe our school board should do all that it can to enhance the academic achievement and opportunities for our students. Similarly, I believe the Board should provide to the principals and teachers at each school within our school district the tools and environment they need to succeed, as well as encouragement to consistently seek to improve academic achievement. We must never allow ourselves to become complacent or to rest on our laurels and the accomplishments of the past.  That is why I requested an item be placed on the Board’s agenda regarding California Distinguished School and Blue Ribbon Awards. I made this request in an effort to improve academic achievement within our school district. I wanted the Board and our constituents to receive a detailed presentation about all aspects of California Distinguished Schools and Blue Ribbon Schools. What are they? How does a school obtain this highly-regarded status? How does a school maintain this status? What is the renewal process? Most importantly, I wanted to have a discussion as to how the Board of Trustees can assist in this process so as to ensure that all the schools within CUSD are currently considered a Distinguished School and/or Blue Ribbon School. I want to ensure that every student at CUSD always has the opportunity to attend a first class school!  However, I do believe that all information given to the community by our school district should be true, accurate and complete. For that reason, I do believe that part of the Board’s discussion should include a frank discussion about how many of the schools within our school district today are truly considered a Distinguished School or a Blue Ribbon School. I’m sure most would agree with me that it would be highly inappropriate for our school district to proclaim any of our schools as a Distinguished School or a Blue Ribbon School, if those past awards and designations had expired years ago.    Since receiving the message, in order to ensure there is absolutely no misunderstanding about the nature, scope, and intention of my agenda item, I met with Superintendent Carter and confirmed to him, once again, what I was expecting. Mr. Carter has personally assured me that he fully understood and that staff’s presentation at the board meeting will be a positive discussion focusing on the points outlined above – not about tearing down any signs.  The Volunteer Policy I support a volunteer policy that groups volunteers into 4 categories with screening as follows: Level 1 - Non-classroom volunteers with more than limited contact with students who are NOT ALWAYS directly supervised by a certificated employee shall be required to be tested for tuberculosis submit to Meghan Law screening  and must also be fingerprinted and receive a criminal background/records clearance prior to working with students. Level 2 - All classroom volunteers with with either limited or more than limited contact with students but who are supervised at all times by a certificated employee shall be required to have a tuberculosis test and a Meghan Law screening. Level 3 - Non-classroom volunteers with limited or more than limited contact with students but who are supervised at all times by a certificated/classified employee shall be required to have a tuberculosis test and a Meghan Law screening. Level 4 - Community members who make a brief presentation to students at the school in the presence of a certificated/classified employee are exempt from the above screening.   The Governing board encourages volunteers to our school.  They bring a wealth of knowledge and provide a variety of services to our schools.  By their presence, volunteers also can make school environments safer and more closely supervised.  My hope is that by changing the current regulations under our volunteer policy, we again will have the same high number and quality of volunteers we have always had. Dr. Stiff comments regarding my position on teachers: It has come to my attention that Dr. Stiff has reported to the teachers' union legislatives representatives that the new trustees (myself and Ken Maddox) think teachers are underworked and overpaid.  As a substitute teacher with the district for the past 21 years, no one knows more than I, how hard the CUSD teachers and school staff work. I have no idea where he dreamed up this statement.  Dr. Stiff voted for an almost $60,000 a year raise for the superintendent while he voted to lay off over 300 teachers. Other Memberships Governing Board of Trustee Capistrano-Laguna Beach Regional Occupational Program (ROP) Member: California Women's Leadership Association