School Board Meeting of September 14, 2016

By Charlotte Puscasiu, Piedmont High School Senior

    On September 14th,  I attended the School Board meeting in City Hall. The School Board meeting typically meets twice a month for approximately 2 hours where they discuss current school (Kindergarten through High School) events and updates, finances and other relevant announcements. The purpose of the meeting is to inform parents, students and members of the community about plans to improve the school system.

   Discussion ranged from test scores to campus construction. Max Miller, a junior at millennium, began the meeting by introducing himself as ASB vice president and talked about current events taking place at PHS/MHS (Legally blonde musical, club day, September ACT).

    The major topic addressed were CAASPP testing which is an electronic standardized test on english and math which replaced STAR testing. Piedmont High School was ranked one of the highest school as 87% of PHS students met or exceeded standards.

    Although there was a 3% growth improvement from last year, the presenters emphasized supporting the 13% of students who were falling behind or scored lower in the test. This is where I jumped in to give my insight, I addressed the School Board telling them; as a dyslexic student who had an IEP I didn’t feel properly supported while I was in LC [Learning Center] because all students with learning difficulties were treated the same, our individual needs weren’t met. I suggested working with the Learning Center or talking to learning specialists to help kids individually with areas that they struggled with instead of all putting us “in the same basket.” This seemed to resonate well with most of the board members who took notes and showed further interest in supporting students whose strong suits don’t lie within test taking.  Other students expressed their concerns or suggestions about summer work, stress in school and gates being locked at Wildwood.

    In addition, Board Members reviewed LCAP goals; ensuring teachers qualifications, common core learning, supporting ELA students and ensure college readiness  (EAP).

    Finally, the discussion turned to general funds representing day to day operations of the District including income from state and federal government as well as local revenue. State revenue was reported to increase by $136k and total local revenue increased by $185k. The budget revisions revenues and expenditures will be presented to the Board in October as the “Preview of the 2016-17 First Interim.”

    Someone who stood out to me was Andrea Swenson, Board of Education President; when standardized testing was brought up and all the adults in the room were being critical of the 13% of students who were not superb test takers, she went out of her way to remind everyone that tests aren’t everyone’s strong suits and it doesn’t define someone’s aptitude.

   This really resonated with me because, often times I have felt discouraged when receiving low test scores and have had to remind myself that a number doesn’t always represent my intelligence and effort in class. Hearing her acknowledge that not everyone’s aptitude is reflected in standardized test drew me to interview her.

   Mrs. Swenson said she joined the Board because she thinks the Piedmont system is absolutely fabulous and she admires how everyone in the District wants all students to succeed. Both her sons went through all of Piedmont school system (starting at Beach) and she wanted to do her part in helping improve schools. She highlighted how she sympathizes with students who are stressed because Piedmont is such a high ranking and over achieving place, but she values holistic learning for all students. She concluded by saying that she hopes her work and input on the School Board will help remind the community to support all students and to be proud of all their accomplishments.

Editors Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

“proven her ability to deal with complex budget challenges, new curriculum implementation, facilities evaluation, and personnel matters.”

I am writing to encourage your support for the re-election of Andrea Swenson to the PUSD School Board. I have known Andrea for 20 years and have worked under her leadership in many capacities. There is NO OTHER candidate who shares her breadth of volunteer leadership experience in our school district. I have found Andrea to be honest, collaborative and thoughtful in her pursuit of each of these roles.  She has worked tirelessly on behalf of all of our children for the past two decades.

Andrea is bright, creative and steadfast in her commitment to improve education for every child in our public school district. Andrea recognizes the critical need to address the whole child and all curricular areas.

Andrea has demonstrated her skills as an effective leader in her first four year tenure on the Board of Education. She has proven her ability to deal with complex budget challenges, new curriculum implementation, facilities evaluation, and personnel matters.

As a former teacher in the District, I value Andrea’s commitment to our teachers and staff. Her recognition of the value of professional development has aided in the District’s ability to attract and retain qualified professionals.

I encourage you to visit Andrea’s website: www.swensonforschoolboard.org to further view her qualifications and accomplishments.

Please join me in voting for Andrea Swenson on November 8, 2016.

            Cathy Michelotti Glazier, Piedmont Resident

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author. PCA does not support or opposed candidates for public office. 

PIEDMONT ELECTION OF CITY COUNCIL AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS –

Your vote is important, as some prior Piedmont elections have proven to be close races.

 Vote Tuesday, NOVEMBER 8, 2016

There are 4 candidates seeking election to 2 seats on the Piedmont City Council and 5 candidates running for 3 seats on the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education.

To compare the candidates in each race, readers can click the link* beside each candidate name to learn more about the candidate. Endorsers and issues are listed on many of the candidate websites. * Information is updated as candidate websites are updated. All information has been submitted by the candidates.

For those interested in viewing the video recording of the Piedmont League of Women Voters Candidate Forum, go to the end of this article and click on the link provided.

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CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES

  You can vote for two. 

Sunny Bostrom-Fleming – information

Jen Cavenaugh – www.Jen4Piedmont.com

Jonathan Levine – www.levineforpiedmont.com

Bob McBain – www.mcbaincitycouncil.com

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CANDIDATES FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION

You can vote for three. 

Julie Caskey – julie4piedmont.com

Sarah Pearson – www.VoteforSarahPearson.com

Cory Smegal – www.voteforcorysmegal.com

Andrea Swenson – swensonforschoolboard.org 

Hari Titan – HariTitan.com

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Watch the Piedmont League of Women Voters forum by clicking  here. 

Editors Note:  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office or ballot measures.  PCA remains neutral on ballot measures and is not a partisan either for or against ballot measures. Further, PCA has no affiliation with political parties or politically associated organizations. Information provided on this website is for the benefit and engagement of Piedmont residents. 

We have known Sarah Pearson, an incumbent running for Piedmont School Board re-election, as a friend and fellow community volunteer for most of the decade we have lived in Piedmont.  The qualities we most value in Sarah as a school board member are:  her deep connections in the community which allow her to readily gather input and feedback; her collaborative and transparent approach to problem-solving; her commitment to thoughtful and thorough decision-making; her openness to new ideas and willingness to ask questions; her tireless energy, wit, compassion and intelligence.  In her first school board term, we believe Sarah has been an effective and constructive leader during a time of enormous change in the district in terms of budgetary challenges, leadership transitions and curriculum change, to the benefit of our students in terms of performance and wellness.  We hope you’ll join us in casting a vote for Sarah Pearson for School Board on November 8.

Susan Miller-Davis and Jonathan Davis, Piedmont Residents

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the authors.  PCA does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

  On September 14, 2016, I attended the bi-weekly Board of Education meeting at the City Hall Council Chambers in hopes of both listening and discussing the progress of the Piedmont Unified School District.

The meeting started with Millennium High School’s ASB vice-president Max Miller briefing the board members about the recent and future events that had taken place in both MHS and PHS, such as the success of back to school night and “Club Day” at Piedmont High on September 23.

Before proceeding with other items on the agenda, the Board Members opened up the floor to anyone who wanted to speak out about their concerns. Many of my fellow classmates took advantage of this opportunity, like Cole Bloomfield, who encouraged the Board to consider the excessive workload given to students over the summer, despite the fact that this material is not thoroughly covered upon the return to school. While it is illegal for the government officials to speak to any issues not directly outlined in the agenda, they listened to the opinions of each student respectfully and openly, nodding heads and smiling politely.

Next, Superintendent Randall Booker briefly outlined various activities to occur in the Piedmont community, then handed over the mic to Stephanie Griffin and Dr. Cheryl Wozniak, who spoke about the results of CAASPP testing in the 2015-16 school year. Amazingly, Piedmont High School scored well above the state average, with eighty-seven percent of students meeting state standards- in fact, many of them exceeding. While the presenters were sure to tell the board members that we deserved to “toot our horn,” they also got down into the nitty-gritty.

Piedmont students scored particularly low in the listening portion of English Language Arts and the communicating reasoning section of Math. Additionally, there were still students scoring below standards. The board members wondered why this was the case, and what could be done to help these particular students. Eventually, President Andrea Swenson asked for any public comments and many of the attending students jumped at the chance to voice their opinion. Senior Sam Wen described the popular belief at our school that the CAASPP test was merely an easy graduation requirement, and that it did not bear much weight in the minds of the student body. However, he also spoke to the fact that there was recently more concern surrounding the test, when students were told by PHS administration that without high student participation in the testing, the school faced many negative consequences.

I, too, took my part in addressing this issue. At the podium, I commented my opinion that many students are so focused on personal scores from the ACT, SAT, and AP tests that they do not care much about the CAASPP, which seems to affect the school system more than it does themselves. I then contended that it is actually very important to realize that colleges not only care about these scores, but about the strength of the community we come from. If the school system could stir more conversation around this truth, then perhaps it would promote a more serious culture around the CAASPP test. On a side note, I also noted the District’s poor listening score, and the fact that I had rarely been tested on listening in any of my classes besides Spanish. If the Board of Education was concerned with raising these scores, then maybe they should consider incorporating it in more of the school’s english courses.

After the CAASPP presentation, the Board moved to the next task on the agenda- budgets. Admittedly, it was harder to concentrate on economics than it was on the state tests I had personally taken a year before, but I did pick up some important information. It seemed that many of the board members, especially Doug Ireland and Superintendent Randall Booker, were expressing concern over the lack of funding in PUSD’s facilities budget.

Booker mentioned that many upgrades were far overdue, including the replacement of a boiler from the 1960s in PHS’s 30s building, and the poor conditions of the buildings overall. The Board considered taking money out of the General Fund for these facilities, but they also felt that it was most important to propose a bond measure and re-engage the community about these urgent issues.

I personally believe that while it is necessary for Piedmont to ensure safety in its schools (ie. earthquake-proof buildings, stable roofs, etc.), cosmetic features should not taking priority in spending over teachers’ salaries or necessary school supplies that we currently lack.

Once the meeting ended and all the students gathered to collect signatures, I encountered Board Member Doug Ireland and asked to interview him about his biggest concerns and objectives for PUSD. He told me that he was most preoccupied with the budget’s shortcomings of about $800,000, and was hoping that Superintendent Randall Booker would propose a budget to solve this issue by either raising funds or, unfortunately, making cuts.

Secondly, Ireland told me that recently the Board had been facing what they perceived to be “unfair treatment” by the local newspaper. Ireland did not give me much greater detail on the topic, but it is certainly one worth investigating.

The night ended on a very cheerful note as the Board Members thanked the students for attending their meeting, and the students reciprocated the gratitude for being allowed to speak out and also learn about significant matters concerning our educations.

By Elisa Glauber, Piedmont High School Senior

Editors Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Statement provided by City Council Candidate N. “Sunny”Bostrom-Fleming:

Piedmont is the 3rd richest town in America.  (Google 10 richest towns in America – Wall Street 24/7 USA Today, May 23, 2015).  We have enough wealth to be a small nation, and there are actually nine countries with populations less than ours.  There are probably 50 Piedmont citizens who have the telephone numbers of the U.S. President on speed dial.  As a rich, connected, educated entity we can do amazing things as long as they are ethical and legal.  Few cities in the world can.  We have no excuses for short sightedness or selfishness. Our schools and civic center for the arts, and religious organizations, and scouting programs, are inspiring.  The evidence of our labors is the character of our children.  Last year, over two hundred people of different faiths , age 15 – 18, traveled to Mexico and built 17 houses for needy families.  Last Sunday, a group of 5th graders raised $850.00 by selling lemonade to help end world slavery.

I am an idea person, and my ideas have already led to the enhanced safety of Piedmont.  I have lived in Piedmont most of my life, except while away traveling or at boarding school.  I am the only candidate that attended Piedmont Schools, and I a grateful graduate of Piedmont High School.  My own house was ransacked by a burglar, who stole among other thing, a velum of the gutenberg bible.  I thought about what could have been done to have prevented that.  The crime had increased approximately 40%, and I decided to run for city council to try to have cameras and license plate readers installed.  Although I fell short of the number of votes required to win, my ideas were promptly adopted and implemented by our excellent police force, under the direction of our superb chief of police and crime went down by 30%.  I hope that you will vote for me, so that I can continue to improve the safety of our city.  For example, our sidewalks are extremely hazardous.  All citizens have the right to the expectation of horizontal sidewalks.  Many of our walkways are severely buckled, largely because of the tree roots, some of which are ten inches thick.  These conditions are particularly evident on Seaview Avenue and Highland Avenue.  We all love trees. They add greatly to the beauty of our city, in addition to polishing the air.  But we can no longer risk the health and safety of our citizens.  It is also possible, that by not attending to this problem, the city can have legal repercussions.

The time has come for us to join the 900 other American cities and several nations, including England, that have banned Pitbulls (Google Pitbull attacks), and you will clearly see why.  Last week a Montclair woman was hospitalized after an attack, while gardening on her own property.  A Seaview Avenue woman that was walking a small dog, was terrorized by two large pit bulls, and rescued at the last moment.  These dogs have been shown on Youtube, climbing an eleven foot cyclone fence.  They are escape artist.  30% of the people that they kill and attack are their own owners.  Every two weeks, another person is mauled to death, and thousands others are disfigured with wounds.  A woman’s entire left arm was chewed off at the shoulder last week, and her right arm at the elbow.  A two year old girl was killed on September 24th.  There are two ways to handle this.  Before someone in our Piedmont family is tortured in this way or to grievously handle it afterwards.  The pit bulls have a short life expectancy of 7 to 8 years.  Existing dogs are neutered, microchipped, and tattooed with their name, and DNA swabbed, and must be insured by the owners, and must wear muzzles while outside of their homes.

Crime preventing measures can be divided into two main types.  Things that an individual household can do.  1.  Smart phone enabled recording cameras that will allow homeowners to view their home, with additional cameras facing the street, to assist the police in tracing perpetrators.  2.  Alarm systems connected directly to the police department, instead of to 3rd party commercial monitoring systems.  3.  Police departments themselves – we need to enable our police department to be able to retain license plate reading data, to assist with future cold case investigations.

Last month, a young woman was smashed in the head and face by a brick that was thrown through the wind screen of her police patrol vehicle.  Her injuries are grave.  Last month a 60 year old police officer was shot to death through the front wind screen of his patrol car.  Police cars have no more protection than that of a civilian car.  Recent occurrences would suggest to prudent and sympathetic hearts and minds that the time has come to change this.  I Googled used armored cars.  I was interested in finding out how much mint condition civilian styled armored cars would cost.  They are protected by light weight alloys, which add very little weight to the vehicles, and offer tremendous protection.  They cost between $20,000.00 and $50,000.00 each.  Piedmont has five police cars.  If ours cost $30,000.00, and sold them for $15,000, we would only have to pay a small amount for them to be protected.  The men and women of the Piedmont Police Department are willing to take a bullet for us during the day and while we sleep.  There was a day when body armor was thought of as an extreme degree of protection.  Everyone now sees the value of body armor.  Within 20 years, police cars will have bullet proof glass and armor as the norm.  It’s better to lead and err on the side of caution, as our department has been the leader on adopting city cameras and license plate readers.  We are dealing with city matters which involve $30 Million here, $100 Million there, converting 100% of our police vehicles is something that could possibly be done for $75,000.00, and save the life of one of our valued professionals.

I think that it would be a gracious and seemly act to change the name of the portion of Oakland Ave. that is within Piedmont to Ambassador Stevens Drive, to honor the son of a Piedmont family who represented America, and who lived and died to represent the best of American value, and “truly achieved the honorable.”  As a graduate of Piedmont High School, whose life fulfilled the motto “Achieved the Honorable.”  This would require the replacement of 24 street signs.  It would be wonderful if this could be done .  This would just require the installation or replacement of 24 street names signs.  It would be nice if this could be done, so that both of his parents could see this token of esteem that we have for their son.

One of the greatest things about attending Piedmont High School was experiencing the art on the walls of the high school. The walls were filled with framed reproductions of art from fine museums throughout the world.  There were hundreds of pictures and paintings.  I don’t know what happened to them.  When I was 14, I wrote a small book describing the location of each work of art, the history of the painting, and the history of the artist.  I had the privilege of attending very expensive schools, and I would never say that anything was as superb as the atmosphere of the art filled Piedmont High School.  I would be very anxious to do anything that I could as a member of the city council to promote the arts in the Piedmont School system, starting with grade school.

If you help to place me on the city council, I promise that I will devote all of my energies to funnel your ideas to building an even better Piedmont.

N. “Sunny” Bostrom-Fleming, Candidate for Piedmont City Council

Editors Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the candidate.  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office. 

PUSD is #1 in Northern California and #3 in the state –

   The Piedmont School Board met on September 14th, 2016 to discuss the district’s success with the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test, approve the 2015-2016 unaudited budget actuals, and discuss possible budget changes for the coming school year. The School Board is in charge of employing the District Superintendent (R. Booker), adopting and changing curriculum and budget, and overseeing school facilities.

    The meeting started with a statement by one of the student representatives, Max Miller. He is the new Vice President of Millennium and he alternates with the Vice President of Piedmont High School in order to inform the School Board of what is going on at the high schools. He reported that there were new teachers at Millennium, including PHS teachers Katie Terhar and Kim Taylor. There are two student body Presidents at Millennium this year, Cerina Smit and Sarah Baldwin. The high school has adopted a new advisory period in the place of tutorial, in which students, split by grade, bond with their classmates and discuss academics with each other and their advisor. The schools-wide musical this year is “Legally Blonde.” Miller reported that club day will be on September 23rd and that the Fall Fest 5k will be the next day.

    During the public questions segment, I asked if the School Board has been considering or would consider a cap on hours of homework per night or per week. At Monte Vista High School, a similar high school in Danville, teachers are not allowed to give students more than 30 minutes of homework a night or no more than two hours per week (excepting AP and Honors courses) to cut down on student stress. The Board replied with a suggestion that I bring the issue up at the next Psych Council meeting or at the new PHS Challenge Success club, which was specifically designed to take student input on reducing stress. They also explained that a similar cut on homework might be implemented at the Piedmont Middle School, which is generally used as a pilot for changes that are requested at the high school.

    PHS Senior Cole Bloomfield brought up the issue of students losing too much summer because they are “too focused on summer homework.” Andrea Swenson, President, thanked him for his input. Addie Perkins, PHS senior, asked about keeping the gates at Wildwood open later so that she would not have to walk around them to get home after school. Swenson thanked her for her input.

   After the public section, Superintendent R. Booker made announcements about the following events and meetings. There will be LCAP advisory board meetings once a month from 3:45-5:15 p.m. in the PHS Student Center. There will be Budget Advisory Committee meetings once a month in the District Office Board Room from 3:30-5:00 p.m. There will be Site Facilities Tours at Piedmont High School throughout September and October, the next one is October 3rd. The next Speaker Series event will also be October 3rd.

   Tech and Instructions Director S. Griffin presented a PowerPoint outlining the district results for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test (CAASPP). The test replaced the STAR test and is designed for the new Common Core curriculum. There were two parts to the test: adaptive multiple choice and performance tasks. Each student placed on one of the four levels: standard exceeded, standard met, standard nearly met, and standard not met. In the state of California, 49% of students passed– meaning they met or exceeded the standard– the English portion (made up of reading, writing, listening, and research skills) and 37% passed the math portion (made up of concepts, data analysis, and communicating reasoning.) The PUSD had 87% of students pass for both sections. Based on these results, PUSD is #1 in Northern California and #3 in the state. PUSD also did 3% better than it did in 2015. The reason for this increase is because the 2015 LCAP goals to focus on Common Core, teacher qualification, and English Learners support were met through professional development. The LCAP goals for 2016 will be informed by the results of the CAASPP.

   Though PUSD did very well overall, there was still a large discrepancy between the average score and the lower scores of African American students, English language learners, and Special Education students. Board Member R. Raushenbush asked if there were processes in place to help the kids that scored low on the CAASPP, and the answer was yes, that teachers have access to a student’s individual scores and are aware of the kids that need more help in one or both areas so that they can assist in giving that child’s education more due attention.

   PUSD also scored low on the subsections of listening and communicating reasoning. R. Raushenbush also asked why listening was hard for kids, and S. Griffin’s response was that it was the first year ever that a standardized test evaluated listening skills so the kids have had less practice with those kinds of questions. She also asked what a sample question looked like so that the teachers could better prepare their students.

   President A. Swenson opened the question to the public as there were a few PHS seniors that had taken the test in the room. Elijah Levy volunteered and said that the audio questions were short samples that you could pause and rewind if necessary. He also suggested that the district should reschedule classes around the CAASPP because juniors had to miss school to complete it. It was “hard to prioritize” scores that didn’t affect GPA or grades over missing class that did. PHS senior Sam Nguyen also weighed in on the topic, stating that in the future the district should emphasize that CAASPP scores are important because they affect how colleges see our school.

PHS Senior Charlotte Puscasiu noted that there might have been a drop in scores for LC kids, or kids that needed extra help due to learning disabilities, due to the fact that the LC kids, herself included, feel like they’re all “thrown in the same basket.” She stated that if help were more individualized, they would probably score better. The public session was closed and the CAASPP discussion was closed with A. Smith stating that the CAASPP is but a measure of student’s ability and not the be-all-end-all of it.

    I agree that the reason why students aren’t doing as well on listening is because we haven’t had the practice, but I want to give my opinion on why they aren’t doing as well on communicating reasoning, too. I think teachers are more testing students on whether or not they can memorize and solve equations and aren’t focusing on teaching the “why” part. I’m a senior and I’ve seen that in PHS math classes, the tests rarely ask for the reason why an equation works or why the answer is the answer. I only really started practicing this skill in AP Calculus because the AP test specifically asks for reasoning. I know that most students don’t go on to Calculus because it’s an advanced class, so if the School Board wants to see students doing better in that category, there has to be a push to teach and not only the what, but the why in math.

   Board Member S. Chin-Bendib brought up the next issue, which was approving the 2015-2016 budget’s unaudited actuals. The budget was called the General Fund, which is supported by local property taxes, state and federal funds as well as donations from the Piedmont Education Foundation. What was new this year was that the district had to shoulder 3% of pensions for teachers because of a new state law that requires that they report this pension money as expenditures but the state money never goes into the account, which affects reserves. Board Member D. Ireland said that this was but a “drop in the bucket” compared to the two million more the district will have to spend on pensions in 2020.

   S. Chin-Bendib went on to say that the state revenues increased by 136K due to lottery receipts and the Clean Energy Jobs Act. Total expenditures were 39 million. The Adult Ed program generated $120,000. The cafeteria fund had an ending balance of $200,000. Deferred Maintenance had an ending balance of $110,000.

   The Building Fund was completely spent, and R. Raushenbush asked if they should consider adding more to the budget. R. Booker was for it, saying that the facilities were so old that in one of the buildings there was a boiler from the 60’s.

   S. Chin-Bendib recommended approving the actuals and authorizing budget transfers. A. Swenson approved both the unaudited report and the 2016-2017 interim budget, but not before there was more discussion on the pensions. R. Booker said that the Board “can’t look to the state” for help with generating the $2 million, and that the Board has to bring in new revenues. He also noted that there wasn’t anybody else lobbying for change. Swenson concurred, saying that she and the Vice President, S. Pearson, “got nowhere” with the state representatives and that they would both try to “increase dialogue.”

   Booker reported that every teacher holds credentials. He spent 28 hours on evaluation and made sure each was certified. So concluded the September 14th PUSD School Board meeting.

   I asked Joaquin Langarica why he attended the School Board meeting. He said that he was there with his son, a Boy Scout, because Boy Scouts must attend a government meeting “to pass a requirement for the citizenship badge.” Scouts are “supposed to see how government works” if they want to be considered citizens. Good on ‘em.

Amelia Henry, Piedmont High School Senior

Editors Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Pictured are Hari Titan with his wife Roopal and his daughter.

Statement:

I’m a member of the Havens Dads Club and recent board member of the Piedmont Makers group. I’ve also been a member of the Piedmont Neighbors and Newcomers group since we first moved to Piedmont.

I love the Piedmont community and enjoy connecting with fellow parents and showing my out of town friends the beauty of living in the Bay Area.

Both my parents were educators. My father was a high school math and science teacher and my mother was an elementary school teacher. However my parents insisted I did my own homework and made sure it was done. If I got questions wrong I had to understand why it was wrong. I think my parent’s focus on education led me to go for higher education myself. I was the first person in my extended family to get a PhD in any subject.

I earned a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in Canada in 1993. While finishing my degree, I volunteered to join a search committee for selecting the Vice President of Academics at the University of Waterloo. Being a public university, that process had to be very rigorous and transparent. I learned the importance of a paper trail to accompany decision making. I see the same level of rigor in hiring for Fin-Tech and other Internet startups over the past 20 years of my career. These include a thorough job description with job requirements that materially impact on the job performance.

In 1993 I taught college level Computer Science courses at a small liberal arts school and experienced first hand the difficulties of teaching students with a wide variety of skills, interests and levels of commitment. I found most students unprepared to learn programming and were in the class because it will lead to a career. This is likely an artifact of teaching at a smaller college and should not be the case for good schools.

I spent most of my career working in California as a “Big Data Scientist”. This field is vital to financial firms and high tech companies. Huge volumes of customer data like from credit card and banking transactions or to online activies are analyzed to help firms predict risks and opportunities at an enterprise level. I also have a U.S. patent on using and explaining the behavior of advanced computer programs that are used to identify highly suspicious fraudulent activity on credit cards.

My wife, Roopal, and I moved to Piedmont in November 2008. We moved here because we loved the beauty of Piedmont, the feeling of a safe community, a very high performance school district and the comparative value we got for the home price we paid for at the time. My son briefly went to Piedmont High School and we have a daughter who is now in 5th grade at Havens Elementary.

I am still amazed at the performance of PUSD students on scholastic tests. This remained generally true during the 2008-2011 recession and is still true post-transition to common core (CAASPP) testing. I built an online app to view CAASSP test results(link is external) for all school districts in any county in CA. I believe student performance has a lot to do with being raised by high performing parents, good teaching methods in school and dedicated caregivers and tutors who provide abundant extra curricular support and learning opportunities.

In late 2013 I was at a Haven’s Club meeting where a presenter talked about renovating the Alan Harvey theater that would require no incremental taxation. I found this to be mathematically suspect and decided to investigate prior PUSD bond offerings. It felt like I was in uncharted waters. Most of the school board thought process was outsourced to bond consultants who had a hard time correctly explaining the details of what they were doing. Taxpayers were paying fees to these consultants for work that was not being done by salaried district staff. Like math, finance works in favor of whomever is crunching the numbers. If the district is not doing the math to maximize the benefit for the students and taxpayers, outside consultants were not going to do that for us unless the board knew exactly what to ask for. This is a general problem with any kind of outsourcing.

I was also questioning why performing arts was being emphasized over other fields of study that lead to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) jobs. At first I was told most STEM jobs were off-shored and therefore not important to emphasize. This was troubling to me because I knew that scientific thinking and good critical thinking skills pay off in finance, healthcare and legal jobs that on the surface appear to have nothing to do with STEM. Later the Piedmont Makers group championed adding Arts to the list as a counter balance, leading to STEAM with an emphasis on shared facilities and shared maker spaces.

I also found that renovations were getting more expensive as building codes were being revised with increased regulation. I helped compare the Alan Harvey theater renovation (+ expansion) plan to nearby new theater construction, which the district did not do. I found that you could get greater design flexibility and functionality from new construction at almost the same cost as a renovation. This may be counter-intuitive at first until you look at the actual costs paid by nearby school districts.

Many of you might have seen one of my periodic surveys. I do this to take a pulse on what other parents are thinking and see if my ideas resonate. This helps me fight for things the public actually agrees with. The School Board should engage in more public opinion surveys to get ideas (with open questions) and gauge priorities before holding formal elections.

You’ll find a lot more details on my ideas on the “Campaign of Ideas” tab.

Click the “Contact Hari” link on my website to send me your thoughts. Website link is below. 

HariTitan.com

Editors Note:  PCA does not support or oppose individual candidates for public office.