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Mountain View Whisman School District trustee Chris Chiang plans to leave the school board this summer, roughly six months before the end of his term, creating a vacancy on the board.
Chiang announced at a Thursday, May 2, school board meeting that he will be getting married this summer and intends to move to Redwood City around the end of June. When he moves out of the school district’s boundaries, he will no longer be eligible to serve on the board.
Chiang was elected to his current term in 2020, but previously served on the board from 2012 to 2015.
In an interview, Chiang told the Voice that after living in Mountain View for 20 years and serving two terms on the board, leaving is bittersweet.
“I’ve been involved in the school district for a long time,” Chiang said. “Over the years I’ve seen five different superintendents. That’s also many generations of parents and children.”
The school board plans to discuss filling Chiang’s seat at its May 16 meeting, board president Devon Conley said. California education code lays out the rules for filling vacancies. The board will get advice from the district’s lawyer on the specific process, Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph said.
Chiang said that he plans to move to Redwood City because that is where his partner has an existing home, and is where they could afford to live as a larger family. Chiang has one child and his partner has two children, Chiang said.
At last week’s board meeting, Chiang recalled some of the highlights of serving on the board – including building performing arts centers at the middle schools and bringing streaming video to board meetings – while also acknowledging the challenges of being the only “no” vote on various decisions.
“I hope that the future board continues to seek diverse voices, because it’s definitely not a highlight to so frequently be the lone dissenting voice on some things,” Chiang said. “I just ask the board to really lean into those voices that are different from everybody.”
Many of the board’s decisions have been unanimous in recent years, but when there is a split vote, Chiang is often the only one voting “no.” In March, Chiang was the one trustee to vote against installing fencing at Monta Loma Elementary School.
Chiang told the Voice that he didn’t run for the board to be the lone dissenter, but that he has consistently been cautious about spending money on projects outside the classroom.
While he said that he wished he could have convinced his colleagues of his views, he added that he respected that they were voting based on what they believed was best for students.
At the same time, Chiang told the Voice that he preferred his first term on the board, even though there was substantial upheaval in the district at the time.
“Despite the fact that there was so much turmoil the first time around, I felt more productive the first time around,” Chiang said. “I felt really proud about a lot of the things I did the first three years I served. These last three years, I have a harder time feeling like I made a difference with the kids.”
During Chiang’s first term, there was substantial board dysfunction, including a vote to censure trustee Steve Nelson for his conduct towards district staff. Chiang ended up resigning from the school board in 2015 in large part due to disagreements with Nelson. At the time, Chiang said he planned to run a recall campaign against Nelson, which didn’t come to fruition.
Looking back, Chiang said that although those years weren’t easy, he is proud of the work the board did on behalf of students, including working to implement “21st century learning” and building middle school performing arts centers. He also acknowledged that part of his perspective may be influenced by hindsight, with the difficult memories fading with time.
At a time where agreement among board members is more common, Chiang said that he encourages the board to react with curiosity when people disagree and to lean into differing viewpoints.
He also said it’s important to have a diverse school board that represents the community. As the only Asian American trustee, Chiang said that parents will sometimes reach out to him individually and that he can speak with them in Mandarin. Similarly, he praised the board for currently having Spanish speaking board members.
At last week’s board meeting, his fellow trustees praised his service on the board and offered well wishes for his upcoming wedding.
“I think we all agree that you have been a wonderful partner and you will be sorely, sorely missed,” Conley said. “Thank you so much for your service.”
I hope they can appoint someone nice and friendly.
This is the second time Chris Chiang has resigned his position before the end of his term. It was a mistake the first time, and I am disappointed that he is repeating that mistake all these years later. Doesn’t he feel any responsibility to the voters who trusted him?
Ah – it is not ‘especially a surprise’ to me that Trustee Chiang thought, in retrospect, that our time on the Board together “felt more productive” [quote]. Chiang, besides being a secondary school teacher of history and government, is also a well-studied student of the democratic process of government. [demos – Greek root for ‘the people’]
I know Trustee Conley – strongly thought-out-and-publicly-explained AND VOTED her divergent view on Monta Loma fencing (‘staff recommended’ option for smaller Student Field-space). Chiang was usually the one looking after the Students First / the Staff and ADMINISTRATORS only as it would ‘directly support the classrooms’. ( Chiang – lone Nay vote for recent $1,100 per session “meditation” contract for district’s Leadership Team! )
To me it was ‘interesting’ to watch Bd. President Conley publicly (IMO) ‘drag out’ even a begrudging modicum of parting camaraderie from Trustee Blakely! !!! I certainly do not AT ALL expect Blakely to seek or vote for Any Type of ‘diverse’ (i.e. from herself and her ‘administrative supportive’).
former MVWSD Trustee