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Two parents will be facing off this November for a seat on the Los Altos School District board of trustees to replace board member Tamara Logan, who announced her resignation earlier this year. But voters in the school district won’t be deciding on the two, four-year seats that were up for re-election this year, after only two people filed for candidacy by the deadline.
Board president Pablo Luther and board member Steve Taglio both have terms that expire at the end of the year, but Taglio and Covington parent Jessica Speiser were the only ones to file candidacy papers by the Aug. 17 deadline. At the same time, Logan announced that she would be vacating her seat early, with two years left of her term, prompting the board to hold a special election to for the remainder of her term.
Bryan Johnson, a Santa Rita parent, and Tanya Raschke, a parent from Mountain View’s The Crossings neighborhood, will be competing for Logan’s seat.
New members on the school board are likely to face big decisions related to Measure N, a $150 million bond measure passed in 2014 to build new facilities in a school district struggling with fast-growing enrollment and overcrowded campuses, according to district reports. Decisions on what to do with the money — and whether to use it to buy land — has been a slow and arguably painful process for district officials.
Over the next four years, board members will also be facing the end of the district’s five-year agreement with Bullis Charter School, an important tool to reduce hostility, end litigation and come to an agreement on shared facilities and enrollment projections. The big question is what happens once that agreement expires.
The boundaries of the Los Altos School District voting include a portion of Mountain View in the San Antonio Area, as well as parts of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto. More than 25 percent of the district’s students live in Mountain View.
Bryan Johnson
Bryan Johnson is a 10-year resident of North Los Altos, and has been involved in his local school, Santa Rita Elementary. He served as PTA president, has chaired committees for earthquake preparedness, ran a read-a-thon and volunteered for science program Living Classroom.
But his involvement has gone beyond the Santa Rita. Johnson said he was quick to get involved in land-use decisions by the city of Los Altos that he believes affected both his neighborhood school and the surrounding community. Between 2008 and 2010, Johnson chaired the North Los Altos Concerned Neighbors group, which opposed the size of a proposal to expand The Terraces of Los Altos (formerly Pilgrim Haven).
The proposal to expand the size of the assisted living retirement home by over 100,000 square feet was largely criticized by the group at the time, and the project was later scaled down. Johnson said it would have been a major undertaking involving significant construction for six years, which is a big deal when the only thing separating the school from the project was a chain-link fence.
“The school is already dangerous enough as it is with carpool traffic, and the construction was just going to exacerbate that,” he said.
Johnson has also been involved in the Community Center Alliance, a group of Los Altos residents that he said will help to ensure the city’s civic center site is redeveloped in a way that is “prudent, sustainable and aligns with the priorities of and serves all Los Altos residents.”
Johnson, 42, has two daughters attending Santa Rita. A former software developer with a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University, Johnson says he now puts his time to good use as a stay-at-home dad. He said his experience volunteering regularly at Santa Rita has helped him get a good understanding of what goes on and what day-to-day education looks like in the district, which he said could prove useful in figuring out how to spend millions in bond funds.
“That’s the kind of perspective I can bring to those big decisions.”
Johnson said he believes its important to keep an open mind about how to best spend Measure N bond money, and that if there was an easy solution, it would have been found years ago. His general rule of thumb, he said, is to try to make sure the money gets spent in a way that has the greatest effect on day-to-day classroom interaction. Johnson said he takes a skeptical approach to the idea of purchasing new land, due to the high cost.
Teacher hiring and retention remains a big problem, and Johnson said the district needs to strive to find solutions. Some progress has already been made finding alternative ways to support teachers, including a local effort to provide loans to teachers to buy a home, but he said there needs to be more coordination between cities and school districts in the area to find a regional solution.
“We don’t have a lot of money to compensate teachers as much as other districts in the surrounding areas,” Johnson said. “In the medium and long term, we need to work on this issue.”
Johnson said more should also be done to work with Mountain View and better prepare for thousands of new housing units planned within the district’s boundaries north of El Camino Real, which is expected to increase enrollment by a significant amount.
Tanya Raschke
Tanya Raschke has had children attending Loyola Elementary, Santa Rita, Bullis Charter School, and now Los Altos High School. It may sound a little jarring, but Raschke believes being part of several school communities over the years has given her an important perspective that would help her become a strong representative for the Los Altos School District.
Raschke, a mother of two kids at Los Altos High Schools, has lived in Mountain View for 11 years, and works as a manager for the Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University. She has a strong science background, with a Ph.D in molecular and cell biology, and previously helped researchers with computational modeling at Stanford’s “Bio-X” institute. Her job managing a team of researchers, she said, has helped her bring people together from very disparate backgrounds to get things done.
As a parent who has been to multiple schools in the district, including the charter school, Raschke said she has a strong understanding of several communities across the district, and could do well representing a broad range of views on the board.
“I think it’s an advantage to have a sampling of all the school communities,” she said.
Although her children are now in high school, Raschke said she continues to focus on what’s going on in kindergarten through eighth grade. She said early childhood education is a “vital foundation” for everything that follows, and the district still remains “near and dear” to her heart.
Raschke has been involved with Measure N over the years, and recently served as a member of the Facilities Master Plan Committee. The committee, which met in late 2014 and early 2015, gathered ideas for future land-use decisions using the $150 million in bond money, and weighed potential options for the board to consider. Raschke said the committee had an excellent composition of parents, school and district staff, and could have done more meaningful work had it not been put on ice last year.
Though the district has yet to make a final decision on what to do with the money — whether it’s build a school on newly-acquired land or build on a large, existing site like Covington Elementary or Egan Junior High, Raschke said it’s important to take the long view. District projections show potentially staggering growth in enrollment in the coming decades, with as many as 500 kids generated from the San Antonio Center East proposal.
“If we have astronomical growth, we need a plan that goes at least 15 years out,” Raschke said.
Raschke said she believes its important to promote music, art and STEM (science, technology, emgineering and mathematics) in Los Altos Schools, and that one of her big priorities would be to make sure all students succeed. Although close to 88 percent of all students in the district meet or exceed state standards, there’s still a sliver that continue to fall short of the mark, she said, and those students are important to remember.
“If there’s a passion goal for me, it’s figuring out how to help those kids,” she said.
In recent years, Raschke said the district has greatly improved its relationship with the charter school, and that the five-year agreement with Bullis, along with the recent decision to share parcel tax revenue, shows signs that much of the hostility has faded from the contentious relationship. At the same time, she said, the agreement is set to expire in the near future, and problems related to Proposition 39 — which outlines how the district is legally required to provide equitable facilities to the charter school — could potentially rise to the surface again.
Raschke also said she believes it’s a big problem that teachers are struggling to make ends meet with their current salaries. She said they do a fantastic job providing an excellent education, but luring and retaining teachers continues to be a challenge for the district as it struggles to compensate teachers amid the rising cost of living in the Bay Area.
If elected, Raschke would become the only Mountain View representative on the board, which Raschke said would also be an important perspective. There are a lot of similarities between the Mountain View community and the Los Altos community, she said, but there are certainly differences as well.
“It’s a different vibe,” she said. “It’s a slightly different culture.”
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Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, center, is interviewed outside the county’s Main Jail in San Jose as TV reporters go live following Brock Turner’s release on Sept. 2. Photo by Veronica Weber. -
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith addresses the media about Brock Turner’s release at the county’s Main Jail in San Jose on Sept. 2. Photo by Elena Kadvany.
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While it’s good to see some one from Mountain View one running, I’m genuinely concerned about the authenticity of Raschke’s statements, given her Bullis background and her claim to want to represent all the communities that make up the district, particularly those NOT from Bullis, those children with special needs, minorities or those that aren’t part of the 88% of students meeting or exceeding standards.
I also question Raschke’s judgment and commitment to the democratic process and the equal rights of all students in her run for a public office.
She states on her campaign website that she most recently served as the appointed Greater San Antonio Community Association representative alongside a diverse group of school and community volunteers on the LASD Facilities Master Plan Committee. Interesting considering this neighborhood association has not had a meeting open to residents in the neighborhood in more than three years! In fact I don’t believe they’ve ever held any membership meetings except for a few ice cream socials. It appears to be a closed group of a few neighbors (with more than one Bullis parent on the board) pushing their exclusive political agenda or perhaps to pad a resume for public office. This is not fair considering many, if not the majority of children, in the Crossings attend Covington Elementary.
Within the Crossings neighborhood Raschke has also been very vocal against the rights of disabled persons. She has argued on online forums that portable basketball hoops should be allowed to be placed in sidewalk handicap access ramps since people in wheelchairs should be able to use driveways instead to access sidewalks. She has even pointed out that one member’s request for reasonable accommodation under fair housing laws for ADA compliant mailboxes would come at an added expense of all members! Very impractical and insensitive.
I’ll echo the reporter here when he says, regarding Raschke, that it “sounds a little jarring to hear” some of the things she says. Raschke needs to explain such comments before getting my vote. Others voting should demand the same.
The only educated and humanitarian vote is for Bryan Johnson. Please, for the sake of the children, vote for Bryan Johnson.
Tanya and her record are all the evidence one needs to know or understand. LASD is too smart for her. Her motives are obvious to all who know of her; she will lose by a landslide. Bryan Johnson is a stand up guy with positive intentions for ALL students and will have no trouble against this opponent.
It’s about time Mountain View had representation on the School Board. It’s about time that new voices were heard for the benefit of all public school children.
Tanya has experience bring communities together, even in the Crossings. Tanya is willing to listen to the community and seek the best solution.
Look at each candidates endorsements, Tanya has diverse support from community and school leaders in all three geographies: Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Her opponent has support from a concentrated minority with the sole goal of trying to preserve the status quo to the detriment of all public school children and the entire community.
It’s time for fresh ideas, change and challenging the status quo. I’m going to vote for Tanya. It’s time we put our all our children and community first.
Bryan blocked the expansion of the senior living establishment now known as the Terraces. He organized the neighbors to prevent the necessary expansion and housing for seniors in our community.
Look at the public documents. He does not support our seniors. He does not want them living in our community. He does not represent or care about all members of our community. I will not elect him since he does not care about one of the most important groups in our community, our seniors. He supports increasing taxes, and wants seniors to pay for it, but doesn’t support seniors or their needs.
Pitting one school against another is so last year. Don’t be fooled by the trolls. Check out Tanya’s resume and her creds on her website. http://www.tanyaforlasd2016.com. Voters are going to love Tanya who will actually take a genuine interest in all the kids and issues in the District. Go Tanya!
I am a senior and I support Bryan Johnson for LASD school board, based on his strong record of support of the local elementary schools.
Bryan did not block the expansion of the Terraces of Los Altos as anyone driving by that facility on Pine Lane can verify. The expansion is almost done and looks wonderful. He did lead a neighborhood group that negotiated with the management of the Terraces to address the impact of the construction on the adjacent Santa Rita School, as well as on the immediate neighbors, by providing crossing guards for the children and better visual screening of the taller buildings.
In fact, Bryan has been endorsed by Frank Verlot, a former mayor of Los Altos and then Chairman of the Terraces advisory board, due in no small part to his experience working with Bryan during this process, which is a testament to his ability to work with disparated groups in good faith to find mutually beneficial solutions.
Totally agree with Marie22. I live on Pine Lane where the Terraces are located and Brian did an excellent job of compromising with them to find a solution that worked for the neighborhood and elders. He will similarly do a great job supporting small public neighborhood schools – the bedrock of our great community — and collaborating with Bullis Charter School to find a solution for all.
Currently the school board was too diverse. There were 2 members of Covington PTA, one from Gardner Bullis nearby, and one each from Loyola and Oak. But they didn’t all support the idea that Covington needs to be treated the best in the district.
So now 2 resigned or didn’t run for reelection, leaving just 2 members from Covington and one from Gardner B. So then they all got together and decided the 2 new members would be Jessica Speiser from Covington and Bryan Johnson from Santa Rita, because he agreed to respect the special treatment for Covington. So no one rang against Jessica and she is a defacto winner, so we have 3 members from Covington for sure, plus one from Gardner and one from Santa Rita, who both agree to support the special status of Covington.
That only leaves Bryan Johnson running against Tanya Raschke.
Well I can tell you, I’m voting for Tanya Rashke because these things should not be hashed out in private sessions. We need someone to represent the ENTIRE district including the taxpayers who have to pay for this whole thing. Favoring one school to the point that they have 3 of the 5 board members is highly questionable.
Oh, and note that with 3 of 5 from Covington they can do whatever they want anyway since that’s a majority. We just need someone without Covington as the #1 Priority who will provide the board a voice for some other areas of the district, and for the taxpayers. Plus it’s a 2 year remainder term. So we really need to see Tanya on the board, because otherwise when the board favors Covington, it will seem like other voices were not even heard in their reasoning.