Last week, we reported that there are now eight candidates in the DJUSD race, but Alan Fernandes is running unopposed for the two-year term after he was appointed in May to fill the spot vacated in March when Nancy Peterson abruptly resigned as fallout of the volleyball scandal.
Tom Adams was one of the final candidates to fill out paperwork. He had put his name into the appointment process and was just one of four candidates to receive votes, falling just short of making the finalist list in May.
He was on vacation last week and but sent the Vanguard a release this week.
“I am entering this race because of my desire to support the Davis education community,” Tom Adams said in his statement. “The Davis school district will face new challenges with the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control Accountability Plan, the Common Core State Standards, the California English Language Development Standards, and the California Next Generation Science Standards.”
He continued, “As the Director of the Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division of the California Department of Education and the Executive Director of the Instructional Quality Commission, I have led in the implementation of standards by creating K-12 curriculum guides, reviewing K-8 instructional materials, and making textbooks and instructional materials available in braille and large print.”
In the Davis school district, he said, “I served 7 years on the Site Council at Cesar Chavez Elementary and 2 years at Emerson Junior High School. In addition, I served on the Spanish Immersion Master Plan Committee and on the district’s Strategic Implementation Plan–Assessment Subcommittee. “
Mr. Adams continued, “ It is my desire to use my experience of 22 years in education and 13 years as a parent to create a consensus and to move Davis forward. Our students are our greatest resource and we, the Davis community, should do all we can to help our students grow in their own unique ways.”
He concluded, “My goal is to not only win a seat on the School Board but to run a campaign that educates all of us—students, parents, teachers, administrators, and trustees.”
Tom Adams joins Jose Granda, Mike Nolan, Barbara Archer, Bob Poppenga, Madhavi Sunder and Chuck Rairdan, who had previously announced.
Madhavi Sunder for School Board at This Saturday’s Farmers Market!
Meet and share your thoughts with school board candidate Madhavi Sunder this Saturday at the Farmers’ Market. Sunder and her team will introduce themselves and answer your questions. The Sunder campaign is energized and all ready for “Back to School”!
The Sunder campaign recently announced new endorsements from Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor, City Council Member Brett Lee, Yolo County Superintendent of Schools-Elect Jesse Ortiz, DJUSD Trustee Gina Daleiden, former Mayor Maynard Skinner, Former City Council Member Stephen Souza, and recent past president of the Davis Senior High School PTA Sally Albertson, among others.
“I believe that Madhavi will make an excellent school board member for our community. She is smart, energetic and she is ready to take on the real challenges our school system faces,” says Council Member Brett Lee.
Her earlier endorsements include the Davis Teacher’s Association, former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Cruz Reynoso, former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, State Senator Lois Wolk, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, Jim Provenza of the Board of Supervisors, County Clerk-Recorder Freddie Oakley, Mayor Dan Wolk, and City Council Member Rochelle Swanson, among many others.
A daughter of immigrants, Madhavi attended public schools before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard. She earned her J.D. degree at Stanford Law School, after which she practiced law in New York City, before returning to California to work for a federal appellate judge in Los Angeles. A Professor of Law at UC Davis since 1999, Madhavi has been a longtime active member of the Davis community. She was a parent volunteer at Chavez Elementary, was a classroom representative on the Korematsu PTO, was a volunteer AYSO soccer coach, and most recently was a member of the school district’s Strategic Planning Committee action team focusing on supporting the “whole child.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Madhavi can follow her at Facebook.com/SunderForSchoolBoard and at SunderForSchools.org, where a full list of endorsements can be found.
Two Vanguard Announcements
The Vanguard is planning a candidate’s forum for mid-September. Right now that looks like September 17, but we are still in the planning process.
Second, when the Vanguard launches the new website on September 12, we will have a dedicated place for all community announcements and “letters to the editor,” or some online form of that.
Stay tuned.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Adams’ credentials are certainly noteworthy.
So it looks like seven candidates for the 4-year seat:
Tom Adams
Barbara Archer
Jose Granda
Mike Nolan
Bob Poppenga
Chuck Rairdan
Madhavi Sunder
And one candidate for the two-year seat
Alan Fernandes
Is that correct?
Yep. You can officially verify it here.