No on Nevins

I urge voters not to elect Dean Nevins to the Santa Barbara School Board. For two years I observed Nevins in action at Goleta Union School District (GUSD) while I was implementing a program to provide swimming lessons for every third grader in GUSD.

Dean Nevins made it his mission to destroy 3rd Grade Swim. Working with a malcontent teacher/union representative at Kellogg school he maintained that the lessons, held at UCSB’s Campus Pool and Recreation Center, were unsafe. When informed that over half of GUSDs students are Latino and that the majority cannot swim his response was “why don’t they take lessons in the summer like everyone else?” Nevins continued to attack the program even after two separate surveys of parents, teachers, and students showed near unanimous support for 3rd Grade Swim.

Dean Nevins tenure at GUSD shows a disturbingly small-minded approach to education that completely ignores the less privileged members of our community. What kind of educator overlooks the fact that drowning is a leading cause of accidental death amongst children 14 and under? What kind of educator denies children a life skill that can prevent childhood diabetes? What kind of educator denies swimming lessons to children who live in a community bordering the ocean?

Electing Mr. Nevins to the Santa Barbara School Board is a recipe for disaster. As a community volunteer and parent with children in both GUSD and SBSD, I urge the community to vote NO on Nevins.