y all accounts, Woodside's elementary school district, which has just one school, is at the top of its game.
Results from the state's standardized tests show scores were up 12 points this year at 912 out of a possible 1,000, making the school eligible for a $150-per-student cash bonus.
After an extensive search, a new superintendent is now on board and reportedly working well with both the district and the community.
And the school's construction project -- which is being paid for through a $5.2 million bond approved by voters last year -- is on schedule, according to the superintendent.
The challenge for the school board will be how to keep the school in tip-top shape in the face of a statewide teacher shortage, made worse locally by high housing costs.
Those are the big issues facing two school board candidates -- Wendy Burger and Pam Roberts -- who are running for a one-year seat left vacant by former board President Abby Wilder. Ms. Wilder resigned from the five-member board in June to devote more time to her family.
The new trustee would have to run again next year for a full four-year term on the board to retain her seat.
Wendy Burger
Although Mrs. Burger has run political campaigns in the past, this is the first time she has thrown her own hat into the political ring, she said.
A parent of two children currently attending Woodside, Mrs. Burger said she decided to run because she cares about the district.
Having gone through a private school, public school, then school in England, Mrs. Burger said she would bring a diverse educational background to the school board.
She said she has a good understanding of alternative teaching methods, which could include fostering students' emotional well-being in the classroom. With test scores and academic achievement as high as they are, Mrs. Burger said, school staff and parents should make sure students' emotional needs are being met.
"I think we all function at our best when we're emotionally at our best," she said. "We forget that children have real issues with that."
Mrs. Burger said the K-8 school is functioning at its optimum level at about 500 students, and she wouldn't support other schools joining the district.
She said most schools probably see Woodside as a desirable district to be in because of its small class sizes, which she said would erode if other schools are added.
Instead, Mrs. Burger said, Woodside should be seen as a model, and suggests that Woodside teachers and staff help other schools set up similar programs at their own sites.
She said the effort to create a new high school for students west of Interstate 280 probably is not a good idea if it is being done for what she called "elitist" reasons. She said children would benefit from the diversity at Woodside and Menlo-Atherton high schools.
Mrs. Burger said one of the school's biggest challenges will be to hire and retain qualified teachers, which she said won't be an easy job.
She said it won't be as easy as granting all teachers a raise because of the California Teachers Association and government restrictions. She also said it wasn't a good idea to grant cash bonus incentives, because that puts teachers in competition with each other.
In the face of that, she said she would support creative, non-political ways to solve the issue, such as setting up funds for car and gasoline allowances, and low- or no-interest home loans. If elected, Mrs. Burger said, she would support appointing a committee to look into setting up such funds.
Mrs. Burger opposes Proposition 38, the school voucher initiative, because she said it would "make a mess of things." She called vouchers essentially a "bonus for the wealthy."
"It's a really bad idea and it's making a big fat mess out of everything," she said.
She said she would support Proposition 39, if there is a provision to exempt senior citizens and low-income households. That initiative would lower the amount of votes required to pass school construction bonds from two-thirds to 55 percent.
Pam Roberts
Also a parent, Pam Roberts said she's running for school board because she likes to be involved in the community, and the school is a big part of the community.
Having been raised in Woodside and gone to Woodside School, Mrs. Roberts said she has long roots in the community. Her husband also went to Woodside School, and her father was on the school board from 1961 to 1971.
Mrs. Roberts said she would bring experience to the board, having been active in several volunteer efforts over the past eight years.
Among other things, Mrs. Roberts co-chaired the search committee for a new superintendent, co-chaired the Measure A bond committee last year, and worked on two parcel tax committees. She's also been active in Little League, Cub Scouts and 4-H.
Mrs. Roberts agreed that the school is doing very well and owes much of that to the importance of the school in the community.
"Most families around here have a choice, public or private -- usually it's not an affordability issue," she said. "But most choose to send their kids to the local public school because it's a great opportunity to have your kids from age 2 to 13 all in one school. We're the only school in the county to have that."
She said because the school is so unique, it tends to draw "unique and talented people" who help drive the school to higher achievement levels.
But she said the school has to focus on hiring and retaining qualified teachers, if it wants to continue achieving, by offering competitive salaries.
Mrs. Roberts said Woodside teachers are paid near the bottom of the scale compared with teachers in similar school districts. She notes that this school year alone, the school had to replace nine out of about 30 teachers after the teachers left the district to retire, to go into administration, or to move to other areas where housing is more affordable.
"I think it was like a huge light bulb that went on (for the district)," she said, adding that the principal had a "monumental job to hire nine new teachers."
One way to keep teachers might be to encourage more residents to offer guest cottages to teachers.
Mrs. Roberts said she also supports the idea of the school working with the Woodside School Foundation, the school's fundraising arm, to set up a lending institution for teachers that would offer low-interest loans for housing.
"The teachers would likely not be able to live in Woodside," she said. "But they could at least live closer than Hayward or Sacramento."
Mrs. Roberts said that the school should stay at its current enrollment, and she wouldn't support accepting other schools into the district.
"There's a real magic to a school that's between 300 and 500 students, especially a K-8 school," she said. "It's really important that we retain that small community feeling."
She also said she wouldn't join a local group of parents who are trying to form a new high school for children living west of Interstate 280. She said she supports Woodside High School and Menlo-Atherton, and wants her children to meet other children from different backgrounds.
On Proposition 38, Mrs. Roberts agrees that it's too early to try such an initiative. She said it's untested and that both Gov. Gray Davis and former Gov. Pete Wilson oppose it. She said she would support Proposition 39.
