by Kevin Cody
When Carol Kluthe, her husband, and two young daughters moved back to Hermosa Beach in 2015, after two years in New York, she asked friends why the curriculum at Hermosa school wasn’t equal to her daughters’ school in New York.
Hermosa’s coveted Spanish classes were assigned by lottery. The music teacher had been laid off. The physical education teacher was a parent volunteer.
The friends told her to talk to Ali Malone, president of the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation. Malone told Kluthe New York schools received $20,000 in state funding per student. Hermosa received $7,000.
“It was the old story of asking too many questions. She told me to join the Ed Foundation,” Kluthe said.
After eight years on the Ed Foundation Board of Directors, Kluthe is running for one of two open seats on the Hermosa Beach School Board. As president of the Ed Foundation from 2018 to 2021, Kluthe used her work experience in project management to reshape the foundation’s fundraising.
“We moved our annual Appeal to Parents from late spring to early fall, so it could be ongoing through the year. We added a cocktail party for our most generous donors.”
“We rethought our gala, Hearts of Hermosa, adding different ticket levels,” she said. Last year it was “Apres-ski.” This year it was “Le Casino Monte-Carlo.”
In 2018, during her first year as Ed Foundation president, the foundation raised $1.3 million, which was $200,000 over their goal and 20 percent over the preceding year.
This year, the Ed Foundation raised $1.5 million, and donated $1.2 million to the district for help funding Spanish, art, and STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math).
The balance of the proceeds went into a “rainy day” account.
Kluthe said the parents’ Annual Giving program accounts for 55% of the money raised. Parents are asked to donate $1,000 per child. Grants, sponsorships and fundraisers account for the difference.
The foundation’s fundraising success dissuaded Kluthe from running for school board four years ago. The Hermosa Education Foundation has no paid staff, unlike neighboring education foundations.
“I didn’t want to leave the foundation adrift during the onset of COVID,” she said. Instead, her husband, Quintin, ran, and was elected. He is not seeking a second term.
If elected to the board, Kluthe said, she will continue to focus on expanding the district’s curriculum.
“Kids have different strengths,” Kluthe said.
Her youngest daughter was able to take Spanish 2 at Mira Costa her freshman year because she took Spanish at Hermosa Valley in seventh and eighth grades. Students who complete four years of Spanish at Mira Costa receive a Certificate of Spanish Fluency.
One of the strengths she can bring to the school board, she said, is the perspective of having had two children pass through Hermosa schools and then attend the local high school.
“It’s given me an overview of our education system,” she said.
Kluthe said she advocates a “digital literacy” class to teach children how to navigate digital devices safely. But she doesn’t believe students should have cell phones at school. She mentioned locking cell phone bags and cell phone “hotels” inside each classroom as ways to keep students off cell phones during the school day.
She noted that in 2026 all school districts will be required to have a policy for cell phones on campus.
Kluthe walked precincts in support of Measure S in 2016. Proceeds from that bond paid for a new school, Vista (grades two through four), on the former North School site. It also paid for the renovation of View (Preschool through first)
Kluthe is campaigning this election, not only for a seat on the board, but also for passage of Measure HV, a $27.8 million bond to renovate Hermosa Valley School (grades 5 to 8).
Kluthe will also be walking for Hermosa schools in the Skechers 16th Annual Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, on Sunday, October 20. The walk raised $241,000 for the district last year, and over $2 million over the past 15 years.
“Hermosa is the only school district each year to have more walkers than enrolled students,” Kluthe said. ER
