Every issue comes back to the same root cause: a district that asks the community to trust them without demonstrating why they should be trusted. The Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury issued a report in 2024 titled “District Adrift: Leadership Issues at San José Unified School District.” The Schools of Tomorrow process lacked appropriate community input. The district is operating at a significant deficit despite record revenue. Student performance has stagnated. Transparency and accountability is the foundation that everything else depends on.

The Problem

San José Unified has an opportunity to strengthen its relationship with the community through greater transparency. Board meetings are not currently live streamed, which means many families never see their elected Board in action. Public comment requires being present before the start of the meeting, making it difficult for parents with work schedules or childcare responsibilities to participate.

Greater transparency would make a real difference across the district. When budget decisions, school closures, or boundary changes are made without broad community input, it's harder for families to feel connected to the process.

What I Believe in

Make Trustees accessible. Board members should hold regular office hours and community meetings in the neighborhoods they represent. Families should not have to navigate district bureaucracy or attend a formal Board meeting to talk to their Trustee. I will hold regular community meetings throughout Area 4 and make myself available to the families, teachers, and staff I represent.

San José Unified hasn't held a town hall meeting since 2019.

Live stream every Board meeting with full video. The Santa Clara County Office of Education has had video streaming for over 10 years. There is no excuse for San José Unified not to have the same level of transparency. Every resident, whether they can attend in person or not, should be able to watch their elected Board in action. Archived video should be available on the district website so that community members can review meetings on their own schedule.

Open up public comment. Public comment at Board meetings should be encouraged, not restricted. Community members should be able to speak during meetings in response to what they hear, not only if they submitted a request before the meeting started. When families show up to speak, the Board should listen. That is how representative governance is supposed to work.

Demand transparency in any process that affects school communities. Any future process involving school closures, boundary changes, or major policy decisions must include meaningful community engagement from the beginning, not after the decisions have already been made. Families should have access to the same data the Board is using, presented clearly and honestly, so they can evaluate proposals on their merits and hold Trustees accountable for their votes.

Open the books on Measure R and capital spending. Voters approved Measure R to invest in our schools. The community deserves clear, regular reporting on how those funds are being spent, which projects are on track, and where cost overruns or delays have occurred. Bond oversight should be proactive, not reactive.

Empower School Site Councils. School Site Councils give parents, teachers, and community members a direct role in decisions at the campus level. These councils should have real authority and real resources, not a symbolic seat at a table where the decisions have already been made. Local governance works when it has teeth.