School board candidate Q&A: former Los Gatos math teacher Steve Chen

School board candidate Steve Chen’s campaign logo.

In a six question interview, Chen shared his views about staff retention, mental health, the board’s role, the parcel tax and more.

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.

Chen emphasized his background as a former LGHS teacher and parent. He said his role as a board member will be to oversee the superintendent and support proper processes, regardless of the decision. He said he supports improving the staff hiring processes, implementing a metric system to track effectiveness of wellness programs, passing an increased parcel tax, finding other increased funding sources and adapting programs to decreasing enrollment. He is one of three candidates endorsed by the District Teachers Association, along with Misty Davies and Alex Shultz.

What are your background and qualifications?

I believe I can bring a balanced and educated perspective to the board as a former LGHS teacher, parent to three grown children who’ve also attended LGHS and former sales executive.

I graduated from Stanford with a degree in electrical engineering. While I spent my first 30 working years in the tech industry, deep down I always wanted to teach. So, about eight years ago, I pivoted and got my masters degree in education at Santa Clara University and have taught math at LGHS until this past June.

What are your thoughts on employee hiring and retention?

On retention, I would want to understand the reasons why our recently departed employees left, along with the top job dissatisfaction issues with the remaining staff. I’d then work with the superintendent to make sure there is a plan in place to address these issues going forward.

For new staffing positions, I would review the interview process to ensure there’s a mutual match of skills, interests and organizational fit between the job candidates and the hiring team. Better hiring practices should improve retention rates if the staff are better matched to their job function and work team.

How can the schools better address student mental health?

I believe the current administration and board have done a good job prioritizing student mental health concerns. There’s a number of programs available, including wellness centers, on-site and on-call therapists and academic support services. I would continue to focus on messaging, making sure students, parents and staff are aware of these services and de-stigmatizing any negative connotations these services may have.

More importantly, I would want to create metrics to track how much each resource was being used to gauge effectiveness and to determine future needs.

What is the role of board members?

As a former teacher, I would definitely want to share my observations and experiences with the superintendent and other board members.

That said, I think the board position is one of oversight. My job is to ensure that any final recommendation made by the administration is logical, thorough and includes input by all stakeholders: students, parents and teachers.

Do you support renewing the parcel tax?

Yes, I support the parcel tax. My highest priority as a board member is to ensure the renewal of this tax when it expires in 2025. I would also want to work with the other board members, administration and community to determine if there is support for a tax higher than the current $49 rate. For example, our communities have recently approved a parcel tax of $67 and $335 (plus a 2% annual increase) for Saratoga Union School District (SUSD) and LGUSD, respectively. Can the high school district also pass a parcel tax with an increased rate?

What are your other priorities?

Job one should be to investigate increases in other funding sources, either one-time or ongoing. At the same time, we should go through the budget to make sure we are doing everything we can to streamline expenses that don’t impact the classroom.

On sustainability, solar is great but can we find a community sponsor or obtain an infrastructure grant to help pay for the upfront capital costs?

I see declining enrollment as another issue. Optimizing the course curricula for both high schools with smaller student bodies will be an ongoing challenge.