At this week's school board meeting, I announced that I'm resigning from my school board position, effective June 17th. Here's is what I said:

I have an announcement to make. I was asked to apply for the planning commission for my city of Walnut Creek, and last week I was chosen as one of 2 new members. I will be sworn in on June 17th, and am excited about being able to make a difference in my city, especially right now as it engages in updating the city general plan with a vision and goals for the next 20 years.

I did discover, however, that there is a conflict of interest in that role with school board since they are overlapping jurisdictions. And so after much thought and introspection, I have decided to submit my resignation from this school board position, effective next Tuesday June 17th.

I know this may come as a surprise to many of you. Frankly it was to me too, as I never thought I would leave this role before the end of my term. But at this time I feel called to make a difference in my community in a new way.
I am so honored to have served on the Mt Diablo School Board for nearly 7 years now. I'm proud of all of our accomplishments over those years, and I have full confidence in this Board and Superintendent to continue the hard work towards meeting the goals we’ve set, to champion our students, and to advocate for quality public education for all.

We’ve been through a lot together, and I’m proud that we’ve made systemic changes in many ways to last for years to come. Some that stand out in my mind are: We

• Added an official student trustee position to our team, to elevate student voice
• Steered this ship through the choppy waters of COVID
• Gave our teachers & staff a 9% raise and 100% benefits, while still making fiscally responsible decisions that raised our financial ratings and protected us from the mass layoffs that many districts are now facing
• Adopted new curricula across the board, from Next Generation Science to History/Social Science, ELA and Math, including piloting literacy screeners before most other districts
• Updated our board policies (a heavy lift)
• Went from outdated tech (servers literally in closets in the district office and schools raising their own $ for student laptops) to equity based IT investments that are cyber secure with 1:1 student chromebooks.
• Hired a Title IX coordinator to ensure gender equity in sports
• Transitioned from English Language Learners to Multilingual Department, including collaborating with community based organizations to win funding for a Newcomer Care Coordinator

Not to mention that our district has:

• the only International Baccalaureate high school in Contra Costa county (including a diploma that is recognized worldwide)
• Dual Language Immersion schools that smaller districts simply cannot provide
• amazing educators such as our recent statewide teacher of the year Mr. Alvarico at Ygnacio Valley High School, who transformed an old unused woodshop into his vision of an engineering career pathway and robotics team (These students are mentored by and present to local professionals. Their InvenTeam is in Boston at MIT this week presenting their invention.)
• and so much more that was mentioned in Dr. Clark’s End of Year message

Dr. Clark, thank you for your steadfast leadership and excellence in truly working as a team with each of us on this board, and for staying focused on equity and excellence for all students always. I am so thankful to have had this chance to learn from you and collaborate with you. President Mayo, thank you for mentoring me from the very beginning when I began asking you questions as a parent interested in running for school board, and the many details you taught me all along the way. Trustee Mason, thank you for working together with me on ways to ensure students in every zip code have access to quality schools. Trustee McDougall, thank you for being open to meeting with me and hearing my perspective, and discovering we both care about quality career pathways. Trustee Nzewi, thank you for being an inspiration, sharing your vision, your extensive policy knowledge, and what you’ve learned in nationwide networks. 

And so, I am fully confident that Dr. Clark and this board will continue to strive towards excellence for all students. Though I am stepping down from this official role, I will always champion Mt Diablo Unified School district students and the importance of quality public education for all.

p.s. After my remarks, Trustee Nzewi reminded me that I forgot to mention being the creator of our board's first PRIDE resolution and flag raising, which our board has passed every year since. The resolution and flag are symbols of our dedication to the welcoming inclusion of our LGBTQIA+ students, and they highlight our actual board policies that protect these students and ensure they are fully respected in our schools.