School board VP says opponent misrepresented board

Douglas County School Board Vice President Cindy Trigg, who is running for re-election in Area 3 at Lake Tahoe, said that her opponent, Lake parent Greg Felton, misrepresented the board when he said that he lobbied to have all schools in Douglas County tested for radon.

"I feel that was a gross misrepresentation," said Trigg. "We never needed a lobbying group to test the district. It was never an issue whether or not all schools would be tested.

"When test results first came back from Zephyr Cove Elementary School, the district said, with the board listening, that this would be a district-wide issue, that whatever policy we came up with would affect every school in the district.

"Yes, Mr. Felton has educated himself about radon, but so have all of us. The board works many hours that the public is not aware of. He can say whatever he wants about me, but when he misrepresents the facts about the board, I will respond."

Trigg said Felton used the radon issue to criticize the closure of Kingsbury Middle School.

"Mr. Felton helped blur the lines between radon and consolidation," she said. "You can't be a single-issue or single-school representative. Although I have a great affinity for the Lake students, I have 7,000 students district-wide to care about."

Trigg said her 22-year-old son, who just graduated from University of Nevada, Reno, went through the Lake schools.

"Having children at certain schools makes it difficult sometimes to choose between what's best for your kids and what's best for all students," she said. "But being on the board, you need to take into account how policy will affect future generations when your kids have already left."

Trigg said she was saddened to see the Howells, a Lake Tahoe family, remove their children from Zephyr Cove Elementary School because of radon issues.

"It's very frustrating," she said. "I'm not 100 percent satisfied with how we've handled radon, and unfortunately it has taken a lot of time. I will work to make sure we are doing everything we can to expedite the process and resolve the issue, so the Howells will come back to the school. But it's a choice parents have to make for themselves."

Felton said parents have led the fight against radon, and the board has been slow to respond.

"I believe that the district's intent is to test all schools," said Felton, "But I am not aware of any other schools being tested besides the three Lake schools, and those are being tested due to parental pressure."