
The ballots have been mailed and local school board candidates are out campaigning to get your vote. Hopefuls for the Atascadero School District and the Templeton School District held a ‘Coffee with the Candidates’ meet and greet event outside the local North County coffee shop Malibu Brew. Running for Atascadero there were four candidates slated for the event; Denise McGrew-Kane, Rebekah Koznek, Dan Hathaway, and Scott Staton (Mr. Staton was unable to attend) Running for the Templeton School District was Jennifer Grinager.
The candidates took questions between 8am to a little after 9am with a diverse number of people asking questions and many watching the event from the cafe tables next to the booth. Most of the interested citizens were looking to get answers regarding the frustrating issues plaguing our schools and seizing an opportunity to get to know the candidates better before they vote. Notable questioners were former Supervisor of San Luis Obispo Jim Patterson and Democratic committee member Dan Cook. Discussions were cordial and informative while passions for the need for change were apparent. Main topics of discussion remained standard with mandatory vaccinations, vaccination cards, transgender school policies, children’s education outcomes, safety in schools, funding and fiscal responsibility being in the forefront. All school board candidates stated they were happy that their campaigns were doing well and commented on how positive their response was from the public. Rebekah Koznek commented, “the public’s response has been about getting our kids back on track in school and focused on a good education.” Jennifer Grinager said, “I have a special needs child and in my experience as a social worker I have seen the problems that aren’t being addressed regarding all of our children. Each child is different requiring individualized attention.” All of the candidates were thankful for Malibu brew Coffee and owners Paul & Lakena Say for hosting the event.