Board chair during pandemic re-entry, Flinn seeks re-election
by Garth Meyer
She was the ultimate private school kid. He was the ultimate public school kid.
They got married, had children and she called the local private schools about enrollment.
Why? He said. Why would we spend the money?
She checked out Birney Elementary School and came back and said, “I can’t come up with a reason why.”
Raymur Flinn is now the divorced mother of two running for her second term on the Redondo Beach Unified School District board.
She was the board chair in 2021-22.
“It felt long during that time, but I feel like we emerged out of this stronger than before,” Flinn said.
Signs around town read “Raymur Flinn & Byung Cho” for school board. Cho is running for the board for the first time.
“We’re sharing resources,” Flinn said. “And have shared values. We’re definitely our own people. We’re all running and spending money for a volunteer position.”
After an unopposed quest four years ago, Flinn seeks re-election with two seats open and three candidates.
The Miami Beach native went to private elementary and high schools, then left for Trinity University in San Antonio, where she majored in English, with a minor in business and international studies. After working for a year in fundraising for nonprofits in San Antonio, Flinn left for Costa Rica for a year to become fluent in Spanish.
Among her shared values with Cho, she cites “always putting the best interests of students first. The person we serve is the students.”
Before her time on the school board, Flinn served as executive director of the Redondo Beach Education Foundation.
“I’m very familiar with the private schools. And it’s made me even more dedicated to public education,” she said. “I think it’s a microcosm of the real world. And we have such amazing schools and involved parents here.”
After Costa Rica, Flinn moved to Atlanta for three years. She came to Redondo Beach in 1999 to work for City of Hope.
“I always wanted to live out here,” she said.
Her oldest daughter is now a freshman at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., a choice made of wanting something urban, and bigger than Redondo Union High’s student population of 3,000.
“My passion is children and education,” Flinn said. “Whatever way I could be of service, and I do know the Redondo Unified School District inside and out.”
What about her time as board chair?
“I wish I could’ve waved a magic wand and kids had gone back in-person earlier, but it wasn’t even a possibility” she said. “We were one of the first four districts in L.A. County to go back… We have amazingly dedicated administrators and staff. Fearless. I loved the people I worked with through a terrible time.”
She talked about the question of how effective online learning is.
“I think that has been answered,” Flinn said. “School is way more than just academics. It’s learning how to be in class with people you don’t like and those you do like. Online learning does work for some kids but the vast majority need the in-person element.”
Flinn has been endorsed by the Redondo Beach Teachers Association, former Superintendent Steven Keller, current and former board members, and city council representatives.
“It’s the business of educating children,” she said of the school board’s work. “It’s all about compromise. Coming to the best solution for most.” ER