Editor’s note: Malachy Sandie is running for a seat on Coronado Unified School District’s governing board in the November elections. Margaret Mary Duncan, Alexia Palacios-Peters and Kaye McCormick Schneider are also vying for one of the three open seats. The Coronado News will consider publishing one letter to the editor from each candidate running in the November elections. Submit letters, no longer than 700 words, to sofie@thecoronadonews.com by Oct. 1 for consideration.
My name is Mal Sandie and I am running for re-election to the Coronado Unified School District governing board. I grew up in Los Altos, California, attended the U.S. Naval Academy, and moved to Coronado in 1992 while stationed as a helicopter pilot at Naval Air Station North Island. I spent 30-years on active duty and retired in 2020.
My education also includes an M.A. from the Naval War College, a certificate for program management from the Defense Acquisition University, and I have previously held the civilian Program Management Professional (PMP) certification.
My wife of 32 years served as a Navy active-duty nurse anesthetist for 13 years and is now a civilian employee in the anesthesia department at Naval Medical Center, San Diego. We have four sons ages 28, 25, 21, and 17, all of whom attended Coronado public schools when we were stationed here. The boys are, respectively, a fourth year medical student, licensed mariner with Military Sealift Command, fourth year cadet at West Point, and a senior at Coronado High School who plans to attend Cal-Poly Maritime.
I am a “recovering Catholic” and am the only political candidate running for local election who is self-funded and accepts no donations because I do not want to be beholden to any benefactors.
I am running for re-election to champion public schools and help incrementally improve Coronado public education by continuing to fully support our amazing teachers, staff, principals, and superintendent. We need to maintain focus on our school district’s goal of “preparing our children for higher education, careers, and society.” We also must judiciously utilize our new Basic Aid funding to retain and attract the best teachers and staff, and to upgrade our facilities.
Additionally, I believe that we need to adhere to California State education mandates such as vaccination requirements to keep our children safe and to ensure we are not financially penalized by the state. We also need to keep personal smart devices, religion, and book banning out of our public schools while we also continue to fight against Project 2025 that seeks to divert public school funding to private and faith-based education.
If you re-elect me, I pledge to champion the Coronado public schools and ensure that our children have the best education possible, which will afford them the opportunity for successful and fulfilling lives and a strong, future United States!
