During the 2022 midterm elections in early June, residents of Orange County will be voting on who will serve as the county superintendent of schools in OC’s Department of Education (OCDE) for the next four years. This is the first time in two decades that residents will be voting for a candidate in this role.

Al Mijares has been serving as the county’s superintendent for almost a decade, and he ran unopposed in the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections. In an email interview with The Panther, Mijares said he is running for reelection because he wants to continue helping students prepare for their future college and career opportunities.

“I strongly believe we have the resources and the resolve in this county to achieve anything, and our students deserve nothing less than our full and unwavering commitment to their futures,” Mijares wrote.

One resource that was created for this purpose under Mijares is OC Pathways: a countywide initiative in which industry leaders from 15 sectors — including health science, medical technology and arts, media and entertainment — are teamed up with K-12 educators to create coursework containing rigorous academic courses and career preparation.

Mijares told The Panther if he is reelected, he will not only continue the college and work preparation for students, but he will also work to increase mental health support for students and staff within the county.

Four years before the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to shut down, OCDE started implementing the California Multi-Tiered System of Support (CA MTSS), which combines resources from the statewide and local levels and uses them to help support students throughout their K-12 education.

“The goal is to empower educators to identify and resolve challenges before they escalate into larger barriers to learning, and it encourages school staff to know the name, face and story of every student on a campus,” Mijares said.

Since the reopening of schools, OCDE worked with school districts to continue implementing MTSS, and the department also hired seven regional mental health coordinators. OCDE also created resources and training for school employees and families who experienced trauma related to COVID-19.

In the last couple of years, there has been controversy surrounding the lawsuits filed between the OC Board of Education and the OCDE, especially since the money from these lawsuits is coming from the taxpayers. Mijares addressed this controversy in his interview with The Panther, stressing that he has not initiated any lawsuits against the Board of Education.

“The multiple lawsuits that have been filed by the board majority against my office and various state leaders are not merely a distraction,” Mijares said. “These suits are diverting time, energy and financial resources from our students and programs to satisfy political agendas and dangerously misguided ideological interests.”

Stefan Bean, who identifies as a disabled Vietnamese refugee, is the other candidate vying for the county superintendent position. Bean told The Panther in a phone call that he is not running against Mijares; rather, he said he is running because he believes there is a “lack of trust” between the parents and the schools in the district, and he wants to see this repaired.

Bean said when he has talked to families on the campaign trail, many brought up an instance where the parents learn of something the school has not shared with them.

Most recently, Bean said parents have raised concerns about a picture book by Kyle Lukoff titled “Call Me Max,” that is currently offered in elementary school libraries. The book, which features a transgender boy as the protagonist, garnered controversy within Eanes Independent School District in Texas after a fourth grade teacher read the book aloud to her students.

“I do care for all students who struggle, certainly with sexuality and emotional issues, but I think that parents should be involved in these conversations as well,” Bean said. “And so what I’ve heard from several parents is that they’ve been shut out of these conversations, and they don’t even know that these conversations are happening between whoever’s supporting the students and students (themselves).”

In order to repair the “lack of trust,” Bean said there are a couple of things he would do. The first would be a partnership with the Orange County School Board, while the second would be to have a participatory parent process between OCDE and the parents.

“When the county is presented with curriculum or programs coming in (from the) state, I would involve parent groups or just individual parents (to) come in and help those particular programs that come through the state and the training that may occur,” Bean said.

Bean also said he felt that the department was protecting the teachers’ unions and California state legislature on education-related matters.

“I think those things are important, certainly, but the department has done this without involving and bringing along parents,” Bean said. “We need to certainly involve our parents.”

Bean cited Education Code 51101, which urges school districts and schools to involve parents in what is being taught to their students.

“Parents and guardians of pupils, including those parents and guardians whose primary language is not English, shall have the opportunity to work together in a mutually supportive and respectful partnership with schools, and to help their children succeed in school,” the code reads.

Both Mijares and Bean voiced their support for charter schools, which are schools that receive funding from the state but are allowed to operate autonomously when setting curriculum, school hours and rules. Many students who attend charter schools are from low-income, Black and Hispanic families.

The midterm election will be held June 7, in which voters will also be able to vote on the next district attorney and the next group of members to serve on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.