By Khalida Sarwari
With Election Day less than two weeks away, candidates for the the Saratoga Union School District board of trustees are preparing to wrap up a busy campaign season. Among priorities for this group of candidates are improving communication between the board and the community and continuing to provide a quality education despite challenges within the school district.
Five candidates are running for the three open four-year seats. Incumbent Patty Buchanan is running alongside newcomers Susan Germeraad, Cynthia Miller, Laura Tillett and Yongjian Wu.
PATTY BUCHANAN
Buchanan is a 54-year-old community volunteer. Her vision of a successful school district is one that finds innovative ways of involving parents, staff and students in making learning rigorous and engaging.
“I am passionate about providing our students with an excellent education,” Buchanan said. “I decided to run because I bring experience and a broad perspective to the board and believe I can make a positive difference.”
Buchanan’s experience encompasses the roles of parent, volunteer, teacher and trustee. While her children attended SUSD schools, she served in the PTA at Argonaut and Redwood. She’s also taught Spanish at Redwood Middle School and has worked with English language learners at Argonaut and Saratoga elementary schools. She was appointed to the SUSD board in 2010 and elected for a four-year term in November, serving as its president in 2013.
Buchanan is a member of the Saratoga Foothill Club and is actively involved in the Community Committee for International Students at Stanford University, where she teaches English as a second language to adults.
SUSAN GERMERAAD
Germeraad is a 65-year-old retired middle schoolteacher and molecular geneticist. As a board member, she said she would do her part to help maintain SUSD as a first-rate district. One area in which the district can expand its efforts, she said, is to help parents recognize ways they can promote the development of academic and social skills in interactions with their children.
“The strength of our public school system is critical to the long-term health of the community,” Germeraad said. “The Saratoga community has put a high priority on education for generations. Lately, some issues of trust have developed in the community, and I would like to help mend those by focusing on operational excellence.”
Germeraad has 15 years of experience teaching life science at Redwood. Working in Sacramento for 10 years on advisory committees on science education has made her aware of broader issues in education in the state, she said. She has also ran a science club and robotics program, and mentored science fair students.
CYNTHIA MILLER
Miller is a 15-year veteran of the high-tech industry and graduate of Dartmouth College and Stanford University. Her vision for the school district is one that focuses less on teaching to the standards and giving tests and more on how to help each child learn as much as possible each year.
“I believe passionately that a quality education is the best gift we can give to our children, and it is the best thing we can do in the long run for our society,” Miller said. “I want to give back to Saratoga in this important cause by doing what I can to help make our already pretty good schools even better for all of our children.”
Miller would bring a background and expertise in finance and technology to the table. Her experience in education includes volunteer work in schools and serving as both a member of the board and president of the Saratoga Parent Nursery School. She has organized and led the science fair at Foothill and has helped teachers and students learn how to use the online Khan Academy tools for math learning at all SUSD schools. She is a member of the American Association of University Women.
LAURA TILLETT
Tillett is a 57-year-old software engineer who has worked at HP and Microsoft. She said she was inspired to run after noticing that some recent decisions the school district made weren’t effectively communicated to the families.
“I want to work to ensure that even with the new Common Core curriculum we continue to offer
academically challenging courses that meet the needs of all our students,” Tillett said. “Saratoga has highly affluent parents who put in the time to supplement the education of their children, and we need to ensure that the performance of our educators and school board members meet the high levels of standards we have come to expect from our schools.”
As a community volunteer, Tillett has served as president or co-president on the parent-teacher associations at Saratoga Elementary, Redwood and currently at Saratoga High School. She has helped provide computers to the fifth-grade classrooms at Saratoga Elementary and in the computer science and yearbook classes at Redwood and has taught junior achievement courses. Tillett has been involved with the Saratoga Girl Scouts since 2001 and volunteers at the Montalvo Arts Center and Book-Go-Round.
YONGJIAN WU
Wu, 47, works in the medical device industry. He was motivated to run to help achieve better educational outcomes for students, he said. Maintaining the district’s strength in music programs, sports and skills like communication are also important to Wu.
“If elected, I will work to restore the school hours for all schools to the level before it was cut. I will ensure introduction of Common Core doesn’t water down our educational level. And I will make sure the school district maintains solid financial standing,” Wu said.
Wu is the parent of a daughter who attended SUSD schools and a son who will begin kindergarten in two years. He said he has a vested interested as a parent to ensure that the schools his children attend continue to meet the expectations and needs of all students. His background in high tech and management has provided him with a unique skill set that could be useful on the board. In the community, Wu is involved in library events, bookmobile donations and school volunteer activities such as math club.
