I'm a Gunn student who has been showing up to school board meetings since 7th grade. I've seen how the board operates up close — and I know we can do better for students. Here's how I plan to make that happen.
Not buzzwords — actual things I'm going to push for from day one.
The district spent $3.9 million on clocks while students went without soap and paper. That's backwards, and I'm going to say so out loud every single meeting.
I'll send polls before every important meeting so the board sees real data on what students want — not guesses, not assumptions.
Students can't show up to meetings they don't know about. I'll make sure that changes — recaps on TNU and Schoology, advance notice before major decisions.
I've already drafted a formal board policy to make sure every school has soap, tissues, and paper towels — every single day. It's ready to propose.
I'm not new to this. Here's why I'm the right person for the job.
A Gunn High School student who has spent years in the room where decisions get made — and is now running to make sure those decisions actually put students first.
I've watched the school board make decisions that affect students for years, and honestly, students are too often completely left out of the process. This year the board nearly passed a full phone ban for high schoolers. Most students were against it. Barely anyone showed up to the meeting — not because they didn't care, but because they had no idea it was even happening. I was there and I spoke against it, but that shouldn't have to depend on one person knowing about it.
That's exactly the kind of thing I want to fix. Students deserve a rep who actually finds out what they want, brings that to the table, and makes sure they're not blindsided by big decisions.
I've been going to school board meetings since 7th grade — way before most students would ever think to show up. I've worked on campaigns at the school board, Congressional, and city council level. I've served on the Student Equity Committee, co-headed the Ad Hoc Committee on Access to Opportunities, been Diversity Commissioner, and represented students on Site Council. I know how the board actually works, and I know how to get things done within it.
When students showed up for ethnic studies, the board listened. When they showed up for MVC, the board listened. The pattern is clear — the tricky part is making sure students know to show up in the first place.
Student voice shouldn't stop at the school board. I want to expand Titan Town Halls to include city council, because a lot of the decisions that shape student life happen well beyond one meeting room.
Four concrete priorities — click each one to read what I'm actually going to do.
Here's a fact that's hard to shake: the district spent $3.9 million on new clocks while students at Gunn were going without soap in bathrooms, tissues in classrooms, and paper to write on in English. Those aren't close calls. That's just the wrong priority.
Here's what I'll do about it:
If I'm going to represent students, I actually need to know what they want. That sounds obvious, but right now it doesn't really happen in a consistent way. I'm going to change that by building real feedback systems so the board sees hard data, not just one student at a microphone.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
The problem isn't always that the board makes bad proposals — a lot of the time, it's that students just don't find out about them until it's already done. This year the board almost passed a full phone ban for high schoolers. Most students didn't want it. But the meeting wasn't publicized, so almost nobody showed up. I was there and spoke against it, but I was one of very few students who even knew it was happening. We got lucky it didn't pass — but we shouldn't have to rely on luck.
The good news is we know what works. When students showed up for ethnic studies, the board listened. Same with MVC. Getting students in that room is the whole game — and that starts with making sure they actually know what's going on.
What I'll do:
Students at Gunn should be able to take advanced courses in things they actually care about — not just whatever happens to be available. Right now, if you're into humanities, you don't get the same advanced track options before junior year as students in STEM. That's a real problem.
When students get pushed into advanced STEM courses just because there's no honors humanities option, it creates unnecessary stress. If someone is passionate about history, English, or government, they should be able to pursue that at an advanced level — not spend their sophomore year in a class they dread.
What I'll push for:
Proposed Board Policy BP-2026-07-SCH — a formal motion to guarantee every student has access to basic necessities every day, with real accountability built in.
Last year, the district could not afford to have soap in our bathrooms. They could not afford tissues in our classrooms. They could not afford paper towels in our bathrooms. And they could not afford paper in our English classes.
At the same time, the district spent $3.9 million on new clocks. That's not a money problem — it's a priorities problem. The School Improvement Plan sets a permanent, enforceable standard so this never happens again.
Checked and refilled daily. Can't stay empty for more than one school day.
Working hand-drying equipment at every sink, all day. Out-of-service equipment fixed within 14 days.
At least one box per 20 students at all times, accessible without asking permission. Cost covered by the district.
Annual compliance reports to the Board. Inspection logs kept at every school site.
PAUSD is committed to giving every student a safe, healthy learning environment — but right now, there's no consistent district-wide standard for basic supplies like tissues in classrooms and soap and hand-drying equipment in restrooms. This policy fixes that by establishing a clear minimum standard at every school with accountability mechanisms to make sure it's actually followed.
Right now, whether a classroom has tissues or a bathroom has soap can depend on which school you go to, whether your PTA fundraises for it, or whether your teacher buys supplies out of pocket. This policy makes basic supplies a guaranteed right for every student at every PAUSD school — regardless of neighborhood, income, or fundraising capacity.