Accomplishments as a Board Member

By Joan Weideman

I passionately believe that education opens the door of opportunity for all children, and high performing schools are an invaluable asset to our community. In the last eight years, I have provided leadership so that all students in every school recieve a high quality education.

I am proud of the excellent teachers, and hard working students in the district. Every school in the district is high performing by State standards, with an API over 800, despite the district being funded in the bottom 11% of the State.

I strongly support partnerships with local non-profits that are keeping the arts alive in our schools

I optimized the special education program. The district dropped expensive and inefficient County services costing approximately $45,000/student, brought more of the program in-house, and is delivering better service at about $27,000-$30,000 per student. The San Mateo Grand Jury said the new approach is a model for the rest of the county.

I encouraged the development of the current Pacifica Education Foundation, which has raised money to launch the 21st Century learning skills program.

I provided leadership in the Measure N campaign, which is providing crucial funding in the face of repeated budget cuts from Sacramento. Currently, this money is funding 10-12 teacher positions, the IBL middle school Counselor, a counselor for middle school students in the K-8 schools and professional development for teachers in mathematics.

In my next term, I will continue to work hard so that our schools move from Good to Great.