Trustee brings new eyes to San Carlos school board

As a child, Elliott grew up in Los Altos during a time when enrollment was dropping, schools were closing and students were being shuffled. Elliott, for example, lived in the same town but attended three elementary schools growing up.

"It gives me an interesting perspective on boundary issues now as a parent,” she said.

While major boundary changes aren’t currently on the agenda for San Carlos Elementary School District Board, there are capacity issues with talk of adding space. Those are issues that could require talking about boundaries. Elliott will add her interesting perspective into that conversation as one of two women appointed earlier this month to fill vacancies on the board left from the November election. The other new school board trustee is Kathleen Farley.

Elliott, 44, has lived in San Carlos for about 10 years with her husband of nearly 20 years, Steve, and their two children.

Elliott grew up loving books, and with a desire to work abroad — which she did while in college. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles where she earned a degree in political science with a business minor. It was while at UCLA that she met Steve through friends on a blind date.

Graduating into the recession of the early ’90s, opportunities were limited. Elliott ended up working in Los Angeles’ City Hall as branch director of the in-house volunteer program. After about two years in that role, and as a newlywed, Elliott moved to Connecticut while Steve finished business school at Yale University. The pair stayed in Connecticut for five years during which time Elliott worked as the executive director of the Volunteer Center of Greater Bridgeport.

Going back to California was always in the cards. Steve Elliott had an opportunity in San Mateo, which moved the family to the same city for a handful of years. Just before their oldest child was to start kindergarten, they relocated to San Carlos.

Her introduction to San Carlos was a mass kindergarten overenrollment at White Oaks Elementary. She was at the next board meeting.

"That shaped my experience more than anything. I thought the board handled it professionally and thoughtfully,” she said.

Since then, Elliott has become very involved as an active volunteer with the district and neighboring Sequoia Union High School District for the past 10 years. She’s served as site manager, on various Parent Teacher Associations, on the San Carlos Education Foundation, Sequoia High School Education Foundation and on the Spring Fling Advisory Board for two years. Clearly, her children were a reason to remain involved. However, Elliott also enjoyed the people with whom she was working. Helping with the education foundation, when the foundation as new, was akin to working at a startup, she said. It also allowed Elliott to use her professional experience as a volunteer.

Choosing Elliott came down to experience.

Trustee Adam Rak, who recently joined the board after the November election, felt Elliott brought a lot of experience in terms of working with the district; she has put in time to help at the school level and districtwide, giving her a history of the district along with good ideas for the future, he said.

Board President Seth Rosenblatt agreed. Rosenblatt previously worked with Elliott on the foundation and said he’s always been impressed by Elliott’s ability to consider the big picture.

One thing Elliott enjoys is using data for decisions. Looking at the district’s current challenges, she anticipates using those while dealing with the capacity issues. Elliott has questions about demographic projections and is interested in talking with Realtors about turnover of homes.

On the smaller side, Elliott has an interest in pursuing the conversation about 21st century learning. Deciding what that will look like could shape the district’s space and facility conversations. Elliott also hopes to continue the district’s tradition of being quite responsive with the community and being sure that their voice is heard.

In addition to serving on the board, Elliott currently serves as the vice president of students services for the Central Middle School PTA and on the Sequoia High School Foundation Board. She’ll be checking to see if keeping those positions will be a conflict with serving on the school board.

When not working with local schools, Elliott enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, skiing — when there’s snow, and doing creative things with photographs and scrapbooks.

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