Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Shane McLoud, candidate for the Board of Education to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, is presently a 5th grade teacher at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy (CNCA) in the Mac Arthur Park/Koreatown area and a SMMUSD School Board member. Shane is running for a 2nd term in order to continue the educational improvements that have been made over the past four years and to continue to bring a teacher's perspective to the School Board.

Since being first elected in 2002, Shane has been the Board's strongest advocate for several student issues, including reducing the class size; improving the professional development of teachers in order to improve instruction; increasing the efficiency of the district's operations in order to bring the savings to the classroom; and increasing and improving the resources and academic programs for the low performing schools and students. Student test scores have improved each of the past three years, but there is much more work to do to decrease the achievement gap and ensure that the district's budget expenses are prioritized to put student achievement first.

"Mr. McLoud" has taught 5th grade and 3rd grade for the past ten years at two LA schools, Figueroa St. Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles from 1997-2004, and now at CNCA since 2004. In addition to being a public school teacher, McLoud has also served on both of his schools' site based leadership teams to strengthen the schools' academic programs. He presently is the Vice President and the Chair of Negotiations of his school's Teacher's Association, and has served as the Chapter Chair and a member of the UTLA House of Representatives while at Figueroa St. Elementary. His efforts in these roles have been to act as a leader and mediator between teachers and the administration in order to create a professionally supportive and accountable teaching environment.

Before being elected to the Board, Shane was active in SMMUSD as a volunteer. He served on the District Advisory Committee for Instructional Technology, working on efforts to improve the utilization of computer technology in the classroom. He also served on two School Board appointed Action groups for the district: the Equity and Equality of Education and Differentiated Learning. Working on these committees with several Board members, dozens of parents, community members, and students, McLoud began to learn about the district's challenges and successes. These experiences inspired him to run for the School Board so that he could bring his unique perspective as a teacher to improve the district's educational programs and decrease the achievement gap.

In 2000, Shane volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of Venice, creating an education component that allowed staff and volunteers to easily assess and improve the reading levels of the student members.

After the 2000 presidential election, Shane created an online petition to help bring about national political reform. The goal of the web site, ReformItNow.com, was to bring about discussion and change to the political election process, particularly the reform of the Electoral College, the use of Instant Run Off Voting, and the order of state primaries in order to reduce the influence of the early voting states.

In the fall of 1997, during his first year of teaching, McLoud participated in two panels on KLCS-TV to discuss the impact of the state's class-size reduction program. In 1999, his class was the subject of a 30 minute education special on KCET's Visiting with Huell Howser, called the Last Day of School.

Before teaching, he studied Spanish in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for one month in 1997 in order to improve his Spanish and be better able to communicate with the parents of his students, which have been primarily Latino.

Shane worked as a Transportation Deputy for two Los Angeles County Supervisors from 1994 to 1997, and as an intern at MTA and Caltrans from 1993-1994. His work was based on his strong belief that a good mass transit system of rail and bus service can improve the quality of life for the economically disadvantaged, giving access to jobs, education, shopping, travel, and entertainment. As a daily bus rider on the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus from Santa Monica to downtown L.A. for four years, McLoud was able to truly understand and advocate for transit improvements throughout the county.

McLoud attended Loyola Marymount University from 1986 to1990, and earned a BA in Sociology. While at LMU, he served as a dormitory president, Student Senator, and ASB Vice President and Director of the Activities Programming Commission. As Director of APC, he helped arrange the visit of Cesar Chavez to the university. Shane was fortunate to be able to have lunch and visit with Mr. Chavez personally, whom Shane credits as a significant inspiration to his life as a public servant. He returned to school to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration, which he completed at California State University, Long Beach in May 1995.

Shane was born on March 7, 1968 to parents Ron and Ginny McLoud. His father is a 2nd generation demolition contractor, recently retiring. His siblings are also dedicated to serving the public. His older brother is a part time minister and as a full time demolition contractor, and his older sister is an owner of an elderly care facility. The family joke is that Shane educates and prepares children for a productive and rich life, his sister Laura ensures that they have a dignified quality of life in their final years, and his brother Ron helps them lead a life in order to get them into heaven. He grew up in Tujunga and La Crescenta (near Glendale), attended Bellarmine Jefferson High School in Burbank, serving as Student Body President. Shane was the first and only McLoud to attend a university.

Shane has lived in Santa Monica since 1994 in a condo that he rented for nine years and now owns. He spends his leisure time playing beach volleyball, softball, golf, hiking, biking, traveling, cooking, reading, and hanging out with his friends and family. Shane recently bought a Hybrid car in order to reduce harmful emissions and help make the world a better place than the way he found it; something he believes in strongly,