The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper FUHSD: Four candidates vie for three spots By Steve Enders The race for open seats on the Fremont Union High School District Board of Trustees is shaping up like a game of musical chairs. With four candidates and three seats, someone is bound to be left out. One of the seats up for grabs is Randy Okamura's, who is running for re-election. The two other seats are being vacated by Hsing Kung and G. Franklin Pelkey. The district, serving both Cupertino and Sunnyvale, includes Fremont, Cupertino, Homestead, Monta Vista and Lynbrook High schools, as well as the Phoenix High School continuation program. Mike Boyd Mike Boyd, a Sunnyvale resident, doesn't consider himself a "professional politician," but he's the only candidate running who has served on an array of boards and commissions, both as an elected official and an appointed one. An electrical engineer, Boyd recently relocated here from Goleta, a small town near Santa Barbara. While there, he participated in the "hobby" of serving as Isla Vista's Parks and Recreation Director and on Goleta's Sanitary District. In these positions, he said he learned valuable skills about budgets, financing and legislative matters. "I'm running because I'm interested in being involved in the community," said the father of two elementary school-aged children. Boyd believes that every high school student in the district should be well-schooled in the "hard" sciences. This includes mandatory biology, chemistry and physics classes, which he feels students currently lag in. "We live in the high technology center of the world, but high-schoolers aren't taking enough classes to get a job here," Boyd said. He feels that by the time students are seniors, they should be taking calculus, and they should know it in order to graduate. Boyd also wants to divert more money into teachers' salaries. He would also like to bring in working professionals of the area, help them get teaching credentials, and allow them to teach classes part-time. Kathryn Ho Kathryn Ho, a parent of two former Lynbrook High students, is running for a seat on the board because, she said, it's in the nature of her family. "I grew up in a family where my mother was a school principal for 30 years," she said. "She used to have teachers' meetings at home. I have a passion for education." Ho said she learned how to be involved as her sons went through school, and as a school-site counselor at Lynbrook. Also as a former PTA member, she said her focus will be on creating a better campus atmosphere. "Parents seldom come to school. They only come if something's wrong with their kids," she said. "We need more parent participation. They can be part of the policy-shaping of the district." Ho said she'd like to help parents of ethnic minorities feel welcome in the district, and get them more involved. She said she'd like to get them involved with school booster organizations and PTA groups. "I always choose integration over separation. We have such a diverse culture that if we all formed our little groups, it would create more separation," she said. She'd also like to help involve those she calls the "non-traditional leaders," students who feel disenfranchised and shy away from getting involved. "We still have marginal students. Those who don't feel connected, and don't find their worth. I'll strive to reach out to those students who aren't as connected." Avie Katz Avie Katz has school service in his blood. "I live in Cupertino, and financially, I can't always give back. But I can give my time," Katz said. Katz has two daughters at Monta Vista High School and teaches social studies to high school-aged kids at the Camden Community School in San Jose. "My dad was on the school board in Wisconsin, and I was always impressed," he said. "His vision was that the obvious isn't always the answer." Katz said he'd follow in his father's footsteps in looking at alternative methods of doing things. "I can get boards to work as a unit. I'm good at that. I work with a diverse staff, and people who are always going in different directions," he said. "I've devoted my entire adult career to education." Katz believes in a method called "total quality management," where everyone has a voice. Katz, who's created a Web site for his campaign, said if elected he'd leave the site up and running so his constituents could address him and find out more about the school board and current issues. "I would try to get input from the community and communicate it with the school board, and make sure all voices are heard," he said. Katz said he thinks the academic state of the district is strong, and would like to involve local industry with the district more, to keep improving science and technology programs. "Each student needs to be treated as an individual client of the school," he said. "They need to feel important." Randy Okamura Randy Okamura, the sole incumbent in the race, wants his seat back. "I think there's more work to be done," he said. "As a board, we've finally hit our stride in creating policy for the district." As a community relations director for Pacific Bell, and as a school board member, Okamura said he loves serving this area and wants to keep the schools strong. Okamura has spent four years as a trustee and in a new term would like to take a closer look at the students. "We need to create a benchmark to develop good students," he said. "What makes a good student? Is it GPA? SAT scores? Community success?" Okamura also thinks it's imperative that the district help teachers find the means to live in this area. To do it, he wants to form partnerships to somehow come up with creative solutions to the housing crunch. He said he's proud of his board experience, in which he and other trustees had to replace a member, deal with teacher salary negotiations and begin the Measure H campaign. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 21, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.