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Alex Levich is running for a seat on the Mountain View Los Altos High School District board to ensure all students can access a quality education and opportunities to succeed.
This won’t be Levich’s first time on a school board. She served on the board of Bowman School, a private Montessori school in Palo Alto, for three years. Her children attended Bowman before transferring to the Los Altos School District, where they currently attend Oak Elementary and Blach Junior High.
As a Bowman School trustee, Levich helped establish a new high school and a five-year strategic plan, she said. The experience shaped her campaign’s priority to “provide every student with every opportunity,” even if they have different needs, she said.
A child of immigrant parents, Levich said her family did not have a lot of money when she was growing up but still prioritized education. Now, Levich wants to give back to the community where she has been a longtime resident and now has two sons in public schools.
“If you asked me what got me to where I am today, the answer would be education,” she said.
Asked what her top three priorities would be if elected, Levich pointed to investing in academic excellence and equity, enhancing mental health services, and ensuring college and career readiness.
Investing in academic excellence and equity is key, Levich said. The MVLA school district has done a good job of offering dual enrollment and vocational training to provide students with real world experiences, but it needs to be a continual investment, she said.
Levich also supports expanding programs for English language learners, underrepresented groups and students with disabilities. Levich said it’s important to provide more resources for students and their families outside of the school setting to help close achievement gaps.
Levich wants to destigmatize mental health and make services more accessible to students. She said it’s critical to view mental health as “daily hygiene” – something that should be addressed and taken care of everyday. She also proposed ideas like peer networks and training workshops to help students better support each other.
“We could even have rewards and programs to elevate students who are really champions of mental health,” she said.
Levich not only wants to invest in students, but also in teachers. The school district pays top dollar for its teachers, but the cost of living in the Bay Area is very high and more should be done to help with affordable housing, she said. The school board opted not to participate in a teacher housing project in Palo Alto that neighboring districts joined. Levich wants the district to re-evaluate the possibility of offering teachers affordable housing.
On the issue of the district’s ethnic studies course, Levich said that the intention of the class is good, and that it can promote cultural understanding, inclusivity and empathy for underrepresented groups. At the same time, she said that implementation can be difficult and that the district needs to make sure the content is comprehensive and doesn’t disempower any groups.
While some students enjoy the new offering, others are far less enthusiastic, according to what Levich has heard from some parents. Now that the district has implemented the course for a year, Levich said it’s time to get more systematic feedback about it, including holding community forums to hear from teachers, students and parents directly.
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