Candidate for
Board Member; Novato Unified School District

I have followed the Board by attending most every regular meeting, special meeting, Sunday workshops and the like for the past two years. I have made public comment frequently at those meetings and my views have been considered. It is time to be on the other side of the podium and take actions to continue to improve education in the Novato school district.

I have several issues of concern to me. A primary issue is the entire funding mechanisms for school financing. As pointed out in this springs school budget reviews by the former CFO and recognized by one Board member (Millerick) the District is eating into its reserves at a rate that will lead to bankruptcy in about three years. In two years of Board meetings I have not heard any Board member address the need to review the entire funding source.

Another issue is the manner in which the Board spends the economic resources it has. One must understand that there is a difference between operating dollars (to pay teachers and the utility bills) and capital funds (to construct buildings and improve infrastructure).

Is public education important to me? Is it necessary to have family members in the school district important to be on the Board? Yes I am a product of a public education (San Leandro High School graduate) and yes I have two step granddaughters at the Novato Charter School. My children and step children attended a public school (Pleasanton, Sebastopol and Cupertino) which has exposed me to different districts and how they operate.

Education is extremely important in our family and I can proudly boast of children/step children with two Doctorate degrees, a Masters in Biology, a Bachelor degree in Political Science and one with a cosmetology certification from the State of California. Of all those degrees the latter is most impressive to me. There needs to be room in our education system for all who seek to improve their lives.