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Palo Alto school board candidates Ingrid Campos, Nicole Chiu-Wang, Shounak Dharap and Shana Segal speak about their platforms and positions during a debate sponsored by the Palo Alto Weekly and moderated by journalists Zoe Morgan, Anna Feng, Chris Lee and Jerry Xia on Zoom on Sept. 20, 2022.
The four candidates running for two seats on Palo Alto’s school board discussed issues ranging from student achievement to the board’s oversight role during a wide-ranging forum that Palo Alto Weekly hosted on Tuesday.
Other topics covered in the debate included curriculum, student conduct and discipline, diversity and inclusion, student support, staffing and enrollment.
Candidates Ingrid Campos, Nicole Chiu-Wang, Shounak Dharap and Shana Segal answered questions posed by Weekly education reporter Zoe Morgan and three local student journalists: Palo Alto High School Campanile Editor-in-Chief Jerry Xia, Paly Voice News Editor Anna Feng and Gunn High School Oracle News Editor Chris Lee. Weekly Editor Jocelyn Dong moderated the event.
The Palo Alto Weekly will be hosting an online forum for the Santa Clara County sheriff candidates on Tuesday, Sept. 27. To register, visit PaloAltoOnline.com/sheriff.
Thank you for hosting the debate! I am concerned with the limited view expressed by board member Dharap of the role of PAUSD board, that contrasts the more expansive view at similar districts. According to Dharap, hire the superintendent and dictate a “vision”. But the “vision” examples were of picturesque statements of the type designed to advance political careers rather than improve ground level experiences and outcomes. This view avoid accountability under the umbrella excuse that “board members are not education experts.”
The board is the elected entity linking the interests of community and families to a self-interested entitiy providing service. If it does not ensure
that the diverse needs and priorities of our students are met, then no one will.The board should require transparancy, that policies are data driven and evidence-based, that meaningful measures are in place and data is collected, that parent and student input is meaningfully taken. Board members do not need to be education experts to do that.
The result is our PAUSD that lacks in communication and transparency and lost the trust of families and teachers. The board should work to fix the culture but instead allows PAUSD to change optics: a “communication officer” replaces transparency, in-house lawyer for the fallouts of mistrust and malpractice. PAUSD students that depend on PAUSD are years behind grade level but instead of insisting on evidence-based practices, our board allows PAUSD to not produce required achievement reports, not collect relevant data, and create ineffective one-size-fits all classes to create a perception of equity at the expense of students.
We don’t need lawyer board members but board members that are committed to address the non-evidenced, non-transparent, and often harmful conduct that lead to an excessive number of lawsuits. That insist that PAUSD follows the *intention* of the law by serving our students rather than dodge it.