Submitted by Scot Youngblood, M.D.
I would like to formally announce my candidacy for the Coronado Unified School District Board of Trustees for this November’s general election. After attending Duke University both as an undergraduate and as a medical student on Navy scholarship, I came to San Diego in 1997 on active duty to begin an internship in surgery. During my 25-year active duty Navy career, I served as a flight surgeon and became an Orthopaedic surgeon, rose to the rank of Captain, and was honored to serve as the Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Naval Medical Center San Diego for seven years. Of all the awards I received, perhaps the most cherished was the Resident Teaching Award from the housestaff who I was honored to train for 14 years. I retired from naval service in October 2021, and want to continue to serve my community.
My family and I are proud to have lived here in Coronado since 2011. Our children have always attended Coronado public schools, as we are strong advocates for public education. Like many parents and members of the community, I have become concerned that our schools have become overly politicized and lost their focus on academic excellence. The episodes of ‘Tortillagate,’ transition to a 4X4 curriculum, and our schools’ response to the pandemic are some of the most prominent examples of this dysfunction and unnecessary division the current Board has created in our community.
To that end, my platform will simply be 1) Return to Academic Excellence, 2) Serve as a Parent Advocate, and 3) Exercise Local Control to resist external mandates that do not serve our students and community well.
As a physician, I have spoken out publicly regarding the lack of medical evidence to support mandatory COVID-19 vaccines, mask mandates, and remote instruction in our schools. I welcome any data-centric debate on these subjects, and respect anyone’s right to disagree. My goal is to build trusting relationships within the district between the Board, administrators, teachers, parents and students. The optimal approach is to try to build consensus after a thorough review of the best evidence available on any challenge facing our schools. I pledge to always work diligently in a responsive and transparent manner as a Trustee, and to fight to protect a parent’s right to make critical decisions for their family.
Scot Youngblood, M.D.
www.Youngblood4Coronado.com
