Editor’s note: The Beverly Press and Park Labrea News interviewed all five candidates in the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education election. Interviews are being published on a weekly basis in the order in which candidates responded.

Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education candidate David Cienfuegos wants the district to place a stronger emphasis on academics, reduce younger students’ reliance on technology and create greater consistency across classrooms.

Cienfuegos, a personal injury trial attorney and parent of three BHUSD students, said his concerns grew from watching how his own children were being taught at Horace Mann Elementary School. He eventually joined the school’s Principal’s Advisory Council, serving for two years and becoming its chair.

“I never had any intention of running for school board,” Cienfuegos said.

He said the decision developed gradually as he began raising concerns about classroom technology, differences in instruction and other issues he heard from parents.

Cienfuegos and his wife intentionally moved to Beverly Hills so their children could attend the city’s public schools, he said. He said the move occurred in August 2021 or August 2022, though he could not recall the exact year.

Cienfuegos attended California State University, Los Angeles, earned a law degree from the University of San Francisco and later completed a graduate degree at Harvard.

One of the issues that first drew Cienfuegos to board meetings was what he considers an overreliance on screens for younger students. He recalled watching his children complete a game-like computer assignment that allowed them to keep guessing answers until they selected the correct response, at which point they received a digital reward.

“In my mind, that’s not really learning,” Cienfuegos said.

Cienfuegos said he supports BHUSD’s recent restrictions on devices for students in transitional kindergarten through third grade but would favor extending a more limited approach to technology through eighth grade.

However, he stressed that he is not opposed to technology. Cienfuegos described himself as an amateur coder and said students need to understand subjects such as artificial intelligence and typing.

The distinction, he said, is between purposeful, teacher-directed technology instruction and routinely placing devices in front of younger children.

Cienfuegos has also focused on consistency between classrooms. Because his identical twin sons have been placed in separate classes in the same grade, he said his family saw significant differences in homework and academic expectations between teachers.

He said parents should not feel that their child’s educational experience depends on which teacher they receive or how much time their parents are able to spend on campus.

“It’s unfair when you have people in our community that, because they’re not on campus, because they have to work, they have financial responsibilities, they’re not able to build those relationships,” Cienfuegos said.

Academically, Cienfuegos said BHUSD appears to have made recent progress but still has room to improve. He supports expanding tutoring and after-school academic assistance beyond programs targeted only at the highest- or lowest-performing students.

“There should be some sort of after-school tutoring program where kids are just free to drop in,” he said.

Cienfuegos also wants BHUSD to develop more internship and mentorship opportunities by taking advantage of nearby industries and institutions. Students interested in medicine, law, entertainment or other careers could gain firsthand experience before committing to a college or career path, he said.

“This is Beverly Hills,” Cienfuegos said. “This should be the preeminent place to go to school.”

Cienfuegos said school safety is another concern he frequently hears from parents, particularly with the upcoming Metro D Line station near Beverly Hills High School. He also identified traffic during pickup and drop-off, a lack of shade on some campuses and inconsistent high school counseling as issues he would like the district to address.

On allegations of anti-Black racism and discrimination in the district, Cienfuegos said racist behavior should never be tolerated but declined to specifically comment on pending litigation without reviewing the evidence.

“There’s no room for racism or discrimination in the city,” Cienfuegos said.

He took a similar approach to litigation over the board’s vice presidential selection process, saying he had not reviewed the court record closely enough to determine what occurred.

More broadly, Cienfuegos said improving board governance requires members to follow established rules and keep students at the center of their decisions.

“This job is about doing the best we can for our students, providing the best education we can for our students,” he said.

That emphasis on uniform rules also shaped Cienfuegos’ position on several district policies that have divided the community.

Asked about BHUSD’s policy requiring political, religious and socially sensitive classroom discussions to be relevant to the curriculum and presented objectively, Cienfuegos said he was unfamiliar with the specific policy. However, he said teachers should not use classrooms to promote personal political views, particularly with younger students.

“This isn’t a Senate floor,” Cienfuegos said. “This is school.”

Cienfuegos also questioned whether the board should adopt resolutions recognizing individual cultural and heritage observances beyond those required by law.

He said school-based events such as Horace Mann’s Multicultural Week can provide opportunities for families to celebrate their backgrounds, but board resolutions recognizing some identities and not others can lead to disputes over which communities receive recognition.

“Who’s to determine which groups should be recognized and which shouldn’t?” Cienfuegos said.

He said the same principle should guide policies for outside speakers. Following controversy over the appearance of podcaster Ben Azoulay on campus – who was invited to Beverly Hills High School by a student organization – Cienfuegos said the district should establish clear standards in advance rather than reacting to individual speakers after the fact.

“If we want to limit that, which I think would possibly be a good idea, we have to do it in advance so everybody knows this is the rule,” Cienfuegos said.

Cienfuegos said he is open to changes in how the board handles public comment, including reconsidering the decision to place general public comment near the end of meetings. He personally favors allowing speakers to comment when an agenda item is being discussed but said he would first want to determine what works for the broader community.

On district finances, Cienfuegos said he would closely scrutinize contracts, construction spending and potential duplication of services. His background includes real estate law and development, and he said some construction costs discussed at board meetings have raised questions about whether the district is receiving adequate value.

“Whenever we take $1 away or we overpay $1, that’s $1 we’re taking away from our students,” Cienfuegos said.