SAN DIEGO — Three forums were cancelled in January due to COVID-19, which means Saturday's two hour forum at Wilson Middle School was a long time coming for many San Diego parents and educators.
A few dozen community members showed up masked up and socially distanced to help select the next superintendent. However, some parents and educators say some tough questions were not answered.
"Questions were absolutely not answered. These were cookie-cutter softball questions used today. We were not happy at all today," said Francine Maxwell, Chairwoman of Black Men and Black Women United.
Parents, educators and community members sent in questions ahead of the meeting to the two finalists: Interim Superintendent Lamont Jackson and Highline Public Schools Superintendent Susan Enfield.
"A core thing for me is to lead with love," said Jackson.
Jackson has worked in San Diego since 1998. He’s a former Chiefs Human Resources Officer.
"I try very hard to keep the hearts of a teacher in decisions I make, said Enfield who was Superintendent of the year in Washington.
They answered questions about racial equality and teacher wages.
"I grew up not knowing who I was and no child should not know who they are and that’s why I'm passionate about education and why this role is critical," said Jackson.
Yet, some parents say their important questions were not answered.
"I sent in questions on mask choice and medical freedom. Those are the types of questions that were not asked today," said mother, Bonnie Jimenez.
"I don’t see any value of getting into a mask mandate debate for a Superintendent job. We will defeat this pandemic. Asking about a mask mandate does not tell us who these Superintendents are," said the moderator of the forum, Christopher Wilson.
"They had no real plan. No real questions and it was very offensive. There should have been some hard hitting questions," said Maxwell.
"We had 34 public input sessions to understand what community wanted in a Superintendent. 34!" said Wilson.
Whoever is hired will be in charge of leading California’s second largest school district with more than 170 schools and about 97,000 students.
The superintendent will be named March 7th.
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