Greenberg Named to MBUSD School Board
Feb 15, 2023 09:17PM ● By Jeanne Fratello
The Manhattan Beach school board on Wednesday named parent and longtime school volunteer Bruce Greenberg as its newest board member.
Greenberg, a graduate of Dartmouth College with an MBA from Duke University, is a former e-business executive who now advises early-stage technology
companies. He serves as the MBUSD appointee to the Manhattan Beach Parks
& Rec Commission and has volunteered in the schools as a mentor,
coach, and instructor.
Greenberg's efforts in the schools include
co-founding the MBUSD Elementary Math Contest,
and launching a YouTube channel for Mira Costa Boys' Volleyball during
COVID. As a parent, he led the effort to install adjustable height basketball hoops at Live Oak Park and Manhattan Heights. He has one student in MBUSD and one MBUSD graduate. (He is not related to the Greenberg family of Skechers.)
Greenberg will take the place of board member Jason Boxer, who announced his resignation last month. He will have all of the powers of a regular
board member, and will serve until the next regularly scheduled board
election, which is in November 2024.
Manhattan Beach USD Superintendent John Bowes swears in new board member Bruce Greenberg as other board members look on.
Board Considered Six Candidates
Following Boxer's resignation, the board opted to nominate a new member rather than hold a special election. A special election had been projected to cost $879,000 and would not have been able to take place until November 2023.
To choose Boxer's replacement, the board invited community members to apply for the position. Seven candidates completed applications, but one of those seven candidates, John Uriostegui, dropped out before the board began their interviews.
On Wednesday, board members interviewed the remaining six candidates separately, and ultimately narrowed their choices down to Greenberg and Mike Brunick, an MBEF board member and Manhattan Beach parent who ran for school board in 2020.
Greenberg told the board that the examples of the basketball hoops and the YouTube channel demonstrated his approach to solving problems.
"I'm a do-er, a problem solver. My track record within community gives an indication of what kind of board member I would be," he said. "I will challenge the conventional thinking and ask hard questions. I believe that the best ideas and best solutions come from bringing different viewpoints together."
As they considered their choices, board members as well as candidates acknowledged the divisiveness in the community, especially surrounding the 2022 board election. "We need a candidate who isn't 'too right'
or 'too left' - we need a consensus builder," said board member Jen Fenton.
Board members also expressed a need for a candidate who was already familiar with the district. "The reality is that whoever is starting is going to have to dive right in," said board member Wysh Weinstein.
And indeed, following the board vote and swearing in of Greenberg, he immediately joined in and participated in his first vote just minutes later.
