2 vying for South San Francisco college board seat | Native Information
AmandaAnthony
Steven Kassel
Two candidates have set their eyes on an open seat on the South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees, a vacancy being left by current board President John Baker who has voluntarily stepped down to make way for more diversity in local governance.
Vying for the seat is Amanda Anthony, a former educator and current program manager at South San Francisco’s Economic Advancement Center, and Steven Kassel, a tax consultant and youth athletics coach.
Both candidates share similar perspectives on many issues, a main one being the importance of encouraging parent involvement on and off campus. Kassel argued parents play a key role in educating the whole student, including their social and emotional learning, and suggested the district should do more to help non-English speaking parents learn English so their students can have more language support at home.
Echoing Kassel, Anthony said studies have shown students need at least five adults in their lives to “make sure they stay whole,” and when parents are pulled out of the equation schools are put under more pressure to fill in the gaps.
“There isn’t as much family engagement in schools as there should be. I know from talking with family members they maybe feel schools as an institution are not a place for them,” Anthony said. “I would love to have more space for the community to work together to build the school together.”
Recognizing that parents often cannot play more active roles on campus, Anthony said addressing staffing through competitive salaries and establishing career ladders are two important steps to keep people from leaving.
Similarly, Kassel said the district’s pay “isn’t terrible” compared to neighboring districts but noted SSFUSD is often used as a stepping stone to better paying positions outside the district. Staff housing could play a strong part in keeping teachers centrally located, he said, acknowledging that the district has plans to pursue the initiative through a bond measure, but ultimately, he said the future board will need to reassess teacher pay.
“I don’t want to lose teachers. The worst thing you can do is have a retention problem. That’s something that is absolutely a top priority,” Kassel said.
Bolstering the classroom environment doesn’t have to be done alone, the candidates agreed. Both argued that a key budgeting issue will be fundraising dollars from the community, particularly from large companies located in the area, to help pay for classroom supplies and other needs.
As for equity and the district’s role in preparing students for life outside the school grounds, Kassel said staff should focus more on educating student on the financial supports available to those who are interesting in attending college.
“There’s tons of money out there but we’re not informing our students,” Kassel said. “A lot of it comes down to getting the word out there of what’s available. I personally do that all the time and I shouldn’t have to as a coach.”
He and Anthony also agreed that more emphasis should be placed on trade schools with Anthony suggesting the district look into establishing mentorship programs and pulling role models into the classroom.
“It’s about figuring out how to get resources in the right place so kids have the same access to opportunities and outcomes regardless of where they come from,” Anthony said.
Trustees Mina Richardson and Chialin Hsieh are both running for reelection unchallenged, Richardson in Area E and Hsieh in Area C. Current board President John Baker, who was appointed to the board January 2016 and then elected November of that same year, would have been up for reelection in Area C this year. Because of district changes, he was an at-large member.
