Editorial: Good choices for Tam Union, Ross Valley school boards

The IJ editorial board has a combination endorsement for two key school board races on the November ballot.

Tamalpais Union High School District

On Nov. 8, voters in the Tamalpais Union High School District will be asked to fill three seats on its school board.

Two of the five candidates are seeking second terms – Kevin Saavedra of San Anselmo and Cynthia Roenisch of Kentfield.

They are the right choice for that opportunity.

Emily Uhlhorn, a Mill Valley school board trustee, is our recommendation for the vacant seat created by the retirement of Dan Oppenheim.

The trio will bolster the board’s geographical balance.

Uhlhorn has children at Tamalpais High School.

The district offers top-quality schools, but it faces challenges such as declining enrollment and bridging longstanding racial gaps in academic achievement.

Having trustees with children in district schools is important to the board. In addition, Uhlhorn has experience as a specialist working with special education students.

Saavedra, who brings his background in finance to the board, and Roenisch, an East Bay high school teacher, together with Uhlhorn would bring to the board experience in leading the district, from its financial challenges to community issues, such as racial equity and mental health challenges.

Among the five-candidate field is Damian Morgan, a 1992 Tam High graduate and a Marin City leader, who says that while district officials have talked a lot about racial equity, there has been little change. He wants to change that.

Morgan, a Black man and a former member of the Marin City Community Services District, could help accomplish that by staying involved in the district and keeping the issue in the forefront. When compared to others in the race, his candidacy lacks deep experience in the district and public schools.

Kentfield attorney and parent Renee Marcelle says she is running because she is concerned that “third-party influencers” are getting involved in the district with agendas that do not involve improving student education. She has been involved in Kentfield School District committees.

Another candidate, Barbara McVeigh, a Fairfax writer, says the board needs to “think differently” and focus student education on bigger issues such as environmental and racial challenges.

With the district facing challenges in declining enrollment, balancing its budget and making sure students don’t fall behind, experience is what the Tam board needs. The IJ recommends Saavedra, Roenisch and Uhlhorn.

Ross Valley School District

With three candidates running for two school board seats, incumbent Ryan O’Neil and San Anselmo parent Chris Landles-Cobb are the top two candidates.

Both have children in Ross Valley schools and have been active in district issues.

O’Neil, seeking a second term, and Landles-Cobb, a federal bank regulator and mother of two children in district schools, are the best-qualified candidates. Landles-Cobb, who is Black, has served on the district’s equity committee.

She would replace retiring trustee, Wesley Pratt.

Unfortunately, candidate Valeri Hood of Fairfax turned down the IJ’s requests for more information about her candidacy. She has been an outspoken critic of rules requiring students to wear masks in schools.

Both O’Neil and Landles-Cobb are proud of the way the district handled the challenges of the pandemic, closing campuses, relying on online instruction and then reopening with strict public health safeguards.

Both praise the educational opportunities available to local youths in the district’s elementary schools.

They also are supportive of the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center and finding a way it can stay at the Deer Park campus.

Neither are fans of charter schools. But with oversight of the 200-student Ross Valley Charter School having shifted to the county Office of Education, it’s time to temper the political strain between the charter school and the district, whose decision to drop its Multi-Age Program contributed to the charter’s creation.

The district’s enrollment has dropped by more than 350 students since 2019. That decline poses financial and structural challenges that will face the school board. O’Neil and Landles-Cobb are the right choices for the job.

November election endorsements are being prepared now. Find them as they are published at marinij.com/opinion/endorsements.