Andrew Klein, a business owner, parent, and candidate for the Nevada Joint Union High School District (NJUHSD) Trustee Area 4 hopes to one day send his daughter to a “high-functioning school” and believes he can “get the ship righted” in regard to the district’s budget.

“I’m running for the board for a couple of reasons. One, my 7-year-old daughter will be in high school in 7 years, and I want her to go to a solvent, high-functioning school,” said Klein during his opening statement at the Nevada Joint Union High School District Candidate Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Nevada County on September 25.

“Number two,” Klein continued, “I’d like to lend my experience running tight 40 million dollar budgets to the board.”

In a separate interview with Kitchen Counter Conversations (KCC), Klein emphasized the district’s “financial distress” and how, with his business background, he believes “we can get the ship righted.”

According to Klein, there has been some “financial mismanagement” within the district.

“Changes need to be made and not at the expense of the children. We need to cut facilities and admin,” said Klein to KCC.

When asked during the NJUHSD candidate forum whether he had any solutions to the current threat to career and technical education and other electives caused by budget limitations, Klein said that he has been studying this issue closely and believes he has found ways to protect the CTE programs from being limited or cut.

“There are a lot of ways to cut costs, more than cutting the class schedule. I put together a little bit of a plan,” Klein hinted.

“I’ve been studying my butt off trying to figure out where money could be saved in the budget. I’ve got some ideas on how to cut costs because I think we should be sitting at about 80 percent cost of revenue. The rest of that could be contributed to building up our reserves where we don’t get into this position where it even comes up that we would cut CTE programs in the future,” said Klein.

Further solidifying his commitment to the CTE programs, Klein told KCC that “they should make requirements that [students] have to be an A-G or CTE completer to graduate.”

Klein specifically stated during the NJUHSD forum that he intended to prioritize “well-paid teachers” because “they need to be happy” while also acknowledging that the board must work within the budget’s means to make this happen.

While Klein’s goals as a possible board member involve primarily budget concerns, he has also made known his stance on more hot-button issues such as how to address the presence of sexually explicit books in school libraries.

“I’m against banning books – and movies from the Del Oro Theatre,” Klein said to KCC, referring to Del Oro Theatre’s recent decision to cancel showings of the movie,’ Am I Racist’.

“My litmus test is if I can read it out loud to a woman and she feels like I sexually harassed her, then it shouldn’t be in a high school library,” Klein continued.

Klein believes “activism has no place” in public education, stating that public education’s purpose is to provide “core programs, electives, and CTE programs.”

When asked in the candidate forum whether he supports “schools [having] an obligation to provide students with information and curriculum that offers multiple perspectives in all academic areas…ensuring all voices are represented in the curriculum,” Klein stated that it is most important for students to first “learn the basics of math, the basics of history, the basics of science, and the next step of learning should be commentary on those items.”

“I’d say in the case of history, I would propose that the history books alone, the things that we should never forget, are taught solely alone. And the different perspectives, I consider commentary, and they’re just as important,” said Klein.

Klein will be going up against retired social worker Itara O’Connell in the November 5, 2024 Nevada County, CA General Election.

If you have further questions for Klein, his campaign email is made public on the Nevada County elections website or you can contact him through his campaign website.

To read Klein’s op-ed in The Union, click here.