Career and Values

Prior to my time on the Board, I was known as a Science Teacher and Union Officer. If you would like to read about these roles, please read my extensive involvement as both.

I started at South Valley Junior High in 1980. I taught mostly 8th graders. When Brownell Academy (now Brownell Middle School) opened, I transferred there, where I was able to design the new science rooms. I was on special assignment as GTA President from 2000 to 2011, then moved to Christopher High School, where I finished my career in 2019.

Activities, Training, and Experience In the Classroom:

Measure J Renovation – distribution of 4 million dollars in bond money – 1993
Designed new science classrooms at Brownell
Neighborhood/Magnet Task Force 2001
Time Committee – This was an attempt to find ways to use time more effectively. Unfortunately, the trend continues to be to add and not subtract.
Professional Development Coalition – I resigned due to the intransigence of the administration at that time. The collaboration between certificated staff and management has improved significantly.
Budget Advisory Committees, 2003-2004, 2004-2005. I have advocated for the return of these in order to study the effectiveness of programs.
Calendar Committee 2004-2005 and subsequent years through 2008. Once we reconciled the differences between elementary and secondary concerns, the development of the calendars was much less controversial and more straightforward.
GHS Bell Schedule Study Group 2005-2006
Health and Welfare Benefits Committee – 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007
K-12 Math Committee 2006

District Committees:

Applied for and received five grants for the development of new curriculum and materials
Department Chair at South Valley and Brownell on and off from 1984 to 2000
Cooperative Learning
Writing Across the Curriculum
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching
Hands-on Science for Middle School Kids
California League of Middle School
AIDS Education
Language Acquisition Trainings
California Science Teachers Conferences
Nominated for Teacher of the Year 1989
Nominated for Catalyst Award (Excellence in Science and Chemistry Teaching 1996)
Connecting with Marine Science at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Budgets
School Effectiveness
Sunshine Club

School Committees:

Site Representative
Secretary
Treasurer
Vice- President
President (12 years)
Member of Negotiating Team (24 years)
Lead Negotiator (4 years)
Membership Chair or Co-Chair
Grievance Chair or Co-Chair
Liaison with California Teachers Association, including with the legal department

Gilroy Teachers Association

Positions Held:

Actions as Negotiator, President, or site representative

Advocated for competitive salaries and benefits.
Advocated for safe working conditions.
Represented and filed grievances for multiple teachers for contract violations.
Filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge against the Dstrict in 2002. The District attempted to increase the workload for teachers at Gilroy High School without going through the negotiations process. The final outcome was in favor of the Association.
Instituted the Catastrophic Leave Bank so members with serious illnesses who had exhausted their sick leave could use sick days from other staff who donated days.
Negotiated time and pay for teachers who were forced to relocate due to reconstruction or renovation projects. I take special pride in Article 28, which came out of the renovation at South Valley in 1994, which was a disaster. We were told the school was ready to open when it was not. When I say the district has made significant improvements in maintaining and upgrading its facilities, I can speak with authority that it has!
Represented counselors, psychologists, and nurses in a layoff procedure in 2004. Although the judgment was in favor of the District, the result was that every person kept his or her position.
Negotiated with the District to make sure there was an equitable distribution of students with special needs across different classes.
Pushed for better background checks on prospective employees
Offered a classroom management training for people new to the profession.
Successfully inserted the Education Code into the CBA pertaining to proper notification to teachers with respect to students with discipline issues.
Reviewed and improved the evaluation process with HR
Reduced the number of years for teachers to reach the maximum salary from 33 to 25

My serious involvement with GTA began when I was still at South Valley and my classroom had no heat. I had complained and gone through the proper channels, but when that did not change the situation, I used parents. I was threatened with disciplinary action, but the GTA President at the time was able to convince the superintendent that it was not appropriate. It did not change the situation. I still had to go to school early to light Bunsen burners at the lab stations to increase the ambient temperature, but from that point on, my path with respect to advocacy was set.

Training:

Interest Based Bargaining
School Finance Budget Analysis (CTA Summer Training Institute, 1997, 2002, 2003)
President Conferences

Established a different salary schedule for Speech and Language Pathologists in an attempt to attract them to GUSD.
As President, due to the presence of, or suspected presence of mold, worked with the District to start an Air Quality program, “Tools for Schools,” including the implementation of a regular schedule for replacing air filters.
Worked with the District on equity with respect to facilities, and contingency plans when projects were not completed on time.
Worked with the District to enact more reasonable procedures for younger children during Code Red drills.
Brought safety concerns to the District regarding doors that locked from the outside.
Reduced and clarified the number of hours teachers at the secondary level are required to return for extra supervision duties.
Capped class size in activity-based classes. As a science teacher, I led the charge.
Negotiated extra compensation for class size and caseload overages.
In 1994-1995, negotiated protected preparation time for elementary teachers each Wednesday from 1:30 to 3:00. This time was to make up for reducing their prep time by half in return for a salary increase.
Advocated for better vetting of new programs.
Received the California Teachers Association “We Honor Ours” or “WHO” Award in 2014 for service provided to the certificated staff of Gilroy Unified.

History as a GUSD Board Member

Elected in 2020.
Appointed in lieu of an election in 2022 due to lack of candidates.
Recruited and selected new Superintendent. Conduct annual evaluations.
Responsible for approving new management hires, annual budget, new programs, contracts with vendors, expenditures from bond funds to rebuild South Valley and Brownell, and approving plans for student achievement.
Elected Vice President of the Board in 2025.
Registered for additional training in effective governance this coming fall.

Activities/Attendance beyond Board Meetings

Regular Site visits
Read Across the World – reading to various classes
Awards Nights/Assemblies – K-12
Graduations – K- 12
Back-to-School Nights
Open Houses
Special Evenings to boost parental engagement such as Harvest Festivals
Choir, Band and Theater Performances
Annual Education Conference
Coast-to-Coast trip to Washington, D.C. - advocacy for federal education funding

Volunteer Work/Expenses as a Teacher/Donations

As a private citizen, as my nephew was preparing to enter kindergarten, I complained about the condition of playground equipment at elementary schools. I visited various business in town and raised over $9,300 for El Roble and raised awareness in the community. The District eventually replaced the equipment at each school and continues to monitor the status of the playgrounds and upgrade as necessary. My favorite recognition award in my 39 years with the district was from the El Roble kindergarten class of 2000 as a “Very important Volunteer.

Of course, as most teachers do, I bought supplies for my classroom to provide more engaging activities beyond what the budget could cover. My expenses from 2013-2019 came to $2,803.45, for an average of $467.24 per year. This is actually less than the 2025 average of $500 to $900 per year.

I also donated supplies to schools. The total value of those donations from 2001 – 2024 was $5,905. Donations included classroom supplies, books, furniture, microwave ovens for teachers, sports equipment, clothing, and whiteboards for the students to use. Last spring, I spent $36 for a fun science-based activity with third graders at Glen View.

Last spring, I volunteered at Eliot and Glen View. As time permits, I want to continue.