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Five candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for three openings
on the Bonny Doon Elementary School District board of directors this
November.
Five candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for three openings on the Bonny Doon Elementary School District board of directors this November.
The district, with enrollment just over 120, has one opening for a single two-year “short” term and two openings for four-year terms.
Here’s a brief rundown of the candidates:
Incumbent Bruce Southstone was appointed in 2007 to complete his daughter’s term when she became the president of a real estate association.
Southstone, who hopes to serve another two years to complete his daughter’s full term, is interested in supporting ancillary school subjects that can sometimes fall by the wayside, such as music and science.
“I really feel strongly about keeping these subjects,” said Southstone, real estate consultant and part-time professor at Cabrillo College.
Challenger Sam Clarkson has a 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter at the school and hopes to join the board to continue building community through the school.
“I feel it’s important to teach kids how to move forward into a sustainable world,” Clarkson said.
Clarkson is a ceramic artist who teaches at Cabrillo and manages a private investment fund.
“I really like some of the changes that have happened in the past few years, and I want to keep the ball rolling,” he said.
Current board president Lisa Palm is running for a second four-year term. Palm is proud of the board’s recent accomplishments, including setting up a hiring and evaluation system for the superintendent and introducing full-day kindergarten.
Currently, Palm said, the district is working on a science lab classroom and to train teachers in new technology.
Palm is an organizer by nature and has enjoyed learning how to work as a team with the other board members rather than take on everything herself.
“If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Palm said.
Challenger Philip Tedesco, vying for a 4-year term, heads a Realtor association in San Mateo after holding the same position in Santa Cruz.
“My one focus is (that) I’d like to think there is the opportunity to build public-private partnership,” Tedesco said. “This is a wonderful opportunity to use my contacts in the business world.”
Tedesco says that, while on the board, he would use his nonprofit experience to form creative partnerships with businesses that could help schools beyond just writing a check.
Tyler Bourcier, a Montessori teacher who moved from Washington to Bonny Doon with his family last year, is looking to engage himself in the community his young son will grow up in. An educator by trade, Bourcier was drawn to Bonny Doon by its independent way of thinking and hopes to bring his experience to the board.
Bourcier is running for a 4-year-term and is excited about the new science classroom the current board is pushing for and wants to support the sciences at the school.
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