January 07, 2004

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Publication Date: Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Changing of the guard in Portola Valley school district

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

The two winners in a rare contested election in the Portola Valley School District -- Karen Jordan and Teresa Godfrey -- were sworn in as trustees of the governing board last month. They changed places with trustees Barb Seipp and Kate Williams Browne, who did not seek re-election, and went off the board.

Board President Seipp's last official act was to swear in the recently elected trustees, parent volunteers Ms. Jordan and Ms. Godfrey, who both bring knowledge of the schools and professional backgrounds to the board. The first act of the newly constituted five-member board was to elect Deborah Rappaport as president and Donna Carano as clerk. Ms. Rappaport was appointed to the board to fill the vacancy created when Pat Steuer resigned in 2000. She, Ms. Carano and incumbent Ray Villareal were unopposed in the November 2001 election.

Family, friends, colleagues and some former board members who served with trustees Seipp and Williams Browne during their combined 12 years on the board turned out last month for the special ceremony in the board room. Tributes, resolutions, poems and an original song honored the retiring duo. They served during a period of major change in the district with multi-million dollar additions and remodeling of the two schools, Ormondale (K-3) and Corte Madera (4-8). Books in their honor were presented to the two school libraries.

Both trustees were closely involved in the many steps that led to passage of two bond measures that enabled the district to transform the aging campuses into state-of-the art schools.

Ms. Seipp was co-chair of the bond measure campaign in June 1998, the first in the district's recent history, and also chaired the committee that researched and recommended the present organization of the district. Before construction started, fourth- and fifth-graders were moved from Ormondale to portables at Corte Madera, now a middle school, serving 4-8 grades instead of grades 6-7.

Elected to the board four years ago, Ms. Seipp served as board president for the past two years during the time of portables, continuing construction and challenging financial issues. She represented the district in last year's grass-roots campaign to defeat the governor's so called "tax grab" proposal. It would have taken a large bite out of local property tax revenue from basic-aid districts such as Portola Valley and its neighboring districts.

Ms. Williams Bowne's association with the district goes back many years when her family's property along Skyline Boulevard was annexed to the Portola Valley district. A specialist in early childhood education, she served as a consultant, recommending changes in the district's kindergarten program. Unopposed, she was elected to the board eight years ago and re-elected to another four-year term. She was a staunch advocate on the board for age-appropriate curriculum and parent education.

During the two women's combined tenure, the district conducted searches that resulted in the hiring of superintendents Nancy Spaeth in 1998 and Anne Campbell last June. Along with other board members, Ms. Williams Browne and Seipp voted for curriculum standards in all subjects, supported professional staff development for teachers and expanded programs to integrate technology into the curriculum, classrooms, computer labs and libraries. They also supported a long-range planning effort, involving parents, teachers and community members that resulted in the adoption of a strategic plan for the district early last year.

Both schools, during their era, were named California Distinguished Schools. Corte Madera also was recognized nationally as an exemplary "Blue Ribbon" middle school by the U.S. Department of Education.

E-mail Marjorie Mader at mmader@AlmanacNews.com

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