Fiona Walter Fiona Walter (October 22, 2004)

Age: 34
Years in Mountain View: 10
Occupation: Mother
Family: Husband Todd, children Reese, second grader, and Kiana, kindergartener. Both attend Huff Elementary School.
Education: Mechanical engineering degree and masters in aeronautical engineering from Stanford
Web site: www.fionaforschoolboard.com
Favorite vacation spot: Alaska

If elected to the Mountain View-Whisman school board, Fiona Walter said she wants to find more ways of getting the community involved with the district, whether it be through volunteer tutoring or increased commercial sponsorship.

Walter has been Huff School PTA co-president for two years and was on the board of both Mountain View-Whisman's parcel tax campaigns. She said she'd like to improve the district's use of technology and shrink the achievement gap by making sure the district only has credentialed teachers in the classroom. But above all, Walter said she'd like to see how the 4,300-pupil district can become more self-sufficient.

This means a campus will definitely have to close next year to balance the district's budget, Walter said. "We know we have to sacrifice a school," she said. "We can't keep running back to the community and saying 'save us.' We can't run a school district that way." While Walter hasn't made up her mind which school she'd vote to close, she said academic achievement would be at the forefront of her decision. She said she'd like to see more community input sessions before the Jan. 6 deadline. Currently, two have been scheduled. "If I were picking, I would leave the succeeding programs alone," Walter said.

Asked if she considers Castro School's Spanish-English dual immersion program a succeeding program, Walter shook her head. "I don't think it's meeting the needs of the Hispanic kids." However, Walter said no school is safe from the closure threat, including the campus where her two children are enrolled. "I would vote to close Huff if it is found to be the best choice," she said. But closing a school is only one way for the district to save money, Walter added. Building partnerships with city organizations and businesses is also important. For instance, Google is renting two classrooms at Theuerkauf School for employee childcare. And as part of the Graham Reservoir project, the city of Mountain View has agreed to manage the Graham Middle School fields for the district. Walter said she'd like to see more of these types of mutually beneficial business deals. "Make the investment now for the future," she said.

Another such investment is making sure the district picks a superintendent who is going to be committed to the job for more than two years, Walter said. Former Superintendent Jim Negri resigned in August, shortly after reaching his two-year anniversary with the district. The Mountain View-Whisman school board gave Eleanor Yick a 10-month contract. "I think she's gotten us through the start of the year," Walter said of Yick, but "she strikes me as being a little bit less outgoing (than Negri). "I'm actually in the camp that thinks we need to do a search. ... We don't know what Eleanor's plans are," Walter added. "We are a challenging district to run. This is not an easy job -- I want to choose well."

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