Fluor back in president’s seat

Facilitating a meeting shouldn’t be hard for Martha Fluor, whose professional and private life suggest adaptability.

She represents Orange County on the California School Board Assn.’s board of directors and is on the National School Board Association Foundation, a nonprofit organization that represents school boards across the nation.

She was educated as a child in schools in Chile and Venezuela. She graduated from San Diego State University with a special education teaching credential.

She’s also school board president for the third time in 16 years.

Most of her responsibilities — listening to the community and being their voice — are shared among the board members.

Many in the community have publicly expressed their ire over the way the board has handled special education.

“If I had one question for the board, it would be who is going to take responsibility for cleaning up the [special-education] mess?” said parent Lisa Thompson.

Fluor is a special-education parent herself and empathizes with the Newport-Mesa parents, she said.

But when it comes to who is ultimately responsible for fixing special education, she said it’s not the president.

“Bottom line, the buck stops with Supt. Hubbard,” Fluor said. “The board hired Dr. Hubbard to do a job. He’s what you would call our chief operating officer.”

Her role as president, she said, is to lead the board.

“I think the biggest role that the presidency or what I would like to play is continuing to facilitate dialogue between parents and district personnel,” Fluor said. “There are times [parents and the district] can be put in adversarial positions. There is a cycle that all special-education parents go through. I went through it, my husband certainly went through it. We as a district need to understand that and walk them through the process.”

“To be president, it takes commitment, and Martha has that,” said former school board president Judy Franco. “Her greatest strength is that she’s thoughtful. She’s caring. She makes every effort to have all the information available to all the board members.”

Being president isn’t much different from being a board member, Fluor said.

“My main job is really to facilitate the meetings and make sure all my colleagues on the board have a chance to talk,” Fluor said.

Fluor was elected to the board in 1991. She serves as president for one year.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].