Jordan parent goes for write-in candidacy Jordan parent goes for write-in candidacy (September 26, 2001)

School board race to have field of four

by Jennifer Deitz Berry

Longtime school activist and Palo Alto native Barbara Mitchell is making a bid as a write-in candidate for a seat on the school board, hoping to protect school land and push forward efforts to reduce class sizes in all grades.

For 12 years, Mitchell, a mother of four, has been active in the schools, sitting on a variety of school site committees and serving repeatedly as school PTA president.

Mitchell will join Palo Alto parent Ivan Kolozsvari and board incumbents Cathy Kroymann and John Barton in the school board race.

Her last-minute decision to run as a write-in candidate came on the heels of school district land-use issues that unfolded last month; which included discussions of giving up buy-back rights to a portion of the Ventura school site and a recent announcement that as part of a larger deal, the Jewish Community Center will be allowed to occupy the Greendell school site for up to eight years.

Mitchell said she is concerned the district risks repeating past mistakes by forfeiting district lands, which may one day be needed as school sites. "If we chip away at Palo Alto's school sites to address housing needs and other community services, Palo Alto will lose its flexibility to serve students."

District enrollment fell slightly this year, but Mitchell said past school boards erred in selling off school properties when enrollment numbers were down, leaving them unprepared when numbers went back up.

"We're not very good, historically, at predicting enrollment," she said. "Everybody regrets that we sold 20 percent of our sites," when the district was experienced enrollment declines in the mid-1970s.

If elected, Mitchell said she would push for more community input over negotiations involving school lands, and she would encourage keeping school sites available in case enrollment grows.

Mitchell said current school board members aren't fighting hard enough to protect district land. She questioned the wisdom of trading away the district's right to 8 acres of land at the Cubberley school site. Now she is concerned members will bend to the latest proposal from City Council -- a land-swap deal that would give the district 1 acre of land for an elementary school plus shared use of playing fields, if the district will give up its right to buy back the remaining property.

"We don't want to see a marriage between the school board and the City Council that is so cozy that we're serving city objectives at the cost of school kids," she said.

Mitchell also worries about the negative effects big schools and big classes can have on students' education. Mitchell said even after opening Terman, Palo Alto's middle schools remain larger than 90 percent of those in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

To ensure schools don't become even larger, she would focus on putting together a strategic plan that would prepare the district for opening a 13th elementary school and a third high school.

Mitchell would also like to make class-size reduction an even bigger district priority. Part of the money raised through the voter-approved parcel tax is earmarked for class size reduction in grades 4 through 8. This fall, the district moved ahead with reductions in grades 4 through 6. If elected, Mitchell said she would reorganize district priorities to find funding in order to lower class size in middle and high school English, science, social studies and math classes from 28.5 to 24 students.

Mitchell, 49, has a long history in the Palo Alto schools. She and her husband both grew up in Palo Alto, and now have four children in the schools. She is currently co-PTA president at both Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School. Mitchell led the districtwide class-size reduction initiative in 2000, and has served on site council and principal selection committees, the fund-raising working group, and Jordan Middle School's committee to develop a computer laptop pilot program. Mitchell also serves on the board of directors of the Palo Alto Foundation for Education.

Mitchell knows it will be a challenge to run against incumbent board members John Barton and Cathy Kroymann.

In Palo Alto elections, "a write-in candidate has never won a race against two incumbents," Mitchell said. "I would love to win a seat, but if the sole accomplishment is to create more community dialog on some of the upcoming issues, I will be very happy."

Email Jennifer Berry at jberry@paweekly.com