Sal Chavez leaving school board at end of year
Sal Chavez will not seek another term as a member of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees. The youngest ever trustee when first appointed, in 2012, Chavez sat down with the Sun to talk about his experience on, and hopes for, the school board.
Chavez was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Camerino Hawing, the first Latino to serve as trustee for Valley schools.
Hawing, resigning two years into his second term, encouraged Chavez to apply for the upcoming vacancy. Chavez lived in the El Verano attendance area, and had gone to the school as a boy.
The seat turned out to be contested, even though it was an appointment, not an election. Chavez and the other applicant were asked to go “head to head” interview before the board at a public meeting. “It was definitely the toughest thing I’d ever done,” Chavez reflected.
The vote was unanimous, and he was seated on the board that night, becoming the youngest person ever to serve.
“My honest reality is that in my life, I like to be effective.” Chavez affirms that to accomplish anything in the school district, you need the support of the educators, the site leaders, and the superintendent. “Things have to be in synch, be aligned.”
He sees the board as helping the superintendent to be successful, to achieve objective, measurable goals. He said these goals should come to the board through “an inclusive process – and that means educators and parents. I hope parents are always part of it.”
Chavez believes that another important role of a trustee is to keep the superintendent attuned to what people are thinking, saying that he had been a liaison from the community to the district office. He commented that new superintendent Socorro Shiels was disappointed at his decision not to seek re-election.
Chavez served as board president during one of his six years. He was the board representative to DELAC, the district-wide committee comprised of parents of English learners representing each site. He acknowledged that he had not been able to attend as many meetings of the committee as he would have wished.
The biggest challenges he faced on the board “all typically had to do with budget, curriculum, and compliance items.” He observed that the budget cuts caused educators to lose their jobs, affecting both students and teachers.
About his experience on the board, he has “loved the opportunity to be collaborative, and to work with the leadership and the Cabinet, whether in public or behind closed doors.” He remarked that the district with a $50M budget is one of the top employers in the valley, so the decisions made affect the whole community.
Since Chavez began as a trustee, he and his wife Kina have had two sons. Chavez is sorry to miss being a trustee while his own children enter the school system. But he plans to continue being active, hoping to “be effective in situations that the district has not had the capacity to address.” One area he is interested in is the success of English learners.
Asked what were the best things about his board service, he replied, “I enjoyed it all. I enjoyed Tuesdays. I’ve had no equivalent experience over these years. So much professionalism.” He described how fulfilling he found the last day of school ceremonies – whether graduation or promotion. Seeing “the graduates walking” and the teachers “so genuinely happy as they see their success stories.”
Some felt Chavez unduly delayed his decision not to seek reelection. (Dan Gustafson, another incumbent, has also chosen not to run again.) He responded that he had postponed it because he wanted to be sure that there was a good Latino candidate.
“The importance lies around appropriate and needed representation as it pertains to our demographic served, and all the levels of significance that has for the families that attend our schools.” Would he have run if there were not another Latino candidate? “Yes. I would have absolutely made the effort and adjustments needed if that had not been the case.”
Sal Chavez in his family’s legacy of resiliency
