CERRITOS – Fil-Am Lynda Provido Johnson placed her purse quietly on the empty seat where a bronze placard read “member.” She walked across the room while people congratulated her and every so often, the 47-year-old Johnson would look back at the seat knowing that her purse and her place as a member of the ABC Unified School District Board of Education was safe.
“That’s when it hit me,” said Johnson. “When I placed my purse up there that’s when I knew I officially won.”
For the past several months, Johnson was in a heated race for the vacant seat in the ABC Board, left by Fil-Am Mark Pulido before he was elected a City Councilman. There were only two years remaining on the seat but for her, a long-time Cerritos resident and product of the ABC school system, it was a chance of a lifetime to serve the students she knew well.
A political newbie and urged to run by long-time friend Pulido, Johnson campaigned for the seat. She was one of four all vying for a place on the prestigious school board – one of the bests in the country.
It was a tight race. Johnson won by the slimmest of margins.
According to the LA County Registrars office, last November’s election, Johnson received 3,018 votes, edging out her nearing competitor by a mere 24 votes. Her opponents Soo Y. Yoo received 2,994, Cindy Yen Chen 2,704, and Mansour Meisami received 352 votes.
Despite the narrow loss, Yoo decided she would not demand a recount.
“It just goes to show that every vote counted,” said Johnson.
Earlier this week, Johnson and another Filipino-American Armin Reyes were sworn in to the ABC’s seven-member board. The district serves the cities of Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, as well as portions of Lakewood, Long Beach and Norwalk.
The ABC Unified School District is governed by a seven member Board of Education that oversees 19 elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools, a college prep school, a continuation high school, infant/children centers, extended-day care, and adult school. The ABC school district serves the cities of Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, and portions of Lakewood, Long Beach and Norwalk.
The ABC is among one of the top performing school districts in the state with an API score of 820, which exceeds the state’s average of 700 API. The ABC also has one of the top academic performing high schools in the nation, Whitney High School, which is ranked as one of the best high schools in the US, according to the US News. Any person elected to the ABC Unified Board will have to continue its high academic success rates.
Johnson, a former three-time president of the Cerritos High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), said her goal is to represent the entire community of the ABC school district.
“I just really want to be in touch with the students and the teachers and be there for them,” she said.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend Dec 10-13, 2011 Sec A pg.1)
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