Voter Guide: Woodside School -- Four compete for three board seats Voter Guide: Woodside School -- Four compete for three board seats (October 26, 2005)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

One of the four women seeking a seat on the governing board of the Woodside Elementary School District won't be sitting behind the dais in the school library on the second Tuesday of every month. There are only three seats open on the five-member board in the November election.

The candidates are incumbent Bettina U. Pike and challengers Ellen Ablow, Elianne Frenkel-Popell and Karen Werner, all of whom have children in the district's one K-8 school, Woodside Elementary School.
A few statistics

The district's financial resources and academic performance are well above average:

** Spending per-student, according to district superintendent Dan Vinson, is $13,500, which includes state and federal money, foundation grants and individual donations. The statewide average is $6,659 per student, according to a 2005 survey by Education Week magazine.

** The Woodside School Foundation gave the district $1.5 million in the 2004-05 school year, about 26 percent of the district's budget of $5.7 million.

** In the 2005 academic performance ratings published by the state Department of Education, Woodside students scored 942 on a scale of 1,000. The target score for all schools is 800 and the statewide average is 709.

In addition to the school board race, district voters will decide on Measure D, a $12 million construction bond measure, which would pass with approval of 55 percent of the voters. The measure would fund construction of 14 permanent classrooms (to replace 17 portable classrooms), a band room, computer lab, administration building and community room. All the candidates support this measure.
Bettina U. Pike

Ms. Pike, 39, is the current president of the school board and co-chair of the campaign to pass Measure D. She said that if re-elected, she would provide continuity during the two to three years it would take to build facilities funded by Measure D.

Before coming to Woodside, Ms. Pike spent 12 years on Wall Street as an economist.

Woodside Elementary must seek "constant improvement" for the school and its programs and help students reach their potential, she said. "I support our superintendent and his staff in making Woodside one of the best places to teach possible."

Such goals require the latest technology, financial stability and a "strong sense of community" on school grounds and off, she said.

If the district had $1,000 more per-student, Ms. Pike said, she would take steps to improve differentiated teaching -- tailoring instruction to the different needs, interests and abilities of students.
Ellen Ablow

Ms. Ablow, 45, who has a master's degree in business, has volunteered for the school for eight years, including on committees involved with finding a new superintendent in 2004 and planning new facilities should voters approve Measure D.

Her contacts with teachers, parents and students and her experience at Adobe Systems, most recently as a marketing analyst, gives her a broad perspective to address district issues, she said.

Ms. Ablow said her highest priority is dealing with uncertainty in future school funding. "Legislative and economic changes could dramatically change the programs we are able to offer," she said. "I would like to see the board take steps, along with the foundation, to ensure (that) we have the reserves in place to weather lean years or adverse legislative action."

Ms. Ablow said she would continue to improve Woodside's focus on individual students. "All students need to be challenged to achieve their full potential," she said.
Elianne Frenkel-Popell

Ms. Frenkel-Popell, 37, is a Woodside Elementary School alumnus. Currently, she's liaison from the PTA executive board to the classroom parent-volunteers.

Her career includes serving as vice president of marketing at Eduventures, a Boston-based firm that advises companies that sell products to schools. For about three years, she headed Passion for Learning, a Bay Area foundation, now defunct, intended to help parents help their children develop a passion for learning. At present, she is "a full-time mom."

Ms. Frenkel-Popell said that among her priorities are avoiding insular thinking when it comes to innovation and looking at ways to lessen the district's dependence on donations from the Woodside School Foundation.

"We are fortunate that Woodside is such a generous community," she said. "Nevertheless, it would be financially prudent to try to reduce the percentage of our budget which is dependent on annual fundraising efforts."
Karen Werner

Ms. Warner, 45, cites her long-standing interest in education and her eight-year record as a volunteer with the district.

Ms. Werner, who has a master's degree in education, said her primary professional interest has been in technical training.

Woodside should not allow itself to succumb to a focus on test scores at the expense of its "historical emphasis" of helping each student reach his or her potential, said Ms. Werner. To accomplish this goal, the district should continue to expand differentiated instruction, she said.

A board member of the Woodside School Foundation, she was asked to comment on the district's reliance on donations for a significant portion of its budget. She described the foundation's annual gift as a model that has "consistently worked well" and one she expects to continue into the future. The process is designed to insulate the district from any attempts at influence by major donors, she said.

"Right or wrong, we live in a time when public education is increasingly funded by a public/private partnership," said Ms. Werner.
Bettina U. Pike

Profession: Economist, parent. Experience: Co-chaired district parcel tax campaign, 2001; school board member, 2001-05; school board president, 2005. Education: Bachelor's degree in economics, Yale University. Age: 39
Ellen Ablow

Profession: Part-time marketing analyst at Adobe Systems, parent. Experience: Co-chair of school bond campaign, 2005; member of superintendent search committee and facility planning committee, 2004; PTA board member and board liaison for classroom parent-volunteers, 2003-05. Education: Bachelor's degree in international relations, Stanford University; master's degree in business, University of California at Berkeley. Age: 45
Elianne Frankel-Popell

Profession: Business marketing, parent. Experience: PTA board liaison for classroom parent-volunteers. Education: Graduate of Woodside Elementary School and Woodside High; bachelor's degree in government, Harvard University. Age: 37
Karen Werner

Profession: Business training, parent. Experience: Member of school bond campaign, 2005; school site council member, 2003-05; board member of Woodside School Foundation, 2004-05; co-chair parcel tax campaign, 2001; PTA positions, including president and board liaison for classroom parent-volunteers, 2001-04. Education: Bachelor's degree in food science, University of California at Davis; master's degree in education, Stanford University. Age: 45

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