John Waite




No SUSD election this year due to a lack of contenders

High-school district also avoids race

By Leigh Ann Maze

Since there are two open seats and two candidates for the Saratoga Union School District Board of Trustees, there will not be an election this year.

The two open seats are those of board members Cindy Ruby and Stan Perry. Ruby filed for candidacy for the board again, as did newcomer John Waite. Perry did not. The district superintendent Mary Gardner will automatically install Ruby and Waite at the December board meeting. The two new board members will serve four-year terms.

Board elections are staggered so that two or three seats are open every two years.

Members attend monthly meetings, and sometimes meet more frequently as needed and usually serve on several school committees. It is the board's responsibility to determine policy and manage the budget for Saratoga's elementary schools and Redwood Middle School. The position is a completely volunteer position, although members are eligible for medical benefits. Applicants must reside and be a registered voter within the school district.



Cindy Ruby




Ruby has served on the SUSD board since 1992. She is a former elementary school teacher and first became active in the district with the Argonaut School PTA. She has worked on two district parcel-tax elections, once as the chairwoman. Ruby also served as communications chairwoman for the SUSD's recent school bond election.

Ruby has served as past president of the SUSD board and is currently on the district's negotiation committee and the president's council, which acts as a liaison to PTAs and other groups.

"I just feel that I'm still very interested," Ruby said of her decision to try for a third term on the board. "I think we're doing some exciting things. I'd like to continue with the construction and I think we're doing some very interesting things with curriculum as well."

If an election had been required, it would have been John Waites' first for school boards. Waite, 51, was raised in Saratoga and graduated from Saratoga High School. He now lives in Saratoga with his wife and son, who will be starting the second grade at Foothill School. Waite's main interests lie with helping the district maintain its high academic standards. He is also interested in helping raise funds for schools, he said.



Lorrie Wernick




Waite has some experience with facilities, which he hopes he can offer to the current school-bond projects. He has also served on other volunteer councils including the Council for Continuous Improvement, which is a consortium of companies. He is currently director of the Alpine Meadows National Ski Patrol and has served on their board for the last 10 years. Waite works parttime as corporate training consultant.

Perry, who decided not to try for a second term, in 1998 replaced Jill Hunter, who resigned from the board in protest of the board's decision to cut down several eucalyptus trees on the Saratoga School campus.

"It's been a very rewarding experience in a lot of ways," Perry said. "I just have to devote more time to my family and other priorities."

Two seats also opened up on the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District board of trustees. Terms expired for board members Lorrie Wernick and Jackie Schmidt-Posner. Both incumbents were the only people to file before the Aug. 11 deadline, so the faces on the LG-SJUHSD school board will remain the same.



Jackie Schmidt-Posner




"I still feel like I have more to contribute," Schmidt-Posner said about why she decided to continue on the board. "It's been neat to be a part of building a new team at the district and the whole building process at the school sites as well."

Schmidt-Posner was originally elected to the school board in 1996. She is director of service learning at Stanford University's Haas Center for Public Service and has been an active parent in local public education for more than 10 years, serving on school site councils. While on the LG-SJUHSD board, she has served on the strategic long-range planning committee on social responsibility and community service.

Wernick was also elected to the LG-SJUHSD board in 1996. She is currently the principal at C.T. English Middle School and is the director of special education for the Loma Prieta School District. Wernick has also served as past president of the Lakeside Community Foundation and was chairman of the board for the Los Gatos-Saratoga Observation Nursery School. Wernick was vice president of the board of the San Jose Chamber Music Society for eight years.

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