Re: “Laura Says No to Second Term” 

Fresh from a brief medical procedure, School Board President Nancy Goldberg confirmed yesterday she will not seek re-election when her term expires near the end of the calendar year.

Her declaration of intention came just hours after Board colleague Laura Chardiet announced she would not be a candidate for a second term because she wants to devote more time to her new role as a single mom.

“I am in better health than I deserve to be, thank God,” said Ms. Goldberg, the senior member of the Board.

“So I want to spent time with my (two) great-grandkids. I will get to see more of them if I am not doing School Board business.”

Perhaps the most popular teacher in the history of Culver City High School, Ms. Goldberg, 78 years old, said that “if I were to run again, I would be 82 when I got off the Board. That is a bit long in the tooth for advising children. It is okay for the high school but not for the elementary kids.”

With expanded responsibilities as the single mother of an 18-year-old son, Cole, and 15-year-old daughter, Isabella, Ms. Chardiet said that “something had to give in my schedule.”

Hardly anyone in recent years seemed to embrace her time on the School Board more richly than the vibrant Ms. Chardiet.

“It has been a wonderful four years,” she said. “I have loved being on the School Board. It has been so rewarding.”

She commended the “collegial atmosphere” on the Board and said “I hate to not be a part of that team. I really need to focus on my daughter, who is going into the 10th grade. She is not going to be with me much longer. Those three years will fly by.”

Four months before election day, these two open seats should ease the path for a bevy of curious candidates, including numerous ones named Scott.