Rebuilding trust in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District inspired two moms to run against an incumbent for two seats on the Board of Trustees.

Tensions grew over the last school year between the district, teachers and the community as a contract battle continued to escalate. To date, teachers are working without a contract and mediation measures are in order. The situation hasn’t been a positive situation for anyone in the district community. It’s that same negative energy that inspired community volunteers and district moms Gina Kuo and Colleen Sullivan to run for the Board of Trustees — to mend the relationships.

Kuo and Sullivan will be facing incumbent Mark Hudak for two seats on the board. Longtime Trustee Melodie Lew opted not to run for re-election, but supported Kuo as her replacement.

While the two women see the district facing a large rift in the community that needs to be rebuilt with trust, Hudak sees it as a misunderstanding that will be cleared soon.

Teachers began the current school year this week wearing black ribbons and clothing to show solidarity and demonstrate their disillusion with the district after nearly a year of unsuccessful contract negotiations. After 10 weeks of mediation and months of negotiations, the teams in July called for fact finding — a mediation process in which an outsider examines the district’s finances and considers the claims of both sides before putting forth a recommendation. The fact finding process begins Sept. 13.

Hudak is confident the district’s offer — a three-year contract through the 2008-2009 school year of a 5 percent retroactive raise to July 1, 2006 and an additional 1.5 percent for the upcoming school year — is very fair.

When understanding of the offer is reached, Hudak predicted stronger support.

Kuo and Sullivan weren’t as focused on the dollars and cents of the offer, rather the negative working environment. Both cited a growing tension between the teachers and the district in recent years.

“It is very antagonistic and I don’t think it needs to be,” said Sullivan. “There are other approaches, but we’ve got to rebuild the trust between the two sides. It’s not something that can be done overnight. We all have the interest of our kids at heart. You can’t run schools without quality teachers. We might not be able to [offer the best pay], but we can treat them with respect show [teachers] we value them.”

Teacher retention is Sullivan’s top priority. Over the past few years, Sullivan became more involved in the district. She served as the Highlands Elementary School Parent Teacher Association president for two years and is not acting as the vice president. Sullivan regularly attends meetings and helped with fundraising.

She’d love to see the board more actively engage the parent community.

Kuo, a mother of an Audubon Elementary School student, believes there’s a chance to build on the parent community for the benefit of the children. She’s been working as a volunteer in the community producing kids performances. Kuo wants to use her creative and flexible nature to approach problems facing the district. In communicating with others Kuo might have a leg up — she speaks Mandarin, Taiwanese and is learning Japanese.

Kuo boasts a three-point platform putting children first, providing a quality education and creating a more caring community.

“I’m a decent person and I really care about the kids,” she said.

Part of her desire to serve is to set a good example for her child to give back to the community.

For Trustee Hudak, the focus for the district is the performance of low-income and English language learner students. Creating more year-round schools, he said, would help elevate this problem by offering children a chance to get extra help during the two-week breaks.

Currently Hudak is the only parent on the board, with a daughter at Borel Middle School. This was an important point for Hudak over the last four years who would get feedback from his daughter and her friends about changes.

As most districts are, the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District hasn’t had much extra money in recent years. Despite the lack of funds, Hudak is proud of programs the district is offering students like a Montessori middle school and a Mandarin school.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.