Voter Guide 2001: Candidates vie for high school board Voter Guide 2001: Candidates vie for high school board (October 24, 2001)

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

With students posting above-average scores on high school exit exams and state-mandated basic skills tests this year, the board of trustees of the Sequoia Union High School District may have earned some smooth sailing. But above-average test scores are only a small victory in an ongoing struggle to raise student performance, and charter schools are roiling the waters.

Three candidates are vying for two open seats on the Sequoia board: Incumbent Sally Stewart wants to extend her tenure to a fourth term. Former Menlo Park school board trustee Gordon Lewin is seeking to occupy the seat being vacated by Beverly Scott. The third candidate, Raymond Bell, is a member of the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County and is running a quiet campaign.

Priorities

Ms. Stewart said she is most concerned with the success of Measure G, an $88 million bond measure that would be used to modernize the district's high schools, which include Menlo-Atherton and Woodside. She also wants to participate in an effort to create more cooperation among members of the board and the district superintendent, and to encourage more "thinking outside the box."

Mr. Lewin said he wants to improve the facilities of the district's schools; improve academic performance, especially for students who are falling behind; and continue efforts to personalize the large high schools.

Mr. Bell could not be reached for comment for this article.

Charter schools

Ms. Stewart said she plans to vote against the proposal before the district's board to grant supplemental funding to the new charter high school sponsored by the Ravenswood School District and located on the grounds of the Menlo Oaks School in Menlo Park. The new school was recently named East Palo Alto High School.

The resolution before the board calls for the Sequoia district to provide $1,500 to $1,700 for each student with "special needs" at East Palo Alto High, adding to the $5,400 per student already provided by the state. A student in the "special needs" category would have to meet one of four specific economic or learning disadvantages. District estimates put the total outlay at $142,800 for the first year.

Mr. Lewin favors the proposal, saying that if such financial support were to become a precedent, it would be an incentive for other high schools to diversify their student bodies. He also wants to allow for student preferences. "Some kids flourish in a small school environment," he said. "Others love the extracurricular environment of a large school."

Ms. Stewart opposes supplemental funding unless the district receives some benefit in return. She said one such benefit might be the sharing of teaching insights gained from training opportunities available to the charter school's teachers from Stanford University's school of education, which is a partner of the school.

Exit exams

Scores on the statewide high school exit exams taken by last year's freshman class show lower skill levels among students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds when compared with their white and Asian classmates. Although students will have up to six opportunities to take the test, educators worry that the poorest performers may not learn the algebra and language skills required to pass and graduate.

The exit exam is setting a standard for basic skills, Mr. Lewin said. "There is a benefit to sending a message to all kids, no matter their economic or social background," he said. "They should have basic reading and math skills."

Mr. Lewin said he wants to encourage kids to keep trying even if they have to stay in school until they're 19, but supports the idea of a certificate of completion for those students who want to move on. He believes such a certificate tells an employer that the person stayed in school, had a good attendance record, and was not a discipline problem.

"There are going to be some kids who can't meet the mark," he said. "For them, we have to have a means of showing them in good standing and good citizens."

Ms. Stewart said she believes smaller schools would help students improve their scores. The small schools movement would do away with large impersonal classes in public high schools and reorganize them into schools within schools in which students receive more personal attention. "Personalization helps kids do better," she said.

For students who don't do well enough on the exit exam, Ms. Stewart favors giving them diplomas as well. She said she thinks the state will delay implementation of the exam's consequences if enough kids aren't graduating. "They'll lower the bar somehow," she said, adding that education departments have backed off in a number of states for this reason.

Student performance

High schools in the Sequoia district often see freshmen entering school with second- or third-grade reading levels.

"If the student can't speak English, maybe they should take five years rather than four," Ms. Stewart said. Some districts are doing this, she said. She also wants more assessment of kids as they come into high school.

Mr. Lewin agreed with the five-year program. "Give them an intensive first year," he said. Mr. Lewin also said high schools should be talking with elementary schools about preparing students for high school, following the example of colleges, which have determined high-school agendas for many years.

Sarah D. "Sally" Stewart
Profession: Educational consultant
Experience: Board member, Sequoia Union High School district, 1983-present, two terms as board president; educational consulting, 1985-present; past president, California School Boards Association; former chair, state Commission of Teacher Credentialing; education director, League of Women Voters of California, 1991-present; editor, Education Congress of California; co-founder, EdSource.
Education: Stanford, Ph.D., medical microbiology; Smith College, AB, bacteriology.
Age: 69

Gordon Lewin
Profession: Urban planner/parent
Experience: Former member, past president, Menlo Park City School District board; steering committee member, Yes on Measure G; board member, Menlo-Atherton Education Foundation.
Education: M.S. in engineering/urban planning, Stanford University; B.A. with honors in urban studies, Earlham College.
Age: 49

Raymond M. Bell Jr.
Profession: Staff engineer/parent
Experience: John Gill school site council; established first computer lab at John Gill School with donations from Lockheed Martin; taught freshman physics at San Diego State University and the University of Arizona.
Education: Information not available.
Age: 45