High School District Board Incumbents Banding Together

Editor’s Note: Patch will run a profile of each candidate. Candidates include: , , , . Election Day is Nov. 8, 2011.

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By Cassandra Feliciano

During these days, the financial equation for most school districts has become pretty standard. With the state continuously digging itself a deeper and deeper deficit, it seems that California’s public schools are all facing higher enrollment and depleting funds.

The is no exception. But current board members say that it’s even more complicated by the district’s student dynamics. While Sequoia can boast of a distinguished reputation and an 8.9 percent dropout rate (well below the state and nation’s average), not all of the students are performing at the same rate.

Sequoia’s four comprehensive high schools and specialized programs cater to a very diverse set of nine cities. Students enroll from affluent communities like San Carlos and Menlo Park while others bus in from East Palo Alto.

Although the current board admits that Sequoia has been more fortunate financially than other Bay Area districts, the reserves are certainly not finite—a fact that casts an unsightly shadow on the contenders’ future plans.

OLIVIA MARTINEZ & LORRAINE RUMLEY

The race’s two incumbent candidates will be the first to admit it: it’s been quite a long run. Both Rumley and Martinez, who are re-campaigning together, were first elected to the board in 1999. But even after 12 years neither one is ready to give up just yet.

Part of it is making sure there is continuity. If no incumbent is elected, most of the seats will be filled with people who are relatively new, Rumley, 54, explained. The two not included in the race are occupied by members elected just two years ago.

“You know it’s a very complex district, a lot of complex issues,” she said. “So to have two fairly new people and three more new people, I think that would not be wise.”

In fact, both candidates say that having seasoned trustees on the board is even more important now because of California’s budget crisis. With enrollment continuously increasing, Rumley and Martinez agree that maintaining the district’s excellent reputation that took more than 12 years to develop will be the board’s biggest challenge.

Martinez, 67, admits that Sequoia has been luckier than most districts because the board was adamant about “keeping a strong reserve” despite public criticism. But she says that the money isn’t going to last much longer, leading to more serious budgetary cuts in the future.

“Eighty percent of our budget is personnel, and personnel make programs,” she said.

The district is already feeling the strain of the $5 million in cuts that went into effect in July, which called for the termination of one vice principal and one guidance counselor from each high school. While neither candidate gave extensive details about ideas for curbing the effects of the budget crisis, they mentioned that the current board has discussed introducing a parcel tax down the road to shoulder the anticipated budget cuts.

Currently, the district relies largely on revenue from property taxes, but the decline of house prices over the last two years (even in the affluent areas that the schools serve) reduced the value of that resource, Rumley said.

The second issue pressing on the district is the achievement gap.

“It’s a huge disparity,” Rumley said. “That’s one of the things that makes this district so complex.”

Classrooms at the district’s four comprehensive high schools are filled with students coming in from districts like Woodside Elementary District, where funding per student is approximately $17,000 and from Redwood City where .

“You do see a difference in what the students have, what money can buy,” Rumley added. “So we struggle with that, trying to make sure that students are prepared before they come into high school.”

Endorsements from Other Education Officials

But many have attested to how well Rumley and Martinez have already contributed to this cause with summer and school year programs to help students who may be struggling with the workload.

“They do a good job for that high school district, there’s been some positive changes,” said Karen Schwarz, a San Mateo County Community College District trustee endorsing Rumley and Martinez.

Schwarz has known Rumley since her first term on the board and Martinez since 1995 when she was working at the College of San mateo. She also co-operates a program at called Middle College, an alternative high school program where students can take college courses and complete their high school requirements.

“They’re open to doing as much as they can,” Schwarz continued. “They understand that kids learn on an individual basis, and they know not to put them all in one place and expect them all to succeed. They realize that different kids have different needs.”

The most recent programs include “schools-within-a-school” or “houses,” smaller learning spaces for students who need more individualized attention, and career technical education programs, where students take classes around the most coveted career fields. District institutions also offer a “pull-out” program, Rumley said, to give struggling pupils a chance to catch up.

For endorsers like East Palo Alto Vice Mayor Laura Martinez, Rumley and Martinez’s work on helping lower income students especially hits home because most of the students that come out of EPA are from immigrant families.

”I think it’s really important that since a lot of students from EPA are English language learners that they support effective curriculum.”

Martinez took strides to ease the transition for ELL students by making sure that teachers stay on track in their curriculum and assuring that the students are learning how to succeed using the English language.

While Rumley hasn’t mentioned anything, Martinez said that should she be elected, this will be her last term.

Other endorsers include San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley, and trustee Dennis McBride.

State Senator Joe Simitian is also endorsing Lorraine Rumley.

Correction: The original article stated that Senator Simitian was endorsing both Rumley and Martinez.