Three seats on the district board are up for grabs in the Nov. 8 election. Five candidates are vying for the seats: former Los Gatos High teacher Steve Chen, Saratoga High parent Misty Davies, incumbent David Guidry, former Los Gatos Union School District (LGUSD) board member Chris Miller and former LGHS teacher Alex Shultz.
The Falcon reached out to all five candidates with a standardized set of six questions to understand their qualifications, priorities and stances on pressing issues.
Guidry emphasized his background as an incumbent board member and active community member. He said his role as a board member is to provide overall direction and perform oversight for the district. He said he supports addressing academic stress, passing a continued or increased parcel tax, finishing goals from the current Strategic Plan and protecting important programs from declining enrollment.
What are your background and qualifications?
I am a current board member running for re-election, so I have four years of experience in this position. Previously, I was very active in the SHS community, including being President of the SHS Foundation and Chaperone Lead for the marching band. I have an engineering degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in business administration from London Business School, as well as a long, illustrious career in high tech. I’m also very involved in our community, including being President of the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries — this year’s Organization of the Year! — and a Rotary member.
What are your thoughts on employee hiring and retention?
We recently experienced some big losses in our district for a variety of reasons, most not due to salaries, but we have been able to replace all of them with excellent people. Our district is considered one of the best places to work in our area and we consistently have many candidates apply for any open position.
Still, staff retention is very important and the key is providing competitive compensation and excellent working conditions. We accomplish these through negotiations with our unions and I’m proud that we reached agreement with them for over five years using the cooperative IBB method.
How can the schools better address student mental health?
This has been a primary focus for me, and the board, during the past four years and we have taken several steps to help address mental health. I’m particularly proud of our Wellness Centers and that we have added a College and Career Counselor at SHS.
We have made great strides dealing with some very tough issues at LGHS, but we can do more to help SHS with key issues students face there. I’m particularly concerned about academic stress and I’d like to see us work closer with our students to find ways to better support them in dealing with this stress.
What is the role of board members?
The board is currently discussing this issue with our new superintendent now, as part of our effort to update the governance handbook. Board responsibilities include hiring a superintendent and evaluating their performance. The board is also responsible for setting the vision and providing guidance on the priorities for the district, and performing oversight of the district to ensure that we stay financially secure and are moving in the right direction. The board is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the district, nor should it directly manage any of the staff.
Do you support renewing the parcel tax?
We are one of several basic aid districts in our area, where our core funding is based on local property taxes rather than the number of students in our schools. These taxes currently supply 83% of our total revenue, with the parcel tax being less than 1.5% today. That parcel tax will be up for renewal during the next board’s term and I am open to increasing it, but we need to have a clear message for how it will be used so that we can get the support we need from our community to pass it.
What are your other priorities?
These are just some of the many issues that the board is addressing right now. One area that will be important for our district to address in the near term is declining enrollment and how we will continue to support important programs like drama with fewer students. We also need to continue working to achieve the goals we set in our latest strategic plan, which is focused on further improving the educational experience of our students. As a board trustee, know that I always have and will always do what is best for all of our students.