South City district trustee incumbent defends seat

Serving on the board since her 2016 election, Murray said she is most proud of the establishment of the district’s new “portrait of a graduate” within its strategic plan. The portrait aims to ensure every graduate has the skills, knowledge and habits to learn constantly as their life and world change, thrive as a person, navigate their future purposefully, and impact their community for the better.

“From the time the kids enter school, they’ll know that this is what we want for you when you graduate,” Murray said.  

Continuing the work she has done on Measure T — a bond measure approved by voters in 2022 to generate $436 million to repair and improve schools — is also a goal of Murray if she is to be reelected. Following pipes bursting at Alta Loma Middle School in 2019, it was evident significant infrastructure improvements were necessary at many of the district’s schools, she said. 

“I made a lot of promises to a lot of people,” Murray said. “I told them that I would advocate for the necessary and not the pretty.” 

Another hot button issue in the district is its math curriculum. After a year of teachers at all of its schools piloting two different curricula, the school board voted against the recommendation to adopt Illustrative Mathematics published by Imagine Learning Classroom Kindergarten-Algebra 2. Now, the schools are piloting just the one program, which has raised some concern from parents about its limited advanced lesson options, but Murray said she supports it. 

“I really like the way that they’re trying to teach kids so that they understand it rather than memorize it,” Murray said. “Illustrative math seems to be able to reach all kids, so, to me, it seems more equitable as well.” 

Since the pandemic, there is evident learning loss among students, Murray said, but efforts are underway to mitigate this as well as the overall mental health of students. The district has established some sort of mental health clinicians in each of its schools.  

In regards to ongoing debates surrounding ethnic studies, the district established its own program in 2016 and Murray said such curriculum is essential.  

“In our district, our diversity is our strength, we don’t want any of them to feel less than,” Murray said.

Chetcuti could not be reached for interview. 

Amy Lam, a graphic designer and parent, is running unopposed for the Trustee Area B seat, replacing current board President Daina Lujan who is not seeking reelection.