Ross Valley school board race has 3 seats in play

Voters in the Ross Valley School District will decide whether to reelect three incumbents to the board of trustees or give a seat to a newcomer in the Nov. 5 elections.

The two elected incumbents are Shelley Hamilton of Fairfax and Rachel Litwack of San Anselmo. Incumbent Daniel Cassidy of San Anselmo was appointed to the board 18 months ago to replace Marie Henrio, who resigned. The other candidate is Philip Feffer of Fairfax.

The district serves about 1,685 students at four elementary schools and White Hill Middle School. It has an annual budget of about $30 million and about 18,330 registered voters, according to the Marin elections department.

All the candidates said their top priorities are to eliminate the district’s structural budget deficit; find ways to enhance revenue and reduce spending; and pay teachers more. Earlier this year, the district had to abandon an effort to place a supplemental parcel tax measure on the ballot after polling results indicated that voters would not support it.

Hamilton, 55, has been a manager for Marin Promise Partnership, an educational services nonprofit, for seven years. Prior to that, she was a chief executive for MarinSpace, a nonprofit in San Rafael that managed nonprofit collocation buildings and provided project consulting services.

Hamilton has served on the district’s board of trustees for the past three and a half years, including three years as president. She previously served nine years on the Fairfax Planning Commission. She has two children who graduated from Ross Valley schools.

Hamilton also has been a volunteer in Ross Valley schools, a coach for West Marin Soccer and registrar for West Marin Little League. She has served on numerous school committees involving equity at the district and at Archie Williams High School.

“My service on both Archie Williams’ and RVSD’s parent/guardian equity committees has kept me grounded in the vision that all children, regardless of race, income or neighborhood, can, if provided with equitable access to opportunities and resources, achieve their full educational potential,” Hamilton said.

In addition to stabilizing and strengthening the budget, Hamilton wants to improve special education services and enhance district communications to “foster transparency and share the incredible successes happening across the district.”

Litwack, 48, is an administrative director at an accounting firm. She has been on the board of trustees for almost four years and is the board president. She has one child who is a student in the district and another who previously attended school in Ross Valley.

Litwack has volunteered and chaired the annual fundraiser for Hidden Valley Elementary School in Sleepy Hollow. She served on a citizen’s oversight committee and on the board of the Ross Valley schools foundation.

“I’ve worked on four local school parcel tax campaigns to ensure that our high-quality schools can afford to retain incredible teachers and maintain excellent standards,” Litwack said. “I have a deep understanding of the district’s financial structure and challenges.”

Litwack said she is seeking another term “because I truly care about the kids in our district — present and future — and I want to keep improving the schools for them.”

In addition to upgrading the budget, Litwack wants to improve special education services to families that need help with managing the system.

Cassidy, 48, is an educational consultant. Most recently, he has been assistant dean of the business school at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, where he is also an adjunct professor.

He has two daughters who attend district schools.

“Education is my true north. It’s my guiding light,” Cassidy said. “With my background in education administration, I want to continue serving the people of Ross Valley.”

“Being one of the lowest funded districts in Marin County is a challenge,” he said. “The board needs to be creative and decisive when working with our district leadership to overcome the funding shortfall.”

Feffer, 36, is an attorney. He has a child in first grade in the district and also a 2-year-old child. He serves on the district’s budget advisory committee.

Feffer also is vice chair of the Fairfax Planning Commission and serves on a Marin countywide panel to evaluate how federal grant money is spent locally.

In the district, he is most concerned about improving teacher pay. “We can and should pay our teachers a living wage,” Feffer said.

“RVSD is at risk of losing teachers to neighboring districts, many of which offer significantly better pay,” he added. “It is already struggling to hire new teachers needed as a result of its experienced teachers leaving to work in districts that are closer to paying a living wage.”

Feffer said he would also focus on attendance and enrollment, “as it is one of the primary drivers of the district’s budget revenue.”

He would work to make sure the schools “are interwoven as core and treasured parts of our community” and also ensure the schools “are places that students and families are eager to go to every day.”