Candidate for
School Board Member; Portola Valley School District

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We all care deeply about this community, and one of the most important parts of our community experience is our schools. I've been privileged to have my two children enjoying the benefits of our excellent schools for the past seven years. With my daughter in sixth grade, at Corte Madera, and my son in third grade, at Ormondale, I have the opportunity to experience both schools every day. I've also experienced and supported our schools as a volunteer in roles from room parent to the PTO, Tuesday Post, Science Fair and other activities over the years.

I'm asking for the opportunity to contribute further to our schools as a member of the school board. We're fortunate to have great candidates, who all would do an excellent job. I'd like to share some of my perspectives and experiences that might be particularly helpful to our schools.

As the world has changed and the educational opportunities and needs of our children change, our schools have to change along with them. Ideally, our schools will even change proactively, in anticipation of the changing needs and opportunities for our students. At the same time, some of the educational foundations don't change: Great teachers; a clear, integrated program; sufficient resources for our teachers to be effective and flourish; these have always been critical, and remain so.

Additionally, new tools become available and new demands arise. Our children are already active citizens of the 21st century, and our schools need to use all available tools to prepare them to thrive in this world. With modern tools and the facility our children are naturally developing with them, our schools can support children of every ability level to reach their full potential, and help our children excel in the global economy. Building a world-class base in mastery of the fundamentals for each child, and also challenging and nurturing each child to reach their full educational potential, is a goal our schools can achieve.

We have an excellent administration, staff and teachers, already making good progress for our students. We also have a Strategic Plan, developed by our school district and our community, which strives to address the main issues and opportunities I've mentioned above. Now is the time to empower our educational leadership to bring our schools and our children sustainably into the 21st century world.

From my experience as a businessperson and a board member of both public and private companies, I understand assessing alternatives and allocating resources for the best results. As an investor, I understand representing several interests, helping guide decisions, then letting the organization carry them out. Having served over five years on the board of a public charter high school, which has sent nearly 100% of its graduates to college while spending roughly half as much per student as we have available in the Portola Valley district, I've been effective within the Brown Act and other fiduciary obligations, as well as being fiscally efficient and programmatically effective within a school budgeting process.

I care deeply about our schools, teachers, students and families, and especially about education as the highest priority. I truly believe we have the opportunity to achieve great results for our students. As a father of children currently in each of our district's schools, I'm deeply committed to making it happen as effectively as possible, for all of our children. I'd greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts or comments, by calling me at 851-3221 or via email at steve@riii.org.

Thank you for your time considering these issues, and thank you for thoughtfully casting your vote in the way you think will best serve our school district, our children and our community.

Steve Humphreys