Michelle Petersen for SRVUSD School Board Area 1 November 8

Elect Michelle Petersen -- SRVUSD Area 1 election.

Nearly 30 years ago, the voters in the San Ramon Valley removed four sitting school board members (the fifth retired) and seated an entirely new board. They did so because the board that was removed pursued divisive, right-wing policies, caused a teachers’ strike, and almost ran the district into insolvency.

The consequence of this election was a dramatic improvement in all aspects of the district’s performance. Relations between the SRVUSD board, its teachers and classified employees improved out of all recognition. And the district won the enduring trust of parents and the community. It went on to complete an aggressive and very successful billion-dollar program of building and upgrading poorly designed and maintained school facilities to the point where SRVUSD now has some of the best school facilities of any district in the state. This program was funded by developers and by school bonds passed by the community.

I worked on the 1990 election and joined the board in 1992, serving until 2000. I then chaired the district’s Facilities Oversight Committee for a number of years as the district’s comprehensive building plan was implemented. So I was right in the middle of these events.

Over the ensuing decades, SRVUSD’s academic excellence, student-friendly programs and exceptional facilities are the reason so many families have moved into the district. It‘s also the reason why house values have improved significantly.

Why is this relevant for the Area 1 election for a trustee to replace retiring trustee Ken Mintz? There are three candidates in this race. Jesse Van Zee believes that the teachers’ association is a “special interest group”, believes that parents’ values and beliefs should be accommodated no matter how out of the mainstream these values are and has suggested that both curriculum materials and library contents should be subject to board review. He questions the value of focus on diversity and his cohorts have accused another candidate of supporting “critical race theory” (which she does not). This is a familiar right-wing trope. Anyone who believes that our teachers, the backbone of all our schools in the valley, are a “special interest group” does not deserve to be elected to the SRVUSD Board.

Electing Jesse Van Zee would cause significant damage to the school district and indeed the broader community and would bring back the issues that caused the 1990 school board to be removed. It is vitally important that his campaign fails.

So who are the other two candidates? Both have been deeply involved with the district over many years and both could be reasonably described as candidates within the mainstream of community values. There is, however, one critical difference between them. Jerome Pandell has done little campaigning and appears to believe that his early endorsements are enough to carry him to victory. He has failed twice to join the board in the past – once by losing an election and then by failing to be picked as a candidate for appointment.

The third, and by far the best candidate in this election is Michelle Petersen. A PTA president with a long history of working within the district at the grass roots level, she has developed a number of innovative and popular programs at Alamo School. She is a former firefighter and a corporate events planner with the backbone and experience to be an effective board member right from the start. And, most important, she is running a well-organized and aggressive campaign that makes her the most likely candidate to defeat Van Zee.

Her website (www.petersen.vote) details her background, values and positions and will convince voters who access it why she is the best candidate in this race. Briefly, her focus is on academic excellence, fiscal responsibility, safe schools, student wellness and transparent community communications. There is a reason why she is supported by current and former school board members as well as other local and state elected officials who understand how important this race is -- they trust her.

Don’t make the mistake of ignoring this election -- it’s vitally important. Get educated on the issues and vote for Michelle Petersen for SRVUSD Board of Trustees. And tell your friends to do the same!