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Melissa Baten Caswell, a former Palo Alto Unified School District board member and longtime community volunteer, died on Monday, Feb. 6, from pancreatic cancer. She was 58.
Baten Caswell’s involvement in local schools spanned decades, including 13 years serving on the Palo Alto Unified board starting in 2007 and an unsuccessful bid for the Santa Clara County Board of Education in 2020.
Born in White Plains, New York, Baten Caswell and her husband, Lee Caswell, moved to Palo Alto in 1990, where they made their home and raised two children.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, where she met her husband. After moving to Palo Alto, Baten Caswell worked in marketing roles for tech companies, including Apple and Sun Microsystems.
She left tech to spend more time with her children, according to a family obituary, but soon took on leadership roles in local schools, including serving as PTA Council president. She was also a founding board member of the nonprofit Youth Community Service.
According to Caswell, his wife’s interest in education was focused on how to create a passion and love of learning in students, as well as finding ways to get Palo Alto residents working toward common goals.
“She was really invested in how to go and bring the communities together,” Caswell said.
News of her death sparked an outpouring of support and condolences from the community, including more than 60 comments left on a message that her husband posted on the website CaringBridge announcing her death.
The Palo Alto City Council held a moment of silence for Baten Caswell on Monday and adjourned its meeting in her honor. Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims cited Baten Caswell’s many years of public service.
“We’ve lost a cherished member of our community,” Lythcott-Haims said.
Council member Pat Burt noted her courage in the face of declining health.
“For those who have known her and followed her struggles in recent years with her battles, she was just incredibly courageous throughout this entire period of time, maintained a very positive approach and was a real inspiration,” Burt said.
While serving on Palo Alto’s school board, Baten Caswell helped lead the district through periods of upheaval, including a federal Title IX investigation into sexual misconduct, teen suicide clusters, the renaming of two middle schools and the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the beginning of her time on the school board, she worked to develop a strategic plan for the district, bringing in the management-consulting firm McKinsey & Company to help develop the document.
“That was a huge lift when she first came in, and she was very proud of that,” Caswell said.
She also served as president of the Santa Clara County School Boards Association and was a member of the California School Boards Association, California Association of Suburban School Districts and Schools for Sound Finance.
What stood out for Heidi Emberling, who served with Baten Caswell on the school board from 2012 to 2016, was the way that her colleague was able to keep the interests of families at the center of her work.
“She was always optimistic. She always looked for the way forward,” Emberling said. “If there was a barrier, she looked for ways to dismantle it.”
The two stayed in touch after Emberling left the board and became close friends. Sigrid Pinsky similarly met Baten Caswell when they both served on the PTA Council, but stayed close afterward. Pinsky was struck by Baten Caswell’s dedication to hearing what people were experiencing and finding ways to provide support.
“She paid attention and brought up issues and fought hard for what she cared about,” Pinsky said. “Our children benefited greatly. Our teachers benefited greatly.”
In her personal life, Baten Caswell had a love of art and cooking. According to Caswell, his wife was an accomplished painter, focusing on watercolors and oil painting, as well as charcoal. She also created her own jewelry, including making her husband’s wedding ring. Baten Caswell served as a board member of the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation.
She also loved trying to make new foods, including various pastries, Caswell said. A favorite of family and friends was the sherry cake that she would hand out around the holidays, he said.
“She built lifelong relationships and was always there for her family and friends,” an obituary from the family said. “She was a source of strength and inspiration with a smile and energy that could move mountains.”
Baten Caswell is survived by her husband; their children, Lainie and Cas Caswell; her sisters, Amanda Baten and Blythe Witt; and her mother, Susan Jill Baten.
The family requests donations to Adolescent Counseling Services in lieu of flowers.
I am so saddened to read this! I remember Melissa as hardworking and caring. I worked on defeating the Everyday Math program and as School Board member, she really cared to learn about it rather than just vote without knowledge. She wasn’t a follower, she did what she thought was right. At Duveneck when I saw her, she would answer my education questions patiently. I haven’t seen her in years and didn’t know she was ill. I send my love to Cass and the family. She’s gone way too soon.
I met Melissa as a Freshman in college. Her dorm was adjacent to mine and I have many memories of her happy, bubbly personality during a chaotic, fun and challenging college transition year. Somehow, decades later we ended up in the same community where, although we were never friends, I was happy to cheer her accomplishments as we moved through middle age. Very, very sorry to learn she has passed.
Sincere sympathy to Melissa’s family. I had brief pleasant contact with her and followed her hard work on the school board with approval and thanks. So sorry she has passed.
I am sad to hear this, she added so much the school board during her time
She was much too young. Why all this pancreatic cancer? I never knew anyone who had it when I was young but have known and known of so many over the last 20 years.
Condolences to her family for their loss.
Our community has lost a dedicated and caring leader and I will miss my dear friend.
Such a huge loss for our community, and so saddening, she was way too young! As a board member she truly listened to the full community and was there to — generally — do what is right and serve all students. Believed and worked for transparency and results, believed in data-driven decisions, and also on the precious personal side — coached and bridged so that voices are heard.
Melissa’s passing is an enormous loss to her family and our community. I will miss Melissa. Her partnership in volunteering and intrepid courage in the face of difficult challenges changed our community for the better. I am very grateful to have enjoyed her friendship, creativity, energy and deeply caring presence in my life. May her family find comfort and peace in joyful memories.
It is with great sadness that we remember the life of a respected member of the school board who dedicated her time and energy to advocating for educational programs that benefitted students and the community as a whole.
We still remembered her of helping us fighting for Every Day Math battle and WGPA. She has really achieved her goal of “creating a passion and love of learning in students”.
Her efforts will never be forgotten, and her legacy will live on in the countless students whose lives she touched.
Thank you so much! Melissa!
I will always remember Melissa for her devotion to the high quality education, her passion for bringing everyone together in the community. She has reached out to so many students and families. She has the courage to stand up to what she believes in. Her passing is huge loss to her family and to our community. Her legacy will be carried and continue to benefits our kids in PAUSD. RIP!
One memory in appreciation of Melissa’s amazing service (more later):
In December 2019, our Ed board approved** a planned experiment on our middle schoolers that involved the de-laning of middle school math (without proper support and acceleration points). The plan did not follow the most basic tenet of a scientific process. Moreover, the use of highly informative assessment tool, the NWEA MAP, on which we had years of data, was abruptly stopped just as the experiment began. Melissa was the only board member that voiced the concern “But how would we know if this works?”
Well — Melissa was unfortunely in a board minority. 3 year and ~3000 impacted PAUSD students later: The data we do have (through PRAs) shows the ongoing misguided experiment does not work, and blatantly so. And nothing public from PAUSD about it (dodging legal requirement).
** Technically, the board did not “approve”. Math pathways are by law a board policy. But our board majority, uniquly so, prefers to be “presented” with plans, a PAUSD-unique approach of dodging responsibility.
On behalf of Girl Scouts of Palo Alto, Service Unit 601, we extend our condolences to Melissa’s family.
I first met Melissa about 5 years ago. The context was that I (and other parents) were concerned by district math placement and pathways. The options seemed misguided, the conduct unprofessional, there was hiding of data instead or reporting with integrity, there was repeated malpractice in administering placement tests, the design of the tests was unprofessional, there was ongoing intimidation of students and parents. Problems were not acknowledged. Teachers were privately telling us things that they could not say publicly. It did not make sense. We could not understand where this is coming from. It all seemed to be controlled from the very top at district level.
PAUSD seemed unique this way, we collected data from neighboring districts and across the state and were set up meeting hoping to educate board members.
We met with several board members, then with Melissa. We presented data and experiences, she seemed to indicate it does not matter and then gave me precious advice: “You should never mention “Cupertino” “– she said. Why I asked? “think for yourself” she said.”You are advocating for something, mentioning Cupertino is not productive to that.” I then asked Melissa “So what districts should we look at? “ she named three districts she knew PAUSD looked up to (in the east coast and the midwest).
I only grasped it later. The far-away districts on pedestal were affluent and homogenous — 95% white. Cupertino is heavily Asian and foreign born. In our advocacy, we replaced “Cupertino” with “Los Altos”, and that allowed us to convey the issues without triggering biases. This was precious advice. I still think of Cupertino as the district “Who Must Not Be Named”.
Mellisa was there for the community even in what turned out to be her last few months, coaching an incoming ed board member that is also about serving all students. Her Legacy remains.
This is devastating. Melissa was a fierce advocate for youth, education, and service. She held strong opinions and was not afraid to stand her ground. She was a smart and thoughtful advocate for the students in PAUSD. Her voice, her presence will be missed. Though Death will visit us all, Melissa’s passing reminds us of death’s gripping pain.