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The Mountain View Whisman School District officially has three new members on its school board, with the trio of winners from last month’s election formally sworn in this week.
At a Thursday, Dec. 19, meeting, Chief Human Relations Officer Tara Vikjord administered the oath of office to Ana Reed, Lisa Henry and Charles DiFazio. They joined Devon Conley and Bill Lambert on the governing body of the TK-8 school district.
The new members replace Laura Blakely, Laura Ramirez Berman and Chris Chiang. Chiang resigned in August, after announcing earlier in the year that he planned to move out of the school district. Blakely and Ramirez Berman both opted not to run again.
With the new board members formally seated, the five trustees unanimously selected their leaders. Conley, who has been president for the past year, nominated Lambert to replace her. He accepted and the board voted 5-0 to select him.
The board president works with the superintendent to create meeting agendas, presides over the meetings and often acts as a spokesperson for the board.
“Thank you very much. I really look forward to doing the best I can as the board president,” Lambert said after the vote.
He told the audience that he would work to keep both his fellow board members and the public well informed about what was going on in the school district, adding that he’s available if anyone wants to speak with him.
The board then voted unanimously to pick DiFazio as vice president, based on a nomination from Lambert. The board similarly unanimously picked Henry as clerk, with Conley making the nomination.
The selection of board leadership at Thursday’s meeting was smooth, with little discussion and all members on the same page. That’s a contrast to past years. At the end of 2022, the board ran into disagreements when trying to pick its leaders, with a split over vice president. Lambert objected to the board passing over Chiang for vice president and advocated for a rotation system.
Last year, Lambert again advocated for a rotation, saying that he would decline any officer position until a board majority decided to choose its leaders in a way that allows every trustee the chance to be president within their term. While Chiang was chosen to be vice president for 2024, he didn’t have the chance to serve as president during his term.
Asked why he was now willing to be president, Lambert told the Voice that given the turnover on the board, he felt it was best for the district that he take the top position.
“This is a situation where we have three new board members. It’s really unfair to put them in a president position at this stage,” Lambert said. “They really need to get used to board meetings and things like that.”
Other than the three new board members, the only other option for the presidency was Devon Conley, who said at a Nov. 21 meeting that she wasn’t interested in continuing in the position.
While Lambert is now willing to be president, he reiterated to the Voice that he believes the board should adopt a rotation model to select its leaders and that he planned to introduce a motion to that effect. He previously made a similar proposal in 2023, which was unsuccessful.
How many months until a group of whiny parents start asking for a new board? They had their chance to change the board, the people have spoken.
ah for those “yelping” watchdog parents! They’ve have turned up enough spending anomalies (sending Rudolph to Northern Europe for a early November international education conference, the long-term nature of $1,100 per session meditation district-leadership ‘wellness etc., etc. etc.)
that an “extraordinary” audit has been funded by the State for out District!
Ramirez: U may get your wish! I didn’t see any vote against anything at all that the Superintendent wanted to do. A few delays – but are the new Trustees going to ….