2 educators sworn in to Sequoia school board

Outgoing trustee Shawneece Stevenson, who served Area E, said she appreciates that Cruz is a woman of color who can provide a new perspective on the board as a professor at San Jose State University. Stevenson was elected to the board in 2020 and decided to not seek reelection after her first term. 

Cruz is also the director of SJSU’s Aspire/McNair Scholars Programs which supports first-generation, low-income and historically underrepresented students in pursuing doctorate programs. 

“It’s different saying you’re in education versus you work at a college,” Stevenson said. “You get to tell us what our kids look like at that end and help us figure out how to get them there. That’s a gift within itself.” 

Stevenson also recognized Thompson’s unique perspective as a potential parent and that she will work toward “creating a district in which you want your child to come to.” 

Thompson recently left her role as executive director of Summit Prep, a charter school in the district, to serve as a trustee instead. Concern was raised over the possibility of conflict of interest should she maintain both positions, and Thompson felt the decision to avoid such concern was for the sake of the students she looks to serve in the new role.  

Outgoing trustee Carrie Du Bois remarked on her satisfaction with Thompson as her successor. Du Bois has served on the board since 2011.

“When I decided not to run, I had a vision, and that vision was to hand flowers to somebody I would be excited about, and that vision came true,” Du Bois said. 

The addition of two educators on the board was something Du Bois hoped for, and both she and Stevenson said their perspectives would be a valuable asset. Stevenson said now the board no longer has to guess what an educator would think about policies. 

“One of the most important things is to take care of our educators,” Du Bois said. “If our educators are well taken care of, and all the staff members that support them, that is what’s best for kids.”

The district saw much more competition for the open trustee seats than others in the county, with three candidates vying for each of the two open spots. To represent Area C, Trustee Rich Ginn ran for reelection unopposed. Ginn has served on the board since 2020.

Ginn said he will remain focused on addressing two areas of concern he said has altered the public’s perception of the district. These matters include addressing course offerings — “parents prefer to send their students to a high school that offers broad range of course offerings” — and keeping discourse about controversial topics objective and neutral. 

“I believe that we should strive for our district schools to be the first choice for all families in our district,” Ginn said. 

The new board president is Sathvik Nori, a Stanford University student who attended Menlo-Atherton High School and was formerly the student trustee before being elected to the board in 2022. Trustee Amy Koo, also elected to the board in 2022, was selected to serve as vice president.