Following the resignation of ex-trustee Alex Shultz in January for personal reasons, the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District (LGSUHSD) board of trustees will be appointing one of 12 applicants to fill his vacant position at a special meeting on Tuesday.
Each applicant will give a one-minute introductory statement and answer four standardized questions from board members.
Once the interview process is over, the board will deliberate publicly and hold a vote once a consensus is reached. The selected applicant will be sworn in thereafter.
As of March 9, the Falcon has not received a response from the board as to whether the confirmed trustee will assume their role for the board’s scheduled meeting for the evening of March 11.
All 12 applicants are residents of the school district who submitted an application prior to the deadline. Their qualifications range from parent volunteers to retired education officials and board members of other organizations or school districts.
The following is a summary of each applicant’s main qualifications and areas within the district which they listed to be in need of the most improvement, in no particular order.
Hadeel Ammari
- Software engineer and parent volunteer at LGSUHSD, Make-A-Wish and Parents Helping Parents
Ammari emphasizes trying to help students with diverse learning needs and ensuring equitable access to resources for all. She hopes that a focus on mental health and career readiness programs will prepare students for success in their lives post-graduation.
Kathleen Bays
- Current board member at Santa Clara County Inclusion Collaborative and Changing Perspectives
- Ex-trustee at the Los Gatos Union School District (LGUSD) from 2001 to 2013
- Retired special education teacher and manager of the special education department at the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE)
Bays underscores the isolation and mental health issues brought on by the pandemic and social media, as well as the changing landscape of education.
Karinn Harrington
- Education resource specialist at Parents Helping Parents
- Ex-fundraising chair for the Fisher Home and School Club board and Ramsey Public Education Foundation
- Retired attorney with experience in family law and criminal justice
Harrington highlights the need for modernized facilities, attracting and retaining quality staff and broadening awareness of the value of public education in the community. Specifically, she mentions the high cost of living as a barrier to teachers living nearby.
Gregory Lawler
- Substitute teacher in the Oak Grove School District
- Retired corporate executive who served on the governing bodies and boards of Intuit, Applied Materials, Avery Dennison and The Walt Disney Company
Lawler stresses the need for improved classroom experiences with more manageable class sizes for teachers and updated technologies.
Chris Miller
- Professor at Notre Dame de Namur University
- Trustee at the Los Gatos Union School District (LGUSD) from 2004 to 2012
- Served on the LGSUHSD Bond Oversight Committee, LGSUHSD Parcel Tax Oversight Committee and LGSUHSD Budget Advisory Committee
- Ex-substitute teacher at LGSUHSD
Miller spotlights the need for consistent communication with all district stakeholders and improved communication mechanisms and protocols, evidenced by issues the district has faced in the past year.
Renee Paquier
- Alumna of LGHS, instructor and department chair for Administration of Justice at West Valley College
- Previously served as vice president of student services, diversity and inclusion at West Valley College
- Volunteer at Latimer Elementary – supported school events and classroom initiatives.
Paquier underscores high student stress and the need for diverse post-secondary pathways in the district through mental health support, internships and industry partnerships. She hopes that broadening career options with Career and Technical Education (CTE), entrepreneurship and hands-on learning will ensure success for students in the long-term.
Matthew Baldwin
- Director of secondary education at the Santa Clara Unified School District
- Previously served as principal of Fisher Middle and Novato High and as a teacher at Westlake High
Baldwin highlights efforts to refine equitable grading, expand access to advanced coursework and enhance well-being and post-secondary preparedness as priorities. He mentions how partnerships with local industries for CTE, internships and apprenticeships can give students experiences that align with workforce demands.
Arcia Dorosti
- Teacher at Ellen Fletcher Middle School for over 20 years
- Previously served as director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for LGUSD
Although Dorosti has not studied the district enough to get a sense of what’s in need of improvement, he says he would make understanding and learning about the district a top priority once given the chance.
Peter Hertan
- Vice president of marketing at Dhaani Systems, Inc.
- Served as a trustee for LGSUHSD from 2016 to 2022 and for the Institute of Computer Technology from 1991 to 2000
- Currently serves on the Technology Advisory Committee and previously served in the Budget Advisory Committee, District Financial Audit Committee, Strategic Plan Committee, Bell Schedule Committee, Measure E Bond Projects Committee and Parcel Tax Campaign Committee
Areas of improvement for Hertan are the salary schedule for all employees, graduation rates, energy consumption efficiency, traffic congestion and parking at LGHS and SHS, articulation with feeder districts, equity between the two schools, facilities and listening.
Deborah Lowe
- Pediatric pharmacist at Stanford Children’s Health
- Board member for TWW Indivisible Los Gatos
Lowe advocates for students’ mental health and well-being, acknowledging the high expectations placed on academic performance. She emphasizes the need for more student support services and stronger communication between students, faculty and the district.
Shawn Mortensen
- Director of business development at HITT Contracting
- President of the Los Gatos HS Home & School Club
- Board member of the Wildcat Foundation
Mortenson emphasizes finding a balance between offering rigorous honors and AP course offerings, while implementing a placement mechanism that accurately determines courses appropriate for a student’s learning level.
Wendy Riggs
- Executive director at Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Safe Routes to School and a board member of Counseling and Support Services for Youth
- Chairperson for Community Against Substance Abuse from 2014 to 2022, served on the Budget Advisory Committee for LGUSD for 2 years
- Chair of the 2013 LGUSD parcel tax campaign and treasurer for the 2017 parcel tax campaign
Riggs mentions a need for equity between SHS and LGHS to reduce perceptual rivalries brought on by differing perspectives of parent communities. She also emphasizes the need to improve communication between the district and the community members to streamline future parcel taxes and bond measures.
Information courtesy of LGSUHSD Board of Trustees. Read each applicant’s full application here.
